It's no secret that Marianne Moore and Elizabeth Bishop were close friends. Although written decades apart, the poems titled "The Fish" were created by both authors. Reading Bishop's poem against Moore's, we can see that both poems deal with themes of resistance against a greater force and the unpredictability of life. The poems are not entirely similar, of course, with differences in form, speaker, and subject matter. Important to thoroughly examining Bishop's "The Fish", the correspondence between her and Moore was well documented, including letters about Bishop's "The Fish". Their exchange of letters reveals the influence Moore had on Bishop's poetry, as well as instances in which Bishop argued for more independent choices in her writing. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Although Bishop's "The Fish" could easily be considered a magnificent poem, analyzing it with Moore in mind leads readers to underlying themes that one might not address alone. The two poets met through a mutual friend in the mid-1930s and became fast friends, corresponding through letters. As Lynn Keller notes, “The care Bishop apparently took in composing his early letters and the descriptions they contained reflects, therefore, not only his desire to share intriguing or pleasurable experiences with Moore, but also his awareness that this correspondence provided a unique opportunity to be monitored.” practice writing skills” (Keller). Bishop often asked Moore for advice on various poems, making Moore's influence on Bishop's poetry undeniable. Keep in mind that Bishop was still a young poet when the two first met; "the older writer soon included her protégé's work in an anthology, writing an interesting preface to the new poems" (Sweeny). Of particular note is the fact that Bishop and Moore corresponded regarding Bishop's “The Fish.” “I so long,” Bishop wrote to Moore in January 1940 (the same year “The Fish” was published), “to see some of your new poems. I'm sending you a real 'nonsense' ['The Fish']. I'm afraid it's very bad” (Keller). Moore responded with criticism and suggestions for change. A month later, Bishop replied: “I have read and reread your letter since it arrived… Thank you for the wonderful card and very helpful comments on 'The Fish.' I did everything as you suggested except 'inhale' (if you remember that), which I decided to leave as it was” (Keller). Here we see how seriously Bishop took Moore's advice. Bishop begins by mentioning that she has read the letter several times, and Bishop goes on (in the full version) to describe exactly what changes she, Bishop, made in response to Moore's letter. However, it is also seen that Bishop does not let Moore decide what changes need to be implemented. In the letter cited, Bishop refers to what becomes the twenty-second line of “The Fish,” where he does not change the words “inhale.” This shows how Bishop was an independent poet, but a poet who still truly appreciated Moore's contribution. Their correspondence, in part, surely led to the publication of “The Fish” in the Partisan Review in March 1940. Moore's influence on Bishop's “The Fish” is present not only in the changes Bishop made. It is important to have a fairly thorough understanding of each poem, individually, to compare and contrast the two. “The Fish” by Marianne Moore depicts a scene in which sea creatures are exposed to sunlight as the sea crashes over a cliff. The end ofpoem indicates that the cliff will continue to stand as the sea and all its creatures grow old alongside it, thus making the cliff the most permanent object of the poem. Moore experiments with space on the page to create a poem that takes on its own physical form that has the appearance of ebb and flow. The appearance of the poem echoes the persistent image of the sea which Moore describes as “an iron wedge/through the iron edge/of the cliff” as the poem crashes into the edge of the page and retreats with its indentations (Moore 18-20). Moore's “The Fish” is a poem full of contrasts. The rigidity created by the form (syllabic verse combined with an AABBCC end rhyme scheme) is directly contrasted with the natural flow of the ocean that is represented in the physical appearance of the poem. There is also a contrast between the form and content of the poem: the mysterious life under water versus the predictability of the final rhyme and syllabic line. When the sun hits the water, it changes from “black jade” (Moore 2) to “turquoise sea” (Moore 17). The water is illuminated, an illumination that accompanies the reader's discovery of “jellyfish… crabs… toadstools” (Moore 23-25). Moore's "The Fish" thus describes a scene in immense detail, but the meaning of the poem is intended to extend beyond the descriptions provided, as will be covered later in this essay. Bishop's "The Fish" also contains considerable and precise detail, including a wide variety of colors that culminate in the definitive "rainbow, rainbow, rainbow" epiphany at the end of the poem (Bishop 75). Bishop's "The Fish" tells the story of a fisherman (presumed to be male in this essay, although Bishop is not specific) who catches "an extraordinary fish" (Bishop 1). He examines the fish from scales to eyes to the five frayed lines and hooks stuck in its mouth. Finally the fisherman decides to release the fish that has endured so much. The poem is written in free verse but contains short, controlled lines. This structure echoes the nature of the fish which is controlled by man, hooked several times, but is ultimately free in the sea. Bishop uses long, descriptive sentences, rich in color and figurative language, which flow throughout the poem, as the sea itself flows. Many colors are also present in the composition: brown, lime, green, and white, to name a few, in just the first third of the poem. At the end of the poem, as previously mentioned, the speaker exclaims, “everything/ was a rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!/ And I let the fish go” (Bishop 74-76). This final epiphany represents all the details (all the colors of the poem) coming together and the speaker realizing that this fish has endured so much that it deserves to continue living. Taking the life of this fish would be a shameful act. This theme of resistance is present in both Moore's and Bishop's "The Fish." In addition to sharing a title, the poems also share common thematic elements. For one thing, both Moore's and Bishop's poems emphasize the alternating predictability and unpredictability of life. Moore does this by contrasting the unknown life that lurks beneath the surface of the sea with the fact that the sea will always be confined by the boundaries created by the reef. There's no telling what's in store for marine life other than that the creatures will, at some point, die. Bishop takes Moore's original theme to a new level; what is predicted or expected is not what actually happens. Bishop expresses this theme by contrasting what the speaker is doing, catching a fish, with what he ultimately decides to do, releasing the fish. Depending on the setting, the reader can predict that the speaker will keep (and eventually kill) the fish. However, the speaker decides, unpredictably, to release. 2016.