That Birds and Beasts were always able
To talk and act, ' at least in fable,'
To prove, I need not waste a rhyme .
The truth's as old as Æsop's time.
That various Birds, of various feather,.. Have parley held and join'd together; ' That Beasts, of different size and station, Have compact form’d on great occasion;
. VI, Is so well known, I need not stop. A short apology to drop; For mingling here, in concourse thick, The Dove, the TOAD, the r Chick;
The VIPER, too, whose deadly sting Might kill a Princess or a King'; ... The Bear, the Jackall, and the Hawk, Who each on various bus'ness talk.
The Chick, of whom I sing or speak;
Was high-fed, gallant, plump, and sleek;
His plumage of the gaudiest hue
That art could form and nature too...
Upon a dunghill, proud and high,
He'd strut before the public eye;
While envious partlets view'd the Bird,
And inly long'd to be prefer’d.
X. .
His happy Favorite to be,
How sigh'd each longing, gazing, she!
And mark'd his graceful toss of head,
Enamour'd of his noble tread! .
XI.
It, from necessity or fate,
So chanc'd, this Chick must have a mate;
Strange whims on Birds will seize,
And novelty those whims must please.
To choose a Bride, he would not deign,
Among his own congenial train,
But sought a mate, his roost to grace,
Among the harmless cooing race:
XIII.
A gentle Dove, and fair to view,
Of graceful form, of loveliest hue;
With her, in wedlock’s fetters join'd,
He hop'd pure nuptial bliss to find.
But diffrent tempers, diff'rent naturés,
Of bliss, are sadly-boding features,
And seldom breed, in married life,
Aught but unhappiness and strife.
XV.
Could but the Dame a Hen become,
She had been fitted for her doom:
No jealous pains had rack'd her breast,
No anguish could her soul molest.
She had beheld, without a sigh,
Her Husband's gay inconstancy;
Though he his favors might divide .
Among an hundred Hens beside.
XVII. . . . !
Or could her Cock become a Turtle,
Such as, in am'rous groves of myrtle,
Coo their soft loves in tenderest notes,
While strains of fondness swell their throats;
XVIII.
O happy, happy, had they been!
Bright constancy had blest the scene,
And life flow'd on in one glad stream,
Reflecting joy’s enchanting beam!..
But, dire reverse! no vow could change
The Cock's instinctive am'rous range; • No earthly tie prevent the Dove
To feel the pang of slighted love.
XX.
· A little while, (I own it true,)
The bliss that Hymen gives, she knew;
A little while, with honied pow'r,
Sweet love and rapture rul'd the hour.
XXI.
But soon her love began to cloy,
And Spousy sigh'd for varied joy;
Yes, to his former nature true,
He other game would fain pursue.
XXII. .. Was there an antiquated Hen, In fashion's wide extensive ken, Though old or tainted with the roop, This graceless Cock would seek her coop;
And, if she chose to give a rout,
He'd flap his wings and strut about,
While other Hens, in glittering rows,
Sigh’d, “how delightfully he crows !".
Beautie, deserted and alone, .
Jove vas left; with plaintive moan, in valute's neglected rale, jer sorrows to the gale.
XXV.
The tender Doveling blest her fate,
lini veth d her for her absent mate;
Within her solitary nest
She clasp the darling to her breast;
XXVI. les mutant charms, its innocence, Call casual gleams of jay dispense, And be a sense of bliss pervade tiene sorrow's cold and cheerless shade.
XXVII.
Long time ago, bistorians say,
The Eagle o'er the Birds held sway;
But those good days are past and gone,
Is la experience hath shewn.
XXVIII.
Seryone', or a chattering Jay,
By turus have held imperial sway;
audy Peucock, or a Swan,
The throne of Birds has sat upon.
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