648 LITERATURE OF SEA AND RIVER FISHING. 



true antithesis of poetry is not prose, but science. This is 

 " The Angler's Wish," which first appeared in the third 

 edition, and was, as he (Piscator} says, of his own "com- 

 posure,' 1 : 



* I in these flowery meads would be : 



These crystal streams should solace me ; 



To whose harmonious bubbling noise 



I with my angle would rejoice : 



Lit here, and see the turtle-dove 



Court his chaste mate to acts of love : 



" Or, on that bank, feel the west wind 

 Breathe health and plenty : please my mind, 

 To see sweet dewdrops kiss these flowers, 

 And then washed off by April showers : 

 Here, hear my Kenna sing a song ; 

 There, see a blackbird feed her young, 

 Or a leverock build her nest : 

 Here, give my weary spirits rest, 

 And raise my low-pitch'd thoughts above 

 Earth, and what poor mortals love : 



Thus free from lawsuits and the noise 



Of princes' courts, I would rejoice : 



" Or, with my Bryan, and a book, 

 Loiter long days near Shawford-brook J 

 There sit by him, and eat my meat, 

 There see the sun both rise and set : 

 There bid good morning to next day ; 

 There meditate my time away, 

 And angle on ; and beg to have 

 A quiet passage to a welcome grave." 



In the " Fourth Day " Piscator sings another song, which 



begins 



" O the gallant fisher's life ! 

 This the best of any," &c. 



This was chiefly written by J. Chalkhill, but from what 

 Piscator says after singing it, to the effect that he had 

 forgotten part of it, and was forced to " patch it up " of his 



