Book II.
THE CHACE.
29
Shou'd mark their Haunts, and by dark treach'rous Wiles
Plot their Destruction; or perchance in hopes
Of plenteous Forage, near the ranker Mead;
Or matted Blade, wary, and close they fit. 30
When Spring shines forth, Season of Love and Joy,
In the moist Marsh, 'mong Beds of Rushes hid,
They cool their boiling Blood: When Summer Suns
Bake the cleft Earth, to thick wide-waving Fields
Of Corn full-grown, they lead their helpless young:
But when autumnal Torrents, and fierce Rains
Deluge the Vale, in the dry crumbling Bank
Their Forms they delve, and cautiously avoid
The dripping Covert: Yet when Winter's Cold
Their Limbs benumbs, thither with Speed return'd
In the long Grass they skulk, or shrinking creep
Among the wither'd Leaves, thus changing still,
As Fancy prompts them, or as Food invites.
Plot their Destruction; or perchance in hopes
Of plenteous Forage, near the ranker Mead;
Or matted Blade, wary, and close they fit. 30
When Spring shines forth, Season of Love and Joy,
In the moist Marsh, 'mong Beds of Rushes hid,
They cool their boiling Blood: When Summer Suns
Bake the cleft Earth, to thick wide-waving Fields
Of Corn full-grown, they lead their helpless young:
But when autumnal Torrents, and fierce Rains
Deluge the Vale, in the dry crumbling Bank
Their Forms they delve, and cautiously avoid
The dripping Covert: Yet when Winter's Cold
Their Limbs benumbs, thither with Speed return'd
In the long Grass they skulk, or shrinking creep
Among the wither'd Leaves, thus changing still,
As Fancy prompts them, or as Food invites.
But
