Angling Sports In Nine Piscatory Eclogues. A New Attempt To introduce a more pleasing Variety and Mixture of Subjects and Characters into Pastoral. On the Plan of its primitive Rules and Manners. Suited to the Entertainment of Retirement, and the Lovers of Nature in rural Scenes. With an Essay in Defence of this Undertaking. By Moses Browne. The Third Edition, Corrected, and very much improved |
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| I. |
| II. |
| III. | ECLOGUE III. THE RIVER ENEMIES. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
 | Angling Sports |  |
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ECLOGUE III. THE RIVER ENEMIES.
To Mr. John Duick.
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THE ARGUMENT.
A Swain, who had chosen an agreeable Solitude for Angling, is called to by a young Fisher, who hastily craves his Assistance to recover a Trout an Otter was endeavouring to seize from him, which introduces a short Description of his hunting and taking.—The Swain, invited by the Occasion, desires, while they are engaged at their Sport, a Relation of what Creatures are most remarkably hurtful and destructive to Fish. The Recital moves in them an innocent Pity; and some Things happening unfavourable to their Pastime, they leave it, and retire in Company.
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Wont by the stream our sportive hours to spend,
My youth's companion as my manhood's friend,
To thy lov'd theme a pleas'd attention bring,
So skill'd thyself to judge, thyself to sing.
My youth's companion as my manhood's friend,
To thy lov'd theme a pleas'd attention bring,
So skill'd thyself to judge, thyself to sing.
Young Aquadune, the blithest fisher-swain
That ever frolick'd on the mirthful plain,
None sung like him so sweet; none e'er was seen
To dance so featly on the May-day green—
By chance the swain his early pastime led,
Where the clear Isis forms her weedy bed;
The angler Linus, there he fishing found
On a green bank, beset with osiers round;
His dog, companion of his peaceful shade,
Was by, and near his mirthful pipe was laid:
First Aquadune attentive silence broke
With loud alarm, and thus accosting spoke.
AQUADUNE.That ever frolick'd on the mirthful plain,
None sung like him so sweet; none e'er was seen
To dance so featly on the May-day green—
By chance the swain his early pastime led,
Where the clear Isis forms her weedy bed;
The angler Linus, there he fishing found
On a green bank, beset with osiers round;
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Was by, and near his mirthful pipe was laid:
First Aquadune attentive silence broke
With loud alarm, and thus accosting spoke.
Help, Friend! my tackle and my prey I lose—
See! 'tis unhook'd, and flound'ring in the ooze.
Ah me! the lurking Otter while we stay,
Springs from the weeds, and bears my prize away.
See! 'tis unhook'd, and flound'ring in the ooze.
Ah me! the lurking Otter while we stay,
Springs from the weeds, and bears my prize away.
LINUS.
Mopsus, o'ertake him ere he leave the sand;
And bring, I charge, the robber safe to land.
Ah! traytor, thou shalt soon thy boldness rue—
'Tis a true curr, he keeps him close in view.
And bring, I charge, the robber safe to land.
Ah! traytor, thou shalt soon thy boldness rue—
'Tis a true curr, he keeps him close in view.
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Look! he has hurt the dog—and makes away—
LINUS.
No danger, Friend, we hold him still at bay;
He gripes him, see! and makes to landward fast:
—Come, be content, the thief is caught at last.
He gripes him, see! and makes to landward fast:
—Come, be content, the thief is caught at last.
AQUADUNE.
Now, caitiff, thou shalt pay me for thy spoil,
And thy gorg'd carcase dung the weedy soil.
And thy gorg'd carcase dung the weedy soil.
LINUS.
There leave him, Aquadune, thy tinkling bell
Warns thee to heed thy busied angle well.
Warns thee to heed thy busied angle well.
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I have him safe; look! 'tis a grateful prize,
A Barbel this, and of the largest size.
A Barbel this, and of the largest size.
LINUS.
Since thou, so skilful in the Fisher's art,
And Verse can with such flowing grace impart;
And, since occasion prompts thy strife, disclose
The names and numbers of the fishy foes;
Nor need our sport, which now improves amain,
Defer my wish, nor interrupt thy strain.
And Verse can with such flowing grace impart;
And, since occasion prompts thy strife, disclose
The names and numbers of the fishy foes;
Nor need our sport, which now improves amain,
Defer my wish, nor interrupt thy strain.
AQUADUNE.
A thousand foes the finny people chase,
Nor are they safe from their own kindred race:
The Pike, fell tyrant of the liquid plain,
With rav'nous waste devours his fellow train,
Nor fears, provok'd by rage, or needy woe,
Rapacious to attack the common foe:
Unaw'd, he dares the stream-bred Serpent stay,
Or from the grizzly Otter force his prey;
And oft the shepherd's dog, amid the flood,
He fierce assails—so wild his thirst of blood.
Yet howsoe'er with raging famine pin'd,
The Tench he spares, a salutary kind,
For when by wounds distrest or sore disease,
He courts the fish, medicinal, for ease,
Close to his scales the kind physician glides,
And sweats a healing balsam from his sides.
Hence, too, the Perch, a like voracious brood,
Forbears to make this gen'rous race his food.
Whether a loathing to his taste restrain,
Or when devour'd he proves his deadly bane,
Whate'er his wond'rous abstinence engage,
A secret instinct still with-holds his rage;
Tho' on the common drove no bounds it finds,
But spreads unmeasur'd waste thro' all their kinds.
