On Glenriddells Fox Breaking His Chain（1 / 3）
on glenriddell's fox breaking his chain
a fragment, 1791.
thou, liberty, thou art my theme;
not such as idle poets dream,
who trick thee up a heathen goddess
that a fantastic cap and rod has;
such stale conceits are poor and silly;
i paint thee out, a highland filly,
a sturdy, stubborn, handsome dapple,
as sleek's a mouse, as round's an apple,
that when thou pleasest canst do wonders;
but when thy luckless rider blunders,
or if thy fancy should demur there,
wilt break thy neck ere thou go further.
these things premised, i sing a fox,
was caught among his native rocks,
and to a dirty kennel chained,
how he his liberty regained.
glenriddell! whig without a stain,
a whig in principle and grain,
could'st thou enslave a free-born creature,
a native denizen of nature?
how could'st thou, with a heart so good,
(a better ne'er was sluiced with blood!)
nail a poor devil to a tree,
that ne'er did harm to thine or thee?
the staunchest whig glenriddell was,
quite frantic in his country's cause;
and oft was reynard's prison passing,
and with his brother-whigs canvassing ↑返回顶部↑
a fragment, 1791.
thou, liberty, thou art my theme;
not such as idle poets dream,
who trick thee up a heathen goddess
that a fantastic cap and rod has;
such stale conceits are poor and silly;
i paint thee out, a highland filly,
a sturdy, stubborn, handsome dapple,
as sleek's a mouse, as round's an apple,
that when thou pleasest canst do wonders;
but when thy luckless rider blunders,
or if thy fancy should demur there,
wilt break thy neck ere thou go further.
these things premised, i sing a fox,
was caught among his native rocks,
and to a dirty kennel chained,
how he his liberty regained.
glenriddell! whig without a stain,
a whig in principle and grain,
could'st thou enslave a free-born creature,
a native denizen of nature?
how could'st thou, with a heart so good,
(a better ne'er was sluiced with blood!)
nail a poor devil to a tree,
that ne'er did harm to thine or thee?
the staunchest whig glenriddell was,
quite frantic in his country's cause;
and oft was reynard's prison passing,
and with his brother-whigs canvassing ↑返回顶部↑