2 24 Somerviles [f r R s t* 



A thoufand fhifts fhe tries ; t* unravel thefc 

 7ii' indijftrious beagle twifts his waving tailji 

 Thro' ai] her labyrinths purfues, and rings 

 Her doleful knell. See there with count'nance blithe^ 

 And witn a courtly grin, the fawning hound 

 Salutes thee cow'ring, his wide op'ning nofe 

 Upward he curls, and his large floe-black eyes 

 Melt in foft b.andifhments and humble joy ', 

 His glofly fkin, or yellow-pied, or blue, 

 In lighis or fhades by nature's pencil drawn, 

 Refleds the various tints ; his ears and legs, 

 Fleckt here and there, in gay enamel'd pride^ 

 R val the fpeckled pard ; his rulh-grown tail 

 O'er his bioad back bends in an ample arch ; 

 On flioulders clean, upright and firm he (lands ; 

 Hts round cat foor,ftrait hams, and wide-fpread thighs^ 

 And his low-dropping cheft, confefs his fpeed, 

 His ftrength, his wind, or on the ileepy hill. 

 Or far extended plain ; in ev'ry part 

 So well proportion'd, that the nicer fkill 

 Of Phidias himfelf can't blame thy choice. 

 Of fuch compofe thy pack. But here a mean 

 Obferve, nor the large hound prefer, of fize 

 Gi^antick : he in the thick- woven covert 

 Painfully tugs, or in the thorny brake 

 Torn and embarrafs'd bleeds : but if too fmall. 

 The pigmy brood in ev'ry furrow fwims ; 

 Moil'd in the clogging clay, panting they lag 

 Behind inglorious j or elfe fhivering creep 



Bcnumb'd 



