186 HUNTING DIRECTORY. 



The Fox Chase. 



Where sour vexation reigns; see }'on poor jade, 



In vain th' impatient rider frets and swears ; 



With galling spurs harrovps his mangled sides ; 



He can no more : his stiff unpliant limbs 



Rooted in earth, unmov'd and fix'd he stands, 



For every cruel curse returns a groan, 



And sobs, and faints, and dies. 



While these, with loosen'd reins and dangling heels, 



Hang on their reeling palfreys, that scarce bear 



Their weights : another in the treacherous bog 



T/ies floundering, half ingulf 'd. What biting thoughts 



Torment th' abandon'd crew ! Old age laments 



His vigour spent : the tall, plump, brawny youth 



Curses his cumberous bulk ; and envies now 



The short pygmaean race, he whilom kenn'd 



With pi'oud insulting leer. A chosen few 



Alone the sport enjoy, nor droop beneath 



Their pleasing toils. Here, huntsman, from this height 



Observe yon birds of prey : if I can judge, 



'Tis there the villain lurks : they hover round 



And claim him as their own. Was I not right? 



See ! there he creeps along ; his brush he drags, 



And sweeps the mire impure; from his wide jaws 



His tongue unmoisten'd hangs ; symptoms too sure 



Of sudden death. Ha ! yet he flies, nor yields 



To black despair. But one loose more, and all 



His wiles are vain. Hark ! through yon village now 



The rattling clamour rings. The barns, the cots, 



And leafless elms return the joyous sounds. 



Through every homestall, and through every yard. 



His midnight walks, panting, forlorn, he flies ; 



Through every hole he sneaks, through every jakes 



Plunging he wades besmear'd, and fondly hopes 



In a superior stench to lose his own : 



But, faithful to the track, th' unerring hounds 



With peals of echoing vengeance close pursue. 



And now distress'd, no sheltering covert near, 



Into tlie hen roost crpcj>s, whose walls witli gore 



