Page:Royal riddle book.pdf/12

 And tho’ awkward is my mien,

I often on the stage am seen.

But to raise your wonder higher,

I to greater heights aspire;

At table I my lord attend,

Please him and gratify his friend.

For vigilance and courage true,

I’ve no superior, equals few;

Which makes me by th’ industrious priz’d,

But by the indolent despis’d.

Bold and alert l meet the foe,

In all engagements valour show,

And if he proves too proud to yield,

One falls before we quit the field.

But tho’ with these perfections great

1 am endu’d—such is my fate;

They seize and to a stake me tie,

And bastinade me till I die.

I know my owner, serve my feeder,

But have no notion of my breeder:

Who sought the means to change my nature,

And from a fierce unruly creature,

Made me useful to the nation,

As some who move in higher station;

For I with gratitude abundant,

My owner’s praise set forth redundant.

And fraught with virtues deem’d inherent,

May well be call'd the king’s vicegerent;

As I his subjects render stronger,

And die that they may live the longer.

The king and subject I assistance lend.

In war a firm ally, in peace a friend;

To their diversions am a perfect slave.