s noble Mastiffs side,
Tethered to the waggon's tail: 750
And the ship, in all her pride,
Following after in full sail!
Not to speak of babe and mother;
Who, contented with each other,
And snug as birds in leafy arbour, 755
Find, within, a blessed harbour!

With eager eyes the Master pries;
Looks in and out, and through and through;
Says nothing--till at last he spies
A wound upon the Mastiff's head, 760
A wound, where plainly might be read
What feats an Ass's hoof can do!
But drop the rest:--this aggravation,
This complicated provocation,
A hoard of grievances unsealed; 765
All past forgiveness it repealed;
And thus, and through distempered blood
On both sides, Benjamin the good,
The patient, and the tender-hearted,
Was from his team and waggon parted; 770
When duty of that day was o'er,
Laid down his whip--and served no more.--
Nor could the waggon long survive,
Which Benjamin had ceased to drive:
It lingered on;--guide after guide 775
Ambitiously the office tried;
But each unmanageable hill
Called for _his_ patience and _his_ skill;--
And sure it is, that through this night,
And what the morning brought to light, 780
Two losses had we to sustain,
We lost both WAGGONER and WAIN!

* * * * *

Accept, O Friend, for praise or blame,
The gift of this adventurous song;
A record which I dared to frame, 785
Though timid scruples checked me long;
They checked me--and I left the theme
Untouched;--in spite of many a gleam
Of fancy which thereon was shed,
Like pleasant sunbeams shifting still 790
Upon the side of a distant hill:
But Nature might not be gainsaid;
For what I have and what I miss
I sing of these;--it makes my bliss!
Nor is it I who play the part, 795
But a shy spirit in my heart,
That comes and goes--will sometimes leap
From hiding-places ten years deep;
Or haunts me with familiar face, [67]
Returning, like a ghost unlaid, 800
Until the debt I owe be paid.
Forgive me, then; for I had been
On friendly terms with this Machin