Somervile., Attend his call, then with one mutual cry
The welcome news confirm, and echoing hills
Repeat the pleafing tale. See how they thread
The brakes, and up yon' furrow drive along!
But quick they back recoil, and wifely cheek
Their eager hafte; then o'er the fallow'd ground
How leisurely they work, and many a pause
Th' harmonious concert breaks, till, more affur'd,
With joy redoubled the low vallies ring.
What artful labyrinths perplex their way!
Ah! there fhe lies: how clofe! fhe pants; fhe
If now fhe lives: fhe trembles as fhe fits,
With horror feiz'd. The wither'd grafs that clings
Around her head, of the fame ruffet hue,
Almoft deceiv'd my fight, had not her eyes
With life full-beaming her vain wiles betray'd.
At distance draw the pack; let all be hush'd;
No clamour loud, no frantic joy, be heard,
Left the wild hound run gadding o'er the plain
Untractable, nor hear thy chiding voice.
Now gently put her off: fee, how direct
To her known mew fhe flies! Here, huntfman,
bring
(But without hurry,) all thy jolly hounds,
And calmly lay them in. How low they stoop,
And feem to plough the ground! then all at once
With greedy noftrils inuff the fuming fteam,
That glads their flutt'ring hearts. As winds let
loofe
From the dark caverns of the bluft'ring god
They burft away, and fweep the dewy lawn.
Hope gives them wings, while fhe's fpurnt on by
The welkin rings; men, dogs, hills, rocks, and
woods,
In the full concert join. Now, my brave Youths!
Stripp'd for the Chafe, give all your fouls to joy.
See how their courfers, than the mountain roe
More fleet, the verdant carpet fkim! thick clouds-
Snorting they breathe, their fhining hoofs fcarce Somervile.
The grafs unbruis'd; with emulation fir'd
They ftrain to lead the field, top the barr'd gate,
O'er the deep ditch exulting bound, and brush
The thorny-twining hedge: the riders bend
O'er their arch'd necks; with fteady hands, by
Indulge their speed, or moderate their rage.
Where are their forrows, difappointments, wrongs,
Vexations, ficknefs, cares? all, all are gone!
And with the panting winds lag far behind.
Huntsman! her gait obferve; if in wide rings
She wheel her mazy way, in the fame round
Perfifting ftill, fhe'll foil the beaten track;
But if fhe fly, and with the fav'ring wind
Urge her bold courfe, lefs intricate thy tafk;
Pufh on thy pack. Like fome poor exil'd wretch
The frighted Chafe leaves her late dear abodes,
O'er plains remote fhe ftretches far away,
Ah! never to return! for greedy Death
Hov'ring exults, fecure to feize his prey.
Hark! from yon' covert, where those tow'ring
Above the humble copfe afpiring rife,
What glorious triumphs burlt in ev'ry gale
Upon our ravifh'd ears! The hunters fhout,
The clanging horns fwell their fweet-winding no-
The pack wide op'ning load the trembling air
With various melody; from tree to tree
The propagated cry redoubling bounds,
And winged zephyrs waft the floating joy
Thro' all the regions near. Afflictive birch
No more the fchool-boy dreads; his prifon
broke,
Scamp'ring he flies, nor heeds his master's call.
The weary traveller forgets his road,
Somervile. And climbs th' adjacent hill. The ploughman lea
Th' unfinish'd furrow; nor his bleating flocks
Are now the fhepherd's joy.
Defert th' unpeopled village, and wild crouds
Spread o'er the plain, by the fweet frenzy feiz'd.
Look how fhe pants! and o'er yon'op'ning glade
Slips glancing by; while at the further end
The puzzling pack unravel wile by wile,
Maze within maze! The covert's utmost bound
Slily fhe skirts; behind them cautious creeps,
And in that very track, fo lately stain'd
By all the steaming croud, feems to pursue
The foe 1 he flies. Let cavillers deny
That brutes have reafon; fure 'tis fomething
'Tis Heav'n directs, and ftratagems infpires
Beyond the fhort extent of human thought.
