upplied all else they wanted.
So, drooping and sorrowful, harrass'd and sore,
They skimm'd the blue mountain, and cross'd the black moor,
And the PARROT, by this time quite clamorous grown,
Declar'd _he_ should die of impatience alone.

However, consulting, they thought it was best
Now to steer a _new_ course; so went down to the West.
On a high Cliff, in Cornwall, they found out the CHOUGH; [p 29]
But how shou'd _he_ learn what was passing below?
Thro' Devon, so fam'd for its picturesque views,
They pass'd with a haste one can scarcely excuse;
From thence got to Somerset, almost benighted,
And soon on the summit of Mendip alighted.
There, most _a propos_, they immediately found
A Moss-cover'd Root-house,[4] with evergreens bound;
Beneath whose kind shelter, fatigu'd and opprest,
They gladly agreed till the morning to rest.
SIR ARGUS now cried, with a sigh and a tear,
"I wish that our travels, my friend, could end _here_:
Yet dread lest we many miles further should go,
And never, at last, our sweet Poetess know!"

But Fortune, capricious, who sports at her leisure, [p 30]
With birds, as with men, when it suits her good pleasure,
Resolv'd, after teazing Sir Argus awhile,
To reward, in the end, all his toils with her smile.

Aurora with splendor unusual arose,
When the PEACOCK and PARROT awoke from repose,
And how were their bosoms delighted and cheer'd,
When before them a perfect Elysium appear'd!
Reluctant they left it, again to explore,
Unconscious what happiness yet was in store:
But the country they travers'd was smiling and gay,
While the Sun, brightly shining, illumin'd their way;
And we all know how cheerful, how sweet is the scene,
When Nature unfolds her new livery of green.
The Birds carol'd round them, the Butterfly play'd,
And the soft vernal breeze kindly lent them its aid.

[Illustration: _"Till, all their cares over, in DORSET they found her."
p. 31._]

Thus, gently reviving, Hope sooth'd them again, [p 31]
And they shortly forgot both their sorrow and pain.
A path strew'd with flowers, they gaily pursued,
And, in fancy, their long-sought Incognita view'd;
Till, _all their cares over_, in DORSET[5] they found her
And, plucking a wreath of green Bay-leaves, they _crown'd_ her.

Now, what more remains of our PEACOCK to say,
But that, homeward, triumphant, he wing'