 | A New Year's Eve, and Other Poems |  |
120
TO AN ELEPHANT.
Gigantic in thy bulk and height
Art thou; yet gentle in thy might,
As dew that falls on flowers;
And, though unwieldly be thy frame,
At times thy instinct puts to shame
Man's boasted reasoning powers.
Art thou; yet gentle in thy might,
As dew that falls on flowers;
And, though unwieldly be thy frame,
At times thy instinct puts to shame
Man's boasted reasoning powers.
So grave and reverend is thy mien,
So much of majesty serene,
Around thee seems to cling,
That, could my vote decisive be,
The lion should give place to thee,
And own thee as his king.
So much of majesty serene,
Around thee seems to cling,
That, could my vote decisive be,
The lion should give place to thee,
And own thee as his king.
121
Not pent up in a caravan,
Nor taught to aid the wrath of man
In honour's gory field:
Nor in the splendour of the chase
Can thought discern thy native grace
In regal pride revealed.
Nor taught to aid the wrath of man
In honour's gory field:
Nor in the splendour of the chase
Can thought discern thy native grace
In regal pride revealed.
This would we estimate aright,
Fancy should wing her eager flight
Beneath far eastern skies;
And there thy happier life should paint,
Untutored by each harsh restraint
Thy vassalage implies.
Fancy should wing her eager flight
Beneath far eastern skies;
And there thy happier life should paint,
Untutored by each harsh restraint
Thy vassalage implies.
I love in thought with thee to roam
'Mid scenes, thy freedom's fitting home,
Through jungles intertwined:
Uncultured and untrodden plains,
Shadowy and vast, where Nature reigns
In savage pomp enshrined.
'Mid scenes, thy freedom's fitting home,
Through jungles intertwined:
Uncultured and untrodden plains,
Shadowy and vast, where Nature reigns
In savage pomp enshrined.
122
There could I picture thee—at morn,
Not solitary and forlorn,
But roaming, wild and free,
Among thy peers;—in noon-tide's heat
Enjoying thy siestra sweet
Beneath some branching tree.
Not solitary and forlorn,
But roaming, wild and free,
Among thy peers;—in noon-tide's heat
Enjoying thy siestra sweet
Beneath some branching tree.
Again at eve I see thee stray,
Solemn and stately, on thy way,
Through thickets still as death;
And, 'mid the silence of the night,
I seem to hear, though lost to sight,
Thy deep-drawn slumbering breath!
Solemn and stately, on thy way,
Through thickets still as death;
And, 'mid the silence of the night,
I seem to hear, though lost to sight,
Thy deep-drawn slumbering breath!
'Tis but a dream, a vision all!
And see, my fancy to recall,
And in recalling shock it,
That trunk, which from the topmost bough
Once gathered mangoes, pilfers now
Thy keeper's dirty pocket!
And see, my fancy to recall,
And in recalling shock it,
That trunk, which from the topmost bough
Once gathered mangoes, pilfers now
Thy keeper's dirty pocket!
| A New Year's Eve, and Other Poems | |