Now high in air the imperial standard waves,
Emblazoned rich with gold and glittering gems,
And like a sheet of fire through the dim gloom
Streaming meteorous. The soldiers' shouts,
And all the brazen instruments of war,
With mutual clamor and united din

Fill the large concave, while from camp to camp
They catch the varied sounds floating in air.
Round all the wide circumference, tigers fell
Shrink at the noise; deep in his gloomy den
The lion starts, and morsels yet unchewed
Drop from his trembling jaws. Now, all at once,
Onward they march embattled, to the sound
Of martial harmony; fifes, cornets, drums,
That rouse the sleepy soul to arms, and bold
Heroic deeds. In parties here and there
Detached o'er hill and dale, the hunters range
Inquisitive; strong dogs, that match in fight
The boldest brute, around their masters wait,
A faithful guard. No haunt unsearched, they drive
From every covert, and from every den,
The lurking savages. Incessant shouts
Reecho through the woods, and kindling fires
Gleam from the mountain tops; the forest seems
One mingling blaze; like flocks of sheep they fly
Before the flaming brand; fierce lions, pards,
Boars, tigers, bears, and wolves, a dreadful crew
Of grim, bloodthirsty foes! Growling along
They stalk indignant, but fierce vengeance still
Hangs pealing on their rear, and pointed spears
Present immediate death. Soon as the night,
Wrapped in her sable veil, forbids the chase,
They pitch their tents in even ranks around
The circling camp. The guards are placed, and fires
At proper distances ascending rise,

And paint the horizon with their ruddy light.
So round some island's shore of large extent,
Amid the gloomy horrors of the night,
The billows, breaking on the pointed rocks,
Seem all one flame, and the bright circuit wide
Appears a bulwark of surrounding fire.
What dreadful howlings and what hideous roar
Disturb those peaceful shades! where erst the bird
That glads the night had cheered the listening groves
With sweet complainings. Through the silent gloom
Oft they the guards assail; as oft repelled,
They fly reluctant, with hot, boiling rage
Stung to the quick, and mad with wild despair.
Thus, day by day, they still the chase renew,
At night encamp; till now in straiter bounds
The circle lessens, and the beasts perceive
The wall that hems them in on every side.
And now their fury bursts, and knows no mean;
From man they turn, and point their ill-judged rage
Against their fellow-brutes. With teeth and claws
The civil war begins; grappling they tear;
Lions on tigers prey, and bears on wolves;
Horrible discord! till the crowd behind
Shouting pursue, and part the bloody fray.
At once their wrath subsides; tame as the lamb

The lion hangs his head; the furious pard,
Cowed and subdued, flies from the face of man,
Nor bears one glance of his commanding eye:
So abject is a tyrant in distress.

THE AMPHITHEATRE; SLAUGHTER OF THE BEASTS; SOME
SAVED BY THE SULTANAS. HINT TO TYRANTS.

At last, within the narrow plain confined,
A listed field, marked out for bloody deeds,
An amphitheatre more glorious far

Than ancient Rome could boast, they crowd in heaps,
Dismayed and quite appalled. In meet array,
Sheathed in refulgent arms, a noble band
Advance; great lords of high, imperial blood,
Early resolved to assert the royal race,
And prove by glorious deeds their valor's growth
Mature, ere yet the callow down has spread
Its curling shade. On bold Arabian steeds,
With decent pride, they sit, that fearless hear
The lion's dreadful roar : and down the rock
Swift-shooting plunge, or o'er the mountain's ridge
Stretching along, the greedy tiger leave
Panting behind. On foot their faithful slaves,
With javelins armed, attend; each watchful eye
Fixed on his youthful care, for him alone
He fears; and, to redeem his life, unmoved
Would lose his own. The mighty Aurengzebe
From his high-elevated throne beholds
His blooming race, revolving in his mind
What once he was, in his gay spring of life,
When vigor strung his nerves. Parental joy
Melts in his eyes, and flushes in his cheeks.
Now the loud trumpet sounds a charge. The shouts
Of eager hosts through all the circling line,
And the wild howling of the beasts within,
Rend the [blue] welkin; flights of arrows, winged
With death, and javelins launched from every arm,
Gall sore the brutal bands, with many a wound
Gored through and through. Despair at last prevails,
When fainting nature shrinks, and rouses all
Their drooping courage. Swelled with furious rage,
Their eyes dart fire, and on the youthful band
They rush implacable. They their broad shields
Quick interpose; on each devoted head
Their flaming falchions, as the bolts of Jove,
Descend unerring. Prostrate on the ground
The grinning monsters lie, and their foul gore
Defiles the verdant plain. Nor idle stand
The trusty slaves with pointed spears they pierce
Through their tough hides, or at their gaping mouths
An easier passage find. The king of brutes
In broken roarings breathes his last; the bear
Grumbles in death; nor can his spotted skin,
Though sleek it shine, with varied beauties gay,
Save the proud pard from unrelenting fate.
The battle bleeds: grim slaughter strides along,
Glutting her greedy jaws, grins o'er her prey
Men, horses, dogs, fierce beasts of every kind,
A strange promiscuous carnage, drenched in blood,
And heaps on heaps amassed. What yet remain
Alive, with vain assault contend to break

