A Plea for the Sport. 221 



his mind will be all the more open to the potent 

 influences of the night, which can invest his sport 

 with a little halo of romance, and give new zest to 

 its pursuit. For, once abroad by river-side under 

 starry skies prophetic, it needs no "Midsummer 

 Night's Dream" to people the brooks with naiads 

 and .the meads with "dapper elves" in order to 

 entrance the fancy and disguise the gloom. To 

 the thought that wakes when Nature sleeps, there 

 come from out her passionless calm and rest the 

 deeper revelations of her spirit, and the "voices 

 of the night " are ever wafted to the listening ear. 

 The rich hues that bloom in summer's prime are 

 born of the light, and in the garish day enchain 

 the eye ; but the veiled and pensive beauty of the 

 sombre night is for the contemplative soul which 

 finds mystery in shadow, and "gathers magic 

 thoughts in night's cool clime/' And when the 

 moon in queenly grace leads forth her glittering 

 starry train through cloudless skies, the imagin- 

 ative angler may fondly deem with Hood that, 

 from off the fairy mantle of her silver sheen there 

 fall 



"In winding streams 

 Sparkles and midnight gleams, 

 For fishes to new gloss their argent scales." 



Now there is silently lifted from the sleeping vale 

 the dark shadow as of her sorrow, and through 



