PART VI 



BAFFLEMENT 



No comfort comes of all our strife, 



And from our grasp the meaning slips. 



The Sphinx sits at the gates of Life 



With the old question on her lips. 



***** 



We have successes, and build upon them profound and far-reaching 



theories — to have them shattered into smithereens on the very next 



experience. 



* * * * * 



Hold we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better, 

 Sleep to wake. 

 ***** 



And as we dwell, we living things, on our isle of terror and under the 

 imminent hand of death, God forbid it should be man the created, the 

 reasoner, the wise in his own eyes — God forbid it should be man that 

 wearies in well-doing, that despairs of unrewarded effort, or utters the 

 language of complaint. Let it be enough for faith that the whole 

 creation groans in mortal frailty, strives with unconquerable constancy : 

 surely not all in vain. 



I conclude this section of my book with a sense of 



bafflement, fully aware that my speculations are mere 



speculations and inconclusive in result. It may be that, 



just as man is a creature of three dimensions, and not 



constructed to comprehend the matters of the fourth 



dimension, to say nothing of the n dimensions, plus and 



minus, extending beyond or comprehending the three in 



which he dwells, so man is intended never to solve the 



mystery of the difference between the eyesight of man 



and that of the trout. Be that as it may, it is beyond me, 



and I have come to a time of life when I cannot hope to 



add much to what little I have so far learned. Such as 



that is, however, I dedicate it to my brother fishers with 



the fly, in the hope that it may lead to further advances 



in the not too distant future, and that in the meantime 



it may be of some help to those who seek improvement 



in the theory and practice of the art of trout-fly dressing and 



of fishing with the fly. 



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