Sir William Davenant. 1605-1668.
The assembled souls of all that men held wise.
Gondibert. Book ii. Canto v. Stanza 37.
Since knowledge is but sorrow's spy,
It is not safe to know.[217:1]
The Just Italian. Act v. Sc. 1.
For angling-rod he took a sturdy oake;[217:2]
For line, a cable that in storm ne'er broke;
His hooke was such as heads the end of pole
To pluck down house ere fire consumes it whole;
The hook was baited with a dragon's tale,—
And then on rock he stood to bob for whale.
Britannia Triumphans. Page 15. 1637.
Footnotes
[217:1] From ignorance our comfort flows.—Prior: To the Hon. Charles Montague.
Where ignorance is bliss,
'T is folly to be wise.
Gray: Eton College, Stanza 10.
[217:2]
For angling rod he took a sturdy oak;
For line, a cable that in storm ne'er broke;
.....
His hook was baited with a dragon's tail,—
And then on rock he stood to bob for whale.
From The Mock Romance, a rhapsody attached to The Loves of Hero and Leander, published in London in the years 1653 and 1677. Chambers's Book of Days, vol. i. p. 173. Daniel: Rural Sports, Supplement, p. 57.
His angle-rod made of a sturdy oak;
His line, a cable which in storms ne'er broke;
His hook he baited with a dragon's tail,—
And sat upon a rock, and bobb'd for whale.
William King (1663-1712): Upon a Giant's Angling (In Chalmers's "British Poets" ascribed to King.)