Trout-Speare'd at Syon Park

(adapted of course from Shakespeare's famous sonnet)

Shall I compare thee to a rainbow trout?

Thou art more lovely and more hard to catch

Rough winds do make the casting bloody hard,

And you know who hath all to short a tippet

Sometime too, hot the water of Syon Park lies, 

And often is his fishy movements dimm'd; 

And every fly or buzzer has been tried

On knots so caref'ly dressed and trimm'd;

But thy eternal frustration shall fade

As thou gain'st possession of that thou owest; 

Nor shall The Rod brag thou wander'st in his shade, 

When in eternal lines around the pond thou playeth: 

So long as men can cast or eyes can see, 

So long lives smoke, and this gives taste to thee.