Where, as he crops his vary'd fare, the herds,
In widening circle round, forget their food,
And at the harmless stranger wondering gaze. 715
Peaceful, beneath primeval trees, that cast
Their ample shade o'er Niger's yellow stream,
And where the Ganges rolls his sacred wave;
Or mid the central depth of blackning woods,
High-rais'd in solemn theater around, 720
Leans the huge elephant: wisest of brutes!
O truly wise! with gentle might endow'd,
Tho' powerful, not destructive! Here he sees
Revolving ages sweep the changeful earth,
And empires rise and fall; regardless he 725
Of what the never-resting race of Men
Project: thrice happy! could he 'scape their guile,
Who mine, from cruel avarice, his steps;
Or with his towery grandeur swell their state,
The pride of kings! or else his strength pervert, 730
And bid him rage amid the mortal fray,
Astonish'd at the madness of mankind.
Wide o'er the winging umbrage of the floods,
Like vivid blossoms glowing from afar,
Thick-swarm the brighter birds. For Nature's hand, 735
That with a sportive vanity has deck'd
The plumy nations, there her gayest hues
Profusely pours. [1]But, if she bids them shine,
Array'd in all the beauteous beams of day,
Yet frugal still, she humbles them in song. 740
Nor envy we the gaudy robes they lent
Proud Montezuma's realm, whose legions cast
A boundless radiance waving on the sun,
While
- ↑ In all the Regions of the torrid Zone, the Birds, tho' more beautiful in their plumage, are observed to be less melodious than ours.
