Page:Poems Sigourney 1827.pdf/148

And seem'd to threat with eagle swoop
The safety of the placid group.—
—Him, heavy Herschel first espied
And to his guards in waiting, cried,
"Ho!—heave a light out,—starboard—quick!
The atmosphere 's so dense and thick
The longitude I cannot take,
But bearing down upon our wake
A questionable shape I spy,
That through the mist looms large and high;
I' d send a boarding-boat, and know
Whether it comes as friend or foe,
But far its speed transcends my power,
It moves at forty knots an hour,
Stand to your tackle all!—I fear
'T is some amphibious privateer."—
From moon to moon his orders ran,
Like admiral's to midshipman,
So all, their heads together laid,
Voted to call for Saturn's aid.
Then through his speaking trumpet hoarse
Stout Herschel blew a blast of force,—
His shipmates rang their bugles keen,
And fired their signal guns between.
—Grave Saturn shoved his ring aside,
Put on his spectacles, and cried,
"These idle stragglers sure increase,
Who do no work, but break the peace,
Poach where they choose on other's grounds,
And scorn all fences, rights, and bounds.—
See,—how yon flaunting coxcomb speeds,
And lashes on his foaming steeds,