Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 8.djvu/103

Rh Ev'n quit the House, for thou too long has sat in't, Produce at last thy dormant ducal patent; There, near thy master's throne in shelter plac'd, Let Will unheard by thee his thunder waste. Yet still I fear your work is done but half: For, while he keeps his pen, you are not safe. Hear an old fable, and a dull one too; It bears a moral, when apply'd to you. A hare had long escap'd pursuing hounds By often shifting into distant grounds; Till, finding all his artifices vain, To save his life he leap'd into the main. But there, alas! he could no safety find, A pack of dogfish had him in the wind. He scours away; and, to avoid the foe, Descends for shelter to the shades below: There Cerberus lay watching in his den, (He had not seen a hare the lord knows when) Out bounc'd the mastiff of the triple head; Away the hare with double swiftness fled; Hunted from earth, and sea, and Hell, he flies (Fear lent him wings) for safety to the skies. How was the fearful animal distrest! Behold a foe more fierce than all the rest: Sirius, the swiftest of the heavenly pack, Fail'd but an inch to seize him by the back. He fled to earth, but first it cost him dear: He left his scut behind, and half an ear. Thus was the hare pursued, though free from guilt; Thus, Bob, shalt thou be maul'd, fly where thou wilt. Then, honest Robin, of thy corpse beware; Thou art not half so nimble as a hare: Too ponderous is thy bulk to mount the sky; Nor can you go to Hell, before you die. So