ENGLISH POETS ON FISHING. 109 



they see and hear about their paths. He spake truly in the 

 " Old Play " :— 



" Trust me, there is much 'vantage in it, sir ; 

 You do forget the noisy pother of mankind, 

 And win communion with sweet Nature's self, 

 In plying our dear craft." 



And so not unfrequently, nay, it very often happens that 

 the angler is led to investigate the habits of the birds, 

 beasts, and insects, which present themselves to him as he 

 follows his vocation, and the marvels of the lives of the 

 innumerable creatures which tenant the earth, air, and 

 water ; and thus he becomes an enthusiastic, though, of 

 course, not always a scientific naturalist ; while the trees of 

 the forest and the flowers of the field are another endless 

 source of interest and study. 



And further, though all anglers cannot be credited with 

 the piety of Walton, there can be little doubt but that very 

 many, as Pope writes, " look through Nature up to Nature's 

 God." The old lines which date back as far as 1706, are 

 in the main still true : — 



" Angling tends our bodies to exercise, 

 And also souls to make holy and wise, 

 By heavenly thoughts and meditation — 

 This is the angler's recreation." 



And many of those who seek recreation with their angle 

 amid the works of nature, realise the words and thoughts 

 of old John Dennys, where he says : — 



" All these and many more of his creation. 

 That made the heavens, the angler oft doth see, 

 And takes therin no little delectation 

 To think how strange and wonderfuU they bee, 

 Framing thereof an inward contemplation 

 To set his thoughts on other fancies free ; 

 And while he looks on these with joyful eye, 

 His mind is wrapt above the starry skie." 



