15S THE COMPLETE ANGLER, PART I. 



THE ANGLER'S SONG. 



As inward love breeds outward talk,- 

 The hound some praise ; and some the hawk ; 

 Some, better pleas'd with private sport, 

 Use tennis ; some a mistress court : 



But these delights I neither wish, 

 Nor envy, while I freely fish. 



Who hunts, doth oft in danger ride; 



Who hawks, lures oft both far and wide ; 



Who uses games, shall often prove 



A loser ; but who falls in love, 



Is fetter'd in fond Cupid's snare : 

 My angle breeds me no such care. 



Of recreation there is none 

 So free as fishing, is, alone ; 

 All ether pastimes, do no less 

 Than mind and body, both, possess : 



My hand alone my work can do } 



So, I can fish and study too. 



I care not, I, to fish in seas ; 



Fresh rivers best my mind do please ; 



Whose sweet calm course I contemplate, 



And seek in life to imitate i 



In civil bounds I fain would keep, 

 And for my past offences weep. 



And when the tim'rous Trout I wait 

 To take \ and he devours my bait, 

 How poor a thing, sometimes I find, 

 Will captivate a greedy mind: 



And when none bite, I praise the wise, 

 Whom vain allurements ne'er surprise. 



But yet, tho' while I fish I fast, 

 I make good fortune my repast j 

 And thereunto my friend invite, 

 In whom 1 more than that delight, 

 Who is more welcome to my dish, 

 Than to my angle was my fish. 



