This poem shows Donne’s ability to take the standard pastoral form and apply it to a traditional spiritual metaphor. Whereas the traditional pastoral would focus on a shepherd or another land-based outdoorsman, “The Bait” takes as its motif a fisherman. Instead of sheep and green fields, Donne describes sparkling water and fish. The poem is made up of seven four-line stanzas, each of which follows an aabb rhyme scheme.