Symbol Analysis
Maybe the cliff has an identity crisis, maybe not. But either way that edifice-cliff thingy is very important to "The Fish." In fact, it may be a symbol for humanity, enduring constant abuse from both nature and man. Even if a part of it dies, the thing still keeps on living. And you thought waiting at the DMV was bad.
- Lines 18-20: All the figurative language here gets us thinking that nature can be awfully violent at times as the water drives an "iron wedge" through the cliff. The cliff is all scarred up by nature here, but it's got an "iron edge" that suggests it's tough and will endure all the abuse.
- Lines 26-29: There's no hiding all the abuse with those "marks" showing up on the cliff's surface. However, it's "defiant," which gets us thinking even more that the cliff is a symbol for humanity, "defiant" in its own way despite all sorts of wear and tear.
- Lines 33-34: Here the cliff is getting beat up by man and his "dynamite" and "hatchet strokes." So we get the sense that abuse comes in many forms, both in nature and man. But we also may think that one of these abusers can be controlled (hint: we're looking at you, humanity).
- Lines 35-36: After all the abuse it's taken, the cliff's "chasm-side" is dead. Here we get the sense that there are real consequences to these constant beatings. Though we have more figurative language here, the takeaway point seems to be that a part of humanity may be lost or killed because of all the abuse.
- Lines 37-40: We know these lines aren't about to shout answers at us, but we get the sense that the cliff "live[s] on" things that can't make it young again, whether those things are real, spiritual, or abstract (like experience). And still it endures, just like people.