Powerfully Subdued: An Analysis of the Romantic View of Nature in “The Fish” Addie Stone 11th Grade

Nature often horrifies and frightens us. Whether it is a snake that has the potential to kill with one bite or a raging flood that can destroy an entire town in a matter of minutes, the natural world often causes us to cower in sight of its abilities. However, what we truly fear is not an animal lacking legs or a gross amount of water; we as humans dread the inalienable power that nature holds, and this fear often turns into a desire to control, subdue, and destroy. Nevertheless, artists during the period of Romanticism in the 19th century worked to conquer the destructive desires surrounding nature and in doing so recognized the immense awe and respect the world could draw out of a person thanks to its inherent beauty. Though written after Romanticism had come and gone, Elizabeth Bishop’s “The Fish” reflects much of the period’s ideology regarding the power of and appreciation for nature. While humans may have the power to restrain and even vanquish certain aspects of the natural world, Bishop, through the image of the fish, portrays nature as resilient and commanding and in the end reveals that we can often find much more of a reward in letting it be.

Often times we view nature in the same way that the fisher in the poem...