EPITAPH ON A HARE.*

ERE lies, whom hound did ne'er pursue,
Nor swifter greyhound follow,
Whose foot ne'er tainted morning dew,
Nor ear heard huntsman's halloo !

Old Tiney, surliest of his kind,

Who, nursed with tender care,

And to domestic bounds confined,
Was still a wild Jack hare.

Though duly from my hand he took
His pittance every night,

He did it with a jealous look,
And, when he could, would bite.

His diet was of wheaten bread,
And milk, and oats, and straw;

Thistles, or lettuces instead,

With sand to scour his maw.

On twigs of hawthorn he regaled,
On pippin's russet peel;
And, when his juicy salads fail'd,

Sliced carrot pleased him well.

*The poet Cowper, in 1774, got three leverets, or young hares, to amuse him as pets, during an illness. Their names were Puss, Tiney, and Bess. The epitaph is on Tiney, which never grew tame. Puss and Bess both became quite tame. They were, all three, males.

A Turkey carpet was his lawn,
Whereon he loved to bound,
To skip and gambol like a fawn,
And swing his rump around.

His frisking was at evening hours,
For then he lost his fear;
But most before approaching showers,
Or when a storm drew near.

Eight years and five round-rolling moons
He thus saw steal away,
Dozing out all his idle noons,
And every night at play.

I kept him for his humour's sake,
For he would oft beguile

My heart of thoughts that made it ache,
And force me to a smile.

But now, beneath this walnut shade,
He finds his long last home,
And waits, in snug concealment laid,
Till gentler Puss shall come.

He, still more agèd, feels the shocks
From which no care can save :-
And, partner once of Tiney's box,

Must soon partake his grave.

1

In the morning gray She stretch'd away :"Twas a weary day to me!

For many an hour

In sleet and shower

By the lighthouse rock I stray;

And watch till dark

For the winged bark

Of him that is far away,

The castle's bound

I wander round,

Amidst the grassy graves:
But all I hear

Is the north-wind drear,

And all I see are the waves.
The "Northern Star"

Is set afar!

Set in the Baltic Sea :

And the waves have spread

The sandy bed

That holds my Love from me.

Tynemouth is a sea-port, at the mouth of the Tyne, below Newcastle.

2 Tynemouth Castle, an old ruin, the enclosure of which is now used as a

graveyard.

ON A SPANIEL, CALLED BEAU,
KILLING A YOUNG BIRD.

SPANIEL, Beau, that fares like you,
Well fed, and at his ease,
Should wiser be than to pursue
Each trifle that he sees.

But you have killed a tiny bird,
Which flew not till to-day,

Against my orders, whom you heard
Forbidding you the prey.

Nor did you kill that you might eat,
And ease a doggish pain,

For him, though chased with furious heat,
You left where he was slain.

Nor was he of the thievish sort,
Or one whom blood allures,1
But innocent was all his sport
Whom you have torn for yours.
My dog! what remedy2 remains,
Since, teach you all I can,
I see you, after all my pains,
So much resemble man?

BEAU'S REPLY.

Sir, when I flew to seize the bird
In spite of your command,
A louder voice than yours I heard,
And harder to withstand.

1 allures, tempts.

2 remedy, curo.

You cried-Forbear!--but in my breast
A mightier cried-Proceed!

'Twas Nature, Sir, whose strong behest
Impelled me to the deed.

Yet, much as Nature I respect,
I ventured once to break
(As you, perhaps, may recollect)
Her precepts for your sake;

And when your linnet, on a day,
Passing his prison door,

Had fluttered all his strength away,
And panting press'd the floor;

Well knowing him a sacred thing,
Not destined to my tooth,

I only kiss'd his ruffled wing,
And lick'd the feathers smooth.

Let my obedience then excuse
My disobedience now,

Nor some reproof yourself refuse
From your aggrieved' Bow-wow;

If killing birds be such a crime
(Which I can hardly see),

What think you, Sir, of killing time
With verse address'd to me?

behest, command.

'destined, intended for.

4 impelled, drove.

5 precept, order.

7 I aggrieved, injured, pained.