What is the crisis, in the poem "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop? crisis as it relates to American crisis poems. Examples: Whitman's "As I Ebb'd with...

That is an
interesting question.  You will find extensive analysis of "" online, including an
excellent e-notes analysis (see link below), but these sites do not directly answer your
question.  In the poem, the speaker experiences an epiphany when there is "joy" in the
boat and releases the fish at the end of the poem.  Prior to this the speaker sees and exults in
the life of the fish--seeing something in the fish's life and liveliness that she (the speaker)
can relate to.  The crisis, therefore, could be seen as what to do with the fish, perhaps
especially at the moment where the indifferent fish refuses to return the speaker's gaze.  Once
the speaker sees even more beauty and life in the fish--the five hooks, for example, as evidence
of the fish's earlier struggles--she is no longer in doubt and releases the fish in
joy.