The impenetrable line. Others, whom fear
Inspires, with self-preserving wiles, beneath
The bodies of the slain for shelter creep,
Aghast they fly, or hide their heads dispersed.
And now, perchance (had Heaven but pleased),
the work

Of death had been complete, and Aurengzebe
By one dread frown extinguished half their race;
When, lo! the bright sultanas of his court
Appear, and to his ravished eyes display
Those charms but rarely to the day revealed.
Lowly they bend, and humbly sue to save
The vanquished host. What mortal can deny
When suppliant Beauty begs? At his command,
Opening to right and left, the well-trained troops
Leave a large void for the retreating foes:
Away they fly, on wings of fear upborne,
To seek on distant hills their late abodes.

Ye proud oppressors! whose vain hearts exult
In wantonness of power, against the brutal race,
Fierce robbers like yourselves, a guiltless war
Wage uncontrolled; here quench your thirst of
blood;

But learn from Aurengzebe to spare mankind. EDGAR'S SUPPRESSION OF PIRACY; HIS TRIBUTE OF WOLVES' HEADS IMPOSED UPON WALES; WOLVES EXTERMINATED.

In Albion's isle when glorious Edgar reigned,
He, wisely provident, from her white cliffs
Launched half her forests, and with numerous fleets
Covered his wide domain; there proudly rode
Lord of the deep, the great prerogative
Of British monarchs: each invader bold,
Dane and Norwegian, at a distance gazed,
And, disappointed, gnashed his teeth in vain.
He scoured his seas, and to remotest shores
With swelling sails the trembling corsair fled.
Rich commerce flourished, and with busy oars
Dashed the resounding surge. Nor less at land
His royal cares; wise, potent, gracious prince !
His subjects from their cruel foes he saved,
And from rapacious savages their flocks.
Cambria's proud kings (though with reluctance) paid
Their tributary wolves, head after head,

In full account; till the woods yield no more,
And all the ravenous race extinct is lost.
In fertile pastures more securely grazed
The social troops, and soon their large increase
With curling fleeces whitened all the plains.

THE FOX'S DEPREDATIONS; CHASE OF THE FOX DESCRIBED ;
UNEARTHED; THE VIEW HALLOO; HEADLONG PURSUIT.

But yet, alas! the wily fox remained,

A subtle, pilfering foe, prowling around
In midnight shades, and wakeful to destroy.
In the full fold the poor defenceless lamb,
Seized by his guileful arts, with sweet, warm blood
Supplies a rich repast. The mournful ewe,
Her dearest treasure lost, through the dun night
Wanders perplexed, and darkling bleats in vain ;
While in the adjacent bush poor Philomel
(Herself a parent once, till wanton churls

Despoiled her nest) joins in her loud laments
With sweeter notes and more melodious woe.

For these nocturnal thieves, huntsman, prepare
Thy sharpest vengeance. O how glorious 't is
To right the oppressed, and bring the felon vile
To just disgrace! Ere yet the morning peep,
Or stars retire from the first blush of day,
With thy far-echoing voice alarm thy pack,
And rouse thy bold compeers: then to the copse,
Thick with entangling grass or prickly furze,
With silence lead thy many-colored hounds,
In all their beauty's pride. See! how they range,
Dispersed, how busily this way and that
They cross, examining with curious nose
Each likely haunt. Hark! on the drag I hear
Their doubtful notes, preluding to a cry
More nobly full, and swelled with every mouth.
As straggling armies at the trumpet's voice
Press to their standard, hither all repair,
And hurry through the woods with hasty step,
Rustling and full of hope; now driven on heaps,
They push, they strive; while from his kennel sneaks
The conscious villain. See! he skulks along
Sleek at the shepherd's cost, and plump with meals
Purloined so thrive the wicked here below.
Though high his brush he bears, though tipped with
It gayly shine, yet ere the sun declined [white
Recall the shades of night, the pampered rogue
Shall rue his fate reversed, and at his heels
Behold the just avenger, swift to seize
His forfeit head, and thirsting for his blood.
Heavens! what melodious strains! how beat our

hearts,

Big with tumultuous joy; the loaded gales
Breathe harmony; and as the tempest drives
From wood to wood, through every dark recess,
The forest thunders, and the mountains shake.
The chorus swells; less various and less sweet
The thrilling notes, when in those very groves
The feathered choristers salute the Spring,
And every bush in concert joins; or when
The master's hand, in modulated air,
Bids the loud organ breathe, and all the powers
Of music in one instrument combine,
An universal minstrelsy.
And now

