2.
Away, away, in wild dismay
He flew with all his might;
And his joy was vast, when he reach'd at last
A warren in his flight.
3.
But ere he stole into a hole,
Secure from further fear,
A comrade, who spied the trembler, cried,
"What is amiss, my dear?"
4.
"What is amiss! why, simply this,"
He replied with panting breath,
"Those greyhounds, see, have been hunting me,
Till I'm nearly run to death."
5.
"Where, where?—But hark! I hear the bark
Of dogs upon your track;
But, i'faith, you err, for there's not, good sir,
A greyhound in the pack."
6.
"Not a greyhound?" "No! for really, though
The difference is but small,
I see them now, and the dogs, I vow,
Are beagles, one and all."
7.
What! beagles? Pshaw! the dogs that I saw
Were greyhounds, I'll be bail;
I am not blind, I know what kind
Of dogs were at my tail."
8
"Why, but for the fright, no doubt you might
Have known them with half an eye."
"I tell you, zounds, that they're all greyhounds,
As much as you or I."
9.
While words ran high, the dogs came nigh
And nigher, in pursuit,
Till unaware they fell on the pair,
And settled the dispute.
10.
Some authors discuss a question thus,
And, like this foolish pair,
Expend their life in wordy strife
On trifles light as air.
XII. THE CHEST OF TEA AND THE CHEST OF SAGE.
One morning, as they chanced to meet at sea,
A chest of sage address'd a chest of tea,
"Ho! brother, whence and whither art thou sailing?"
And in a speech emitted or exprest—
As speeches ever must be—from the chest,
