2,2)0 The Poets Beasts. 



Aloud he bellows, with uplifted paw- 

 Dances upreared, menaces the foot 

 Of earth with trembling diffidence protruded. 

 Lo ! the saliva of his deafening tongue 

 Her pebbled instep stains : his rugged coat 

 Is whitened o'er with foam," 



On the whole, it seems to me, a poet's sentiments 

 towards animals generally are very much like those of an 

 average girl. Both prefer little animals, with smooth skins, 

 and, for choice, white. 



In this analogy perhaps is to be found the prevalent 

 fastidiousness with regard to mastiffs. Ladies as a rule do 

 not like them, nor do poets. When they baited bulls they 

 always received a measure of admiration, and in the stouter 

 verse of our older poets " the fell mastiffe " was a frequent 

 simile for furious ferocity, 



" When an eager mastifTe once doth prove 

 The taste of blood of some engored beast, 

 No words may rate, nor rigour him remove 

 From greedy hold of that his bloudy feast," 



" With that all mad and furious he grew 

 Like a fell mastiffe." 



An especial favourite is of course the " officious " sheep- 

 dog, "faithful to teach thy stragglers to return" (Dyer). 

 But just as it is impossible to think of dogs apart from man, 

 so it is very difficult to think of the shepherd-dog apart 

 from sheep. For the pet "colley," so rapidly being degene- 

 rated by town fashion into a cowardly sycophant, is not the 

 typical shepherd-dog. It is becoming a variety by itself, 

 " the coUey," and seen in the street recalls no rural sound 

 or sight. Far different is the unkempt muddy dog that 

 may be sometimes seen driving a flock of sheep through 

 the busiest thoroughfares of London. For as a rule the 



