1 62 The Poets Beasts. 



sought after by the curious.'' To this is added a note : 

 " On the submission of Paris, in 1436, the Constable, 

 Richemont, goes to dine at the Duke of Orleans' Hotel 

 du Pore-epic, and in 1438 the Order was conferred on a 

 lady, Mdlle. de Murat." 



From the French name, of course, comes our own word, 

 porcupig. 



There are few passages in Nature more beautiful through- 

 out than the deer poem. Whether we see them as the 

 "playmate fawns," the "gentle hinds," or the " noble stag," 

 they are equally poetical and lovable. No wonder, then, 

 that so exquisite a theme attracts poets. 



Every period of life, indeed almost every action, of these 

 dainty creatures affords a beauty to their verse, and the 

 appreciation of the surpassing charm of deer as they really 

 are in nature seems to have so completely contented the 

 poets, that they pay little attention to the legendary animal, 

 do not care to seek for metaphors or similes from them, 

 and do not venture to let improving imagination meddle 

 with a picture already so complete. 



No epithet or phrase that conveys a compliment 

 seems misapplied to creatures that can never be ungraceful 

 or unpicturesque. The light-stepping deer, the rustling 

 deer in the thickets, the tread of the fawn, the hind's soft 

 eyes of love — even the most commonplace phrases, if the 

 word " deer " occur in them — receive a gentle grace from 

 the association. 



The dainty and delicate fawn, confiding and yet so timid, is 

 indeed one of the sweetest touches of Nature, and the poets 

 take a delight in leading it out to play upon lawns begemmed 

 with dewdrops, to drink at babbling brooks, and fall asleep 

 in beds of fern and moss. Nor less the hind with its large 

 soft eyes, the gentle, careful mother of " the dappled fawn." 

 It is perpetually recurring as an image of tranquil innocence. 



Very often, of course, it is hunted, or its fawn killed, and 



