54 THE SEA -SIDE AND AQUAEIUM. 



CHAPTEE V. 

 SMOOTH BLENNY, GOBY, GUNNEL FISH, & ROCKLING. 



" Harmless warriors, clad in mail 

 Of silver breastplate, golden scale; 



Upwards, downwards, now ye glance, 

 Weaving many a mazy dance. 



Pretty creatures ! we might deem 



Ye were as happy as ye seem, 



As gay, as gamesome, and as blithe, 



As light, as loving, and as lithe, 



As gladly earnest in your play, 



As when ye gleam'd in fair Cathay. 



And yet, since on this hapless earth 



There 's small sincerity in mirth, 



And laughter oft is but an art 



To drown the outcry of the heart, 



It may be that your ceaseless gambols, 



Your wheelings, dartings, divings, rambles, 



Your restless roving round and round 



The circuit of your crystal bound, 



Is but a task of weary pain, 



And endless labour dull and vain ; 



And while your forms are gaily shining, 



Your little lives are inly pining ! 



Nay but still, I fain would dream 



That ye are happy as ye seem." 



HARTLEY COLERIDGE. 



THERE stands in the centre of my Aquarium a piece 

 of stone, projecting a couple of inches or so above 



