Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Scotland: Vols. VI–VIII. 1876–79.

Loch Fyne

The Herring-Fishers of Lochfyne

By Richard Chenevix Trench (1807–1886)

DEEM not these fishers idle, though by day

You hear the snatches of their lazy song,

And see them listlessly the sunlight long

Strew the curved beach of this indented bay:

So deemed I, till I viewed their trim array

Of boats last night,—a busy armament,

With sails as dark as ever Theseus bent

Upon his fatal rigging, take their way.

Rising betimes, I could not choose but look

For their return; and when along the lake

The morning mists were curling, saw them make

Homeward, returning toward their quiet nook,

With draggled nets down-hanging to the tide,

Weary, and leaning o’er their vessels’ side.