114 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



sing, and possess ourselves in as much quietness as these silent 

 silver streams, which we now see glide so quietly by us. Indeed, 

 my good scholar, we may say of angling, as Dr Boteler said of 

 strawberries, " Doubtless God could have made a better berry, 

 but doubtless God never did ; " and so (if I might be judge) 

 " God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation 

 than angling." 



I'll tell you, scholar, when I sat last on this primrose bank, 

 and looked down these meadows, I thought of them as Charles 

 the Emperor did of the city of Florence : ' that they were too 

 pleasant to be looked on, but only on holidays." As I then sat 

 on this very grass, I turned my present thoughts into verse : 

 'twas a wish, which I '11 repeat to you. 



THE ANGLER'S WISH. 



1 5n these flowery meads would be : 



These crystal streams should solace me ; 



To whose harmonious bubbling noise 



I with my angle would rejoice, 

 Sit bere, 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 wash'd off by April showers ; 

 Here, hear my Kenna sing a song : * 

 There, see a blackbird feed her young, 



Or a laverock build her nest : 



Here, give my weary spirts rest, 



And raise my low-pitch'd thoughts above 



Earth, or what poor mortals love : 



Thus, free from lawsuits and the noise 



Of princes' courts, I would rejoice ; 



Or, with my Bryan -j- and a book, 

 Loiter long days near Shawford brook ; $ 

 There sit by him, and eat my meat, 

 There see the sun both rise and set : 



* Like Hermit poor. 



j- A friend conjectures this to be the name of his favourite dog 1 . 



j Shawford brook, part of the river Sow, running through the very land 

 which Walton bequeathed in his will to the corporation of Stafford to find 

 coals for the poor ; the right of fishery in which attaches to this little 

 estate. 



The house, described by Walton in his will, is now divided. The brook 

 is a beautiful winding stream, and the situation such as would be likely to 

 create admiration in a mind like Walton's. 



