And yet a moment lives, till, round enclosed So when the furious Bacchanals assailed The huntsman now, a deep incision made, Shakes out with hands impure, and dashes down, Her reeking entrails, and yet quivering heart. These claim the pack, the bloody perquisite For all their toils : stretched on the ground she lies A mangled corse ; in her dim-glaring eyes Cold Death exults, and stiffens every limb. Awed by the threatening whip, the furious hounds Around her bay, or at their master's foot Each happy favorite courts his kind applause, With humble adulation cowering low. All now is joy. With cheeks full-blown they wind Her solemn dirge, while the loud-opening pack The concert swell, and hills and dales return The sadly-pleasing sounds. Thus the poor hare, A puny, dastard animal, but versed In subtle wiles, diverts the youthful train. Of gems and gold. Omrahs about him crowd, A TARTAR HUNT ; ACRENGZEBE GOING FORTH IN POMP. But if thy proud, aspiring soul disdains Why on the banks of Gemna, Indian stream, THE GRAND MOGEL'S HUNTING CAMP. — PORUS, XERXES. HUNTING-GROUND MARKED ; LAWS OF THE HUNT PROMULGATED, CIRCUIT STATIONED. - DESPOTIC ORDER. Now at the camp arrived, with stern review, Through groves of spears from file to file he darts His sharp, experienced eye, their order marks, Each in his station ranged, exact and firm, Till in the boundless line his sight is lost. Not greater multitudes arms appeared On these extended plains, when Ammon's son With mighty Porus in dread battle joined, The vassal world the prize ; nor was that host More numerous of old which the great king Poured out on Greece from all the unpeopled East, That bridged the Hellespont from shore to shore, And drank the rivers dry. Meanwhile in troops The busy hunter train mark out the ground, A wide circumference, full many a league In compass round; woods, rivers, hills, and plains, Large provinces, enough to gratify Ambition's highest aim, could reason bound Man's erring will. Now sit in close divan The mighty chiefs of this prodigious host; He from the throne high eminent presides, Gives out his mandate proud, laws of the chase, From ancient records drawn. With reverence low And prostrate at his feet, the chiefs receive His irreversible decrees, from which To vary is to die. Then bis brave bands Each to his station leads, encamping round, Till the wide circle is completely formed. Where decent order reigns, what these command Those execute with speed and punctual care, In all the strictest discipline of war, As if some watchful foe, with bold insult, Hung lowering o'er their camp. The high resolve, That flies on wings through all the encircling line, Each motion steers, and animates the whole. So, by the sun's attractive power controlled, The planets in their spheres roll round his orb ; On all he shines, and rules the great machine. SIGNAL FOR THE HUNTER-MARCH; THE STANDARD. - THIE WILD BEASTS DRIVEN IN AND COWED. Ere yet the morn the fleeting mists, The signal given by the loud trumpet's voice, SAVED BY THE SELTAXAS. -HIXT TO TYRANTS. Now high in air the imperial standard waves, The lion hangs his head ; the furious pard, Emblazoned rich with gold and glittering gems, Cowed and subdued, flies from the face of man, And like a sheet of fire through the dim gloom Nor bears one glance of his commanding eye : Streaming meteorous. The soldiers' shouts, So abject is a tyrant in distress. And all the brazen instruments of war, THE AMPHITIIEATRE; SLAUGHTER OF THE BEASTS; SOME With mutual clamor and united din Fill the large concave, while from camp to camp At last, within the narrow plain confined, They catch the varied sounds floating in air. A listed field, marked out for bloody deeds, Round all the wide circumference, tigers fell An amphitheatre more glorious far Shrink at the noise ; deep in his gloomy den Than ancient Rome could boast, they crowd in heaps, The lion starts, and morsels yet unchewed Dismayed and quite appalled. In meet array, Drop from his trembling jaws. Now, all at once, Sheathed in refulgent arms, a noble band Onward they march embattled, to the sound Advance ; great lords of high, imperial blood, Of martial harmony ; fifes, cornets, drums, Early