A critical appreciation of 'The Pike'
"Pike , three inches long, perfect" is the short line from the poem 'The Pike' written by Ted Hughes that strikes you when you read it.The poet is referring to a fish named pike and he even tells you how small it is."Pike in all parts, green tigering the gold" this is a somewhat illogical line but on further analysis ,"tigering" could mean that the poet is referring to the stripes of a tiger and showing that similarity with comparison to that of the pike."Killers from the egg : the malevolent aged grin" - this line shows that from the first word, the poet starts to build up tension in the reader.He uses words like killers , malevolent and grin to make the pike seem scary.In the third stanza , the line "Gloom of their stillness" invokes mystery in the mind of the reader.The poet refers to the pikes' teeth as jaws in the line-"The jaws' hooked clamp and fangs ". These words in the line show exaggeration and also he again refers to to words like -"jaws , hooked clamp and fangs" as proof of his exaggeration.From this point , the readers' mind is immediately diverted to that of something big and scary.
Then comes a small story in the middle, fit into one stanza , about three pikes kept in a tank (all three of sizes increasing by half).Then immediately comes the line, "Suddenly there were two.Finally one." which shows that they viscously attacked and killed each other until one remained.What would one pike do?The poet is trying to exaggerate the viciousness of the pike again in increased levels.In another line "Indeed they spare nobody" makes the reader think that the prey of the pike is extended to the wider world......FUNNY-Don't you think the fish just got bigger and that its description exceeds the capabilities of a three inch fish?He starts to now describe the pike in his own way.After all , what is the purpose of a writer?To educate of course.
The line "One jammed past its gills down the others gullet"again proves his exaggeration of how dangerous the pike really is."A pond I fished , fifty years across",-starting from this line , the poet has shifted his setting from a fish tank to a small pond.In the coming lines , he slowly increases the size of the pond ( bigger and deeper as well) with the line - "Stilled legendary depth:""It was as deep as England".The word England is being used there as the country England represents itself with deep history, so the poet cleverly uses that depth in association to what he wants to represent of how deep it actually is."Pike too immense to stir , so immense and old"-just have a look where the three - inch fish has ended up!"The past nightfall I dared not cast" - this line makes the reader feel as if he is present with the writer-which starts to get the reader scared.
The poet explains how scared he was- naturally scaring the reader too.In the rest of the poem , he explains how scared he is to fish in a pond where the pike resides.
To conclude all this , the pike is a poem which leaves the reader scared of the pike soon after reading it .It shows the poet's ability to make the reader believe his exaggerations.You know when you are fooled when after reading the poem , you turn back and see the first line again-"Pike , three inches long , perfect".
