1 50 Gleanings from the 



clofe quarters, without flipping hounds at them, 

 without any toils, nor do they terrify the timo- 

 rous creatures by the fear of the fluttering crimfon 

 feather, as they vainly thruft at the mafs of fnow 

 oppofmg efcape, and bellow hoarfely." 1 Our 

 Englifh Bible, in Ifa. xxiv. 17, reproduces the 

 hunting terms of the Vulgate, " formido et fovea 

 et laqueus," " fear and the pit and the fnare ;" 

 but the Hebrew word for " fear " does not feem 

 to have the technical meaning of " formido " as a 

 hunting term. To return to Dido's hunting ; 

 Dryden here rifes to the occafion : 



" Now had they reached the hills and ftormed the feat 

 Of favage hearts in dens, their laft retreat ; 

 The cry purfues the mountain goats, they bound 

 From rock to rock and keep the craggy ground. 

 Quite otherwife the flags, a trembling train 

 In herds unfmgled, fcour the dufty plain, 

 And a long chafe in open view maintain. 

 The glad Afcanius, as his courfer guides, 

 Spurs through the vale, and thefe and thofe outrides, 

 His horfe's flanks and fides are forced to feel 

 The clanking lam and goring of the fteel. 

 Impatiently he views the feeble prey, 

 Wifhing fome nobler beaft to crofs his way ; 

 And rather would the tufky boar attend, 

 Or fee the tawny lion downward bend." 2 



Somerville is diftinctively the poet of the chafe, 

 but his wordy blank verfe does not compare 

 favourably with the vigorous, fwift rhymes of 

 Dryden. Hear the latter, when untrammeled by 



1 "Georg.," iii. 372 : "Puniceaeve agitant pavidos formidine 

 penns." " Formido " is a technical hunting term fignifying any 

 terror tricked up with feathers. 



2 " .^Encid," iv. 151-159. 



