Imagery in The Fish

In another twist of image and language, Moore refers to the dark mussel shells as “crow-blue.” Because a crow’s plumage is primarily black, the use of “blue” evokes an image of black with shimmers of blue, which turns out to be an accurate description of a mussel shell. In a testament to economy of language, Moore accomplishes all of this with two syllables.

Moore carefully controls the poem’s imagery. By comparing water to “black jade,” the image becomes earthy and tactile. The metaphor is fresh in that the comparison crosses states of matter, from liquid to solid.