Page:The Hind and the Panther - Dryden (1687).djvu/114

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The Hind and the Panther.
Some * Otherwise call'd Martlets. * Swifts, the Gyants of the Swallow kind,
Large limb'd, stout-hearted, but of stupid mind,
(For Swisses, or for Gibeonites design'd,)
These Lubbers, peeping through a broken pane,
To suck fresh air survey'd the neighbouring plain;
And saw (but scarcely could believe their eyes)
New Blossoms flourish, and new flow'rs arise;
As God had been abroad, and walking there,
Had left his foot-steps, and reform'd the year:
The sunny hills from far were seen to glow
With glittering beams, and in the meads below
The burnish'd brooks appear'd with liquid gold to flow.
At last they heard the foolish Cuckow sing,
Whose note proclaim'd the holy-day of spring.

No longer doubting, all prepare to fly,
And repossess their patrimonial sky.
The Priest before 'em did his wings display;
And, that good omens might attend their way,
As luck wou'd have it, 'twas St. Martyn's day.

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