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A nobler caufe

And fpecious guife of war.
Calls Aurengzebe to arms. No cities fack'd,
No mother's tears, no helpless orphan's cries,
No violated leagues, with fharp remorfe
Shall fting the confcious victor, but mankind
Shall hail him good and just : for 'tis on beasts
He draws his vengeful fword; on beafts of prey,
Full-fed with human gore. See, fee, he comes!
Imperial Delhi, op'ning wide her gates,
Pours out her thronging legions, bright in arms
And all the pomp of war. Before them found
Clarions and trumpets, breathing martial airs
And bold defiance. High upon his throne,
Borne on the back of his proud elephant,
Sits the great chief of Timur's glorious race;
Sublime he fits amid the radiant blaze
Of gems and gold. Omrahs about him crowd,
And rein th' Arabian steed, and watch his nod,
And potent rajahs, who themfelves prefide
O'er realms of wide extent; but here fubmifs
Their homage pay, alternate kings and flaves!
Next thefe, with prving eunuchs girt around,
The fair fultanas of his court; a troop
Of chofen beauties, but with care conceal'd
From each intrufive eye; one look is death.
Ah! cruel eastern law! (had kings a pow'r
But equal to their wild tyrannic will)
To rob us of the fun's all-cheering ray
Were lefs fevere. The vulgar clofe the march,
Slaves and artificers; and Delhi mourns
Her empty and depopulated streets.
Now at the camp arriv'd, with fstern review
Thro' groves of spears from file to ale he darts
His fharp experienc'd eve, their order marks,
Each in his ftation rang'd, exact and firm,
Till in the boundless line his fight is loft.
Not greater multitudes in arms appear'd
On thefe extended plains, when Ammon's fon
With mighty Porus in dread battle join'd,
The vaffal world the prize; nor was that hoft
More numerous of old which the Great King"
Pour'd out on Greece from all th' unpeopled Eaft,
That bridg'd the Hellefpont from fhore to fhore,
And drank the rivers dry. Meanwhile in troops
The bufy hunter-train mark out the ground,
A wide circumference, full many a league
In compafs round; woods, rivers, hills, and plains,
Large provinces, enough to gratify
Ambition's higheft aim, could reafon bound
Man's erring will. Now fit in close divan
The mighty chiefs of this prodigious hoft;
He from the throne high-eminent prefides,
Gives out his mandates proud, laws of the chace,
From ancient records drawn. With rev'rence low,.
And proftrate at his feet, the chiefs receive
His irreversible decrees, from which
To vary is to die. Then his brave bands
Each to his ftation leads, encamping round
Till the wide circle is completely form'd.
Where decent order reigns, what thefe command
Thofe execute with speed and punctual care,
In all the stricteft difcipline of war,
As if some watchful foe, with bold insult,
Hung low ring o'er their camp. The high refolve

That flies on wings thro' all th' encircling line
Each motion fteers, and animates the whole,
So, by the fun's attractive pow'r controll'd,
The planets in their fpheres roll round his orb;
On all he fhines, and rules the great machine.

Ere yet the morn difpels the fleeting mists, ¡
The fignal given by the loud trumpet's voice,
Now high in air th' imperial ftandard waves,
Emblazon'd rich with gold and glitt'ring gems,
And like a fheet of fire thro' the dun gloom
Streaming meteorous. The foldiers fhouts,
And all the brazen inftruments of war,
With mutual clamour and united dia
Fill the large concave, while from camp to camp
They catch the varied founds, floating in air.
Round all the wide circumference tigers fell
Shrink at the noife; deep in his gloomy den
The lion ftarts, and morfels yet unchew'd
Drop from his trembling jaws. Now all at once
Onward they march embattled, to the found
Of martial harmony; fifes, cornets, drums,
That roufe the fleepy foul to arms and bold
Heroic deeds. In parties here and there,
Detach'd o'er hill and dale, the hunters range
Inquifitive; strong dogs, that match in fight
The boldeft brute, around their mafters wait,
A faithful guard. No haunt unfearch'd, they drive
From ev'ry covert, and from ev'ry den,
The lurking favages. Inceffant fhouts
Re-ccho thro' the woods, and kindling fires
Gleam from the mountain tops: the foreft feems
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 blood-thirfty foes! Growling along
They ftalk indignant, but fierce vengeance ftill
Hangs pealing on their rear, and pointed spears
Prefent immediate death. Scon as the night,
Wrapp'd in her fable veil, forbids the chace,
They pitch their tents in even ranks around
The circling camp. The guards are plac'd, and
At proper diftances afcending rife, [fires
And paint th' horizon with their ruddy light.
So round fome ifland's fhore 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 furrounding fire.

