Song of the Reel

I break the woodland’s morning hush with clear and silvery tones,

I laugh in glee to see my fish go leaping over stones;

Now backwards, forwards, in the fight, will man or fish be king!

And all the while I spin and smile, and smile and spin and sing.

                    I am just a bit of steel,

                    Just a simple laughing reel,

Yet my music is the music which the angler loves to hear;

                   And I sing and sing away

                    While my victim is at play,

And I’m happy if my music pleases well my master’s ear.

And in the gloomy winter nights when snow is on the ground,

And every stream is frozen up for miles and miles around,

My master kindly takes me out, fond memories to bring,

And turns me round and round and round, the while I gaily sing.

                   For I ‘m just a bit of steel,

                   Just a simple singing reel,

But my song is hailed by thousands as a song of peace and rest;

                   And I hope to ever sing,

                    Both for pauper and for king,

By the fireside or river, where it suits my master best.

April 14, ‘09