In answering this question you will want to focus on the
way that the pike is presented as a ruthless, terrifying predator, that even is able to
scare the speaker himself. Consider how the pike is introduced in the first
stanza:
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.
There is somthing
about the alliteration of the "p" in "Pike" and "Perfect / Pike" and the way that it is
separated by other words and then the line break that gives a vaguely menacing tone to
the fish. In addition, note how the pike has "green tigering the gold" of its colour,
comparing it to another violent creature, the tiger. The third line assures us that all
pike are "Killers from the egg." They are born to be violent killers, and the way that
the pike is described as having a "malevolent aged grin" likewise serves to present it
as a figure that inspires horror in its victims and those who look upon
it.
Perhaps the most terrifying imagery that is used to
present the pike is in the final stanza, where the poet himself goes fishing, describing
how his hair is "frozen on my head" at the thought of what he might come across. The
final line of the poem imagines the pike watching the human as an invader in his
territory and presents the pike as a menacing, violent and deadly entity that is not
deterred even by the strength of humans:
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.
The image of the
pike rising towards the speaker, coldly watching him calculatingly ends the poem on a
note of fear and terror.
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