AND ANGLING SONGS. 73 



Hark ! 'tis the music of the reel, 



The strong, the quick, the steady : 

 The line darts from the circling wheel, 



Have all things right and ready. 



ii. 

 A birr ! a whirr ! the salmon 's out 



Far on the rushing river, 

 He storms the stream with edge of might, 

 And like a brandish'd sword of light, 

 Rolls flashing o'er the surges white, 



A desperate endeavour ! 

 Hark to the music of the reel ! 



The fitful and the grating ; 

 It pants along the breathless wheel, 



Now hurried, now abating. 



in. 

 A birr ! a whirr ! the salmon 's off ! 



No, no, we still have got him ; 

 The wily fish has sullen grown, 

 And, like a bright embedded stone, 



Lies gleaming at the bottom. 

 Hark to the music of the reel ! 



'Tis hush'd, it hath forsaken ; 

 With care we '11 guard the slumbering wheel 



Until its notes rewaken. 



IV. 



A birr ! a whirr ! the salmon 's up ! 



Give line, give line and measure ; 

 And now he turns, keep down a-head 

 And lead him as a child is led, 



And land him at your leisure. 



