This morning I went fishing all alone,

And sat for ‘most a day upon a stone;

I dropped my line with care into the brook,

And watched the little fish swim round my hook.

I said, “Kind fish, do bite without a worm;

I have one, but I hate to feel him squirm.

If you will only please me in this way,

I’ll give my wiggly worm to you for pay.”

But there, I never had a single bite;

It seems to me they did not treat me right.

If I were just a fishie in a brook,

To please a little boy, I’d bite his hook.