And speak of such as in the fresh are found, The little roach, the menise biting fast, The slimy tench, the slender smelt and round, The umber sweet, the grayling good of taste, The wholesome ruff, the barbel not so sound, The perch and pike that all the rest do waste,
The bream, the carp, the chub and chavender, And many more that in fresh waters are.
Sit then THALIA on some pleasant bank, Among so many as fair Avon hath! And mark the anglers how they march in rank, Some out of Bristol, some from healthful Bath; How all the river's sides along they flank, And through the meadows make their wontèd path:
See how their wit and cunning they apply To catch the fish that in the waters lie!
</poem>
For the Gudgeon. [18. p. 194.]
Lo in a little boat where one doth stand,
That to a willow bough the while is tied;
And with a pole doth stir and raise the sand,
Where as the gentle stream doth softly slide:
And then with slender line and rod in hand,
The eager bite not long he doth abide.
Well leaded in his line, his hook but small,
A good big cork to bear the stream withal.
His bait the least red worm that may be found,
And at the bottom it doth always lie;
Whereat the greedy gudgeon bites so sound
That hook and all he swalloweth by and by.
See how he strikes, and pulls them up as round
As if new store the play did still supply!
And when the bite doth die or bad doth prove,
Then to another place he doth remove.
