The Angler's Farewell
Well! I think it is time to put up!For it does not accord with my notions,Wrist, elbow, and chine,Stiff from throwing the line,To take nothing at last by my motions!
I ground-bait my way as I go,And dip in at each watery dimple;But however I wishTo inveigle the fish,To my gentle they will not play simple!
Though my float goes so swimmingly on,My bad luck never seems to diminish;It would seem that the BreamMust be scarce in the stream,And the Chub, tho' it's chubby, be thinnish!
Not a Trout there can be in the place,Not a Grayling or Rud worth the mention,And although at my hookWith attention I look,I can ne'er see my hook with a Tench on!
At a brandling once Gudgeon would gape,But they seem upon different terms now;Have they taken adviceOf the "Council of Nice,"And rejected their "Diet of Worms," now?
In vain my live minnow I spin,Not a Pike seems to think it worth snatching;For the gut I have brought,I had better have boughtA good rope that was used to Jack-ketching!
Not a nibble has ruffled my cork,It is vain in this river to search then;I may wait till it's night,Without any biteAnd at roost-time have never a Perch then!
No Roach can I meet with--no Bleak,Save what in the air is so sharp now;Not a Dace have I got,And I fear it is not"Carpe diem," a day for the Carp now!
Oh! there is not a one-pound prizeTo be got in this fresh-water-lottery!What then can I deemOf so fishless a streamBut that 'tis--like St. Mary's--Ottery!
For an Eel I have learned how to try,By a method of Walton's own showing--But a fisherman feelsLittle prospect of Eels,In a path that's devoted to towing!
I have tried all the water for miles,Till I'm weary of dipping and casting,And hungry and faint--Let the Fancy just paintWhat it is, without Fish, to be Fasting!
And the rain drizzles down very fast,While my dinner-time sounds from a far bell--So, wet to the skin,I'll e'en back to my inn,Where at least I am sure of a Bar-bell!
Words in this poem
- dimple n.
- A slight natural depression or indentation on the surface of some part of the body, esp. on the cheek or chin. [Prob. a nasalized dim. of dip. See Dip, and cf. Dimble.]
- inveigle v. t.
- To lead astray as if blind; to persuade to something evil by deceptive arts or flattery; to entice; to insnare; to seduce; to wheedle. [Prob. fr. F. aveugler to blind, to delude, OF. aveugler, avugler, avegler, fr. F. aveugle blind, OF. aveugle, avugle, properly, without eyes, fr. L. ab + oculus]
- swimmingly adv.
- In an easy, gliding manner, as if swimming; smoothly; successfully; prosperously.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- chubby a.
- Like a chub; plump, short, and thick.
- grayling n.
- A European fish (Thymallus vulgaris), allied to the trout, but having a very broad dorsal fin; -- called also umber. It inhabits cold mountain streams, and is valued as a game fish. [From Gray, a.]
- tench n.
- A European fresh-water fish (Tinca tinca, or T. vulgaris) allied to the carp. It is noted for its tenacity of life. [OF. tenche, F. tanche, L. tinca.]
- gudgeon n.
- A small European freshwater fish (Gobio fluviatilis), allied to the carp. It is easily caught and often used for food and for bait. [OE. gojon, F. goujon, from L. gobio, or gob, Gr. 1st Goby.]
- roach v. t.
- To cause to arch.
- dace n.
- A small European cyprinoid fish (Squalius leuciscus or Leuciscus vulgaris); -- called also dare. [Written also dare, dart, fr. F. dard dase, dart, of German origin. Dace is for an older darce, fr. an OF. nom. darz. See Dart a javelin.]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Angler's Farewell is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood, Project Gutenberg ebook #15652; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Hood, The Angler's Farewell, in The Song of the Shirt, and Other Poems (1826–1845), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15652, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hood-poetical-works/the-angler-s-farewell.html, id L20149.
