48 The Chariot Race.-The Polar Winter.
THE CHARIOT RACE.
HAST thou beheld, when from the goal they start, The youthful charioteers with heaving heart Rush to the race, and panting scarcely bear Th' extremes of fev'rish hope and chilling fear; Stoop to the reins, and lash with all their force? The flying chariot kindles in the course : And now alow, and now aloft they fly, As borne thro' air, and seem to touch the sky, No stop, no stay; but clouds of sand arise, Spurn'd and cast backward on the followers' eyes. The hindmost blows the foam upon the first. Such is the love of praise, an honourable thirst! DRYDEN'S VIRGIL.
THE POLAR WINTER,
THE sun from far peeps with a sickly face, Too weak the clouds and mighty fogs to chase; When up the skies he shoots his rosy head, Or in the ruddy ocean seeks his bed,
Swift rivers are with sudden ice constrain'd; And studded wheels are on their back sustain'd-
An hostry now for waggons, which before Tall ships of burthen on their bosom bore. The brazen caldrons with the frost are flaw'd; The garment stiff with ice at hearths is thaw'd; With axes first they cleave the wine, and thence By weight the solid portions they dispense.
From locks uncomb'd, and from the frozen beard, Long icicles depend, and crackling sounds are heard.
Meantime perpetual sleet and driving snow Obscure the skies, and hang on herds below. The starving cattle perish in their stalls, Huge oxen stand inclos'd in wintry walls Of snow conceal'd; whole herds are buried there Of mighty stags, and scarce their horns appear. The dextrous huntsman wounds not these afar With shafts, or darts, or makes a distant war With dogs, or pitches toils to stop their flight; But close engages in unequal fight;
And while they strive in vain to make their way Through hills of snow, and pitifully bray, Assaults with dint of sword, or pointed spears, And homeward, on his back, the burthen bears.
The Alps at Day-break.
The men to subterranean caves retire
Secure from cold, and crowd the cheerful fire:
With trunks of elms and oaks the hearth they Joad,
Nor tempt th' inclemency of heav'n abroad.
Their jovial nights in frolic and in play They pass, to drive the tedious hours away. DRYDEN'S VIRGIL
THE ALPS AT DAY-BREAK.
THE Sunbeams streak the azure skies, And line with light the mountain's brow: With hounds and horns the hunters rise, And chase the roebuck thro' the snow.
The goats wind slow their wonted way Up craggy steeps and ridges rude; Mark'd by the wild wolf for his prey, From desert cave or hanging wood.
And while the torrent thunders loud, And as the echoing cliff's reply, The huts peep o'er the morning cloud, Perch'd, like an eagle's nest, on high.
SEE the young olive in the sylvan scene, Crown'd by fresh fountains with eternal green, Lifts the gay head in snowy flow'rets fair, And plays and dances to the gentle air, When lo a whirlwind from high heav'n invades The tender plant, and withers all its shades; It lies uprooted from its genial bed,
A lovely ruin, now defaced and dead.
MINE be a cot beside a hill;
A bee-hive's hum shall sooth my ear; A willowy brook that turns a mill, With many a fall shall linger near.
The swallow oft, beneath my thatch Shall twitter from her clay-built nest;
Oft shall the pilgrim lift the latch, And share my meal, a welcome guest. FO Around
Pity. Ascending the Alps.
Around my ivied porch shall spring
Each fragrant flower that drinks the dew; And Lucy at her wheel shall sing,
In russet gown and apron blue.
No radiant pearl which crested Fortune wears, No gem that twinkling hangs from Beauty's ears, Not the bright stars which night's blue arch adorn, Nor rising suns that gild the vernal morn, Shine with such lustre as the tear that breaks For others' woe down virtue's manly cheeks.
ASCENDING THE ALPS.
PLEASED at the first the tow'ring Alps we try, Mount o'er the vales, and seem to tread the sky; Th' eternal snows appear already past,
And the first clouds and mountains seem the last. But, those attain'd, we tremble to survey The growing labours of the lengthen'd way; Th' increasing prospect tires our wand'ring eyes; Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise.
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