resolved to assert the royal race, That rouse the sleepy soul to arms, and bold And prove by glorious deeds their valor's growth Heroic deeds. In parties here and there Mature, ere yet the callow down has spread Detached o'er hill and dale, the hunters range Its curling shade. On bold Arabian steeds, Inquisitive ; strong dogs, that match in fight With decent pride, they sit, that fearless hear The boldest brute, around their masters wait, The lion's dreadful roar : and down the rock A faithful guard. No haunt unsearched, they drive Swift-shooting plunge, or o'er the mountain's ridge From every covert, and from every den, Stretching along, the greedy tiger leave The lurking savages. Incessant shouts Panting behind. On foot their faithful slaves, Reëcho through the woods, and kindling fires With javelins armed, attend ; each watchful eye Gleam from the mountain tops ; the forest seems Fixed on his youthful care, for him alone One mingling blaze ; like flocks of sheep they fly He fears ; and, to redeem his life, unmoved Before the flaming brand ; fierce lions, pards, Would lose his own. The mighty Aurengzebe Boars, tigers, bears, and wolves, a dreadful crew From his high-elevated throne beholds Of grim, bloodthirsty foes! Growling along His blooming race, revolving in his mind They stalk indignant, but fierce vengeance still What once he was, in his gay spring of life, Hangs pealing on their rear, and pointed spears When vigor strung his nerves. Parental joy Present immediate death. Soon as the night, Melts in his eyes, and flushes in his cheeks. Wrapped in her sable veil, forbids the chase, Now the loud trumpet sounds a charge. The shouts They pitch their tents in even ranks around Of eager hosts through all the circling line, The circling camp. The guards are placed, and fires And the wild howling of the beasts within, At proper distances ascending rise, Rend the [blue] welkin ; flights of arrows, winged And paint the horizon with their ruddy light. With death, and javelins launched from every arm, So round some island's shore of large extent, Gall sore the brutal bands, with many a wound Amid the gloomy horrors of the night, Gored through and through. Despair at last prevails, The billows, breaking on the pointed rocks, When fainting nature shrinks, and rouses all Seem all one flame, and the bright circuit wide Their drooping courage. Swelled with furious rage, Appears a bulwark of surrounding fire. dart fire, and on the youthful band What dreadful howlings and what hideous roar They rush implacable. They their broad shields Disturb those peaceful shades ! where erst the bird Quick interpose ; on each devoted head That glads the night had cheered the listening groves Their flaming falchions, as the bolts of Jove, With sweet complainings. Through the silent gloom Descend unerring. Prostrate on the ground Oft they the guards assail ; as oft repelled, The grinning monsters lie, and their foul gore They fly reluctant, with hot, boiling rage Defiles the verdant plain. Nor idle stand Stung to the quick, and mad with wild despair. The trusty slaves : with pointed spears they pierce Thus, day by day, they still the chase renew, Through their tough hides, or at their gaping mouths At night encamp ; till now in straiter bounds An easier passage find. The king of brutes The circle lessens, and the beasts perceive In broken roarings breathes his last ; the bear The wall that hems them in on every side. Grumbles in death ; nor can his spotted skin, And now their fury bursts, and knows no mcan ; Though sleek it shine, with varied beauties gay, From man they turn, and point their ill-judged rage Save the proud pard from unrelenting fate. Against their fellow-brutes. With teeth and claws The battle bleeds : grim slaughter strides along, The civil war begins ; grappling they tear ; Glutting her greedy jaws, grins o'er her preyLions on tigers prey, and bears on wolves ; Men, horses, dogs, fierce beasts of every kind, Horrible discord! till the crowd behind A strange promiscuous carnage, drenched in blood, Shouting pursue, and part the bloody fray. And heaps on heaps amassed. What yet remain At once their wrath subsides ; as the lamb Alive, with vain assault contend to break Their eyes The impenetrable line. Others, whom fear Despoiled her nest) joins in her loud laments Inspires, with self-preserving wiles, beneath With sweeter notes and more melodious woe. The bodies of the slain for shelter creep, For these nocturnal thievos, huntsman, prepare Aghast they fly, or hide their heads dispersed. Thy sharpest vengeance. 