Page:The Poems of John Dyer (1903).djvu/95

Frequent observ'd, of high antiquity
No doubtful mark : th' advent'rous voyager,
Toss'd over ocean to remotest shores, 125
Hears on remotest shores the murm'ring loom,
Sees the deep-furrowing plough and harrow'd field,
The wheel-mov'd wagon, and the discipline
Of strong-yok'd steers. What needful art is new ?
Next the industrious youth employs his care 130
To store soft yarn ; and now he strains the warp
Along the garden-walk, or highway side,
Smoothing each thread ; now fits it to the loom,
And sits before the work : from hand to hand
The thready shuttle glides along the lines, 135
Which open to the woof and shut altern ;
And ever and anon, to firm the work,
Against the web is driv'n the noisy frame,
That o'er the level rushes, like a surge
Which, often dashing on the sandy beach, 140
Compacts the traveller's road : from hand to hand
Again, across the lines oft op'ning, glides
The thready shuttle, while the web apace
Increases, as the light of eastern skies,
Spread by the rosy fingers of the morn, 145
And all the fair expanse with beauty glows.
Or if the broader mantle be the task,
He chuses some companion to his toil.
From side to side, with amicable aim,
Each to the other darts the nimble bolt, 150
While friendly converse, prompted by the work,
Kindles improvement in the op'ning mind.
What need we name the sev'ral kinds of looms?
Those delicate, to whose fair-colour'd threads
Hang figur'd weights, whose various numbers guide 155
The artist's hand : he, unseen, flow'rs, and trees,