"And perish-if it must be so-
"At bay, destroying many a foe.
"When first my courser's race begun,
"I wish'd the goal already won;
"But now I doubted strength and speed.
"Vain doubt! his swift and savage breed
"Had nerved him like the mountain-roe;
"Nor faster falls the blinding snow
"Which whelms the peasant near the door
"Whose threshold he shall cross no more,

"Bewilder'd with the dazzling blast,

"Than through the forest-paths he past→→→

66

Untired, untamed, and worse than wild; "All furious as a favour'd child

"Balk'd of its wish; or fiercer still

510

"A woman piqued—who has her will.

520

XIII.

"The wood was past; 'twas more than noon,

"But chill the air, although in June; "Or it might be my veins ran cold"Prolong'd endurance tames the bold;

"And I was then not what I seem,

"But headlong as a wintry stream,
"And wore my feelings out before
"I well could count their causes o'er :
"And what with fury, fear, and wrath,
"The tortures which beset my path,
"Cold, hunger, sorrow, shame, distress,
"Thus bound in nature's nakedness;

66

Sprung from a race whose rising blood "When stirr'd beyond its calmer mood, "And trodden hard upon, is like "The rattle-snake's, in act to strike,

"What marvel if this worn-out trunk "Beneath its woes a moment sunk?

"The earth gave way, the skies roll'd round, "I seem'd to sink upon the ground;

"But err'd, for I was fastly bound.

66

My heart turn'd sick, my brain grew sore, "And throbb'd awhile, then beat no more:

"The skies spun like a mighty wheel;

"I saw the trees like drunkards reel,

530

540

"And a slight flash sprang o'er my eyes, "Which saw no farther: he who dies

"Can die no more than then I died. "O'ertortured by that ghastly ride,

"I felt the blackness come and go,

550

"And strove to wake; but could not make

"When all the waves that dash o'er thee,

"At the same time upheave and whelm,

"And hurl thee towards a desert realm.

66

My undulating life was as

"The fancied lights that flitting pass

"Our shut eyes in deep midnight, when

"Fever begins upon the brain;

"But soon it pass'd, with little pain,

"But a confusion worse than such :

"I own that I should deem it much,

"Dying, to feel the same again;

"Feel far more ere we turn to dust:

560

"No matter; I have bared my brow

"Full in Death's face-before-and now.

XIV.

My thoughts came back; where was I? Cold, "And numb, and giddy: pulse by pulse "Life reassumed its lingering hold,

"And throb by throb; till grown a pang "Which for a moment would convulse,

66

My blood reflow'd, though thick and chill; 'My ear with uncouth noises rang,

My heart began once more to thrill;

My sight return'd, though dim; alas! "And thicken'd, as it were, with glass.

Methought the dash of waves was nigh;

"There was a gleam too of the sky,
"Studded with stars ;-it is no dream;

"The wild horse swims the wilder stream!
"The bright broad river's gushing tide
"Sweeps, winding onward, far and wide,
"And we are half-way, struggling o'er

"To

yon

unknown and silent shore.

570

580

66

My courser's broad breast proudly braves, "And dashes off the ascending waves

590

"And onward we advance!

، We reach the slippery shore at length,
"A haven I but little prized,

"For all behind was dark and drear,
“And all before was night and fear.
"How many hours of night or day
، In those suspended pangs I lay,
“I could not tell; I scarcely knew
"If this were human breath I drew.

XV.

، With glossy skin, and dripping mane,
"And reeling limbs, and reeking flank,

"The wild steed's sinewy nerves still strain
"Up the repelling bank.

"We gain the top: a boundless plain

66

“ Spreads through the shadow of the night,

D

600