7 6 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



" This day Dame Nature seemed in love : 

 The lusty sap began to move ; 

 Fresh juice did stir th' embracing vines, 

 And birds had drawn their valentines. 

 The jealous trout that low did lie, 

 Rose at a well-dissembled fly ; 

 There stood my friend, with patient skill, 

 Attending of his trembling quill. 

 Already were the eaves possest 

 With the swift Pilgrim's 1 daubed nest : 

 The groves already did rejoice 

 In Philomel's triumphing voice; 

 The showers were short, the weather mild, 

 The morning fresh, the evening smiled. 



Joan takes her neat -rubbed pail, and now 

 She trips to milk the sand-red cow, 

 Where, for some sturdy foot-ball swain, 

 Joan strokes a syllabub or twain. 

 The fields and gardens were beset 

 With tulips, crocus, violet ; 

 And now, though late, the modest rose 

 Did more than half a blush disclose. 

 Thus all looks gay, and full of cheer, 

 To welcome the new liveried year." 



These were the thoughts that then possessed 

 the undisturbed mind of Sir Henry Wotton. Will 

 you hear the wish of another angler, and the com- 

 mendation of his happy life, which he also sings 

 in verse? viz. Jo. Davors, Esq. : 



" Let me live harmlessly, and near the brink 

 Of Trent or Avon have a dwelling-place ; 

 Where I may see my quill or cork down sink 

 With eager bite of perch, or bleak, or dace ; 



1 The swallow. 



