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Alighted, bolder up again they lead,

Farther and farther on, the lengthening flight;
Till vanish'd every fear, and every power
Rouz'd into life and action, light in air
Th' acquitted parents fee their foaring race,
And once rejoicing never know them more.

HIGH from the fummit of a craggy cliff,
Hung o'er the deep, fuch as amazing frowns
On utmost * Kilda's fhore, whofe lonely race
Refign the fetting fun to Indian worlds,
The royal eagle draws his vigorous young,
Strong pounc'd, and ardent with paternal fire.
Now fit to raise a kingdom of their own,
He drives them from his fort, the towering feat,
For ages, of his empire; which, in peace,
Unftain'd he holds, while many a league to fea
He wings his course, and preys in distant isles.

SHOULD I my steps turn to the rural feat, Whofe lofty elms, and venerable oaks, Invite the rook, who high amid the boughs,

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* The fartheft of the western islands of Scotland,

In early Spring, his airy city builds,

And ceafelefs caws amufive; there, well-pleas'd,
I might the various polity survey

Of the mix'd houfhold kind. The careful hen

Calls all her chirping family around,

Fed and defended by the fearlefs cock;

Whose breaft with ardour flames, as on he walks
Graceful, and crows defiance. In the pond,
The finely-checker'd duck before her train,
Rows garrulous. The ftately-failing fwan
Gives out his snowy plumage to the gale;
And, arching proud his neck, with oary feet
Bears forward fierce, and guards his ofier-ifle,
Protective of his young. The turkey nigh,

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Loud-threatning, reddens; while the peacock spreads His every-colour'd glory to the fun,

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And fwims in radiant majefty along.

O'er the whole homely fcene, the cooing dove
Flies thick in amorous chace, and wanton rolls

The glancing eye, and turns the changeful neck. 785

WHILE thus the gentle tenants of the shade Indulge their purer loves, the rougher world Of brutes, below, rufh furious into flame,

And fierce defire. Thro' all his lufty veins

The bull, deep-fcorch'd, the raging paffion feels. 790
Of pafture fick, and negligent of food,

Scarce feen, he wades among the yellow broom,
While o'er his ample fides the rambling sprays
Luxuriant shoot; or thro' the mazy wood
Dejected wanders, nor th' inticing bud

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Crops, tho' it preffes on his careless sense.

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And oft, in jealous madning fancy wrapt,
He seeks the fight; and, idly-butting feigns
His rival gor'd in every knotty trunk.

Him fhould he meet, the bellowing war begins: 800
Their eyes flash fury; to the hollow'd earth,

Whence the fand flies, they mutter bloody deeds,

And groaning deep, th' impetuous battle mix :
While the fair heifer, balmy-breathing, near,
Stands kindling up their rage. The trembling fteed,
With this hot impulfe feiz'd in every nerve,
Nor hears the rein, nor heeds the founding thong:
Blows are not felt; but toffing high his head,

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And by the well known joy to diftant plains
Attracted ftrong, all wild he bursts away;
O'er rocks, and woods, and craggy mountains flies
And, neighing, on the aërial fummit takes

Th'

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Th' exciting gale; then, fteep descending, cleaves The headlong torrents foaming down the hills, Even where the madness of the ftraiten'd stream Turns in black eddies round; fuch is the force With which his frantic heart and finews fwell,

NOR undelighted by the boundless Spring Are the broad monsters of the foaming deep : From the deep ooze and gelid cavern rous'd, They flounce and tumble in unwieldy joy.

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Dire were the ftrain, and dissonant, to sing
The cruel raptures of the savage kind :

How by this flame their native wrath fublim'd,

They roam, amid the fury of their heart,

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The far-refounding waste in fiercer bands,

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And growl their horrid loves. But this the theme
I fing, enraptur'd, to the BRITISH FAIR,
Forbids, and leads me to the mountain-brow,
Where fits the fhepherd on the graffy turf,
Inhaling, healthful, the descending fun.
Around him feeds his many-bleating flock,
Of various cadence; and his sportive lambs,
This
way
and that convolv'd, in frifkful glee,
Their frolicks play. And now the sprightly race 835

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Invites them forth; when swift, the fignal given,
They start away, and sweep the maffy mound
That runs around the hill; the rampart once

Of iron war, in ancient barbarous times,
When difunited BRITAIN ever bled,

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Loft in eternal broil: ere yet fhe grew

To this deep-laid indiffoluble ftate,

Where Wealth and Commerce lift their golden heads; And o'er our labours, Liberty and Law,

Impartial, watch; the wonder of a world!

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WHAT is this mighty Breath, ye fages, fay, That, in a powerful language, felt not heard, Inftructs the fowls of heaven; and thro' their breaft These arts of love diffufes? What, but GOD?

Infpiring GOD! who boundless Spirit all,

And unremitting Energy, pervades,

Adjusts, sustains, and agitates the whole,

He ceafelefs works alone; and

yet alone

Seems not to work with fuch perfection fram'd'
Is this complex ftupendous scheme of things.

But, tho' conceal'd, to every purer eye

Th' informing Author in his works appears:

Chief, lovely Spring, in thee, and thy soft scenes,

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The

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