Page:Orion, an epic poem - Horne (1843, 3rd edition).djvu/10

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4
Orion.
[Book I.
The shadow of a stag that fled across,
Followed by a Giant's shadow with a spear!

"Hunter of Shadows, thou thyself a Shade,"
Be comforted in this,—that substance holds
No higher attributes; one sovran law
Alike develops both, and each shall hunt
Its proper object, each in turn commanding
The primal impulse, till gaunt Time become
A shadow cast on space, to fluctuate,
Waiting the breath of the Creative Power
To give new types for substance yet unknown:
So from faint nebulæ bright worlds are born;
So worlds return to vapour. Dreams design
Most solid lasting things, and from the eye
That searches life, death evermore retreats.

The shadowy chase has vanished; round the swell
Of the near mountain sweeps a bounding stag—
Round whirls a god-like Giant close behind—
O'er a fallen trunk the stag with slippery hoofs
Stumbles—his sleek knees lightly touch the grass—
Upward he springs—but in his forward leap,
The Giant's hand hath caught him fast beneath