0! how glorious 't is And now, perchance (had Heaven but pleased), To right the oppressed, and bring the felon vile the work To just disgrace! Ere yet the morning peep, Of death had been complete, and Aurengzebe Or stars retire from the first blush of day, By one dread frown extinguished half their race ; With thy far-echoing voice alarm thy pack, When, lo ! the bright sultanas of his court And rouse thy bold compeers : then to the copse, Appear, and to his ravished eyes display Thick with entangling grass or prickly furze, Those charms but rarely to the day revealed. With silence lead thy many-colored hounds, Lowly they bend, and humbly sue to save In all their beauty's pride. See ! how they range, The vanquished host. What mortal can deny Dispersed, how busily this way and that When suppliant Beauty begs? At his command, They cross, examining with curious nose Opening to right and left, the well-trained troops Each likely haunt. Hark! on the drag I hear Leave a large void for the retreating foes : Their doubtful notes, preluding to a cry Away they fly, on wings of fear upborne, More nobly full, and swelled with every mouth. To seek on distant hills their late abodes. As straggling armies at the trumpet's voice Ye proud oppressors ! whose vain hearts exult Press to their standard, hither all repair, In wantonness of power, - against the brutal race, And hurry through the woods with hasty step, Fierce robbers like yourselves, a guiltless war Rustling and full of hope ; now driven on heaps, Wage uncontrolled ; here quench your thirst of They push, they strive; while from his kennel sneaks blood; The conscious villain. See ! he skulks along But learn from Aurengzebe to spare mankind. Sleek at the shepherd's cost, and plump with meals Purloined : so thrive the wicked here below. EDGAR'S SUPPRESSION OF PIRACY ; HIS TRIBUTE OF WOLVES' Though high his brush he bears, though tipped with HEADS IMPOSED UPON WALES ; WOLVES EXTERMINATED. In Albion's isle when glorious Edgar reigned, It gayly shine, yet ere the sun declined [white Recall the shades of nigbt, the pampered rogue He, wisely provident, from her white cliffs Shall rue his fate reversed, and at his heels Launched half her forests, and with numerous fleets Behold the just avenger, swift to seize Covered his wide domain ; there proudly rode His forfeit head, and thirsting for his blood. Lord of the deep, the great prerogative Heavens ! what melodious strains ! how beat our Of British monarchs : each invader bold, hearts, Dane and Norwegian, at a distance gazed, Big with tumultuous joy ; the loaded gales And, disappointed, gnashed his teeth in vain. Breathe harmony; and as the tempest drives He scoured his seas, and to remotest shores From wood to wood, through every dark recess, With swelling sails the trembling corsair fled. The forest thunders, and the mountains shake. Rich commerce flourished, and with busy oars The chorus swells ; less various and less sweet Dashed the resounding surge. Nor less at land The thrilling notes, when in those very groves His royal cares ; wise, potent, gracious prince ! The feathered choristers salute the Spring, His subjects from their cruel foes he saved, And every bush in concert joins ; or when And from rapacious savages their flocks. The master's hand, in modulated air, Cambria's proud kings (though with reluctance) paid Bids the loud organ breathe, and all the powers Their tributary wolves, head after head, Of music in one instrument combine, In full account ; till the woods yield no more, An universal minstrelsy. And now And all the ravenous race extinct is lost. In vain each earth he tries ; the doors are barred In fertile pastures more securely grazed Impregnable ; nor is the covert safe : The social troops, and soon their large increase He pants for