Page:Poems of Anne Countess of Winchilsea 1903.djvu/344

206 THE POEMS OF ANNE �Shall I for you this Dinner quit, Who to my Back hard Burdens fit, And to the Death wou'd ride? �No; shou'd I as a Stray be found, And seiz'd upon forbidden Ground, �I'll on this Spot stand still ; �For tho' new Riders shou'd abound, �(Or did Mankind this Field surround) �They cou'd but use me ill. �Urge no Man to despair; lest in the Fit He with some Counterblow thy Head may hit. �THE DOG AND HIS MASTER �No better Dog e'er kept his Master's Door Than honest Snarl, who spar'd nor Rich nor Poor; But gave the Alarm, when any one drew nigh Nor let pretended Friends pass fearless by: For which reprov'd, as better Fed than Taught, He rightly thus expostulates the Fault. �To keep the House from Rascals was my Charge ; The Task was great, and the Commission large. Nor did your Worship e'er declare your Mind, That to the begging Crew it was confin'd; 10 �Who shrink an Arm, or prop an able Knee, Or turn up Eyes, till they're not seen, nor see. To Thieves, who know the Penalty of Stealth, And fairly stake their Necks against your Wealth, These are the known Delinquents of the Times, And Whips and Tyburn testify their Crimes. But since to Me there was by Nature lent An exquisite Discerning by the Scent ; I trace a Flatt'rer, when he fawns and leers, ��� �