Page:The Poems of John Dyer (1903).djvu/115

Like doves or swallows in th' ethereal flood, 170
Or, like the eagle, solitary seen.
Some with more open course to Indus steer ;
Some coast from port to port, with various men
And manners conversant, of th' angry surge,
That thunders loud, and spreads the cliffs with foam, 175
Regardless, or the monsters of the deep,
Porpoise or grampus, or the rav'nous shark
That chase their keels ; or threat'ning rock, o'erhead
Of Atlas old ; beneath the threatening rocks,
Reckless, they furl their sails, and bart'ring, take 180
Soft flakes of wool ; for in soft flakes of wool,
Like the Silurian, Atlas' dales abound.
The shores of Sus inhospitable rise,
And higher Bojador ; Zara, too, displays
Unfruitful deserts; Gambia's wave inisles 185
An ouzy coast, and pestilential ills
Diffuses wide ; behind are burning sands,
Adverse to life, and Nilus' hidden fount.
On Guinea's sultry strand the drapery light
Of Manchester or Norwich is bestow'd 190
For clear transparent gums and ductile wax,
And snow-white ivory ; yet the valued trade
Along this barbarous coast in telling wounds
The generous heart, the sale of wretched slaves :
Slaves by their tribes condemn'd, exchanging death 195
For lifelong servitude ; severe exchange !
These till our fertile colonies, which yield
The sugar-cane and the Tobago leaf,
And various new productions, that invite
Increasing navies to their crowded wharfs. 200
But let the man whose rough tempestuous hours
In this advent'rous traffic are involv'd,
With just humanity of heart pursue
The gainful commerce : wickedness is blind :