What dreadful howlings and what hideous roar
Difturb thofe peaceful fhades! where erft the bird
That glads the night had cheer'd the lift'ning
groves

With fweet complainings. Thro' the filent gloom
Oft they the guards affail; as oft repell'd
They fly reluctant, with hot-boiling age
Stung to the quick, and mad with wild defpair
Thus, day by day, they ftill the chace renew,
At night encamp; till now in ftraiter bounds
The circle leffens, and the beafts perceive
The wall that hems them in on ev'ry fide.
And now their fury burfts, and knows no inean;
From man they turn,and point their ill-judg'drage
Against their fellow brutes. With teeth and claws
The civil war begins; grappling they tear;

* Xerxes.

Lions

Lions on tigers prey, and bears on wolves;
Horrible difcord! till the crowd behind
Shouting purfue, and part the bloody fray.
At once their wrath fubfides; tame as the lamb
The lion hangs his head; the furious pard,
Cow'd and fubducd, flies from the face of man,
Nor bears one glance of his commanding eye.
So abject is a tyrant in diftrefs!

At laft, within the narrow plain confin'd,
A lifted field, mark'd out for bloody deeds,
An amphitheatre more glorious far [heaps,
Than ancient Rome could boaft, they crowd in
Difmay'd, and quite appall'd. In meet array
Sheath'd in refulgent arms, a noble band
Advance; great lords of high imperial blood,
Early refolv'd t' affert their royal race,
And prove by glorious deeds their valour's growth
Mature, ere yet the callow down has spread
Its curling fhade. On bold Arabian steeds

With decont pride they fit, that fearlefs hear
The lion's dreadful roar; and down the rock
Swift shooting plunge, oro'er the mountain's ridge
Stretching along, the greedy tiger leave
Panting behind. On foot their faithful flaves
With jav'lins arm'd attend; cach watchful eye
Fix'd on his youthful care, for him alone
He fears; and, to redeem his life, unmov'd

Infpires with felf-preferving wiles, beneath
The bodies of the flain for fhelter creep,
Aghaft they fly, or hide their heads difpers'd.
And now perchance (had Heaven but pleas'd)

the work

Of death had been complete, and Aurengzebe
By one dread frown extinguish'd half their race;
When, lo! the bright fultanas of his court
Appear, and to his ravish'd eyes display
Thofe charms but rarely to the day reveal'd.

The vanquish'd hoft. What mortal can deny
Lowly they bend, and humbly fue to fave
When fuppliant Beauty begs! At his command,
Op'ning to right and left, the well-train'd troops
Leave a large void for their retreating foes:
To feck on diftant hills their late abodes.
Away they fly, on wings of fear upborne,

Ye proud oppreffors! whose vain hearts exult
In wantonnefs of pow'r 'gainst the brute race,
Fierce robbers like yourselves, a guiltless war
Wage uncontroll'd: here quench your thirst of
blood;

But learn from Aurengzebe to spare mankind.

BOOK III.

THE ARGUMENT.

