Angler

[Hawkman]

Disguised,
you, who eat only fish,
stand bank-side on the stream
and scan for traces which betray
a well grown trout.
In clear water,
large amongst the minnows,
one stands out.

Now,
lure him close
with ground-bait praise,
till at your call he comes to feed
on flattery that lulls.
In time, he’ll take it freely from your hand,
unaware that at your core
your heart’s a gull’s.

[hillwalker]

I had you down for a kingfisher, Hawk.

Nice image you create of the stealth and patience required to lure a fish so close.

'flattery that lulls' - a great phrase that could apply in many other instances, and it cleverly sets up the rhyme for the closing line.

I'm wondering is 'who eat only fish' necessary though. It was more of a distraction than an insight.

H

[AuntShecky]

A vivid scenario which perfectly blends a description of an event in nature with the human element of observer.

Wait-- is the angler a human or another species, such as a bear? The one doing the fishing isn't necessary a gull (who has no "hands" to hold the bait), but he or she does have the "heart" of a gull.

Perplexed!

[Haunted]

Images so vivid, I can almost touch it: a well grown trout; clear water; large amongst the minnows.

And that's what makes the double entendre works so well here. The fishing metaphor reveals someone using flattery as a disguise to lure his victim. The parallel can't be more perfect. Kudos to the Hawk.

[Hawkman]

hill: I think I'd rather be an Osprey :D Thanks for reading :)

Auntie: thank you too, but I apologise for perplexing you!

Haunted: I think Chaucer used the phrase: "false dissimulour" in the Nuns's Priest's Tale to describe one such as my angler ;) Thanks for reading and enjoying.

Live and be well - H

[blank|verse]

Interesting one, this, Hawk; open to interpretation. I thought it was about a heron at first, but the characteristics in the second stanza seem to rule this out.

It all depends how you read the human qualities of 'praise' and 'flattery that lulls'; and the title which brings to mind the expressions 'fishing for compliments', or indeed 'angling for praise'. In context (on LitNet), it could be read as about the poet-critic relationship - the angler 'scans' the stream, as one 'scans' a poem - but I'm not sure that works completely - why would the angler/critic be 'fishing for compliments', surely it should be the poet/fish? So maybe that reading's not quite right!

On a technical point - is groundbait used for trout fishing? I could be wrong but from my younger days spent on the canalside, I seem to remember groundbait being used only in coursefishing, in slow-moving or still waters; otherwise it gets washed downstream, and trout are caught by fly, aren't they?

Back to the poetry - there's an interesting stanza shape, as the lines seem to expand and contract, which is nicely achieved. But I'm not keen on the two apostrophes close together in "heart's a gull's" - it's a bit clumsy, especially for a closing line.

And I think last time I gave you a link to Seamus Heaney's 'Docker'; this one reminds me of Trout (http://www.wildfly.net/id3.html), also from his first collection 'Death of a Naturalist' (scroll down the page to read the poem). Good stuff.

[Buh4Bee]

I'm not going to talk about the structure, but I really like the meaning. I enjoyed the layering. You can read it at a concrete level or you could read it metaphorically. Nice and simple and leaves the reader many opportunities to think about the meaning.

[Hawkman]

Hi b/v, and thanks for the link, a fine Heaney poem that gets better with every reading.

You are correct too in that ground bait isn't used in fly fishing, but I needed a rhyme for out - lol perhaps my metaphors a little mixed if one takes them too literally ;)

Glad my little effort gave you something to think about, even if you're not keen on the last line - but thanks as always for reading and letting me know you had.

B4B: Thanks to you too and I'm glad you got so much out of it.

Live and be well - H

[PrinceMyshkin]

It's the precision that gets me, Hawk, the clear-eyed deliberation of it, which could of course have a moral intent but is fine enough as a vivid recording of those moments.

[Hawkman]

Thanks Prince, glad you liked it. :)

Live and be well - H

[aliengirl]

Hi Hawk, I'm back here after more than two weeks and it is really nice to find such a beautiful poem. It reminds me of a poem I read in school in which a spider flatters a fly and then catches it. That's the way of the clever hunters, both animal and human.

Though all the images in the poem are vivid I love the image created in these lines -

"In clear water,
large amongst the minnows,
one stands out."

And I think "flattery that lulls" is a clever and very useful phrase.

[Hawkman]

Hi Ripley, and welcome back :) Thanks for reading and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Live and be well - H