Poem- "Catch" by Langston Hughes

[Ms. Knarr]

Catch

By Langston Hughes 1902–1967

Big Boy came
Carrying a mermaid
On his shoulders
And the mermaid
Had her tail
Curved
Beneath his arm.


Being a fisher boy,
He’d found a fish
To carry—
Half fish,
Half girl
To marry.

[mikeriga]

Not to be rude anyone, but I'm commenting first on this one. Sorry classmates.

[bradoconnor]

"Catch" by Langston Hughes has a very obscure meaning hid between its lines. I believe that this poem relates to how a man "catches" a woman for him to marry. The fisher boy, used his personality and lifestyle and found the woman of his dreams. He found a half fish and a half woman which due to his way of life, might as well be he perfect woman for any fisherman.

I thought that this poem was a great read. Although short, this poem is full of meaning and must have taken an extremely long time to perfect a work of art such as this. Also I thought that the exotic rhyme scheme really gave this poem character of its own by keeping the reader interested throughout the poem itself.


1) What is the significance of her tail being curved beneath the fisher boys arm?
2) Why does Langston refer to the fisher boy as Big Boy in line one?
3) Since she is half fish half girl is she the fisher boy's dream girl?
4) Why did Hughes use such an exotic rhyme scheme in this poem?

[bradoconnor]

Mike Im so sorry, I started writing this before you posted that. I Hope its ok

[seanpalen]

1. "Catch" by Langston Hughes is a very simple yet perplexing poem. It is simple in that its language is understandable but the deeper meaning is hard to find. I believe Hughes may be relating to men's pursuit of women. It is often said that a desireable woman is a catch and I think that Hughes may be attempting to get at that here. I am not sure what the meaning of the last stanza is but I believe Hughes may be hinting at women's rights. Because the boy is carrying the mermaid she may have no choice but to marry him. There are many different possible interpretations to this poem.

2. I like the poem because it is simple and carries a quite serious deeper meaning. Yet, I am having trouble deciphering what that meaning is. I know it must have some reference to women's rights but I can't put my finger on it exactly. Because of this it is a poem that will truly make the reader think and that is what any author wants.

3. What is the significance of the tail being curved beneath the boy's arm (if there is any)? What do you think Hughes is inferring in the last stanza? Why did Hughes write this poem? What is the relation between this poem and the civil rights movement?

[seanpalen]

My bad. Saw blank with no comments at 4:05 so I went for it. Oops.

[mikeriga]

The overall meaning of this poem, "Catcher," is about loving another person, and in this case a woman. Hughes talks about a boy who catches a mermaid's heart and eventually marries the fish. At first when reading the poem I thought it was just another fairytale that ends in "happily ever after," however there's so much more to it. Hughes emphasized in lines ten through eleven that this love is different, it was half fish and half woman. Personally, to me this is about how he might had fell in love with a black woman. The reason being is because they had less rights than white woman, and in this poem Big Boy is trying to catch her. Another thought is that the woman could be white, but she was looked down upon in society for being with a black man. These are my two descriptions of the poem.
My reaction after reading this piece is that it seems like Langston Hughes had a tough love life, or had seen marriages being affected by society's views. In this poem he tries to grasp the reader's attention to how "falling in love" is not so easy during the time he lived. I really enjoyed how he used the mermaid as a symbol, and how this female in the poem can be viewed in so many different lights. Another aspect of the poem I really enjoy is how he describes the mermaid as being also in love with him by the way her tail is against him. I think that's so interesting! My overall opinion of this poem is that it's really interesting because it's not like any other love story, because it's affected by race, sex, and also society; and that's why I like this poem.
One of the things I do not understand about this poem is why Langston Hughes descibes the male as Big Boy, is that the way he describes himself or what? What is the reason for him calling the poem "Catch," is there any significance for this? In line eight, he says "Being a Fisher Boy," what does he mean when he says this? Finally, what is your opinion of the mermaid?

