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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE POACHER; A SERIOUS BALLAD by THOMAS HOOD

Poet Analysis

First Line: BILL BLOSSOM WAS A NICE YOUNG MAN
Last Line: AND LOST HIS LIFE IN NOTTS.
Subject(s): POACHING;
BILL BLOSSOM was a nice young man,
And drove the Bury coach;
But bad companions were his bane,
And egg'd him on to poach.

They taught him how to net the birds,
And how to noose the hare;
And with a wiry terrier,
He often set a snare.

Each "shiny night" the moon was bright,
To park, preserve, and wood
He went, and kept the game alive,
By killing all he could.

Land-owners, who had rabbits, swore
That he had this demerit --
Give him an inch of warren, he
Would take a yard of ferret.

At partridges he was not nice;
And many, large and small,
Without Hall's powder, without lead,
Were sent to Leaden-Hall.

He did not fear to take a deer
From forest, park, or lawn;
And without courting lord or duke,
Used frequently to @3fawn.@1

Folks who had hares discovered snares --
His course they could not stop:
No barber he, and yet he made
Their hares a perfect crop.

To pheasant he was such a foe,
He tried the keeper's nerves;
They swore he never seem'd to have
@3Jam@1 satis of @3preserves.@1

The Shooter went to beat, and found
No sporting worth a pin,
Unless he tried the @3covers@1 made
Of silver, plate, or tin.

In Kent the game was little worth,
In Surrey not a button!
The Speaker said he often tried
The @3Manors@1 about @3Sutton.@1

No county from his tricks was safe;
In each he tried his lucks,
And when the keepers were in @3Beds,@1
He often was at @3Bucks.@1

And when he went to @3Bucks,@1 alas!
They always came to @3Herts;@1
And even @3Oxon@1 used to wish
That he had his deserts.

But going to his usual @3Hants,@1
Old @3Cheshire@1 laid his plots;
He got entrapp'd by legal @3Berks,@1
And lost his life in @3Notts.@1



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