Classic Poem

Here 's the catch of the season. Behold and take heed,
Ye benders of greenheart on Tayside and Tweed,
All ye who have tempted with minnow or fly
Her treasure from Leven, her wealth from the Wye!
Before us stand silent, all ye who would boast
Of tarpons ye fought on the Florida coast,
Of strong-running rainbows that fell to your hook
Where the tawny snow-water comes down from Mount Cook,
Of the baskets the swift-trotting bronchos brought home
From the canyon where pools of the White River foam!

Your thirty-pound salmon sent ne'er such a thrill
Through the proud man that played him by Rutherford Mill.
As is throbbing this moment right home to the heart
Of the tiniest angler from Tummel to Dart.
Your seven-pound trout had no power as a prize
To kindle such light in his conqueror's eyes
As is lit in the deeps of those blue ones that gaze
On " the trout that I catched" on this day of all days.
No gold can out-glory, no jewel surpass
This atom of silver that gleams in the grass.