The Fish

Study Guide

Literary Devices

Rhyme

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Literary Devices Rhyme

Because “The Fish” is written in free verse, rhyme doesn’t make a major contribution to the poem’s overall effects. But that isn’t to say that the poem entirely lacks rhyme. Much of the rhyme in the poem appears in an imperfect form known as slant rhyme. This term refers to instances where two words sound similar but don’t quite form an exact rhyming match. Slant rhymes typically occur when two words share the same consonants but use different vowels. Examples of slant rhyme include the word-pairs “ribbons” and “wisdom” (lines 61 and 63), and “engine” and “orange” (lines 70 and 71). Bishop also includes moments of internal slant rhyme. In one particularly notable instance, in lines 36–37, she features two internal rhymes—one slant (line 36) and one exact (line 37):

but shallower, and yellowed,
the irises backed and packed

As these examples indicate, most of the rhymes in “The Fish” create subtle sonic effects that suggest a sense of consonance without fully materializing it. It isn’t until the very end of the poem (lines 73–76) that Bishop actively uses strong end rhyme:

the oarlocks on their strings,
the gunnels—until everything
was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!
And I let the fish go.

These concluding rhymes at last provide a feeling of full consonance. The speaker’s experience with the fish resolves in a sudden moment of wonderful clarity, which inspires them to release the fish back into the wild.

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