The relationship between man and animal is often explored in literary works, and poetry is no exception. In Elizabeth Bishop's "The Fish," a man catches a fish, but after scrutinizing him carefully and noting the array of fish hooks already in the fish's jaw, the fisherman releases it back into the water. D.H. Lawrence's "Snake" depicts a man at a water trough, who soon finds a snake drinking with him. After considering what others would say about him not killing the snake, he finds he both respects the snake and misses it when he is gone. In both works, the speakers have feelings of resistance or distance at first toward the animals they interact with, but then, after seeing the dignity and majesty of these creatures, realize that they have more in common than they thought previously.
When the speakers first see their respective creature, they have preconceived notions about what is expected they should do about it. The fisherman, after catching the fish, knows that he is to keep the fish and eat it, something the fish presumably would not want. However, despite what the fisherman typically thinks of fish, "He didn't fight. / He hadn't fought at all." (Bishop). Also, Lawrence's narrator, after seeing the snake and admiring its shape, letting it drink from the water trough, considers what others expect him to do: "voices in me said, If you were a man
You would take a stick and break him now, and finish him off" (Lawrence). In both of these cases, the speakers are expected to do harm to the animal, killing them for either food or self-preservation.
Over the course of the poems, however, these speakers understand new things about the animals, finding a majesty that they did not recognize before in other creatures. The fisherman notices a strange defiance in the fish, since it appears as though the fish pays him no mind. The fish's eyes "shifted a little, but not / to return my stare. / --It was more like the tipping / of an object toward the light" (Bishop). Lawrence's snake-handler sees the snake not as a threat, but as a companion, thanking it for deigning to come "like a guest in quiet, to drink at my water-trough / And depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless, / Into the burning bowels of this earth?" (Lawrence) Both speakers understand the inherent nobility and grace of these animals, which are usually hunted and killed, as their instincts tell them to do initially.
These animals also teach the speakers a few things about themselves. The fisherman finds himself feeling pride at his catching of this elusive fish who, from the many fish hooks of snapped lines that had come before, seemed to be quite the master at evading capture. The fact that the fisherman was able to catch this majestic escape artist makes him feel great: "I stared and stared / and victory filled up / the little rented boat" (Bishop). Upon understanding the accomplishment he made that day, he lets the fish go, feeling that it deserved another chance to live considering how hard it had fought up to that point.
As for Lawrence's man at the water trough, he goes through many more swings and roundabouts of emotion before his interaction with the snake is done. After understanding that he did not want to kill the snake, he feels guilt for not doing what society (and manhood) expected him to do, and meekly throws a log at the snake as it departs. It spooks the snake, just outing the speaker as a coward. The speaker regrets it right afterwards: " I thought how paltry, how vulgar, what a mean act! / I despised myself and the voices of my accursed human education" (Lawrence). From that point, he realizes that he has upset his inspiration, damaged the spiritual connection he had with the snake out of pettiness. Since he "missed [his] chance with one of the lords / of life," he understands now that he needs to be more honest and secure with himself.
In conclusion, both of these poems have interesting things to say about the relationship between man and nature. In Elizabeth Bishop's "The Fish," the man spends his time catching any old fish that comes across, but when he recognizes the battle-weary and accomplished fish that he catches in the poem, he decides to respect the fish's temerity and bravery, and let it go. In DH Lawrence's "Snake," a man learns to respect the snake who comes to visit his water trough like a companion, but his own doubt and his insecurity about being a man costs him that companion. These respective animals show a sophistication and strange dignity, showing both the best and worst of the humans who interact with them. The fisherman learns humility and respect, while the man at the water trough discovers his own pettiness and lack of respect for himself.
Works Cited
Bishop, Elizabeth. "The Fish."
Lawrence, DH. "Snake."
