In her
single-stanza poem, ","uses the speaker's increasing attention to the details of a
fish to shift the speaker's perception of and feelings about the fish. It's a lesson in how
attention to details can grant subjectivity to a seemingly lifeless object -- in this case, a
fish.
The speaker's relationship to the fish changes at two key points.
First the speaker observes that "He didn't fight," and that in fact, "He hadn't
fought at all." This observation sparks a curiosity for the speaker, who then continues to
note the fish's bloody gill, and the barnacles which had lodged on the fish's skin along with
seaweed. The speaker then begins to personify the fish through noting the bone structure and
physique until he/she gets to the jaw where "hung five old pieces of fish-line...with all
their five big hooks/grown firmly in its mouth." This is the second and more startling
realization. The speaker realizes that the...
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