Form and metre
The Angler's Farewell is 60 lines in 12 stanzas of 5 lines each. The metre is anapaestic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in anapaestic trimeter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A--A up · notionsA · chine · line · motionsA
- 2 -ABBA go · dimpleA · wishB · fishB · simpleA
- 3 -ABBA on · diminishA · breamB · streamB · thinnishA
- 4 -ABBA place · mentionA · hookB · lookB · onA
- 5 -ABBA gape · nowA · adviceB · niceB · nowA
- 6 --AA- spin · snatching · broughtA · boughtA · ketching
- 7 -ABBA cork · thenA · nightB · biteB · thenA
- 8 -ABBA bleak · nowA · gotB · notB · nowA
- 9 -ABBA prize · lotteryA · deemB · streamB · otteryA
- 10 -ABBA try · showingA · feelsB · eelsB · towingA
- 11 -ABBA miles · castingA · faintB · paintB · fastingA
- 12 -ABBA fast · bellA · skinB · innB · bellA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against anapaestic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Well! I think it is time to put up! | 9 | ········· |
| For it does not accord with my notions, | 10 | ····˘/··/˘ |
| Wrist, elbow, and chine, | 5 | ·/··· |
| Stiff from throwing the line, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| To take nothing at last by my motions! | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| I ground-bait my way as I go, | 8 | ········ |
| And dip in at each watery dimple; | 10 | ·····/˘˘/˘ |
| But however I wish | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| To inveigle the fish, | 6 | ·˘/˘·· |
| To my gentle they will not play simple! | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| Though my float goes so swimmingly on, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| My bad luck never seems to diminish; | 10 | ···/˘··˘/˘ |
| It would seem that the Bream | 6 | ······ |
| Must be scarce in the stream, | 6 | ······ |
| And the Chub, tho' it's chubby, be thinnish! | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| Not a Trout there can be in the place, | 9 | ········· |
| Not a Grayling or Rud worth the mention, | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| And although at my hook | 6 | ······ |
| With attention I look, | 6 | ·˘/˘·· |
| I can ne'er see my hook with a Tench on! | 10 | ·········· |
| At a brandling once Gudgeon would gape, | 10 | ··/˘˘·/˘·· |
| But they seem upon different terms now; | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Have they taken advice | 6 | ··/˘˘/ |
| Of the "Council of Nice," | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| And rejected their "Diet of Worms," now? | 10 | ·˘/˘·/˘··· |
| In vain my live minnow I spin, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Not a Pike seems to think it worth snatching; | 10 | ········/˘ |
| For the gut I have brought, | 6 | ······ |
| I had better have bought | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| A good rope that was used to Jack-ketching! | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Not a nibble has ruffled my cork, | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| It is vain in this river to search then; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I may wait till it's night, | 6 | ······ |
| Without any bite | 5 | ··/˘· |
| And at roost-time have never a Perch then! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| No Roach can I meet with--no Bleak, | 8 | ········ |
| Save what in the air is so sharp now; | 9 | ········· |
| Not a Dace have I got, | 6 | ······ |
| And I fear it is not | 6 | ······ |
| "Carpe diem," a day for the Carp now! | 8 | ········ |
| Oh! there is not a one-pound prize | 8 | ········ |
| To be got in this fresh-water-lottery! | 11 | ······/˘/˘˘ |
| What then can I deem | 5 | ····· |
| Of so fishless a stream | 6 | ······ |
| But that 'tis--like St. Mary's--Ottery! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| For an Eel I have learned how to try, | 9 | ········· |
| By a method of Walton's own showing-- | 10 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| But a fisherman feels | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Little prospect of Eels, | 6 | /˘/˘·· |
| In a path that's devoted to towing! | 10 | ····˘/˘·/˘ |
| I have tried all the water for miles, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Till I'm weary of dipping and casting, | 10 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| And hungry and faint-- | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Let the Fancy just paint | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| What it is, without Fish, to be Fasting! | 10 | ········/˘ |
| And the rain drizzles down very fast, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| While my dinner-time sounds from a far bell-- | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| So, wet to the skin, | 5 | ····· |
| I'll e'en back to my inn, | 6 | ······ |
| Where at least I am sure of a Bar-bell! | 10 | ·········· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.