Pike
Pike, three inches long, perfect
Pike in all parts, green tigering the gold.
Killers from the egg: the malevolent aged grin.
They dance on the surface among the flies.
Or move, stunned by their own grandeur,
Over a bed of emerald, silhouette
Of submarine delicacy and horror.
A hundred feet long in their world.
In ponds, under the heat-struck lily pads-
Gloom of their stillness:
Logged on last year's black leaves, watching upwards.
Or hung in an amber cavern of weeds
The jaws' hooked clamp and fangs
Not to be changed at this date:
A life subdued to its instrument;
The gills kneading quietly, and the pectorals.
Three we kept behind glass,
Jungled in weed: three inches, four,
And four and a half: red fry to them-
Suddenly there were two. Finally one
With a sag belly and the grin it was born with.
And indeed they spare nobody.
Two, six pounds each, over two feet long
High and dry and dead in the willow-herb-
One jammed past its gills down the other's gullet:
The outside eye stared: as a vice locks-
The same iron in this eye
Though its film shrank in death.
A pond I fished, fifty yards across,
Whose lilies and muscular tench
Had outlasted every visible stone
Of the monastery that planted them-
Stilled legendary depth:
It was as deep as England. It held
Pike too immense to stir, so immense and old
That past nightfall I dared not cast
But silently cast and fished
With the hair frozen on my head
For what might move, for what eye might move.
The still splashes on the dark pond,
Owls hushing the floating woods
Frail on my ear against the dream
Darkness beneath night's darkness had freed,
That rose slowly toward me, watching.
Pike in all parts, green tigering the gold.
Killers from the egg: the malevolent aged grin.
They dance on the surface among the flies.
Or move, stunned by their own grandeur,
Over a bed of emerald, silhouette
Of submarine delicacy and horror.
A hundred feet long in their world.
In ponds, under the heat-struck lily pads-
Gloom of their stillness:
Logged on last year's black leaves, watching upwards.
Or hung in an amber cavern of weeds
The jaws' hooked clamp and fangs
Not to be changed at this date:
A life subdued to its instrument;
The gills kneading quietly, and the pectorals.
Three we kept behind glass,
Jungled in weed: three inches, four,
And four and a half: red fry to them-
Suddenly there were two. Finally one
With a sag belly and the grin it was born with.
And indeed they spare nobody.
Two, six pounds each, over two feet long
High and dry and dead in the willow-herb-
One jammed past its gills down the other's gullet:
The outside eye stared: as a vice locks-
The same iron in this eye
Though its film shrank in death.
A pond I fished, fifty yards across,
Whose lilies and muscular tench
Had outlasted every visible stone
Of the monastery that planted them-
Stilled legendary depth:
It was as deep as England. It held
Pike too immense to stir, so immense and old
That past nightfall I dared not cast
But silently cast and fished
With the hair frozen on my head
For what might move, for what eye might move.
The still splashes on the dark pond,
Owls hushing the floating woods
Frail on my ear against the dream
Darkness beneath night's darkness had freed,
That rose slowly toward me, watching.
Summary
The speaker's intense feelings towards the pike are depicted in "Pike" by Ted Hughes. The poem initially shows the speaker's admiration of the pike, but this later turns into fear. Various literary devices are employed to show these feelings.
The speaker's intense feelings towards the pike are depicted in "Pike" by Ted Hughes. The poem initially shows the speaker's admiration of the pike, but this later turns into fear. Various literary devices are employed to show these feelings.
First stanza
The pikes are initially portrayed as extraordinary fish. This is shown from the way they are described as "perfect, "long" and "stunned by their own grandeur". This also represents the pikes as a form of precious wealth as they are also described as having "green tigering the gold" and having an "emerald" silhouette. This shows that the poet admires the pikes because of the sense of grandeur that is established from the description of the pikes. However, the use of diction, specifically the word "tigering" may also connote danger, as it shows that the pikes are evil and menacing, like a tiger. This is emphasized through the description of the pikes as "killers from the egg" with "malevolent aged grin[s]". This shows that they were born to kill and have been doing so for their entire lives.
The pikes are initially portrayed as extraordinary fish. This is shown from the way they are described as "perfect, "long" and "stunned by their own grandeur". This also represents the pikes as a form of precious wealth as they are also described as having "green tigering the gold" and having an "emerald" silhouette. This shows that the poet admires the pikes because of the sense of grandeur that is established from the description of the pikes. However, the use of diction, specifically the word "tigering" may also connote danger, as it shows that the pikes are evil and menacing, like a tiger. This is emphasized through the description of the pikes as "killers from the egg" with "malevolent aged grin[s]". This shows that they were born to kill and have been doing so for their entire lives.
