A Modest Fisherman

They’s an itchin’ threw my fingers

     Fur the feelin’ uv a pole;

An’ a fishy hunger knawin’

     At the aiges uv my soul.

To my ears there comes a splashin’

     Uv a meller waterfall,

An’ a gleam uv sumthin’ golden

     Leapin’ jest above it all.

Now I wouldn’t keer fur livin’

     If all fishin’ wuz denied;

I would hand my checks right over

     A surrender satisfied.

But so long they’s brooks an’ rivers

     An’ a fish tur hook an’ play,

I wuld like tur live a million

     Years an’ fish three times a day.

Feb. 20, 1900