D. C. Berry's Fishy Metaphor
‘On Reading Poems to a Senior Class at South High’
A fascinating little poem that uses an extended metaphor is D. C. Berry's "On Reading Poems to a Senior Class at South High."
D. C. Berry’s “On Reading Poems to a Senior Class at South High” consists of seven free verse paragraphs that use the metaphor of fish in an aquarium to describe the speaker’s experience of reading poems to a senior class.
First Verse Paragraph: “Before”
In the opening verse paragraph, the speaker claims that before he started speaking, he noticed that the students were sitting like “frozen fish / in a package.” They were just sitting at their desks all in a row, all in order, apparently not expecting much from the speaker.
Second Verse Paragraph: “Slowly water began to fill the room”
Then the speakers brings the frozen fish to life by claiming that water was filling the room, but he did not notice it until it “reached / [his] ears.” He had begun reading, but because he did not expect them to be interested in listening to his poetry, he felt that he just droning on.
But then he starts to notice that they were coming alive. The water had thawed out the frozen fish, and he begins to hear them moving about.
Third Verse Paragraph: “and then I heard the sounds”
Then the speaker becomes fully aware that the students are not only listening to his poems, but they are also reacting to them. They are no longer “frozen fish”; they are “fish in an aquarium.” At this point, he understands that “though I had / tried to drown them / with my words / that they had only opened up / like gills for them / and let me in.”
He begins to feel that instead of a stuffy old poet forcing his poetry on uninterested students, he was one of them, and they were all fish in an aquarium enjoying the swim.
Fourth Verse Paragraph: “Together we swam around the room”
They swim around “like thirty tails whacking words.” The students responded to his poems in a manner that told him they were not only understanding the poems but also enjoying them enough to call out appropriate responses. They were totally engaged, and the speaker/poet was pleasantly surprised.
They continued to enjoy the poetry until “the bell rang / puncturing / a hole in the door.” The bell rings, ending the class period.
Fifth Verse Paragraph: “where we all leaked out”
The fifth verse paragraph consists of only one line: “where we all leaked out.” They students/fish leaked out through the hole in the door that was caused by the ringing bell.
Sixth Verse Paragraph: “They went to another class”
After “leaking” out of the classroom, the students had to go somewhere, and the speaker had to go somewhere. The speaker guesses that the students went to another class, and he goes home.
Seventh Verse Paragraph: “where Queen Elizabeth”
The speaker retains his feeling of being a fish until after he returns home. The pleasant feeling of having communicated with classroom full of seniors at a high school had given him a euphoria which lasted until “Queen Elizabeth / my cat met me / and licked my fins / till they were hands again.”
