Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MY FIRST PIECE OF BEAR by WILLIAM STEWARD GORDON

First Line: IN THE FALL OF '95, / WHILE THE BOYS WERE ON THE DRIVE
Last Line: AND NOT STRUGGLE WITH YOUR FIRST PIECE OF BEAR.
Subject(s): ANIMALS; BEARS; HUNGER; HUNTING; HUNTERS;
In the fall of '95,
While the boys were on the drive
A-roundin' up the cattle on the range,
A trapper friend of mine
Caught a bruin, fat and fine,
For the mountains of Nehalem nothin' strange.

And he cut me off a piece,
And I fried it in the grease,
And I thought I had a morsel very rare;
But it smelled so kind o' funny,
Like a mess of fish and honey—
As I sized up my first piece of bear.

But nothin' could be finer,
And a hungry "Forty-niner"
Would have eaten more than that for his share!
But my stomach kept objectin',
And I sorter sat reflectin'
Whether I could really eat a piece of bear.

And it kept a kind o' stickin',
And I thought I felt it kickin',
As I swallowed at my first piece of bear;
Then I braced against the table,
With a look the ancient fable
Said the Trojans in a battle used to wear.

And I just shut my eyes
And pounced upon my prize,
Like I didn't have a minute for to spare;
And I guess it holds to reason
That you needn't stop to season,
When you get a fellow hungry as a bear.

And oftentimes you'll find
That your taste is in your mind
When you're turnin' up your nose in the air;
If you didn't know its name,
You could eat it and be game,
And not struggle with your first piece of bear.


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