The Land Of Plenty Comments
The old sturgeon held his fishing pole
Sitting well away from the busy shoal
Right on the pond's mossy bed.
He swung it once, swung with might,
...
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i paused to puzzle over the first stanza. i have not read further/farther....yet. not father! i was trying to figure out why the line was speeding through the WATER, as no mention had yet been made of a fish taking the bait and running with it. THEN i recalled 'who' was holding the pole! time to read on and see if the poem stays interesting; i bet it will. Here my one chance to gain entry.............may i suggest: 's? guess where. And then watched me bemused Wriggling by his boots.........................which is bemused? i think switching the word order might help to clarify the situation. then again, if it is left as is, the reader can decide for her/himself! i guess, if the one on the hook is gasping for air, it is NOT the one on the hook who is bemused. the topic: deception. could it be that the one on the hook was also 'on drugs' and had been hallucinating about life in the pond, thinking it preferable to life out of the pond? i think literally rather than symbolically usually. a bit of a mind teaser, the poem. but my mind is easily teased! unique story. to MyPoemList. bri ;)
Yes, a very fine and interesting allegory. The catcher caught. How many land in the rich guy's pocket! Yet count themselves blessed. It radiates well, Rod. A very good effort.
DearTom, your comment hit it dead on the head (the proverbial nail) . Thanks for your appreciation! ... Rod
A descriptive adventure of fishing...which could be as well an allegory.
Allegory indeed. Though you can always read it in a more literally-minded way: fish trying to even the score with human! Either way is OK, though I meant it in allegorical terms. Thanks for commenting.... Rod
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9/7/2025 7:46:57 AM # 1.0.0
a poem that includes a tasty bit of bait but could this be man's eventual fate? which is not to live in the land of plenty cos it has all gone to the fat Gentry! ...............well written.
Hi Tom. Thanks for stopping by and I'm glad you liked this one. Yeah, it can be read on various levels: someone thought it was a nice poem about fishing and that's perfectly alright. Your own take it's quite interesting too, and bottom line is: it's great for a poet to have immediate feedback from the reader (something that was not as easily done in Byron or Shelley's time for sure!) because that can enrich the poet's point of view, as in a two-way feedback loop Thanks again.