[deannazaha]

1. I have to agree with Mike's idea for the meaning of the poem. I believe that Langston Hughes wrote this poem in order to show the difficulty in finding love. Although the poem itself is short, it says a lot. The boy, who is a fisher, went and found himself a mermaid. This perhaps can mean that he wants to blend his love of work with his love of a woman. Ideal love for anyone is to find someone who loves you, and also supports what you do. The mermaid may represent how the fisher boy wants to "marry" his job with his love life. He would not want to cease doing his job for the interest of a girl, but rather be able to continue his job with a girl by his side. Veering from the literal meaning of the poem, figuratively it might refer to how men can take advantage of women. This mermaid has no legs; she cannot run nor choose her fate. As a "Big Boy" and a fisher, he might have found her and grabbed her and decided to marry her. The fisherman dominates the fish, the man dominates the woman.

2. I enjoyed reading this poem. I really do like Langston Hughes' view on a lot of things. He seems to describe things in a very discrete way and I like that. This poem may be short, but it does have a point to get across to the readers. So I do like the poem because of the way it is written. I personally like to interpret things and this poem did have to be decoded. Although I am not certain of the actual meaning of this poem, I like the fact that it is open-ended. It broadens one's thought process to take different things into account and figure out what exactly the meaning of it is.

3. In response to Mike's last question, my opinion of the mermaid is that she represents a woman without a choice. As I had said before, she doesn't seem to have much of a decision with what the fisher boy is doing. She may represent the supposedly "ideal" woman for this man because he's going to marry her for being something that he found, perhaps a possession? It does seem up to interpretation though. My new question: Is the fact that he his carrying the mermaid on his shoulders significant?

[mikeriga]

1.) I really appreciate all of the comments on this poem. Deanna I find your view of the mermaid really interesting on how it's a woman with no choice. In ways I can see this because she is carried upon his shoulder, but also it continues on to say how her tail fin is curved under his shoulder. To me, this means how the mermaid wanted to be with him and kept him close to her. So I would say I disagree with your view, but I can see why you would think that. For example, he found the fish it says so maybe, but I'm sticking with my view.

2.) To answer Deanna's question I think it is very significant that the creature is carried upon the man's shoulder. It shows how the female was helpless due to the fact she had no rights and or was looked down upon. Her being carried on the shoulder shows the Big Boy as being role model for all people. This poem is about equality and her being carried on the shoulder reminds us to treat those of different sex or race equally.

3.) My question: Why did Hughes end his poem with saying, "To marry."? Is there a significance behind these two last words?

[morganclyne]

1. The overall meaning of this poem would be a very simplistic one. The poem discusses the adventure of finding love in a very basic way. Hughes, uses a fisherman finding a fish to show a man's search for a women. When he fisherman finds the right fish he marries her just like a man and woman would do in real life. The poem reminds me of the saying "There is many fish in the sea, but there is only one for me." I feel this is the basic meaning of the poem. I also agree with Sean's idea that Hughes may be hinting at women's rights.
2. In reaction to piece, I did enjoy it. I felt that in a little piece it was able to make your mind interpret many things that Hughes may have been trying to convey. The poem discusses love and relationships and the search for your soul mate. I liked this poem also because i enjoy short poems that I am able to make an interpretation on my own, I feel Hughes did a great job.
3.In response to Mike's question number two, I feel that Hughes choose the name Catch for a specific reason. I think this name was chosen because a fisherman will have the "best catch" and in life when you marry someone it is typically the best person you could have ever ended up with so again, the "best catch". I think that Catch was a great name given to the poem but can also be interpreted in many ways. Finally, my question would be: Would you agree that since the mermaids tail is curved behind his arm, Hughes was trying to infer that the mermaid was comfortable with him and wanted to be with him ?

[bradoconnor]

I agree with Sean's point of view, in saying that this poem could definitely be related to women's right. The way the woman is described as a fish can definitely mean that she has no choice whether or not she can marry him

Answering Deanna's question, By the fisher boy holding the mermaid on his shoulders, it can infer that she has no choice whether or not to marry him because he has "caught her."

My Question: Why does Hughes refer to the fisher as a boy rather than a man?