Page:The Poems of John Dyer (1903).djvu/122

In its fall stopp'd, and bound with bars of ice.
Close on the left unnumber'd tracks they view
White with continual frost ; and on the right
The Caspian Lake, and ever-flow'ry realms, 415
Tho' now abhorr'd, behind them turn, the haunt
Of arbitrary rule, where regions wide
Are destin'd to the sword ; and on each hand
Roads hung with carcases, or under foot
Thick strown; while in their rough bewilder'd vales 420
The blooming rose its fragrance breathes in vain,
And silver fountains fall, and nightingales
Attune their notes, where none are left to hear.
Sometimes o'er level ways, on easy sleds,
The gen'rous horse conveys the sons of Trade, 425
And ever and anon the docile dog,
And now the light rein-deer, with rapid pace
Skims over icy lakes : now slow they climb
Aloft o'er clouds, and then adown descend
To hollow vallies, till the eye beholds 430
The roofs of Tobol, whose hill-crowning walls
Shine, like the rising moon, thro' watery mists ;
Tobol ! th' abode of those unfortunate
Exiles of angry state, and thralls of war ;
Solemn fraternity ! where earl and prince, 435
Soldier and statesman, and uncrested chief,
On the dark level of adversity
Converse familiar ; while amid the cares
And toils for hunger, thirst, and nakedness,
Their little public smiles, and the bright sparks 440
Of trade are kindled. Trade arises oft,
And virtue, from adversity and want :
Be witness, Carthage ! witness, ancient Tyre !
And thou, Batavia ! daughter of distress.
This with his hands, which erst the truncheon held, 445
The hammer lifts ; another bends and weaves