But hold I fee her from the covert break!
Sad on yon' little eminence, fhe fits;
Intent fhe liftens with one ear erect
Pond'ring, and doubtful what new courfe to take,
And how to 'fcape the fierce blood-thirsty crew
That ftill urge on, and still in vollies loud
Infult her woes, and mock her four diftrefs.
As now in louder peals the loaded winds
Bring on the gath'ring storm, her fears prevail,
And o'er the plain and o'er the mountain's ridge
Away The flies; nor fhips with winds and tide,
And all their canvafs wings, fcud half so fast.
Once more, ye jovial train! your courage try
And each clean courfer's fpeed. We fcour along,
In pleafing hurry and confufion tofs'd,
Oblivion to be wifh'd. The patient pack
Hang on the fcent unweary'd; up they climb,
And ardent we purfue: our lab'ring steeds
We prefs, we gore, till once the fummit gain'd,
Painfully panting: there we breathe a while;
Then like a foaming torrent, pouring down
Precipitant, we fmoke along the vale.
Happy the man, who with unrivall'd speed
Can pals his fellows, and with pleasure view
The struggling pack! how in the rapid courfe
Alternate they prefide, and jostling pufh
To guide the dubious fcent, how giddy youth
Oft babbling errs, by wifer age reprov'd;
How, niggard of his ftrength, the wife old hound
Hangs in the rear, till fome important point
Roufe all his diligence, or till the Chafe
Sinking he finds; then to the head he springs,
With thirft of glory fir'd, and wins the prize.
Huntsman! take heed; they ftop in full career;
Yon' crouding flocks, that at a distance gaze,
Have haply foild the turf. See that old hound,
How bufily he works, but dares not truft
His doubtful fenfe! Draw yet a wider ring.
Hark! now again the chorus fills. As bells,
Sally'd a while, at once their pale renew,
And high in air the tuneful thunder rolls.
See how they tofs, with animated rage
Recov'ring all they loft!
That eager hafte
Some doubling wile forefhews. -
Hold back with speed - On
They flowrifh round ev'r yet perfift!
Away they fpring; the rustling ftrubbles bend
Beneath the driving ftorm. Now the poor Chale
Begins to flag, to her laft fhifts reduc'd.
From brake to brake fhe flies, and vifits all
Her well-known haunts, where once the rang'd fe
With love and plenty blefs'd.
She reels along, and by her gait betrays
Her inward weakness. See how black fhe looks!
The fweat that clogs th' obftructed
Somervile. A languid fcent. And now in open views
See, fee! fhe flies; each eager hound exerts
His utmost speed, and ftretches ev'ry nerve.
How quick the turns, their gaping jaws eludes,
And yet a moment lives, till round enclos'd
By all the greedy pack, with infant (creams
She yields her breath, and there reluctant dies!
So when the furious Bacchanals affail'd
Threician Orpheus, poor ill-fated Bard!
Loud was the cry; hills, woods, and Hebrus'
banks,
Return'd their clam'rous rage: diftrefs'd he flies,
Shifting from place to place; but flies in vain.
For eager they purfue, till panting, faint,
By noify multitudes o'erpow'rd, he finks
To the relentless croud a bleeding prey!
The huntsman now, a deep incifion made,
Shakes out with hands impure, and daf hes down
Her reeking entrails, and yet quiv'ring heart.
These claim the pack, the bloody perquifite
For all their toils. Stretch'd on the ground fhe
lies,
A mangled corfe, in her dim-glaring eyes
Cold Death exults, and ftiffens ev'ry limb.
Aw'd by the threat'ning whip, the furious hounds
Around her bay, or at their master's foot
Each happy fav'rite courts his kind applaufe,
With humble adoration cow'ring low.
All now is joy. With cheeks full-blown they wind
Her folemn dirge, while the loud - op'ning pack
The concert fwell, and hills and dales return
The fadly-pleafing founds. Thus the poor hare,
puny daftard animal! but vers'd
In fubtle wiles, diverts the youthful train.
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