Read the poem “The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop and answer the following questions:

1. How many abstract words does this poem contain? What proportion of the poem is imagery?

2. What is the speaker's attitude toward the fish? Comment in particular on lines 61-64.

3. What attitude do the images of the rainbow of oil (line 69), the orange bailer (bailing bucket, line 71), and the "sun-cracked thwarts" (line 72) convey? Does the poet expect us to feel mournful because the boat is in such sorry condition?

4. What is meant by "rainbow, rainbow, rainbow"?

5. How do these images prepare us for the conclusion? Why does the speaker let the fish go?

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