Page:Scotish Descriptive Poems - Leyden (1803).djvu/94

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CLYDE;
Where late gay Hamilton's facetious lay,In rustic numbers hailed returning May;And bade the brakes of Ardrie long resoundThe plaintive dirge, that graced his favourite hound. Old Rutherglen his designation bringsFrom Reuther, famed among our earliest kings: 20Where numerous miners dwell, who fly the day,Through central darkness urge their downward way;Where, slumbering in their secret beds, retireThe sable stores which nurse the rage of fire. To try the vigour of the generous horse,The level lawn expands the racer's course;Where, on the days to sestal games assigned,The sprightly horsemen crowd from every wind;While gazing crowds admire the courser's speed,The graceful rider, and the governed steed. 30More skilful horsemen Græcia ne'er could graceWith wreathing laurel, in Olympia's race;Nor fleeter coursers swept the Pythian plain,Renowned in daring Pindar's deathless strain.See, how they shift, and paw, with trembling heart,And lose a thousand steps before they start. When, robed in emerald vest, awakening springInvites the flowers to spread, and birds to sing,
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