Pike By: Ted Hughes
The title focuses immediate attention on the creature’s under scrutiny and on the natural world, which informs most of Ted Hughes's work, nature. This specific poem sets itself apart from Hughes's other works because it reveals something very personal, his fear of this cannibalistic fish at which stems from his childhood. The poem can be divided into three parts and three changing perspectives. The first two stanzas set the scene and introduce the reader to this very intriguingly beautiful monster. By using the phrase, "Killers from the egg," Ted Hughes once again provides the dark and eerie tone that leaves the reader to question the connotation of this fish that was previously referred to as "perfect". It is ironic that a big man is afraid of a fish that is "three inches long". The narrator's role is also questionable because Hughes kept the main focus on the fish and its environment. The presence of symbolism is also evident throughout t...