Any questions or concern please ask. Question and poem below

Why does the speaker in the poem let the fish go?

Look for specific word choices/lines in the poem to help you support your answer.

The Fish

Elizabeth Bishop, 1911 – 1979

I caught a tremendous fish_x000D_
and held him beside the boat_x000D_
half out of water, with my hook_x000D_
fast in a corner of his mouth._x000D_
He didn’t fight._x000D_
He hadn’t fought at all._x000D_
He hung a grunting weight,_x000D_
battered and venerable_x000D_
and homely. Here and there_x000D_
his brown skin hung in strips_x000D_
like ancient wallpaper,_x000D_
and its pattern of darker brown_x000D_
was like wallpaper:_x000D_
shapes like full-blown roses_x000D_
stained and lost through age._x000D_
He was speckled with barnacles,_x000D_
fine rosettes of lime,_x000D_
and infested_x000D_
with tiny white sea-lice,_x000D_
and underneath two or three_x000D_
rags of green weed hung down._x000D_
While his gills were breathing in_x000D_
the terrible oxygen_x000D_
—the frightening gills,_x000D_
fresh and crisp with blood,_x000D_
that can cut so badly—_x000D_
I thought of the coarse white flesh_x000D_
packed in like feathers,_x000D_
the big bones and the little bones,_x000D_
the dramatic reds and blacks_x000D_
of his shiny entrails,_x000D_
and the pink swim-bladder_x000D_
like a big peony._x000D_
I looked into his eyes_x000D_
which were far larger than mine_x000D_
but shallower, and yellowed,_x000D_
the irises backed and packed_x000D_
with tarnished tinfoil_x000D_
seen through the lenses_x000D_
of old scratched isinglass._x000D_
They shifted a little, but not_x000D_
to return my stare._x000D_
—It was more like the tipping_x000D_
of an object toward the light._x000D_
I admired his sullen face,_x000D_
the mechanism of his jaw,_x000D_
and then I saw_x000D_
that from his lower lip_x000D_
—if you could call it a lip—_x000D_
grim, wet, and weaponlike,_x000D_
hung five old pieces of fish-line,_x000D_
or four and a wire leader_x000D_
with the swivel still attached,_x000D_
with all their five big hooks_x000D_
grown firmly in his mouth._x000D_
A green line, frayed at the end_x000D_
where he broke it, two heavier lines,_x000D_
and a fine black thread_x000D_
still crimped from the strain and snap_x000D_
when it broke and he got away._x000D_
Like medals with their ribbons_x000D_
frayed and wavering,_x000D_
a five-haired beard of wisdom_x000D_
trailing from his aching jaw._x000D_
I stared and stared_x000D_
and victory filled up_x000D_
the little rented boat,_x000D_
from the pool of bilge_x000D_
where oil had spread a rainbow_x000D_
around the rusted engine_x000D_
to the bailer rusted orange,_x000D_
the sun-cracked thwarts,_x000D_
the oarlocks on their strings,_x000D_
the gunnels—until everything_x000D_
was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!_x000D_
And I let the fish go_x000D_

Do you need a similar assignment done for you from scratch? We have qualified writers to help you. We assure you an A+ quality paper that is free from plagiarism. Order now for an Amazing Discount!
Use Discount Code "Newclient" for a 15% Discount!

NB: We do not resell papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.