The Fish

“The Fish” was written by American poet Elizabeth Bishop. It was published in her first poetry collection North and South (1946), which received critical acclaim. Bishop wrote many of the poems in this collection while living in Key West, Florida. “The Fish” demonstrates several of Bishop’s trademark characteristics, including a fascination with the natural world, a drive to describe in exacting detail, and a precise yet vivid use of language.

As demonstrated in “The Fish,” Bishop’s mode is one of personal reticence and an intense outward gaze. She disliked discussing both her life and her poetry, and she was adamant about not including private details in her poems. Although Bishop was never aligned with any school of poetic thought or literary movement, she was heavily influenced by the Modernists. This was a good fit for Bishop’s expression, as Modernism emphasized a contemplative remove.

By most standards, Bishop’s output was not extensive. She published 101 poems in her lifetime, across four collections. She worked slowly and preferred to spend time polishing poems, sometimes spending up to two decades on a piece. At times she found this slow-paced method frustrating, and suffered bouts of writer’s block. Despite personal and professional challenges, Bishop became one of the most important figures in 20th-century American poetry.