purer air. Hark! what loud shouts With curling fleeces whitened all the plains. Reëcho through the groves ? he breaks away : THE FOX'S DEPREDATIONS ; CHASE OF THE FOX DESCRIBED ; Shrill horns proclaim his flight. Each straggling UNEARTHED ; THE VIEW HALLOO ; HEADLONG PURSUIT. hound But yet, alas ! the wily fox remained, Strains o'er the lawn to reach the distant pack. A subtle, pilfering foe, prowling around 'T is triumph all and joy. Now, my brave youths ! In midnight shades, and wakeful to destroy. Now give a loose to the clean, generous steed, In the full fold the poor defenceless lamb, Flourish the whip, nor spare the galling spur ; Seized by his guileful arts, with sweet, warm blood But in the madness of delight forget Supplies a rich repast. The mournful ewe, Your fears. Far o'er the rocky hills we range, Her dearest treasure lost, through the dun night And dangerous our course ; but in the brave Wanders perplexed, and darkling bleats in vain ; True courage never fails. In vain the streams While in the adjacent bush poor Philomel In foaming eddies whirl ; in vain the ditch, (Herself a parent once, till wanton churls Wide-gaping, threatens death. The craggy steep, Where the poor dizzy shepherd orawls with care, SPORTSMEN DISTANCED IN THE CIIASE ; THE SPENT HORSE ; HIS CRUEL DEATH ; VARIOUS PLIGHTS. What lengths we pass ! where will the wandering chase Lead us bewildered! Smooth as gwallows skim The new-shorn mead, and far more swift, we fly. See my brave pack ! how to the head they press, Jostling in close array, then more diffuse Obliquely wheel ; while from their opening mouths The volleyed thunder breaks. So when the cranes Their annual voyage steer, with wanton wing Their figure oft they change, and their loud clang From cloud to cloud rebounds. How far behind The hunter crew, wide straggling o'er the plain! thoughts And claim him as their own. Was I not right? And now distressed, no sheltering covert near, The farmer, who beholds his mortal foe TIE OTTER-HCNT. --HABITS OF THE OTTER. One labor yet remains, celestial maid ! Another element demands thy song. No more o'er craggy steeps, through coverts thick With pointed thorn and briers intricate, Urge on with horn and voice the painful pack. But skim with wanton wing the irriguous vale, Where winding streams amid the flowery mearls Perpetual glide along, and undermine The caverned banks, by the tenacious roots Of hoary willows arched, gloomy retreat Of the bright scaly kind, where they at will On the green watery reed, their pasture, graze ; Suck the moist soil, or slumber at their ease, Rocked by the restless brook that draws aslope Its humid train, and laves their dark abodes. Where rages not oppression ? where, alas! Is innocence secure? Rapine and spoil Haunt e'en the lowest deeps; seas have their sharks, Rivers and ponds enclose the ravenous pike ; He in his turn becomes a prey, on him The amphibious otter feasts. Just is his fate Deserved : but tyrants know no bounds; nor s pears, That bristle on his back, defend the perch From his wide, groedy jaws ; nor burnished bail The yellow carp ; nor all his arts can save The insinuating eel, that hides his head Beneath the slimy mud ; nor yet escapes TIE FOX IN VIEW AGAIN ; HIS SHIFTS ; CAUGHT, KILLED, AND DEVOURED, -THE FARYER'S CONGRATULATORY THEAT. Here, huntsman ! from this height Observe yon birds of prey : if I can judge, 'T is there the villain lurks ; they hover round, THE OTTER TRACKED TO HIS LAIR ; MUSIC OF THE OTTER CHASE. The crimson-spotted trout, the river's pride, THE OTTER, PUT DOWN, TAKES TO THE WATER; ATTACKED THERE AND SPEARED. How these impatient climb, While others at the root incessant bay ! The unpeopled rivulet, and gladly hears They put him down. See there he dives along ! The huntsman's early call, and sees with joy The ascending bubbles mark his gloomy way. The iovial crew, that march upon its banks Quick fix the nets, and cut off his retreat In gay parade, with bearded lances armed. Into the sheltering deeps. Ah ! there he vents ! This subtle spoiler, of the beaver kind, The pack plunge headlong, and protended spears Far off, perhaps, where ancient alders shade Menace destruction, while the