In vain each earth he tries; the doors are barred
Impregnable; nor is the covert safe :

He pants for purer air. Hark! what loud shouts
Reecho through the groves? he breaks away:
Shrill horns proclaim his flight. Each straggling
hound

Strains o'er the lawn to reach the distant pack.
'Tis triumph all and joy. Now, my brave youths!
Now give a loose to the clean, generous steed,
Flourish the whip, nor spare the galling spur;
But in the madness of delight forget
Your fears. Far o'er the rocky hills we range,
And dangerous our course; but in the brave
True courage never fails. In vain the streams
In foaming eddies whirl; in vain the ditch,
Wide-gaping, threatens death. The craggy steep,

Where the poor dizzy shepherd crawls with care,
And clings to every twig, gives us no pain,
But down we sweep, as stoops the falcon bold
To pounce his prey then up the opponent hill,
By the swift motion flung, we mount aloft.
So ships, in winter seas, now sliding sink
Adown the steepy wave; then, tossed on high,
Ride on the billows, and defy the storm.

SPORTSMEN DISTANCED IN THE CHASE; THE SPENT HORSE;
HIS CRUEL DEATH; VARIOUS PLIGHTS.

What lengths we pass ! where will the wandering chase

Lead us bewildered! Smooth as swallows 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!
The panting courser now with trembling nerves
Begins to reel; urged by the goring spur,
Makes many a faint effort; he snorts, he foams;
The big round drops run trickling down his sides,
With sweat and blood distained. Look back and
The strange confusion of the vale below, [view
Where sore vexation reigns; see yon poor jade ;
In vain the impatient rider frets and swears,
And galling spurs harrow his mangled sides;
He can no more; his stiff, unpliant limbs
Rooted in earth, unmoved and fixed he stands;
For every cruel curse returns a groan,

And sobs, and faints, and dies! Who without grief
Can view that pampered steed, his master's joy,
His minion, and his daily care, well clothed,
Well fed with every nicer care; no cost,
No labor spared; who, when the flying chase
Broke from the copse, without a rival led
The numerous train; now a sad spectacle
Of pride brought low, and humbled insolence,
Drove like a panniered ass, and scourged along!
While these, with loosened reins and dangling heels,
Hang on their reeling palfreys, that scarce bear
Their weights; another in the treacherous bog
Lies floundering, half ingulfed. What biting
thoughts

Torment the abandoned crew! Old age laments
His vigor spent; the tall, plump, brawny youth
Curses his cumbrous bulk, and envies now
The short, pygmean race he whilome kenned
With proud, insulting leer. A chosen few
Alone the sport enjoy, nor droop beneath
Their pleasing toils.

THE FOX IN VIEW AGAIN; HIS SHIFTS; CAUGHT, KILLED, AND
DEVOURED. THE FARMER'S CONGRATULATORY TREAT.

Here, huntsman ! from this height

Observe yon birds of prey if I can judge,
"T is there the villain lurks; they hover round,

Was I not right? his brush he drags,

And claim him as their own.
See there he creeps along;
And sweeps the mire impure; from his wide jaws
His tongue unmoistened hangs ; symptoms too sure
Of sudden death. Ha! yet he flies, nor yields
To black despair. But one loose more, and all
His wiles are vain. Hark! through yon village now
The rattling clamor rings. The barns, the cots,
And leafless elms, return the joyous sounds.
Through every homestall, and through every yard,
His midnight walks, panting, forlorn, he flies;
Through every hole he sneaks, through every jakes
Plunging, he wades besmeared, and fondly hopes
In a superior stench to lose his own;
But, faithful to the track, the unerring hounds
With peals of echoing vengeance close pursue.

And now distressed, no sheltering covert near,
[To] the henroost [he] creeps, whose walls, with gore
Distained, attest his guilt. There, villain! there
Expect thy fate deserved. And soon from thence

The pack, inquisitive, with clamor loud,
Drag out their trembling prize, and on his blood
With greedy transport feast. In bolder notes
Each sounding horn proclaims the felon dead,
And all the assembled village shouts for joy.
The farmer, who beholds his mortal foe
Stretched at his feet, applauds the glorious deed,
And, grateful, calls us to a short repast ;
In the full glass the liquid amber smiles,
Our native product; and his good old mate
With choicest viands heaps the liberal board,
To crown our triumphs, and reward our toils. ***

THE OTTER-HUNT. 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 meads
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 spears,
That bristle on his back, defend the perch
From his wide, greedy jaws; nor burnished mail
The yellow carp; nor all his arts can save
The insinuating eel, that hides his head
Beneath the slimy mud; nor yet escapes