The poetic perspectives of nature featured in 'The Fish' by Elizabeth Bishop and 'Spring and All' by William Carlos Williams are contrasted and compared in five pages. There are no other sources listed.
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the poems are quite different in content, the styles of the two poets are similar in that both create vivid visual images that convey a particular view of nature, which
shows how nature relates to a human perspective. In Bishops poem, nature is symbolized by the fish that she describes. The fish is obviously old and battle-weary, as other
hooks hanging from its mouth attest to the fact that it has been caught many times before and managed to escape. The fish, like nature in general, has already endured
much abuse from humanity, so much so, that the animal has lost the will to fight. Bishop states that "He didnt fight / He hadnt fought at all" (lines 9-10).
Like a weary warrior, the fish is too old and too sick to continue the battle. While the symbol for nature in Bishops poem is nearing the end
of its cycle, Williams paints a portrait of nature at the beginning of its cyclical renewal. Williams paints the a portrait of spring that emphasizes the "pain" of this new
birth, as winter cold still lingers as the first signs of resurgent life appear. The most striking similarity between the two poems is the facility with which each poet
employs descriptive words to create in the reader an appreciation for the reality of nature. This is not to imply that these poets paint nature as picture-perfect pretty. Rather, these
poets show nature is a more realistic manner that paints it warts-and-all, so to speak. For example, Bishop uses descriptive language to show the reader that this fish is old
-- really old. "Here and there / his brown skin hung in strips / like ancient Bishop wallpaper" (lines 13-15). Obviously Bishop wallpaper is a particular kind of wallpaper that