Would lofe 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 fpring of life,
When vigour ftrung his nerves. Parental joy
Melts in his eyes, and fluthes in his checks.
Now the loud trumpet founds a charge. The fhouts
Of eager hofts thro' all the circling line,
And the wild howlings of the beafts within,
Rend the welkin; the flights of arrows wing'd
With death, and javlins launch'd from every arm,
Gall fore the brutal bands, with many a wound
Gor'd thro' and thro'. Defpair at laft prevails,
When fainting nature fhrinks, and roufes all
Their drooping courage. Swell'd with furiousIN Albion's ifle when glorious Edgar reign'd,

Of king Edgar, and his impofing a tribute of
wolves beads upon the kings of Wales: from
bence a tranfition to fox-hunting, which is de-
fcribed in all its parts. Cenfure of an over-
numerous pack. Of the feveral engines to de-
froy foxes and other wild beafs. The feel-
trap defcribed, and the manner of using it.
Defcription of the pitfall for the lion, and ano-
ther for the elephant. The ancient way of bunt-
ing the tiger with a mirror. The Arabian man-
ner of hunting the wild boar. Defcription of the
royal flag chace at Windfor Foreft. Concludes
with an address to his Majefty, and an eulogz
upon mercy.

rage,

Their eyes dart fire, and on the youthful band
They ruth implacable. They their broad fhields
Quick interpole; on each devoted head
Their flaming faulchions, as the bolts of Jove,
Defcend unerring. Proftrate on the ground
The grinning monfters lie, and their foul gore
Defiles the verdant plain. Nor idle ftand
The trufty flaves; with pointed fpears they pierce
Thro' their tough hides, or at their gaping mouths
An cafier paffage find. The king of brutes
In broken roarings breathes his laft; the bear
Grumbles in death; nor can his fpotted fkin,
Tho' fleck it fhine, with varied beauties gay,
Save the proud pard from unrelenting fate.
The battle bleeds; grim Slaughter ftrides along,
Glutting her greedy jaws, grins o'er her prey.
Men, horfes, dogs, fierce beafts of ev'ry kind,
Aftrange promifcucus carnage, drench'd in blood,
And heaps on heaps amafs'd. What yet remain
Alive, with rain affault contend to break
Thumpenetrable line. Others, whom fear

He, wifely provident, from her white cliffs
Launch'dhalf her forefts, and with num'rousfleets
Cover'd his wide domain; there proudly rode
Lord of the deep, the great prerogative
Of British monarchs: each invader bold,
Dane and Norwegian, at a diftance gaz'd,
And, difappointed, gnafh'd his teeth in vain.
He fcour'd the feas, and to remoteft fhores ·
With fwelling fails the trembling corfair fled.
Rich commerce flourish'd, and with bufy oars
Dafh 'dthe refounding furge. Nor lefs at land
His royal cares; wife, potent, gracious Prince!
His fubjects from their cruel foes he fav'd,
And from rapacious favages their flocks.
Cambria's proud kings (tho' with reluctance)paid
Their tributary wolves, head after head,
In full account; till the woods yield no more,
And all the rav'nous race extinct is loft.
In fertile paftures more fecurely graz'd
The focial troops, and foon their large increase
With curling fleeces whiten'd all the plains.
But yet, alas! the wily fox remain'd,

A fale,

A fubtle, pilf'ring foe, prowling around
In midnight fhades, and wakeful to destroy.
In the full fold the poor defencelefs lamb,
Seiz'd by his guileful arts, with fweet warm blood
Supplies a rich repaft. The mournful ewe,
Her deareft treasure loft, thro' the dun night
Wanders perplex'd, and darkling bleats in vain;
While in th' adjacent bufh poor Philomel
(Herself a parent once, till wanton churls
Defpoil'd her neft) joins in her loud laments
With fweeter notes and more melodious woe.

For thefe nocturnal thieves, huntsman, prepare
Thy fharpeft vengeance. Oh! how glorious 'tis
To right th' oppress'd, and bring the felon vile
To juft difgrace! Ere yet the morning peep,
Or ftars retire from the firft blush of day,
With thy far-echoing voice alarm thy pack,
And roufe thy bold compeers; then to the copfe,
Thick with entangling grafs or prickly furze,
With filence lead thy many-colour'd hounds,
In all their beauty's pride. See! how they range
Difpers'd, how bufily this way and that
They crofs, examining with curious nofe
Each likely haunt. Hark! on the drag I hear
Their doubtful notes, preluding to a cry
More nobly full, and fwell'd with ev'ry mouth.
As ftraggling armies at the trumpet's voice
Prefs to their standard, hither all repair,
And hurry thro' the woods with hafty step,
Ruftling, and full of hope; now driven on heaps
They push, they strive; while from his kennel
fneaks

