When, pain'd with Hunger, the wild Raven's Brood Calls upon God, importunate for Food,

Who hears their Cry, who grants their hoarse Request,

And ftills the Clamour of the craving Neft ♪
Who in the cruel Ostrich has fubdu'd
A Parent's Care, and fond Inquietude?
While far fhe flies, her fcatter'd Eggs are found,
Without an Owner, on the fandy Ground;
Caft out on Fortune, they at Mercy lie,
And borrow Life from an indulgent Sky;
Adopted by the Sun, in Blaze of Day,
They ripen under his prolific Ray.
Unmindful fhe, that fome unhappy Tread
May crush her Young in their neglected Bed.
What Time she skims along the Field with Speed,
She fcorns the Rider, and parfuing Steed.

How rich the Peacock! what bright Glories run
From Plume to Plume, and vary in the Sun!
He proudly spreads them to the golden Ray,
Gives all his Colours, and adorns the Day;
With confcious State the fpacious Round difplays,
And flowly moves amid the waving Blaze.

Who taught the Hawk to find, in Seasons wife,
Perpetual Summer, and a Change of Skies?

When Clouds deform the Year, the mounts the Wind,
Shoots to the South, nor fears the Storm behind;
The Sun returning, she returns agen,

Lives in his Beams, and leaves ill Days to Men.
Tho' ftrong the Hawk, tho' practis'd well to fly,
An Eagle drops her in a lower Sky;
An Eagle, when, deferting Human Sight,
She feeks the Sun in her unweary'd Flight,
Did thy Command her yellow Pinion lift
So high in Air, and feat her on the Clift,

Where

Where far above thy World she dwells alone,

And proudly makes the Strength of Rocks her own;
Thence wide o'er Nature takes her dread Survey,
And with a Glance predeftinates her Prey?

She feafts her Young with Blood, and, hov'ring o'er
Th' unslaughter'd Hoft, enjoys the promis'd Gore.
Know'ft Thou how many Moons, by Me affign'd,
Roll o'er the Mountain Goat, and Foreft Hind,
While pregnant they a Mother's Load sustain ?
They bend in Anguifh, and caft forth their Pain..
Hale are their Young, from Human Frailties freed;
Walk unfuftain'd, and unaffifted feed;

They live at once; forfake the Dam's warm Side;
Take the wide World, with Nature for their Guide;
Bound o'er the Lawn, or feek the diftant Glade;
And find a Home in each delightful Shade.

Will the tall Reem, which knows no Lord but Me,

Low at the Crib, and ask an Alms of thee ?
Submit his unworn Shoulder to the Yoke,.
Break the ftiff Clod, and o'er thy Furrow smoak?
Since great his Strength, go truft him, void of Care;
Lay on his Neck the Toil of all the Year;
Bid him bring home the Seasons to thy Doors,
And caft his Load among thy gather'd Stores,

Didft Thou from Service the Wild-Afs difcharge, And break his Bonds, and bid him live at large, Thro' the wide Wafte, his ample Manfion, roam, -And lose himfelf 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;
Conscious of Freedom, fcorns the smother'd Train,
The threat'ning Driver,, and the fervile Rein.

Survey the warlike Horfe! didft Thou inveft
With Thunder, his robuft diftended Cheft?
No Senfe of Fear his dauntless Soul allays;
"Tis dreadful to behold his Noftrils blaze;
To 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 dazling 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;
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 Forests 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 lumber o'er their Prey ?
By the pale Moon they take their destin'd Round,
And lash their Sides, and furious tear the Ground.
Now Shrieks, and dying Groans, the Defart fill;
They rage, they rend, their rav'nous Jaws distil

With crimson Foam; and, when the Banquet's o'er,
They ftride 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 finks beneath him, as he moves along
To seek 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 Beafts admire
The mighty Stranger, and in Dread retire:
At length his Greatness nearer they furvey,
Graze in his Shadow, and his Eye obey..
The Fens and Marshes 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 Vaftnefs on the loaded Strand.

Will he become Thy Servant? Will he own
Thy Lordly Nod, and tremble at Thy Frown?
Or with his Sport amufe thy leifure 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 large Leviatban fhall rise,

Boaft all his Strength, and spread his wond'rous Size.
Who, great in Arms, e'er ftripp'd his shining Mail,
Or crown'd his Triumph with a single Scale ?
Whofe Heart fuftains him to draw near? Behold,
Destruction yawns; his spacious 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 Abyss between them lies!

Mete with thy Lance, and with thy Plumbet found,
The One how long, the Other how profound.