WITH VERDANT ALDERS CROWN'D 77 



Thames is full of spirit, and he aptly justifies the name 

 of Loddon 



She said, and melting as in tears she lay, 

 In a soft silver stream dissolv'd away, 

 The silver stream her virgin coldness keeps, 

 For ever murmurs, and for ever weeps ; 

 Still bears the name the hapless virgin bore 

 And bathes the forest where she rang'd before. 



It is in " Windsor Forest " that many lines are found 

 by which Pope is perhaps alone remembered by many 

 sportsmen. The references to the well-breathed beagles 

 and the circling hare are happy, and very characteristic 

 of the poet's telling style in the couplet in brackets. 



Beasts, urged by us, their fellow beasts pursue, 

 And learn of man each other to undo. 



Equally characteristic of his defects are the shooting 

 touches in which the " unwearyd fowler " is introduced, 

 with the " leaden death " of the " clam'rous lapwings," 

 and the " mounting larks." The glimpse of lonely 

 woodcocks haunting the watery glade is sufficiently apt, 

 but let the shooting man stand at attention when 

 grandiloquently informed. 



He lifts the tube, and levels with his eye ; 

 Straight a short thunder breaks the frozen sky. 



Ten lines further in the poem stands the picture 

 which endears Pope to anglers for all time, and which 

 need only be indicated, as in the hymn books, with the 

 first line : 



The patient fisher takes his silent stand. 



