one thousand six hundred eighty-three. IZAAK WALWitness to this will. TON. The rings I give, are as on the other side. To my brother John Ken; to my sister, his wife; to my brother, Doctor Ken; to my sister Pye; to Mr. Francis Morley; to Mr. George Vernon; to his wife; to his three daughters; to Mistris Nelson; to Mr. Richard Walton; to Mr. Palmer; to Mr. Taylor; to Mr. Thomas Garrard; to the Lord Bishop of Sarum; to Mr. Rede, his servant; to my cousin Dorothy Kenrick; to my cousin Lewin; to Mr. Walter Higgs; to Mr. Charles Cotton; to Mr. Richard Marryot: 22. To my brother Beacham; to my sister, his wife; to the lady Anne How; to Mrs. King, Doctor Phillips's wife; to Mr. Valentine Harecourt; to Mrs. Eliza Johnson; to Mrs. Mary Rogers; to Mrs. Eliza Milward; to Mrs. Dorothy Wollop; to Mr. Will. Milward, of Christ-church, Oxford; to Mr. John Darbyshire; to Mr. Undevill; to Mrs. Rock; to Mr. Peter White; to Mr. John Lloyde; to my cousin Creinsell's Widow; Mrs. Dalbin must not be forgotten 16. IZAAK WALTON. Note, that several lines are blotted out of this will, for they were twice repeated, and that this will is now signed and sealed this twenty and fourth day of October, one thousand six hundred eighty-three, in the presence of us: Witness, Abraham Markland, Jos. Taylor, Thomas Crawley. [The following are the verses mentioned on page lxxviii.] THE RETIREMENT. STANZES IRREGULIERS, ΤΟ MR. IZAAK WALTON. I. FAREWELL, thou busy world, and may Here I can eat, and sleep, and pray, II. Good God! how sweet are all things here! How cleanly do we feed and lie! What peace, what unanimity! How innocent from the lewd fashion Is all our business, all our recreation! III. Oh how happy here 's our leisure! By turns to come and visit ye! IV. Dear solitude, the soul's best friend, And would be glad to do so still, For it is thou alone, that keep'st the soul awake. V. How calm and quiet a delight Is it, alone, To read, and meditate, and write, By none offended, and offending none! To walk, ride, sit, or sleep at one's own ease! VI. Oh my beloved nymph, fair Dove! Princess of rivers! how I love Upon thy flowery banks to lie, And view thy silver stream, When gilded by a summer's beam! And, with my angle, upon them I ever learnt, industriously to try. VII. Such streams Rome's yellow Tiber cannot show, The Maese, the Danube, and the Rhine Are puddle water all, compared with thine : The rapid Garonne, and the winding Seine, Beloved Dove, with thee To vie priority; Nay, Thame and Isis, when conjoined, submit, VIII. Oh my beloved rocks! that rise To awe the earth and brave the skies, Giddy with pleasure, to look down; And, from the vales, to view the noble heights above! Oh my beloved caves! from dog-star's heat And all anxieties my safe retreat : What safety, privacy, what true delight, In the artificial night Your gloomy entrails make, Have I taken, do I take ! How oft, when grief has made me fly, To hide me from society Even of my dearest friends, have I, In your recesses' friendly shade, All my sorrows open laid, And my most secret woes intrusted to your privacy! IX. Lord! would men let me alone, Should I think myself to be; (Which most men in discourse disgrace) Would I, maugre winter's cold On any thriving under fortune's smile, C. C. |