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Didft Thou from Service the Wild-Afs difcharge,
And break his Bonds, and bid him live at large,
Thro' the wide Waste, his ample Mansion, roan,
And lofe himself in his Unbounded Home?
By Nature's Hand magnificently fed,

His Meal is on the Range of Mountains spread;
As in pure Air aloft he bounds along,

He fees in diftant Smoak the City Throng;
Confcious of Freedom, fcorns the fmother'd Train,
The threat'ning Driver, and the servile Rein.
Survey the warlike Horfe! didft Thou invest
With Thunder, his robust diftended Cheft?
No Sense of Fear his dauntless Soul allays;
'Tis dreadful to behold his Noftrils blaze;

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paw the Vale he proudly takes Delight,
And triumphs in the Fulness of his Might;
High-rais'd he fnuffs the Battle from afar,
And burns to plunge amid the raging War;
And mocks at Death, and throws his Foam around,
And in a Storm of Fury fhakes the Ground.

How does his firm, his rifing Heart, advance
Full on the brandifh'd Sword, and fhaken Lance;
While his fix'd Eye-balls meet the dazzling Shield,
Gaze, and return the Lightning of the Field!
He finks the Sense of Pain in gen'rous Pride,
Nor feels the Shaft that trembles in his Side;

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But neighs to the fhrill Trumpet's dreadful Blaft
Till Death; and when he groans, he groans his laft.
But, fiercer ftill, the Lordly Lion stalks,
Grimly majestic in his lonely Walks;

When round he glares, all living Creatures fly;
He clears the Defart with his rolling Eye.
Say, Mortal, does he roufe at thy Command,
And roar to Thee, and live upon thy Hand?
Doft thou for him in Forefts bend thy Bow,
And to his gloomy Den the Morfel throw,
Where bent on Death lie hid his tawny Brood,
And, couch'd in dreadful Ambush, pant for Blood;
Or, stretch'd on broken Limbs, consume the Day,
In Darkness wrapt, and flumber o'er their Prey?
By the pale Moon they take their deftin'd Round,
And lafh their Sides, and furious tear, the Ground.
Now Shrieks, and dying Groans, the Defart fill;
They rage, they rend, their rav'nous Jaws diftil
With crimson Foam; and, when the Banquet's o'er,
They stride
away, and paint their Steps with Gore;
In Flight alone the Shepherd puts his Truft,
And fhudders at the Talon in the Duft.

Mild is my Behemoth, tho' large his Frame;
Smooth is his Temper, and repreft his Flame,
While unprovok'd. This Native of the Flood
Lifts his broad Foot, and puts afhore for Food;

Earth

Earth finks beneath him, as he moves along

To feek the Herbs, and mingle with the Throng.
See, with what Strength his harden'd Loins are bound,
All over Proof, and shut against a Wound.

How like a Mountain Cedar moves his Tail!

Nor can his complicated Sinews fail.

Built high and wide, his folid Bones furpafs
The Bars of Steel; his Ribs are Ribs of Brafs;
His Port majestic, and his armed Jaw,

Give the wide Foreft, and the Mountain, Law.
The Mountains feed him; there the Beasts admire
The mighty Stranger, and in Dread retire :
At length his Greatnefs nearer they furvey,
Graze in his Shadow, and his Eye obey.
The Fens and Marfhes are his cool Retreat,
His Noontide Shelter from the burning Heat;
Their fedgy Bofoms his wide Couch are made,
And Groves of Willows give him all their Shade.
His Eye drinks Jordan up, when, fir'd with Drought,
He trufts to turn its Current down his Throat;
In leffen'd Waves it creeps along the Plain:
He finks a River, and He thirfts again.

Go to the Nile, and, from its fruitful Side,
Caft forth thy Line into the fwelling Tide:
With flender Hair Leviathan command,
And ftretch his Vaftness on the loaded Strand.

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Will he become Thy Servant? Will he own
Thy Lordly Nod, and tremble at Thy Frown?
Or with his Sport amuse thy leisure Day,

And, bound in Silk, with thy foft Maidens play?
Shall pompous Banquets fwell with fuch a Prize?
And the Bowl journey round his ample Size?
Or the debating Merchants fhare the Prey,
And various Limbs to various Marts convey?
Thro' his firm Skull what Steel its Way can win?
What forceful Engine can fubdue his Skin?
Fly far, and live; tempt not his matchless Might;
The Braveft fhrink to Cowards in his Sight;
The Rashest dare not rouse him up: Who then
Shall turn on Me, among the Sons of Men?

Am I a Debtor? Haft thou ever heard

Whence come the Gifts which are on Me conferr'd? My lavish Fruit a thousand Valleys fills,

And Mine the Herds, that graze a thousand Hills;
Earth, Sea, and Air, All Nature is my own;

And Stars and Sun are Duft beneath my Throne.
And dar'ft Thou with the World's

great Father vye, Thou, who doft tremble at my Creature's Eye?

At full my huge Leviathan fhall rife,

Boaft all his Strength, and spread his wond'rous Size, Who, great in Arms, e'er stripp'd his fhining Mail,

Or crown'd his Triumph with a fingle Scale?

Whofe

Whofe Heart fuftains him to draw near? Behold,
Destruction yawns; his fpacious Jaws unfold,
And, marshal'd round the wide Expanfe, difclofe
Teeth edg❜d with Death, and crouding Rows on Rows ;
What hideous Fangs on either Side arife!

And what a deep Abyfs between them lies!
Mete with thy Lance, and with thy Plumbet found,
The One how long, the Other how profound.

His Bulk is charg'd with such a furious Soul,
That Clouds of Smoke from his spread Noftrils roll,
As from a Furnace; and, when rous'd his Ire,
Fate iffues from his Jaws in Streams of Fire.
The Rage of Tempefts, and the Roar of Seas,
Thy Terror, this thy great Superior please;
Strength on his ample Shoulder fits in State;
His well-join'd Limbs are dreadfully complete;
His Flakes of folid Flefh are flow to part;
As Steel his Nerves, as Adamant his Heart.

When, late-awak'd, He rears him from the Floods, And, ftretching forth his Stature to the Clouds, Writhes in the Sun aloft his fcaly Height, And strikes the distant Hills with tranfient Light, Far round are fatal Damps of Terror spread, The Mighty fear, nor blush to own their Dread.

Large is his Front; and, when his burnish'd Eyes Lift their broad Lids, the Morning feems to rife.

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