LAKE WINANDERMERE. 57
entire circumference only twenty-three miles. Though slightly varied by protracted drought, or rain, it is sub ject to considerable agitation from wind and storm. It abounds with fine fish, and is a favorite resort for wild fowl and sportsmen, the sharp report of the rifle often disturbing the solitary enthusiast.
��Oh, sweet Winandermere ! how blest Is he, who on thy marge may rest, Rear his light bower ; neath summer s ray, Steal from the fever d world away, And when cool twilight, meek and pale, Spreads o er thy face a deeper veil, List to the ripple on the shore, Or mark the lightly dripping oar, Or sink to sleep, when eve shall cease, AVith thee, and all mankind at peace.
The angler here, with trolling line, Dreams on, from morn till day s decline, And when brown autumn sets its seal, How sharply rings the hunter s steel ; But I, with these no concert keep, Nor aim to vex thy tranquil deep ; Nor barbed hook, with pang and start, Plunge in the finny victim s heart ; Nor work their woe, who, roaming free, Would dip the oary foot in thee.
�� �
