Page:The Hind and the Panther - Dryden (1687).djvu/154

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The Hind and the Panther.
Nor did their Owner hasten their ill hour:
But, sunk in Credit, they decreas'd in Pow'r:
Like Snows in warmth that mildly pass away,
Dissolving in the Silence of Decay.

The Buzzard not content with equal place,
Invites the feather'd Nimrods of his Race,
To hide the thinness of their Flock from Sight,
And all together make a seeming, goodly Flight:
But each have sep'rate Int'rests of their own,
Two Czars, are one too many for a Throne.
Nor can th' Usurper long abstain from Food,
Already he has tasted Pigeons Blood:
And may be tempted to his former fare,
When this Indulgent Lord shall late to Heav'n repair.
Bare benting times, and moulting Months may come,
When lagging late, they cannot reach their home:
Or Rent in Schism, (for so their Fate decrees,)
Like the Tumultuous Colledge of the Bees;

They