The Biggest Fish
When, in the halcyon days of old, I was a little tyke,I used to fish in pickerel ponds for minnows and the like;And, oh, the bitter sadness with which my soul was fraughtWhen I rambled home at nightfall with the puny string I'd caught!And, oh, the indignation and the valor I'd displayWhen I claimed that all the biggest fish I'd caught had got away!
Sometimes it was the rusty hooks, sometimes the fragile lines,And many times the treacherous reeds were actually to blame.I kept right on at losing all the monsters just the same--I never lost a little fish--yes, I am free to sayIt always was the biggest fish I caught that got away.And so it was, when, later on, I felt ambition passFrom callow minnow joys to nobler greed for pike and bass;I found it quite convenient, when the beauties wouldn't biteAnd I returned all bootless from the watery chase at night,To feign a cheery aspect and recount in accents gayHow the biggest fish that I had caught had somehow got away.
And, really, fish look bigger than they are before they're caught--When the pole is bent into a bow and the slender line is taut,When a fellow feels his heart rise up like a doughnut in his throatAnd he lunges in a frenzy up and down the leaky boat!Oh, you who've been a-fishing will indorse me when I sayThat it always is the biggest fish you catch that gets away!
'Tis even so in other things--yes, in our greedy eyesThe biggest boon is some elusive, never-captured prize;We angle for the honors and the sweets of human life--Like fishermen we brave the seas that roll in endless strife;And then at last, when all is done and we are spent and gray,We own the biggest fish we've caught are those that get away.
I would not have it otherwise; 'tis better there should beMuch bigger fish than I have caught a-swimming in the sea;For now some worthier one than I may angle for that game--May by his arts entice, entrap, and comprehend the same;Which, having done, perchance he'll bless the man who's proud to sayThat the biggest fish he ever caught were those that got away.
Words in this poem 17
- pickerel n.
- A young or small pike. [Dim. of Pike.]
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- fraught n.
- A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
- nightfall n.
- The close of the day.
- puny a.
- Imperfectly developed in size or vigor; small and feeble; inferior; petty. [F. puîté younger, later born, OF. puisné; puis afterwards (L. post; see Post-) + né born, L. natus. See Natal, and cf. Puisne.]
- biggest a.
- , superl. of Big.
- callow a.
- Destitute of feathers; naked; unfledged. [OE. calewe, calu, bald, AS. calu; akin to D. kaal, OHG. chalo, G. Kuhl; cf. L. calvus.]
- greed n.
- An eager desire or longing; greediness; as, a greed of gain. [Akin to Goth. grdus hunger, Icel. graedhr. sq. root34. See Greedy.]
- convenient a.
- Fit or adapted; suitable; proper; becoming; appropriate. [L. conveniens, -entis, suitable, p.pr. of convenire to be suitable, to come. See Convene, v. i.]
- bootless a.
- Unavailing; unprofitable; useless; without advantage or success. [From Boot profit.]
- somehow adv.
- In one way or another; in some way not yet known or designated; by some means; as, the thing must be done somehow; he lives somehow.
- bigger a.
- , compar. of Big.
- doughnut n.
- A small cake (usually sweetened) fried in a kettle of boiling lard.
- indorse v. t.
- To cover the back of; to load or burden. [LL. indorsare. See Endorse.]
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- elusive a.
- Tending to elude; using arts or deception to escape; adroitly escaping or evading; eluding the grasp; fallacious.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Biggest Fish is in the public domain. This text is taken from Hoosier Lyrics, Project Gutenberg ebook #36150; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eugene Field, The Biggest Fish, in Hoosier Lyrics (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36150, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-poems/the-biggest-fish.html, id L11583.
Form and metre
The Biggest Fish is 35 lines in 5 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABBCC, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 14.1 syllables. 31% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABBCC tykeA · likeA · fraughtB · caughtB · displayC · awayC
- 2 -AABBCCDDBB lines · blameA · sameA · sayB · awayB · passC · bassC · biteD · nightD · gayB · awayB
- 3 AABBCC caughtA · tautA · throatB · boatB · sayC · awayC
- 4 AABBCC eyesA · prizeA · lifeB · strifeB · grayC · awayC
- 5 AABBCC beA · seaA · gameB · sameB · sayC · awayC
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When, in the halcyon days of old, I was a little tyke, | 14 | ···/˘······/˘· |
| I used to fish in pickerel ponds for minnows and the like; | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| And, oh, the bitter sadness with which my soul was fraught | 13 | ···/˘/˘······ |
| When I rambled home at nightfall with the puny string I'd caught! | 15 | ··/˘··/···/˘··· |
| And, oh, the indignation and the valor I'd display | 14 | ····˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| When I claimed that all the biggest fish I'd caught had got away! | 15 | ······/˘·····˘/ |
| Sometimes it was the rusty hooks, sometimes the fragile lines, | 14 | ˘/···/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| And many times the treacherous reeds were actually to blame. | 12 | ·/··/˘··/˘·· |
| I kept right on at losing all the monsters just the same-- | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| I never lost a little fish--yes, I am free to say | 13 | ·/··/˘······· |
| It always was the biggest fish I caught that got away. | 14 | ·/···/˘·····˘/ |
| And so it was, when, later on, I felt ambition pass | 14 | ·····/˘···˘/˘· |
| From callow minnow joys to nobler greed for pike and bass; | 14 | ·/˘/˘··/˘····· |
| I found it quite convenient, when the beauties wouldn't bite | 14 | ····˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| And I returned all bootless from the watery chase at night, | 14 | ··˘/·/˘··/˘··· |
| To feign a cheery aspect and recount in accents gay | 14 | ···/˘/··˘/·/˘· |
| How the biggest fish that I had caught had somehow got away. | 15 | ··/˘······/··˘/ |
| And, really, fish look bigger than they are before they're caught-- | 14 | ·/˘··/˘······· |
| When the pole is bent into a bow and the slender line is taut, | 16 | ···········/˘··· |
| When a fellow feels his heart rise up like a doughnut in his throat | 16 | ··/˘·······/···· |
| And he lunges in a frenzy up and down the leaky boat! | 15 | ··/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| Oh, you who've been a-fishing will indorse me when I say | 14 | ·····/˘·˘/···· |
| That it always is the biggest fish you catch that gets away! | 15 | ··/···/˘·····˘/ |
| 'Tis even so in other things--yes, in our greedy eyes | 13 | ·/··/˘···//˘· |
| The biggest boon is some elusive, never-captured prize; | 13 | ·/˘···˘/˘//˘· |
| We angle for the honors and the sweets of human life-- | 14 | ·/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| Like fishermen we brave the seas that roll in endless strife; | 13 | ·/˘·······/˘· |
| And then at last, when all is done and we are spent and gray, | 14 | ·············· |
| We own the biggest fish we've caught are those that get away. | 14 | ···/˘·······˘/ |
| I would not have it otherwise; 'tis better there should be | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| Much bigger fish than I have caught a-swimming in the sea; | 14 | ·/˘······/˘··· |
| For now some worthier one than I may angle for that game-- | 14 | ···/˘····/˘··· |
| May by his arts entice, entrap, and comprehend the same; | 14 | ····˘/˘/··˘/·· |
| Which, having done, perchance he'll bless the man who's proud to say | 14 | ·/˘·˘/········ |
| That the biggest fish he ever caught were those that got away. | 14 | ··/˘··/·····˘/ |
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