The Fish
Although you hide in the ebb and flow
Of the pale tide when the moon has set,
The people of coming days will know
About the casting out of my net,
And how you have leaped times out of mind
Over the little silver cords,
And think that you were hard and unkind,
And blame you with many bitter words.
Rooney, Kathleen. "The Fish." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2014.
The rhyme scheme of the poem is ABABCDCD. Every rhyme is a perfect end rhyme except for D, which is an eye rhyme ("cords" and "words" look alike but don't sound alike). The poem is about a harsh breakup of a friendship or a relationship for the author, as the other person was "hard and unkind" and Yeats has nothing but "bitter words" for this person. The tough experience is described through the eyes of a fisherman failing to catch a fish. During the first four stanzas, the poem is vague and could be interpreted as simply a story about a fish; the perfect end rhymes contribute to this innocent claim. Still, the dark imagery of the "pale tide" and a setting moon foreshadows a change for the worse. Once Yeats employs personal pronouns like "you" and emphasizes the last line by breaking the perfect rhyme scheme, we know that this is a more personal, tragic story for the author. He places the blame on the other person, and mentions their elusive and cold response to him "casting out (his) net."
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