The Literary Fly Fisher

“Sabrina’s Silvery Flood,” from Robert John Thornton’s “The Pastorals of Virgil.” William Blake, 1821.

In preparing a lecture on the possible relationship between the Romantic Movement and the eventual embrace of outdoor recreation (other than field sports) in the United States, I found myself thinking of William Blake. Blake is certainly not one of the optimistic romantics, such as transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau, who might normally come to mind when thinking about outdoor recreation. Still, Blake’s poetry and visual art are stunning. In his song “Memory, hither come,” composed when he was just a boy, Blake captures the sense of mystery that all moving water embodies with just a few words.

“Memory, hither come” (1783)

Memory, hither come,
And tune your merry notes;
And, while upon the wind
Your music floats,

I’ll pore upon the stream
Where sighing lovers dream,
And fish for fancies as they pass
Within the watery glass.

I’ll drink of the clear stream,
And hear the linnet’s song;
And there I’ll lie and dream
The day along:

And, when night comes, I’ll go
To places fit for woe,
Walking along the darken’d valley
With silent Melancholy.

This entry was posted on April 10, 2013 at 9:43 PM and is filed under Fly Fishing Literature, The Arts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.