22 AN ANGLER'S RAMBLES 



LXXVI. 



Philosophy hath girt them round, 

 And plied with theories profound 



Their origin and uses ; 

 The slimy, huge pre-Adamites 

 That in the weary primal nights 



Lay lurking in the sluices ; 



LXXVI I. 



Strange forms ! congenial to the haze 

 That wrapt them in their dawning days, 



When spake the Power Eternal, 

 And chaos fled, and by degrees 

 Establish'd were the harmonies, 



And seasons harsh and vernal. 



LXXVI 1 1. 



The angler But dearer than all these to me, 



tlrawetn a 



comparison. Dearest of streams that seek the sea 



And lave old Scotland's heather, 

 Art thou the arches of whose skies 

 Spann'd my youth's ardent paradise, 

 And linked its joys together. 



LXXIX. 



Tweed ! royal Tweed ! nor less I love 

 The vassal streams that with thee rove 



In the glad pride of duty, 

 Whose mingling waters swell thy state 

 Thy tide of song invigorate 



And amplify thy beauty. 



