The_ Hound _some praise, and some the_ Hawk,
_Some better pleas'd with private sport,
Use_ Tenis, _some a_ Mistris _court:
But these delights I neither wish,
Nor envy, while I freely fish.

Who_ hunts, _doth oft in danger ride
Who_ hauks, _lures oft both far & wide;
Who uses games, may often prove
A loser; but who fals in love,
Is fettered in fond_ Cupids _snare:
My Angle breeds me no such care.

Of Recreation there is none
So free as fishing is alone;
All other pastimes do no less
Then mind and body both possess;
My hand alone my work can do,
So I can fish and study too.

I care not, I, to fish in seas,
Fresh rivers best my mind do please,
Whose sweet calm course I contemplate;
And seek in life to imitate;
In civil bounds I fain would keep,
And for my past offences weep.

And when the timerous_ Trout _I wait
To take, and he devours my bait,
How poor a thing sometimes I find