Page:The Chace - Somervile (1735).djvu/49

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Book II.
THE CHACE.
29
Shou'd mark their Haunts, and by dark treach'rous WilesPlot their Destruction; or perchance in hopesOf plenteous Forage, near the ranker Mead;Or matted Blade, wary, and close they fit. 30When Spring shines forth, Season of Love and Joy,In the moist Marsh, 'mong Beds of Rushes hid,They cool their boiling Blood: When Summer SunsBake the cleft Earth, to thick wide-waving FieldsOf Corn full-grown, they lead their helpless young:But when autumnal Torrents, and fierce RainsDeluge the Vale, in the dry crumbling BankTheir Forms they delve, and cautiously avoidThe dripping Covert: Yet when Winter's ColdTheir Limbs benumbs, thither with Speed return'dIn the long Grass they skulk, or shrinking creepAmong the wither'd Leaves, thus changing still,As Fancy prompts them, or as Food invites.

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