Alfred An Heroic Poem, in Twenty-Four Books. By Joseph Cottle: 4th ed. |
 |
|
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
| XV. |
| XVI. |
| XVII. |
| XVIII. |
| XIX. |
| XX. |
| XXI. |
| XXII. |
| XXIII. |
| XXIV. |
 | Alfred |  |
Ere he had ceased,
Each chieftain's countenance the impress bore
Of joy's gay smile, for each had hoped himself
That favour'd man; but when they heard the words,
‘So proper as your king?’ they look'd abash'd,
Confounded, as the man who travels long
O'er some parch'd desert, heartless, destitute,
Sighing for shelter, when, 'mid harrowing fears,
Far on his way, he spies the distant vale,
Water'd and fill'd with plenty, but, when fast
He speeds to meet it, finds to his sore cost,
The fordless river, wide, and stretch'd between.—
Each chief to Oddune look'd, waiting his words:
Who thus began.
Each chieftain's countenance the impress bore
Of joy's gay smile, for each had hoped himself
That favour'd man; but when they heard the words,
‘So proper as your king?’ they look'd abash'd,
Confounded, as the man who travels long
197
Sighing for shelter, when, 'mid harrowing fears,
Far on his way, he spies the distant vale,
Water'd and fill'd with plenty, but, when fast
He speeds to meet it, finds to his sore cost,
The fordless river, wide, and stretch'd between.—
Each chief to Oddune look'd, waiting his words:
Who thus began.
| Alfred | |