AND IF I DID, WHAT THEN? 'And if I did, what then?
Are you aggrieved therefore?
The sea hath fish for every man,
And what would you have more?'
Thus did my mistress once
Amaze my mind with doubt;
And popped a question for the nonce,
To beat my brains about.
Whereto I thus replied:
'Each fisherman can wish
That all the seas at every tide
Were his alone to fish;
'And so did I, in vain;
But since it may not be,
Let such fish there as finds the gain,
And leave the loss for me.
'And with such luck and loss
I will content myself,
Till tides of turning time may toss
Such fishers on the shelf.
'And when they stick on sands,
That every man may see,
Then will I laugh and clap my hands,
As they do now at me.'