The confcious villain. See! he fculks along
Sleek at the fhepherd's coft, and plump with meals
Purloin'd: fo thrive the wicked here below.
Tho' high his brush he bears, tho' tipt with white
It gaily thine, yet ere the fun declin'd
Recal the fhades of night, the pamper'd rogue
Shall rue his fate revers'd, and at his heels
Behold the juft avenger, fwift to feize
His forfeit head, and thirsting for his blood.
Heavens! what melodious ftrains! how beat our
hearts,

Big with tumultuous joy! the loaded gales
Breathe harmony; and as the tempeft drives
From wood to wood, thro' ev'ry dark recefs
The foreft thunders, and the mountains shake.
The chorus fwells; lefs various and lefs fweet
The trilling notes, when in thofe very groves
The feather'd chorifters falute the spring,
And ev'ry bufh in concert joins; or when
The mafter's hand, in modulated air,
Bids the loud organ breathe, and all the pow'rs
Of mufic in one inftrument combine,
An univerfal minstrelfy. And now

In vain each earth he tries; the doors are barr'd
Impregnable; nor is the covert fafe :
He pants for purer air. Hark! what loud fhouts
Re-echo thro' the groves! he breaks away:
Shrill horns proclaim his flight. Each ftraggling
hound

Strains o'er the lawn to reach the distant pack.
'Tis triumph all and joy. Now, my brave youths!
Now give a loofe to the clean gen'rous fteed;
Flourish the whip, nor fpare the galling fpur;

But in the madness of delight forget
Your fears. Far o'er the rocky hills we range,
And dangerous our courfe; but in the brave
True courage never fails. In vain the ftream
In foaming eddies whirls; in vain the ditch,
Wide-gaping, threatens death. The craggy fteep,
Where the poor dizzy fhepherd crawls with care,
And clings to ev'ry twig, gives us no pain,
But down we sweep, as ftoops the falcon bold
To pounce his prey: then up th' opponent hill,
By the fwift motion flung, we mount aloft.
So fhips in winter-feas now fliding fink
Adown the fteepy wave; then, toft on high,
Ride on the billows, and defy the ftorm. [chace
What lengths we pafs! where will the wand'ring
Lead us bewilder'd! finooth as fwallows fkim
The new-fhorn mead, and far more fwift we fly.
See my brave pack! how to the head they prefs,
Joftling in close array, then more diffufe
Obliquely wheel; while from their op'ning mouths
The vellied thunder breaks. So when the cranes
Their annual voyage fteer, with wanton wing
Their figure oft they change, and their loud clang
From cloud to cloud rebounds. How far behind
The hunter crew, wide ftraggling o'er the plain!
The panting courfer now with trembling nerves
Begins to reel; urg'd by the goring fpur
Makes many a faint effort: he fnorts, he foams;
The big round drops run trickling down his fides,
With fweat and blood diftain'd. Look back and
The ftrange confufion of the vale below, [view
Where fore vexation reigns: fee yon poor jade;
In vain th' impatient rider frets and fwears,
And galling fpurs harrow his mangled fides;
He can no more: his ftiff unpliant limbs
Rooted in earth, unmov'd and fix'd he stands;
For ev'ry cruel curfe returns a groan,
And fobs, and faints, and dies! Who without grief
Can view that pamper'd steed, his master's joy,
His minion, and his daily care, well cloth'd,
Well fed with ev'ry nicer cate; no cost,
No labour fpar'd; who, when the flying chace
Broke from the copfe, without a rival led
The num'rous train; now a fad fpectacle
Of pride brought low, and humbled infolence,
Drove like a pannier'd afs, and fcourg'd along!
While thefe, with loofen'd reins and dangling heels
Hang on their reeling palfreys, that fearce bear
Their weights; another in the treach'rous bog
Lies flound'ring, half ingulph'd. What biting
thoughts

