The Angler’s Farewell.

“Resigned, I kissed the rod.”

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 watery¹ dimple;

But however I wish

To inveigle² 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 Bream

Must be scarce in the stream,

And the Chub, tho’ it’s chubby³, be thinnish!

Not a Trout⁴ there can be in the place,

Not a Grayling or Rud worth the mention,

And although at my hook

With attention I look,

I can ne’er see my hook with a Tench on!

At a brandling once Gudgeon would gape⁵,

But they seem upon different terms now;

Have they taken advice

Of 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 gut⁶ I have brought,

I had better have bought

A good rope that was used to Jack-ketching!

Not a nibble⁷ has ruffled⁸ my cork⁹,

It is vain in this river to search then;

I may wait till it’s night,

Without any bite

And at roost-time have never a Perch¹⁰ then!

No Roach can I meet with — no Bleak¹¹,

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 prize

To be got in this fresh-water-lottery!

What then can I deem

Of so fishless a stream

But that ’tis — like St. Mary’s —Ottery!

For an Eel¹² I have learned how to try,

By a method of Walton’s own showing —

But a fisherman feels

Little prospect¹⁴ of Eels¹³,

In a path that’s devoted¹⁵ 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 paint

What it is, without Fish, to be Fasting!

And the rain drizzles¹⁶ 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!

1 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

2 inveigle   

v.诱骗

参考例句：

• In the main,the Eisenhower administration did not try to inveigle Kennedy into underwriting it's policies.总的说来，艾森豪威尔政府并没有设法诱骗肯尼迪在它的政策上签字画押。
• With patience and diplomacy,she can eventually inveigle him into marrying her.她靠耐心和交际手腕，到头来是能引诱他与她结婚的。

3 chubby   

adj.丰满的，圆胖的

参考例句：

• He is stocky though not chubby.他长得敦实，可并不发胖。
• The short and chubby gentleman over there is our new director.那个既矮又胖的绅士是我们的新主任。

4 trout   

n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属)

参考例句：

• Thousands of young salmon and trout have been killed by the pollution.成千上万的鲑鱼和鳟鱼的鱼苗因污染而死亡。
• We hooked a trout and had it for breakfast.我们钓了一条鳟鱼，早饭时吃了。

5 gape   

v.张口，打呵欠，目瞪口呆地凝视

参考例句：

• His secretary stopped taking notes to gape at me.他的秘书停止了记录，目瞪口呆地望着我。
• He was not the type to wander round gaping at everything like a tourist.他不是那种像个游客似的四处闲逛、对什么都好奇张望的人。

6 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

7 nibble   

n.轻咬，啃；v.一点点地咬，慢慢啃，吹毛求疵

参考例句：

• Inflation began to nibble away at their savings.通货膨胀开始蚕食他们的存款。
• The birds cling to the wall and nibble at the brickwork.鸟儿们紧贴在墙上，啄着砖缝。

8 ruffled   

adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She ruffled his hair affectionately. 她情意绵绵地拨弄着他的头发。
• All this talk of a strike has clearly ruffled the management's feathers. 所有这些关于罢工的闲言碎语显然让管理层很不高兴。

9 cork   

n.软木，软木塞

参考例句：

• We heard the pop of a cork.我们听见瓶塞砰的一声打开。
• Cork is a very buoyant material.软木是极易浮起的材料。

10 perch   

n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于

参考例句：

• The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
• Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。

11 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

12 eel   

n.鳗鲡

参考例句：

• He used an eel spear to catch an eel.他用一只捕鳗叉捕鳗鱼。
• In Suzhou,there was a restaurant that specialized in eel noodles.苏州有一家饭馆，他们那里的招牌菜是鳗鱼面。

13 eels   

abbr. 电子发射器定位系统（=electronic emitter location system）

参考例句：

• Eels have been on the feed in the Lower Thames. 鳗鱼在泰晤士河下游寻食。
• She bought some eels for dinner. 她买回一些鳗鱼做晚餐。

14 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

15 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

16 drizzles   

蒙蒙细雨，毛毛雨( drizzle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• "Grain lain" day-bringing gentle drizzles-was not far off. “谷雨”节一天近一天了。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕
• It drizzles sometimes, moistening the thirsty fields lightly and selflessly. 它大多是毛毛细雨，轻柔而又无私地滋润着干涸的大地。