36 



The Chase 



Many other illustrations could be given to prove 

 the wonderful way in which Mr. Maselield succeeds 

 in getting into his poem the essential features. 



Every phrase tells, every line helps to build up 

 in the reader's mind a vivid picture of the hunts- 

 men and the hunted. The poem opens with a 

 description of the hunting stables, which conjures 

 up a busy, bustling scene of action : — 



The stables were alive with din 



From dawn until the time of meeting, 



A pad groom gave a cloth a beating, 



Knocking the dust out with a stake. 



Two men cleansed stalls with fork and rake. 



And one went whistling to the pump. 



The handle whined, ker-lump, ker-lump, 



The water splashed into the pail, 



And as he went, it left a trail. 



Lipped over on the yard's bricked paving. 



Then the followers of the hounds begin to arrive. 

 The parson's son a famous runner, ready to follow 

 the hounds on foot. The parson himself, vividly 

 sketched : — 



Well-knit, well-made, well-coloured, eager. 



The various characters of the countryside, who 

 arrive to take part in the hunt, are described with 

 much skill. The pert young women, the hard- 

 bitten, sturdy yeomen, and the old squire with his 

 three daughters, Carrie, Jane, and Lou : — 



Carrie, youngest of the three. 

 And lovely to the blood was she ; 

 Blonde, with a face of blush and cream. 

 And eyes deep violet in their gleam. 

 Bright blue when quiet in repose. 

 She was a very golden rose. 



Then Charles Cothill of the Sleins, the lover of 

 the open air, the free comrade of the downs. 



