Beagles in Poetry - Deux

Gray dawn appears; the sportsman and his train
Speckle the bosom of the distant plain;
'Tis he, the Nimrod of the neighbouring lairs,
Save that his scent is less acute than theirs,
For persevering chase, and headlong leaps,
True BEAGLE as the stanchest hound he keeps.
Charged with the folly of his life's mad scene,
He takes offence, and wonders what you mean;
The joy, the danger and the toil o'erpays;
'Tis exercise, and health, and length of days.
Again impetuous to the field he flies,
Leaps every fence but one, there falls, and dies;
Like a slain deer, the tumbril brings him home,
Unmiss'd but by his dogs and by his groom.

The Progress of Error, William Cowper
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