308 SHIKAR SKETCHES. 



With loosened rein the jovial train 



Slow to the cover throng, 

 And wouldn't stir without a spur 



To coax their nags along. 

 We high uprear the glittering spear, 



Far flashing to the sky, 

 With hope elate anticipate 



To see the wild boar die. 

 To such bright hopes e'en misanthropes 



Would pledge a bumper here, 

 And fill their cup and drain it up 



To Saddle, Spur, and Spear ! 



in. 



'Twere vain to tell the magic spell 



That fires the hunter's eye, 

 When shout and roar have roused the boar, 



And stirred him from his sty : 

 His rage at first, Ms glorious burst. 



Dark dashing through the flood, 

 His bristly might, his meteor flight, 



And his death of foam and blood I 

 Oh ! who hath been in such a scene, 



That scene can e'er forget ? 

 In sorrow's mood, in solitude, 



Its dream will haunt him yet ; 



