70
CLYDE;
Nature in vain his lofty head adorns
With formidable groves of pointed horns.
Soon as the hound's fierce clamour strikes his ear,
He throws his arms behind, and owns his fear;
Sweeps o'er the unprinted grass, the wind outflies;—
Hounds, horses, hunters, horns, still sound along the skies;
Fierce as a storm they pour along the plain; 790
Their lively chief still foremost of the train;
With unremitting ardour leads the chace;—
He, trembling, safety seeks in every place;
Drives through the thicket, scales the lofty steep;
Bounds o'er the hills, or darts through valleys deep;
Plunges amid the river's cooling tides,
While strong and quick he heaves his panting sides.
He from afar his loved companions sees,
Whom the loud hoop that hurtles on the breeze
Into a crowded phalanx firm had cast; 800
Their armed heads all outward round them placed:
Some desperate band, surrounded, thus appears,
Hedged with protended bayonets and spears:
To these he flies, and begs to be allowed
To share the danger with the kindred crowd;
But must, by general voice excluded, know
How loathed the sad society of woe.
With formidable groves of pointed horns.
Soon as the hound's fierce clamour strikes his ear,
He throws his arms behind, and owns his fear;
Sweeps o'er the unprinted grass, the wind outflies;—
Hounds, horses, hunters, horns, still sound along the skies;
Fierce as a storm they pour along the plain; 790
Their lively chief still foremost of the train;
With unremitting ardour leads the chace;—
He, trembling, safety seeks in every place;
Drives through the thicket, scales the lofty steep;
Bounds o'er the hills, or darts through valleys deep;
Plunges amid the river's cooling tides,
While strong and quick he heaves his panting sides.
He from afar his loved companions sees,
Whom the loud hoop that hurtles on the breeze
Into a crowded phalanx firm had cast; 800
Their armed heads all outward round them placed:
Some desperate band, surrounded, thus appears,
Hedged with protended bayonets and spears:
To these he flies, and begs to be allowed
To share the danger with the kindred crowd;
But must, by general voice excluded, know
How loathed the sad society of woe.
