MR. ASSHETON SMITH 97 



THE MELTON HUNT, 1813 



" I must have liberty 

 Withal, as large a charter as the wind, 

 To blow on whom I please ; for so fools have, 

 And they that are most galled with my folly, 

 They most must laugh."— Shakspeare. 



I sing Fox-hunting, and the gen'rous rage 



Which spurs the noble youth of this new age, 



With careless toil, all for their country's good, 



To rid us of those vermin of the wood 



That nightly steal, and for their luncheon hoard 



The poultry which should smoke upon our board. 



Such feats advent'rous through the hard-run day, 



From dull November to all charming May, 



Call for the poet's best and readiest rhyme 



In strains at once familiar and sublime. 



Oh ! could my muse resemble such a chase, 



And with the riders keep an equal pace, 



Though cautious, bold ; cool, yet with ardour fired ; 



Free, without check ; impetuous, yet untired. 



Ye knowing sportsmen, foremost of the lead, 

 Who keep no turnpike, and no fences heed ; 

 Who crack the echoing whip, go off in style, 

 Enjoy the sport, and pace through every wile- 

 Now found, now lost, and now again in view — 

 The cunning fugitive ye close pursue : 

 Ye booted senators, who for me frank, 

 Claiming post after post an unpaid thank; 

 Who, with yourselves, bring thousands yearly down 

 To glut the cravings of this sharp-set town, 

 Whose trickful tradesmen, farmers, rogues in grain, 

 Thrive by your wants, and by your losses gain, 

 Scramble who most at sight your bills shall share, — 

 " Take in a hunter," and the booty's fair : 

 Be candid, hunters, if, once famed in Greek, 

 Faintly your foreign dialect I speak, 

 Up to your phrases if I'm found unable, 

 Not tutored in the science of your stable. 

 Besides, our tribe, you know, scarce hunt at all, 

 Save for preferment, and the well-cribbed stall; 



