Yawling
See here this wave arises,
Shot through with silver slices,
They are pieces of the moon,
Her children - young and pale.
Who swim up every twilight,
From the hundred-fathom half-light,
To come alive in a careen
Of pearly eye and scale.
To find in flashed reflections,
A kind of chaos-come-perfection,
The incompleteness in the one,
The oneness in the throng.
To lose among the many,
What ken they had if any,
Of the depth and dark and cold
To which they once belonged.
Now if I could turn my skin,
To be a coat of shining tin,
And light the creeping night with all the din,
Or if I could change my limbs,
For a suite of sparkling fins,
I’d do it in a heartbeat and dive in.
Written by Ian Hinley
Artist: Ian Hinley
Fish Profile
Atlantic Herring - Clupea harengus
Conservation status
‘Yawling’ (or ‘yaulin') is an old term used to describe small herring. It's one of several local names for herring, often indicating size or condition, though many of these names are now less common. The term ‘yawl’ also refers to a type of fishing boat, particularly associated with herring fishing in some areas.
See Herring for full conservation detail.