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, 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 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, 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 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, 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 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, The hammer lifts ; another bends and weaves