Torment th abandon'd crew! Old Age laments
His vigour spent: the tall, plump, brawny yo th
Curfes his cumbrous bulk, and envies now
The fhort pygmean race he whilom kenn'd
With proud infulting leer. A chofen few
Alone the fport enjoy, nor droop beneath
Their pleafing toils. Here, huntfman! from this
Obferve yon birds of prey; if I can judge, [height
'Tis there the villain lurks: they hover round,
And claim him as their own. Was I not right?
See there he creeps along; his brush he drags,
And fweeps the mire impure: from his wide jaws
His tongue unmoiften'd hangs ; fymptoms too fure
Of fudden death.. Ha! yet he flics, nor yields

To

To black defpair. But one loofe more, and all
His wiles are vain. Hark! thro' yon village now
The rattling clamour rings. The barns, the cots,
And leaflefs elms, return the joyous founds.
Thro' ev'ry homeftall, and thro' ev'ry yard,
His midnight walks, panting, forlorn he flies;
Thro' ev'ry hole he fneaks, thro' ev'ry jakes
Plunging, he wades befiear'd, and fondly hopes
In a fuperior stench to lofe his own:

But, faithful to the track, th' unerring hounds
With peals of echoing vengeance close pursue:
And now diftrefs'd, no fhelt'ring covert near,
Into the hen-rooft creeps, whofe walls with gore
Diftain'd atteft his guilt. There, villain! there
Expect thy fate deferv'd. And foon from thence
The pack, inquifitive, with clamour loud,
Drag out their trembling prize, and on his blood
With greedy transport feaft. In boider notes
Each founding horn proclaims the felon dead,
And all th' affembled village thouts for joy.
The farmer, who beholds his mortal foe
Stretch'd at his feet, applauds the glorious deed,
And grateful calls us to a thort repast :
In the full glafs the liquid amber fmiles,
Our native product; and his good old mate
With choiceft viands heaps the liberal board,
To crown our triumphs and reward our toi's.
Here must th' inftructive Mufe (but with refpect)
Cenfure that num'rous pack, that crowd of ftate,
With which the vain profufion of the great
Covers the lawn, and shakes the trembling copfe.
Pompous incumbrance! a magnificence
Ufelcfs, vexatious! for the wily fox,
Safe in th' increafing number of his foes,
Kens well the great advantage; flinks behind,
And flily creeps thro' the fame beaten track,
And hunts them ftep by step; then views, efcap'd,
With inward ecftafy, the panting throng
In their own footsteps puzzled, foil'd, and lost.
So when proud Eastern kings fummon to arms
Their gaudy legions, from far diftant climes
They flock in crowds, unpeopling half a world;
But when the day of battle calls them forth
To charge the well-train'd foc, a band compact,
Of cholen veterans, they prefs blindly on,
In heaps confus'd, by their own weapons fall,
A finoking carnage fcatter'd o'er the plain.

Nor hounds alone this noxious brood destroy; The plunder'd warrener full many a wile Deviles to entrap his greedy foe,

Fat with nocturnal spoils. At close of day With filence drags his trail; then, from the ground Pares thin the clofe-graz'd turf; there with nice

hand

Covers the latent death, with curious fprings
Prepar'd to fly at once, whene'er the tread
Of man or beaft unwarily thall prefs
The yielding furface. By the indented fteel
With gripe tenacious held the felon grins,
And fruggles, but in vain: yet oft 'tis known,
When ev'ry art has fail'd, the captive fox
Has fhar'd the wounded joint, and with a limb
Compounded for his life. But if perchance
In the deep pitfall p'ung'd, there's no efcape,
But unrepriev'd he dies; and, bleach'd in air,