Second stanza
The pikes are metaphorically described as "submarine[s] [of] delicacy and horror". This shows that the poet fears them as well as admires them, since the use of diction, specifically the word "horror" is the first of its semantic field in the poem and shows outright that the poet fears the pikes. The word "submarine" has connotations of the military and this shows that the pikes carry out their killing with almost military precision and that they are extremely stealthy, despite their grandeur.
The pikes are metaphorically described as "submarine[s] [of] delicacy and horror". This shows that the poet fears them as well as admires them, since the use of diction, specifically the word "horror" is the first of its semantic field in the poem and shows outright that the poet fears the pikes. The word "submarine" has connotations of the military and this shows that the pikes carry out their killing with almost military precision and that they are extremely stealthy, despite their grandeur.
Third stanza
As the poem progresses, the reader can see that the speaker is clearly terrified of the pike and what it does. The fact that the pikes are "under the heat struck lily pads" or "hung in an amber cavern of weeds" shows that they are always lurking underneath the surface, barely revealing themselves. This is intensified by enjambment throughout the poem: all the stanzas in the poem are made up of four lines each, but the amount of syllables in these lines range from anywhere from seven to thirteen. This ambiguity represents the pikes in the way that something is lurking beneath the surface, with no clear sense of rhythm. The enjambment throughout the poem shows that this is constantly happening.
As the poem progresses, the reader can see that the speaker is clearly terrified of the pike and what it does. The fact that the pikes are "under the heat struck lily pads" or "hung in an amber cavern of weeds" shows that they are always lurking underneath the surface, barely revealing themselves. This is intensified by enjambment throughout the poem: all the stanzas in the poem are made up of four lines each, but the amount of syllables in these lines range from anywhere from seven to thirteen. This ambiguity represents the pikes in the way that something is lurking beneath the surface, with no clear sense of rhythm. The enjambment throughout the poem shows that this is constantly happening.
Fourth stanza
The description of the pike's merciless killing adds to the sense of unease and fear that has been established previously. A killed animal is described as a "life subdued to [the pikes'] instrument}. The use of diction, specifically the word "instrument", suggests a methodical approach to killing. The pikes' "gills kneading quietly" adds to the apparent stealth of the pikes. The fact that the pectorals are featured shows the pikes' extreme strength, as they are the pikes' core muscles, and the fact that they are "kneading quietly" shows that killing is completely effortless for the pikes.
The description of the pike's merciless killing adds to the sense of unease and fear that has been established previously. A killed animal is described as a "life subdued to [the pikes'] instrument}. The use of diction, specifically the word "instrument", suggests a methodical approach to killing. The pikes' "gills kneading quietly" adds to the apparent stealth of the pikes. The fact that the pectorals are featured shows the pikes' extreme strength, as they are the pikes' core muscles, and the fact that they are "kneading quietly" shows that killing is completely effortless for the pikes.
Fifth stanza
In the fifth stanza, the focus shifts from the pikes to the speaker. It describes how the speaker used to keep pikes as pets, but they ate each other until there was "finally one". The domination of the singular pike is also supported by earlier evidence that the pikes are at the top of the food chain: that they are "a hundred feet long in their world", which shows that nothing can rival them. This shift of focus also completes the transition from the pikes being beautiful creatures to being, in the speaker's opinion, murderous cannibals.
In the fifth stanza, the focus shifts from the pikes to the speaker. It describes how the speaker used to keep pikes as pets, but they ate each other until there was "finally one". The domination of the singular pike is also supported by earlier evidence that the pikes are at the top of the food chain: that they are "a hundred feet long in their world", which shows that nothing can rival them. This shift of focus also completes the transition from the pikes being beautiful creatures to being, in the speaker's opinion, murderous cannibals.
Final stanzas
The poet continues to depict the pike as a killing machine in the final stanzas of the poem. The sixth and seventh stanzas show this through the depiction of a competition between two pikes. They are described as being "two feet long", enormous compared to the "three inches" mentioned just a stanza earlier. The fact that the pikes "spare nobody" shows that they will kill whatever they see, including other pikes.
The poet continues to depict the pike as a killing machine in the final stanzas of the poem. The sixth and seventh stanzas show this through the depiction of a competition between two pikes. They are described as being "two feet long", enormous compared to the "three inches" mentioned just a stanza earlier. The fact that the pikes "spare nobody" shows that they will kill whatever they see, including other pikes.