Nor less the greedy Trout and glutless Eel,
Incessant woes and dire destruction deal;
In wat'ry dens the lurking Craber preys,
And, in the weeds, the wily Otter slays;
The ghastly Newt in muddy streams annoys,
And in swift floods the felly snake destroys;
Toads for the swarming fry forsake the lawn,
And croaking frogs devour the tender spawn.
Nor are they safe from their own kindred race:
The Pike, fell tyrant of the liquid plain,
With rav'nous waste devours his fellow train,
Nor fears, provok'd by rage, or needy woe,
Rapacious to attack the common foe:
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Or from the grizzly Otter force his prey;
And oft the shepherd's dog, amid the flood,
He fierce assails—so wild his thirst of blood.
Yet howsoe'er with raging famine pin'd,
The Tench he spares, a salutary kind,
For when by wounds distrest or sore disease,
He courts the fish, medicinal, for ease,
Close to his scales the kind physician glides,
And sweats a healing balsam from his sides.
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Forbears to make this gen'rous race his food.
Whether a loathing to his taste restrain,
Or when devour'd he proves his deadly bane,
Whate'er his wond'rous abstinence engage,
A secret instinct still with-holds his rage;
Tho' on the common drove no bounds it finds,
But spreads unmeasur'd waste thro' all their kinds.
Nor less the greedy Trout and glutless Eel,
Incessant woes and dire destruction deal;
In wat'ry dens the lurking Craber preys,
And, in the weeds, the wily Otter slays;
The ghastly Newt in muddy streams annoys,
And in swift floods the felly snake destroys;
Toads for the swarming fry forsake the lawn,
And croaking frogs devour the tender spawn.
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These to the wat'ry province all belong,
Or live at large, a mixt amphibious throng;
Man only of the earth's distinguish'd breed
With restless spoil consumes their hapless seed;
Why cruel, has thy rude unpitying mind,
So wild a waste, such stores of death design'd;
The Trout-Spear first thy murd'rous art devis'd,
And num'rous shoals are by thy snares surpriz'd.
The finny wand'rers now thro' every flood,
Their lost companions mourn and ravag'd brood;
The disappointed Angler hopeless seems,
Amid drain'd waters and unpeopled streams,
His plaintive songs by ev'ry flood resound,
And useless lie his idle rods around.
Or live at large, a mixt amphibious throng;
Man only of the earth's distinguish'd breed
With restless spoil consumes their hapless seed;
Why cruel, has thy rude unpitying mind,
So wild a waste, such stores of death design'd;
The Trout-Spear first thy murd'rous art devis'd,
And num'rous shoals are by thy snares surpriz'd.
The finny wand'rers now thro' every flood,
Their lost companions mourn and ravag'd brood;
The disappointed Angler hopeless seems,
Amid drain'd waters and unpeopled streams,
His plaintive songs by ev'ry flood resound,
And useless lie his idle rods around.
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What kind more harmless than the finny train,
Nor is the Angler by their treason slain,
Nor beasts with savage appetite they chase,
Nor wreak their fury on the feath'ry race;
All safe amid the wat'ry kingdom rove,
Nor dread commotion from th' inhostile drove;
Yet neither, habitants of land nor air,
(So sure their doom) the fishy numbers spare:
The Swan, fair regent of the silver tide,
Their ranks destroys, and spreads the ruin wide;
The Duck her offspring to the river leads,
And on the destin'd fry insatiate feeds;
On fatal wings the pouncing Bittern soars,
And wafts her prey from the defenceless shores;
The watchful Halcyons to the reeds repair,
And from their haunts the scaly captives bear;
Sharp Herns and Corm'rants too their tribes oppress,
A harrass'd race, peculiar in distress;
Nor can the Muse enum'rate all their foes,
Such is their fate, so various are their woes.
Nor is the Angler by their treason slain,
Nor beasts with savage appetite they chase,
Nor wreak their fury on the feath'ry race;
All safe amid the wat'ry kingdom rove,
Nor dread commotion from th' inhostile drove;
Yet neither, habitants of land nor air,
(So sure their doom) the fishy numbers spare:
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Their ranks destroys, and spreads the ruin wide;
The Duck her offspring to the river leads,
And on the destin'd fry insatiate feeds;
On fatal wings the pouncing Bittern soars,
And wafts her prey from the defenceless shores;
The watchful Halcyons to the reeds repair,
And from their haunts the scaly captives bear;
Sharp Herns and Corm'rants too their tribes oppress,
A harrass'd race, peculiar in distress;
Nor can the Muse enum'rate all their foes,
Such is their fate, so various are their woes.
LINUS.
Sweet dost thou carol, Swain, thy voice more sweet
Than waves that o'er the rolling pebbles beat;
Not osiers tun'd by winds can match thy strain,
Nor sickles sounding on the reaping grain.
Than waves that o'er the rolling pebbles beat;
Not osiers tun'd by winds can match thy strain,
Nor sickles sounding on the reaping grain.
AQUADUNE.
Our sports, O Linus, with our songs give o'er,
Let's not increase the ruin we deplore.
Already see, our toils are well repaid,
While to refreshment now the hours persuade;
Nor longer round the bait the cheven play,
But feed at distance and disperse away,
A ruffling gale from shore begins to rise,
And clouds hang heavy in the show'ry skies;
Weeds from the flood-gates borne the current fill,
And Milo sets to work the lab'ring mill.
Let's not increase the ruin we deplore.
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While to refreshment now the hours persuade;
Nor longer round the bait the cheven play,
But feed at distance and disperse away,
A ruffling gale from shore begins to rise,
And clouds hang heavy in the show'ry skies;
Weeds from the flood-gates borne the current fill,
And Milo sets to work the lab'ring mill.
| Angling Sports | |