Classic Poem

L INUS , A QUADUNE .

Wont by the Stream our sportive Hours to spend,
My Youth's Companion as my Manhood's Friend,
To thy lov'd Theme a pleas'd Attention bring
So skill'd thyself to judge, thyself to sing.
?Y OUNG Aquadune , the blithest Fisher Swain ,
That ever frolick'd on the mirthful Plain,
None sung like him so sweet, none e'er was seen
To dance so featly on the crouded Green;
By chance the Swain his early Pastime led,
Where the clear Isis forms his weedy Bed.
The Angler Linus there he fishing found
On a green Bank, beset with Osiers round.
His Dog , Companion of his peaceful Shade,
Was by, and near his ready Pipe was laid.
First Aquadune attentive Silence broke
With loud Alarm; and thus accosting spoke.
? Aqu. ] Help, Friend, my Tackle and my Prey I lose;
See! 'tis unhook'd, and flound'ring in the Ooze—
Ah me! the lurking Otter , while we stay,
Springs from the Weeds, and bears my Prize away.
? Lin. ] Mopsus , o'ertake him ere he leaves the Sand,
And bring, I charge, the Robber safe to Land:
Ah, Traytor , thou shalt soon thy Boldness rue!
'Tis a true Curr , he keeps him close in view.
? Aqu. ] Look, he has hurt the Dog , and makes away,—
? Lin. ] No Danger, Friend, we hold him still and Bay;
He gripes him, see, and makes to Landward fast:
Come, be content, the Thief is caught at last.
? Aqu. ] Now, Caitiff , thou shalt pay me for thy Spoil,
And thy gorg'd Carcase dung the weedy Soil.
? Lin. ] There leave him, Aquadune ; thy tink'ling Bell
Warns thee to heed thy busied Angle well.
? Aqu. ] I have him safe, look 'tis a grateful Prize,
A Barbel this, and of the largest Size.
? Lin. ] Since thou so skilful in the Fisher 's Art,
And Verse can with such flowing Grace impart;
And since Occasion prompts thy Strife , disclose
The Names , and Numbers , of the fishy Focs .
Nor need our Sport, which now improves amain,
Defer my Wish, or interrupt thy Strain.
? Aqu. ] A thousand Foes the finny People chase,
Nor are they safe from their own Kindred Race .
The Pike , fell Tyrant of the liquid Plain!
With rav'nous Waste devours his fellow Train:
Nor fears, provok'd by Rage, or needy Woe,
Rapacious to attack the common Foe .
Unaw'd he dares the stream-bred Serpent slay,
Or from the grizzly Otter force his Prey;
And oft' the Shepherd 's Dog amid the Flood
He fierce assails——so wild his Thirst of Blood.
Yet, howsoe'er, with raging Famine pin'd,
The Tench he spares, a salutary Kind:
For when by Wounds distrest, or sore Disease,
He courts the Fish medicinal for Ease:
Close to his Scales the kind Physician glides,
And sweats a healing Balsam from his Sides.
Hence too the Perch , a like voracious Brood,
Forbears to make this generous Race his Food:
Whether a Loathing to his Taste restrain;
Or when devour'd he proves his deadly Bane;
Whate'er his wondrous Abstinence engage,
A secret Instinct still with-holds his Rage:
Tho' on the common Drove no Bounds it finds,
But spreads unmeasur'd Waste thro' all their Kinds.
Nor less the greedy Trout , and glutless Eel ,
Incessant Woes, and dire Destruction deal.
In wat'ry Dens the lurking Craber preys,
And in the Weeds the wilely Otter slays:
The ghastly Newt in muddy Streams annoys,
And in swift Floods the felly Snake destroys;
Toads for the swarming Fry forsake the Lawn,
And croaking Frogs devour the tender Spawn.
? Lin. ] These to the wat'ry Province all belong,
Or live at large, a mixt amphibious Throng;
Man only of the Earth's distinguish'd Breed,
With restless Spoil consumes their hapless Seed.
Why cruel! has thy rude, unpitying Mind
So wild a Waste, such Stores of Death design'd
The Trout-Spear first thy murd'rous Art devis'd,
And num'rous Shoals are by thy Snares surpriz'd.
The finny Wand'rers now thro' every Flood
Their lost Companions mourn, and ravag'd Brood .
The disappointed Angler hopeless seems,
Amid drain'd Waters, and unpeopled Streams;
His plaintive Songs, by ev'ry Flood resound,
And useless lie his idle Rods around.
Aqu .] What Kind more harmless than the finny Train?
Nor is the Angler by their Treason slain;
Nor Beasts with savage Appetite they chase,
Nor wreak their Fury on the feath'ry Race ;
All safe amid the wat'ry Kingdom rove,
Nor dread Commotion from th' inhostile Drove ;
Yet neither Habitants of Land, nor Air,
(So their sure Doom!) the fishy Numbers spare,
The Swan , fair Regent of the silver Tide!
Their Ranks destroys, and spreads the Ruin wide:
The Duck her Offspring to the Rivers leads,
And on the destin'd Fry insatiate feeds:
On fatal Wings the pouncing Bittern soars,
And wafts her Prey from the defenceless Shores:
The watchful Halcyons to the Reeds repair,
And from their Haunts the scaly Captives bear:
Sharp Herns , and Cormorants too their Tribes oppress
A barrass'd Race , peculiar in Distress.
Nor can the Muse enumerate all their Foes,
Such is their Fate, so various are their Woes.
? Lin. ] Sweet dost thou carol, Swain , thy Voice more sweet
Than Waves, that o'er the rolling Pebbles beat;
Not Osiers tun'd by Winds can match thy Strain,
Nor Sickles sounding on the reaping Grain.
? Aqu. ] Our Sports, O Linus , with our Songs give o'er,
Let's not increase the Ruin we deplore;
Already see our Toils are well repaid,
While to Refreshment now the Hours persuade;
Nor longer round the Bait the Cheven play,
But feed at Distance and disperse away.
A ruffling Gale from Shore begins to rise,
And Clouds hang heavy in the show'ry Skies.
Weeds, from the Flood-Gates born, the Current fill,
And Milo sets to work the lab'ring Mill .