ii6 LITERATURE OF SEA AND RIVER FISHING. 



Then all his line he freely yeeldcth him, 

 Whilst furiously all up and downe doth swimme 

 Th' insnared Fish, here on the toppe doth scud, 

 There underneath the banckes, then in the mud ; 

 And with his franticke fits so scares the shole. 

 That each one takes his hyde or starting hole ; 

 By this the Pike cleane wearied, underneath 

 A Willow lyes, and pants (if Fishes breath), 

 Wherewith the Angler gently puis him to him ; 

 And least his hast might happen to undoe him 

 Layes downe his rod, then takes his line in hand, 

 And by degrees getting the Fish to land, 

 Walks to another Poole, at length is winner 

 Of such a dish as serves him for his dinner." 



We have already anticipated the Secrets of Angling, by 



J. D., in Chapter III., for the reason there given ; and we will 



now pass on to Phineas Fletcher — a by no means poetical 



name — who published his Sicclides, a piscatory, in 163 1, 



and the Purple Island, " together with Piscatorie Eclogs," 



in 1633. He is mentioned as " an excellent divine and an 



excellent angler," by Walton, who also calls his Eclogues 



" excellent " ; and Ouarles speaks of him as " the Spencer 



of this age." This is part of his picture of the happiness of 



the angler's life : — 



" His certain life, which never can deceive him, 

 Is full of thousand sweets and rich content ; 

 The smooth-leav'd beeches in the field receive him 

 With coolest shade, till noontide's heat be spent. 

 His life is neither tost on boist'rous seas 

 Of the vexatious world, or lost in slothful ease ; 

 Pleas'd and full blest he lives, when he his God can please." 



•' His bed, more safe than soft, yields quiet sleeps, 

 While by his side his faithful spouse has place, 

 His little son into his bosom creeps. 

 The lively picture of his father's face. 



Never his humble roof nor state torment him 



Less he could like, if less his fate had lent him, 



And when he dies, green turfs with grassy tomb content him." 



