Poem-A-Day/April 16
(APOLOGIES--Posted to the wrong blog)
Poem-A-Day/April 16
https://poets.org/poem/fish-1
***
Read this poem aloud. Read it slowly, savoring every phrase. Note how it deepens and we move forward, its own tentative journey into darkness and fear and even (amazingly) "injury" and "abuse--revealing, along the way, magnificent life forms.
You may (Moore will permit it, though probably wouldn't agree) see this as a poem about the self as it accumulates hurts, physical and emotional scars (whether from accident, or from intentional harm, by oneself of by others); and about how landscapes and bodies reveal past traumas.
(APOLOGIES--Posted to the wrong blog)
Poem-A-Day/April 16
https://poets.org/poem/fish-1
***
Read this poem aloud. Read it slowly, savoring every phrase. Note how it deepens and we move forward, its own tentative journey into darkness and fear and even (amazingly) "injury" and "abuse--revealing, along the way, magnificent life forms.
You may (Moore will permit it, though probably wouldn't agree) see this as a poem about the self as it accumulates hurts, physical and emotional scars (whether from accident, or from intentional harm, by oneself of by others); and about how landscapes and bodies reveal past traumas.
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ReplyDeleteAnother day, another moving Moore poem! Hi all!
ReplyDeleteI really was captivated by "The Fish," perhaps because the title initially presents the image of a universal creature that has inhabited the earth for so long , and yet Moore is capable of giving it an entirely new meaning and purpose. The rhyme in the first lines: "wade/through black jade.." (41) immediately caught my attention, as the end-stop forces the reader to pause and visualize the scene. The image of going through murky waters is a metaphor for meeting unforeseen circumstances and the disorienting effects of traumatic events. The line "adjusting the ash heaps" felt particularly morbid to me, as it evoked images of cremation, or rising again after death or trauma, like the phoenix. Another image that really stuck with me was the "barnacles which encrust the/side," which felt symbolic of the detrimental social attitudes like consumerism, for example, which gradually affix themselves to our society, making a home there, but also corrode it. The image of the sun illuminating the "crevices" depicted a notion of feeling a constant sense of vulnerability when others probe into your inmost fears and desires. The water which can "drive a wedge" seemed representative of the discord that can develop in familial relationships, especially because water is a constant, unbreakable force. The unrelenting streaming of water will always end up exerting its weight, and therefore can erode "the iron edge" which protects the boundaries present in a relationship. The "marks of abuse are present/on/this/defiant edifice" (42) explicitly makes clear how the body displays all marks of pain and hardship externally, as if to chronicle one's life in a physical sense. The "chasm side" and "grooves" represent internal destruction, in contrast, brought about by the powerful forces which find their way into one's psyche and soul. The ending in which Moore states that "The old sea grows in it" implies that growth can occur when all has been lost, but we are still constantly under siege by the Herculean forces of the sea, or metaphorically, our own trauma, preconceived notions, and discordant bonds.
Happy weekend, everyone! See you on Tuesday :)
Hi everyone, hope you all had lovely weekends! This poem was a powerful one, perhaps because of the vivid image it paints in the reader’s minds through a simultaneous use of words and its form. This poem talks a lot about the way in which our society has mistreated the species with whom we co-inhabit Earth and Moore is a witness to this deteriorating ecosystem. Through phrases such as “ash-heaps,” “marks of abuse,” and “burns, and / hatchet strokes,” it portrays the barbaric nature of human beings and the consequence of our actions on the natural habitat. A topic especially relevant in this day and age, this poem allows readers to rethink their perception of the ocean and reconsider how their actions are harming the environment. By bringing in ideas ranging from fish looking like injured fans to jellyfish and crabs sliding on each other through the iron edge of the cliff, it paints an entirely different picture of morbidity and death. The way in which the poem is laid out represents the back and forth nature of waves, wherein the beginning of each stanza begins with a single word. Furthermore, the repeated enjambment connects not only the ideas in the poem from one stanza to the next but represent in a larger context how the ecosystem is interconnected. These factors rarely act in isolation and the consequences are felt by everyone when any one part falls out of line from the rest. Perhaps in a larger context, this poem represents the cycle of life because although the ocean serves as the source of life, it is fragile and easily damaged by external factors.
ReplyDelete