troubled surge The deep, still pool, within some hollow trunk Indignant foams, and all the scaly kind, Contrives his wicker couch, whence he surveys Affrighted, hide their heads. Wild tumult reigns, Ilis long purlieu, lord of the stream, and all And loud uproar. Ah ! there once more he vents ! The finny shoals his own. See ! that bold hound has seized him ; down they His rash assault. See ! there escaped he flies Half drowned, and clambers up the slippery bank, Dispute the felon's claim ; try every root, With ooze and blood distained. Of all the brutes, And every reedy bank; encourage all Whether by nature formed, or by long use, The busy, spreading pack, that fearless plunge This artful diver best can bear the want Into the flood, and cross the rapid stream. Of vital air. Unequal is the fight Bid rocks and caves, and each resounding shore, Beneath this whelming element. Yet there Proclaim your bold defiance! Loudly raise He lives not long, but respiration needs Each cheering voice, till distant hills repeat At proper intervals. Again he vents ; The triumphs of the vale. On the soft sand Again the crowd attack. That spear has pierced See there his seal impressed ! and on that bank His neck, the crimson waves confess the wound. Behold the glittering spoils, half-eaten fish, Fixed is the bearded lance, unwelcome guest, Scales, fins, and bones, the leavings of his feast ; Where'er he flies ; with him it sinks beneath, Ah ! on that yielding sag-bed, see, once more, With him it mounts ; sure guide to every foe. His seal I view. O'er yon dank, rushy marsh Inly he groans, nor can his tender wound The sly, goose-footed prowler bends his course, Bear the cold stream. Lo ! to yon sedgy bank And seeks the distant shallows. Huntsman, bring He creeps disconsolate : his numerous foes Thy eager pack, and trail him to his couch. Surround him, hounds and men. Pierced through Hark! the loud peal begins, the clamorous joy, and through, The gallant chiding, loads the trembling air. On pointed spears they lift him high in air ; Ye naiads fair, who o'er these floods preside, Wriggling he hanys, and grins, and bites in vain. Raise up your dripping heads above the wave, Bid the loud horns, in gayly-warbling strains, And bear our melody. The harmonious notes Proclaim the felon's fate. He dies ! he dies ! * * Float with the stream ; and every winding creek HEALTH AND HAPPINESS OF HIM WHO LIVES OUT-DOORS; And hollow rock, that o'er the dimpling flood CHEERFCL PRAYER ; CONCLUSION. Nods pendent, still improves from shore to shore O, happy, if ye knew your happy state, Our sweet, reiterated joys. What shouts ! Ye rangers of the fields ! whom Nature boon Cheers with her smiles, and every element Ye guardian powers, who make mankind your care, The dancing billows, when proud Neptune rides Give me to know wise Nature's hidden depths, In triumph o'er the deep. How greedily Trace each mysterious cause, with judgment read They snuff the fishy steam that to each blade The expanded volume, and submiss adore Rank-scenting clings! See how the morning dews That great creative Will, who at a word They sweep, that from their feet besprinkling drop Spoke forth the wondrous scene. Dispersed, and leave a track oblique behind. [Or] this, at least, Now on firm land they range ; then in the flood Grant me propitious - an inglorious life, They plunge tumultuous, or through reedy pools Calm and serene, nor lost in false pursuits Rustling they work their way ; no hole esca pes Of wealth or honors; but enough to raise Their curious search. With quick sensation now My drooping friends, preventing modest want The fuming vapor stings ; flutter their hearts, That dares not ask ; and if, to crown my joys, And joy redoubled bursts from every mouth Ye grant me health, that, ruddy in my cheeks, In louder symphonies. Yon bollow trunk, Blooms in my life's decline ; fields, woods, and That with its hoary head incurved salutes Each towering hill, each humble vale below, (streams, The passing wave, must be the tyrant's fort, Shall hear my cheering voice : my hounds shall wake And dread abode. The lazy morn, and glad the horizon round. * |
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