The Struggle

A heavy tug and your line grows taut,

     And you strike with all your might,

And you reel and reel while your pulses feel

     Like a war horse at the fight.

Then a curving line and an upward shoot,

     And the water breaks to spray;

And the salmon leaps from placid deeps,

     In his          to get away.

Then he plunges deep and you reel him in,

     And he runs away again;

And you reel and reel and the joy you feel

     Can never be told by pen.

He dives and he drags and he hulks and he sulks,

     And he fights the good fight well,

Till he slowly yields, and the good net shields,

     And you have the tale to tell.

July 24, 1904