Summary

"The Bait" begins with the speaker enticing his beloved to "Come live with me, and be my love" (1). He explains that they will enjoy all the "pleasures" of a sea-dwelling life, like "golden sands, and crystal brooks, / With silken lines, and silver hooks" (2-3). In this fantasy, the beloved's eyes will provide warmth to the flowing river. The fish who dwell there will be "enamour'd" and will stay put in order to be near the enchanting beloved (7).

The speaker explains that when the beloved enters the water to swim, all of the fish will flock toward her. They will swim "amorously" and will be "gladder to catch thee, then thou him" (11-12). If the beloved is made uncomfortable by this kind of phenomenon, the speaker reminds her that she is brighter than both the sun and the moon. As such, the beloved can "dark'nest...