Saturday, April 11, 2015

The Ideal and the Real


                                          (Dedicated to _______ ______ ______*)


I fished adown a swirling stream
     Knee deep in springtime bliss;
“Was ever man so fortunate,”
     My glad heart cried, “as this?”
It was a perfect April day
     An ideal day for trout;
My rod was new, my reel in tune,
     My line both new and stout.

The stream it teemed with darting fish,
     Big fellows all aglow;
I was cock sure of that because
     The farmer told me so.
I’d tipped him with a fiver, then
     I opened up my gear;
O, joy the foaming falls to see,
     O joy the splash to hear!

Down, mile on mile, I swashed within
     The winding, weaving stream;
My singing reel in sweet accord
     With wood and wave agleam!
O, what a tale for fireside cup,
     Perchance – but woe is me!
The only strike I got was when
     He hit me for the “V”.



April 11, 1910


                                                                *Write your name on the lines above.

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