Introduction
Elizabeth Bishop’s “The Fish” and Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market” use various literary devices to communicate their ideas. The use of literary devices, such as imagery, similes, and metaphors, contribute to both poems’ meaning and tone. In this regard, both poems effectively employ figurative language by incorporating phrases and words to describe their respective fishes’ literal and symbolical meanings. While a metaphor refers to a thing or concept by mentioning another, a simile compares two different things or ideas using the terms “as” or “like.” Therefore, this paper discusses the use and impact of figurative language in both poems while analyzing their development of meaning and tone.
Main body
In Neruda’s “Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market,” arrow, missile, and bullet are some of the three motion features that describe the fish’s movement (Neruda 18). The three motion features can be interpreted as metaphors for the fish’s movement, which allude to its force, agility, and speed. These metaphors inform readers about the fish’s power and agility to endure the persistent and robust ocean waves in a language that evokes visualization. Furthermore, Neruda (p. 18) symbolically employs the term “dark bullet” in the first stanza to portray the fish’s swiftness and stealth. The poet chooses the word ‘dark” to describe the depths of the ocean – the fish’s habitat – which is mysterious and dark. Similarly, the term “bullet” can be equated to the fish’s agility, strength, and power as it moves inside the water. Neruda (p. 18) also uses the word “missile” to symbolically portray the power and strength of the fish, which allows moving in the water in an unrestricted manner. As per this depiction, the poet shows how the fish’s power can be equated to that of a missile, a destructive weapon, and how the fish can be a fierce animal. The fish’s ability to dodge barriers, even at rapid speeds, is an apt allusion to a missile, which evades any obstacles as it pursues its targets.
In Bishop’s poem, “The Fish, the poet employs metaphors to help readers interpret the world. The poem’s somber tone depicts fish as vulnerable animals who are often in danger from human activities, such as pollution and fishing. Bishop (p. 14) metaphorically states, ‘victory filled up the little rented boat” to depict the triumph of fishermen in their fishing endeavors. The poem also mentions “spread as a rainbow” as a simile to describe oil spillages that occur on seas and oceans, forming colored patterns that look like the rainbow on the waters’ surfaces (Bishop 14). The poem also uses figurative speech in comparing fish to items that decorate households (Bishop 12). The poet also uses imagery to give readers a description of the fish’s condition. In this regard, the poem states, “He was speckled with barnacles, fine rosettes of lime, and infested with sea lice” to demonstrate the fish’s deplorable state, such that it had barnacles growing from it (Bishop 16). The line “the dramatic reds and blacks of his shiny entrails” (Bishop 16) is also a good use of imagery as it describes the colorful insides of the fish after being cut out.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the two poem’s use of figurative language is purposive and is used to make the poems easy to understand. Through the use of symbolism, imagery, and similes, the poems reveal the literal and figurative meanings of their messages in an easily understandable manner while leaving an impression on the reader. The use of figurative language also makes the readers familiarize themselves with the poems’ respective settings using their imagination and visualization.
Works Cited
Bishop, Elizabeth. “The Fish.” Literature Craft & Voice. Second Edition. Nicholas Delbanco,Alan Cheuse. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010, pp. 649-650. Print.
Neruda, Pablo. “Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market.” Translated by Robin Robertson. Poetry 190.1 (2007): 16-20.