Beside a gentle murm’ring brook
An Angler took his patient stand;
He ey’d the stream with anxious look,
And wav’d his rod with cautious hand.
The bait with nicest art was drest,
The fishes left their safe retreat;
And one more eager than the rest,
Look’d, long’d, and swallow’d the deceit.
Too late she felt the poignant smart,
Her pitying friends her fate deplore;