Page:The Hind and the Panther - Dryden (1687).djvu/35

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The Hind and the Panther.
25
Nor will I meanly tax her constancy,
That int'rest or obligement made the tye,
(Bound to the fate of murdr'd Monarchy:)
(Before the sounding Ax so falls the Vine,
Whole tender branches round the Poplar twine.)
She chose her ruin, and resign'd her life,
In death undaunted as an Indian wife:
A rare example: But some souls we see
Grow hard, and stiffen with adversity:
Yet these by fortunes favours are undone,
Resolv'd into a baser form they run,
And bore the wind, but cannot bear the sun.
Let this be natures frailty or her fate,
Or [1]Isgrim's counsel, her new chosen mate;
Still she's the fairest of the fallen Crew,
No mother more indulgent but the true.

Fierce to her foes, yet fears her force to try,
Because she wants innate auctority;

  1. The Wolfe.

For