Page:An English Garner Ingatherings from Our History and Literature (Volume 1 1877).pdf/170

And to entice them to the eager bit,
Dead frogs and flies of sundry sorts he took;
And snails and worms such as he found most fit
Wherein to hide the close and deadly hook;
And thus with practice and inventive wit,
He found the means in every lake and brook
  Such store of fish to take with little pain
  As did long time this people new, sustain.

In this rude sort began this simple Art
And so remained in that first age of old
When SATURN did AMALTHEA'S horn impart
Unto the world, that then was all of gold:
The fish as yet had felt but little smart
And were to bite more eager, apt and bold;
  And plenty still supplied the place again
  Of woeful want, whereof we now complain.

But when in time the fear and dread of man
Fell more and more on every living thing,
And all the creatures of the world began
To stand in awe of this usurping king;
Whose tyranny so far extended then
That earth and seas it did in thraldom bring:
  It was a work of greater pain and skill,
  The wary fish in lake or brook to kill.

So worse and worse two ages more did pass,
Yet still this Art more perfect daily grew:
For then the slender rod invented was,
Of finer sort than former ages knew:
And hooks were made of silver and of brass,
And lines of hemp and flax were framèd new;
  And sundry baits experience found out more
  Than elder times did know or try before.