Page:The Poems of John Dyer (1903).djvu/126

See the bold emigrants of Accadie,
And Massachuset, happy in those arts
That join the polities of trade and war,
Bearing the palm in either ; they appear 555
Better exemplars ; and that hardy crew
Who on the frozen beach of Newfoundland
Hang their white fish amid the parching winds ;
The kindly Fleece, in webs of Duffield woof,
Their limbs, benumb'd, enfolds with cheerly warmth, 560
And frize of Cambria, worn by those who seek,
Thro' gulfs and dales of Hudson's winding bay,
The beaver's fur, tho' oft they seek in vain,
While winter's frosty rigour checks approach
Ev'n in the fiftieth latitude. Say why, 565
(If ye the travell'd sons of Commerce know)
Wherefore lie bound their rivers, lakes, and dales,
Half the sun's annual course, in chains of ice ?
While the Rhine's fertile shore, and Gallic realms,
By the same zone encircled, long enjoy 570
Warm beams of Phrebus, and, supine, behold
Their plains and hillocks blush with clust'ring vines ?
Must it be ever thus ? or may the hand
Of mighty Labour drain their gusty lakes,
Enlarge the bright'ning sky, and, peopling, warm 575
The op'ning valleys and the yellowing plains ?
Or rather shall we burst strong Darien's chain,
Steer our bold fleets between the cloven rocks,
And thro' the great Pacific every joy
Of civil life diffuse ? Are not her isles 580
Numerous and large ? have they not harbours calm,
Inhabitants, and manners? haply, too,
Peculiar sciences, and other forms
Of trade, and useful products, to exchange
For woolly vestures ? 'Tis a tedious course 585