Back to my line and hook.

I wish I could wade by the water's edge,

Where the fallen leaves drift by;

Just to see, in the shadow of the ledge,

How dark forms glide, like a woodman's wedge,

Through driftwood piles and the coarse marsh sedge,

And to hear the bittern cry.

Back where the tadpoles shift and sink,

Back where the bull-frogs sob;

Back just to float