174 The Complete Angler 



In a morning up we rise, 

 Ere Aurora's peeping ; 



Drink a cup to wash our eyes ; 

 Leave the sluggard sleeping : 

 Then we go 

 To and fro, 

 With our knacks 

 At our backs, 

 To such streams 

 As the Thames, 



If we have the leisure. 



When we please to walk abroad 



For our recreation, 

 In the fields is our abode, 

 Full of delectation : 



Where in a brook 



With a hook, 



Or a lake, 



Fish we take : 



There we sit, 



For a bit, 

 Till we fish entangle. 



We have gentles in a horn, 



We have paste and worms too : 

 We can watch both night and morn, 

 Suffer rain and storms too ; 



None do here 



Use to swear ; 



Oaths do fray 



Fish away ; 



We sit still, 



And watch our quill ; 

 Fishers must not wrangle. 



If the sun's excessive heat 

 Make our bodies swelter, 



To an osier hedge we get 

 For a friendly shelter ; 

 Where, in a dike, 

 Perch or Pike, 

 Roach or Dace, 

 We do chase ; 

 Bleak or Gudgeon, 

 Without grudging ; 



We are still contented. 



