In a quiet pool edged with reeds, a pike rests almost invisible in the brown, sun-silvered water. The speaker watches closely, aware of the fish’s stillness among shadows. Then, without warning, the pike flicks its tail, and the water comes alive in swift streaks of olive green, copper, and orange. The movement is sudden and vivid against the sleepy background. What begins as a scene of drowsy stillness turns into a brief, electric glimpse of a hidden creature. The speaker’s tone is calm but full of attention, as if holding a small discovery. The mood is one of quiet suspense and wonder—an ordinary moment in a pond becomes charged with color and motion, then the fish disappears into the blurred reflections of the willows, leaving the pool to settle back into stillness.
The Pike — Summary
In the brown water, Thick and silver-sheened in the sunshine, Liquid and cool in the shade of the reeds, A pike dozed. Lost among the shadows of stems He lay unnoticed. Suddenly he flicked his tail, And a green-and-copper brightness Ran under the water.
Out from under the reeds Came the olive-green light, And orange flashed up Through the sun-thickened water. So the fish passed across the pool, Green and copper, A darkness and a gleam, And the blurred reflections of the willows on the opposite bank Received it.