|

The jeft of clowns, his reeking carcafe hangs.
Of thefe are various kinds: not even the king
Of brutes evades this deep-devouring grave;
But by the wily African betray'd,
Heedlefs of fate, within its gaping jaws
Expires indignant. When the orient beam
With blufhes paints the dawn, and all the race
Carnivorous, with blood full gorg'd, retire
Into their darkfome cells, there fatiate fnore
O'er dripping offals, and the mangled limbs
Of men and beafts, the painful forefter
Climbs the high hills, whofe proud aspiring tops,
With the tall cedar crown'd and taper fir,
Affail the clouds; there, 'mong the craggy rocks
And thickets intricate, trembling he views
His footsteps in the fand, the difmal road
And avenue to death. Hither he calls
His watchful bands, and low into the ground
A pit they fink, full many a fathom deep;
Then in the midst a column high is rear'd,
The butt of fome fair tree, upon whofe top
A lamb is plac'd, juft ravish'd from his dam;
And next a wall they build, with stones and earth
Encircling round, and hiding from all view
The dreadful precipice. Now when the shades
Of night hang low'ring o'er the mountain's brow,
And hunger keen, and pungent thirst of blood,
Roufe up the flothful beaft, he shakes his fides,
Slow-rifing from his lair, and ftretches wide
His rav'nous paws, with recent gore diftain'd.
The forest trembles as he roars aloud,
Impatient to destroy. O'erjoy'd he hears
The bleating innocent, that claims in vain
The fhepherd's care, and fecks with piteous moan
The foodful teat; himself, alas! defign'd
Another's meal. For now the greedy brute
Winds him from far, and leaping o'er the mound
To feize his trembling prey, headlong is plung'd
Into the deep abyss. Prostrate he lies,
Aftunn'd and impotent. Ah! what avail
Thine eyeballs flashing fire, thy length of tail
That lathes thy broad fides, thy jaws befmear'd
With blood and offals crude, thy fhaggy mane
The terror of the woods, thy ftately port,
And bulk enormous, fince by ftratagem
Thy ftrength is foil'd? Unequal is the ftrife,
When fov'reign reafon combats brutal rage.

On diftant Ethiopia's fun-burnt coafts
The black inhabitants a pitfall frame,
But of a diff'rent kind, and diff'rent ufe.
With flender poles the wide capacious mouth,
And hurdles flight, they clofe; o'er thefe is spread
A floor of verdant turf, with all its flow'rs
Smiling delufive, and from ftricteft search
Concealing the deep grave that yawns below.
Then boughs of trees they cut, with tempting fruit
Of various kinds furcharg'd! the downy peach,
The cluft ring vine, and of bright golden rind
The fragrant orange. Soon as evening grey
Advances flow, befprinkling all around
With kind refreshing dews the thirty glebe,
The ftately elephant from the clofe thade
With ftep majestic ftrides, eager to tafte
The cooler breeze, that from the fea-beat shore
Delightful breathes, or in the limpid ftream

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To lave his panting fides; joyous he scents
The rich repaft, unweeting of the death
That lurks within. And foon he fporting breaks
The brittle boughs, and greedily devours
The fruit delicious. Ah! too dearly bought;
The price is life. For now the treach rous turf,
Trembling, gives way; and the unwieldy beaft,
Self-finking, drops into the dark profound.
So when dilated vapours ftruggling heave
Th'incumbentearth,if chance the cavern'd ground
Shrinking fubfide, and the thin furface yield,
Down finks at once the pond'rous dome, ingulph'd
With all its tow'rs. Subtle, delufive Man!
How various are thy wiles! artful to kill
Thy favage foes, a dull unthinking race!
Fierce from his lair fprings forth the fpeckled pard,
Thirsting for blood, and eager to destroy;
The huntfman flies, but to his flight alone
Confides not at convenient diftance fix'd,
A polish'd mirror stops in full career
The furious brute: he there his image views;
Spots against spots with rage improving glow !
Another pard his briftly whiskers curls,
Grins as he grins, fierce-menacing, and wide
Diftends his op'ning jaws; himself against
Himfelf oppos'd, and with dread vengeance arm'd.
The huntfman, now fecure, with fatal aim
Directs the pointed fpear, by which transfix'd
He dies, and with him dies the rival fhade.
Thus man innum'rous engines form'd t'affail
The favage kind; but most the docile horse,
Swift, and confederate with man, annoys
His brethren of the plains; without whofe aid
The hunter's arts were vain, unfkill'd to wage
With the more active brutes an equal war;
But, borne by him, without the well-train'd pack
Man dares his foe, on wings of wind fecure.

