ENVOY


O nate mecum, worn and lined
Our faces show, but THAT is naught;
Our hearts are young 'neath wrinkled rind:
Life's more amusing than we thought!



THE LAST CAST--THE ANGLER'S APOLOGY



Just one cast more! how many a year
Beside how many a pool and stream,
Beneath the falling leaves and sere,
I've sighed, reeled up, and dreamed my dream!

Dreamed of the sport since April first
Her hands fulfilled of flowers and snow,
Adown the pastoral valleys burst
Where Ettrick and where Teviot flow.

Dreamed of the singing showers that break,
And sting the lochs, or near or far,
And rouse the trout, and stir "the take"
From Urigil to Lochinvar.