^o8 TJic Poets Beasts. 



o 



morality ; that without free agency formulates so fearlessly 

 and faithfully its table of duties to be done and temptations 

 to be resisted ; that without any hope of a hereafter, so 

 often seem.s to be living in expectation of a life to come. 

 But the sum of all this does not reach by many figures the 

 full equation of man. 



Yet the dog is a beautiful symbol, and though here and 

 there individuals may exceed into Egyptian idolatry of the 

 animal, it is as a type of courageous, self-forgetful friendship 

 that the poets use it most justly. 



Occasionally, too, they confess that the best of dogs may 

 " from the path of duty err." ^ As Somerville admits — 



" He may mistake sometimes, 'lis true, 

 None are infallible but you ; 

 The dog whom nothing can mislead 

 Must be a dog of parts indeed ; " 



and as Eliza Cook delightfully illustrates in her address to 

 tlie staghound Bran — 



" You have strength of muscle and length of limb, 

 Your jaws are deep and your beard is grim, 

 Your fangs are strong and ivory white, 

 Your mouth is as black as a cloudy night. 

 'Tis pleasant to hear the wise ones utter 



The worth of your power and pace ; 

 But why did you swallow that pound of butter, 



Dog of an ancient race?" 



So, too, Cowper, rising for once out of his indolent, 

 timid life, to impatience with a little dog that persisted in 

 quarrelling with others, orders it to — " go ! " 



* " E'en the docile pointer knows disgrace, 

 Thwarting the gen'ral instincts of his race ; 

 E'en so the mastiff or the meaner cur 

 At times will from the path of duty err." 