Him the fierce Arab mounts, and with his troop
Of bold compeers ranges the defarts wild,
Where by the magnet's aid the traveller
Steers his untrodden course, yet oft on land
Is wreck'd, in the high-rolling waves of fand
Immers'd and loft; while thefe intrepid bands,
Safe in their horfes speed, outfly the storm,
And, fcouring round, make men and beafts their
The grifly boar is fingled from his herd, [prey.
As large as that in Erimanthean woods,
A match for Hercules. Round him they fly
In circles wide, and each in paffing fends
His feather'd death into his brawny fides;
But perilous th' attempt; for if the steed
Haply too near approach, or the loose carth
His footing fail, the watchful angry beaft
Th' advantage fpies, and at one fidelong glance
Wounded, he rears aloft;
Rips up groin.
And, plunging, from his back the rider hurls
Precipitant; then, bleeding, fpurns the ground,
And drags his recking entrails o'er the plain.
Meanwhile the furly monfter trots along,
But with unequal fpeed; for ftill they wound,
Swift-wheeling in the fpacious ring. A wood
Of darts upon his back he bears; adown
His tortur'd fides the crimson torrents roll
From many a gaping font; and now at last
Staggering he falls, in blood and foam expires.

his

But whither rolls my devious Mufe, intent
On antique tales, while yet the royal ftag
Unfung remains? Tread with reipectful awe
Windior's green glades, where Denham, tuneful

bard!

Charm'd once the lift ning Dryads with his fong,
Sublimely fweet. Oh grant me, facred fhade!
To glean fubmifs what thy full fickle leaves.

The morning fun, that gilds with trembling rays
Windfor's high tow'rs, beholds the courtly train
Mount for the chace, nor views in all his courfe
A fcene fo gay: heroic noble youths,
In arts and arms renown'd, and lovely nymphs,
The faireft of this ifle, where beauty dwells
Delighted, and deferts her Paphian grove
For our more favour'd fhades-in proud parade
Thefe fine magnificent, and prefs around
The royal happy pair. Great in themselves,
They fmile fuperior, of external show
Regardlefs, while their inbred virtues give
A luftre to their pow'r, and their court
grace
With real fplendours, far above the pomp
Of Eastern kings in all their tinfel pride.
Like troops of Amazons, the female band
Prance round their cars, not in refulgent arms
As thofe of old; unfkill'd to wield the sword
Or bend the bow, these kill with furer aim.
The royal offspring, faireft of the fair,

Lead on the splendid train. Anna, more bright
Than fummer funs, or as the lightning keen,
With irrefiftible effulgence arm'd,

Fires ev'ry heart: he must be more than man
Who unconcern'd can bear the piercing ray.
Amelia, milder than the blushing dawn,
With fweet engaging air, but equal pow'r,
Infenfibly fubdues, and in foft chains
Her willing captives leads. Illuftrious maids!
Ever triumphant! whose victorious charms,
Without the needlefs aid of high defcent,
Had aw'd mankind, and taught the world's great
Lords

To bow and fue for grace. But who is he,
Fresh as a rofe-bud newly blown, and fair
As op'ning lilies, on whom ev'ry eye
With joy and admiration dwells? See, fee!
He reins his docile barb with manly grace.
Is it Adonis for the chacc array'd,

Or Britain's fecond hope? Hail, blooming youth!
May all your virtues with your years improve,
Till in confummate worth you fhine the pride
Of thefe our days, and to fucceeding times
A bright example. As his guard of mutes
On the great Sultan wait, with eyes deject
And fix'd on earth, no voice, no found, is heard
Within the wide ferail, but all is hush'd,
And awful filence reigns; thus ftand the pack
Mute and unmov'd, and cow'ring low to earth,
Whole pats the glitt ring court and royal pair:
So difciplin'd thofe hounds, and fo referv'd,
Whofe honour 'tis to glad the hearts of kings:
But foon the winding horn and huntfman's voice
Let loofe the gen'ral chorus; far around
Joy fpreads its wings, and the gay morning fmiles.
Unharbour'd now, the royal itag forfakes
His wonted lair, he thakes his dappled fides,

And

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