The Goose Fish

The goose fish is a tantalizing symbol. The entire poem revolves around it but it never unequivocally discloses its meaning. The lovers hesitate when they see it, “Wondering what it seemed to say” (Line 22), as well they might. The goose fish is described in terms that might seem to be opposites. He is “Most ancient and corrupt and grey,” which has a negative connotation, but then “his smile” (Line 21) gives a different impression, suggesting—at least to a human observer—positive, happy feelings. Opposites are expressed again in stanza 4, in “peaceful and obscene” (Line 29), and in the fact that the goose fish might mean “failure or success” (Line 32); he is also, in the final stanza, presented as “dreadfully mild” (Line 37), another combination of opposites. The lovers declare him an “optimist” (Line 36) and adopt him as their patriarch because they seem desperately to want some affirmation of their love and do not want to focus on the more forbidding aspects of the symbol. The fish symbol is also a vehicle for the wit of the poet, who seems determined not to allow it to be tied down to a specific meaning. He, like the fish, is a “comedian” (Line 31).