SPARE THE ROD.
Daily Chronicle, September 8, 1902
[In Wisconsin, U.S.A., a Bill has been passed inflicting a fine on fishermen who exaggerate the extent of their catch.]
Surprise and pain our bosoms rack,
And mortified we feel.
’Tis time to stand upon our rights,
My brethren of the creel.
The tales we tell—I know it well—
Want pruning now and then,
But say, are we, and only we,
Imaginative men?
Is Jones to boast of drives at golf
That travelled out of sight?
Is Smith to prate of how he shot
Those woodcock left and right?
Shall Brown’s excited fancy play
Upon his infant son,
And all the marvels he performed
Although his age is one.
And shall there be no check for Brown,
No tax on Jones’s myths?
And shall our legislators pass
Unmoved those yarns of Smith’s?
Shall such as these say what they please,
While we must pay a fine?
Not only those who throw it should
Be taught to draw the line.
P. G. W.