Where shall he turn? or whither fly? Despair Gives courage to the weak. Resolved to die, He fears no more, but rushes on his foes, And deals his deaths around; beneath his feet These grovelling lie, those, by his antlers gored, Defile the ensanguined plain. Ah! see, distress’d, He stands at bay against yon knotty trunk, That covers well his rear, his front presents An host of foes. O shun, ye noble train, The rude encounter, and believe your lives Your country’s due alone. As now aloof They wing around, he finds his soul upraised, To dare some great exploit; he charges home Upon the broken pack, that, on each side, Fly diverse; then, as o’er the turf he strains, He vents the cooling stream, and, up the breeze, Urges his course with eager violence: Then takes the soil, and plunges in the flood Precipitant; down the mid-stream he wafts Along, till, like a ship distress’d, that runs Into some winding creek, close to the verge Of a small island, for his weary feet Sure anchorage he finds, there skulks, immersed; His nose, alone above the wave, draws in The vital air; all else beneath the flood [Sidenote: BOOK III THE CHASE v. 554-578.] Conceal’d, and lost, deceives each prying eye Of man or brute. In vain the crowding pack Draw on the margin of the stream, or cut The liquid wave with oary feet, that move In equal time. The gliding waters leave No trace behind, and his contracted pores But sparingly perspire: the huntsman strains His labouring lungs, and puffs his cheeks in vain. At length a blood-hound, bold, studious to kill, And exquisite of sense, winds him from far; Headlong he leaps into the flood, his mouth Loud-opening, spends amain, and his wide throat Swells every note with joy; then fearless dives Beneath the wave, hangs on his haunch, and wounds The unhappy brute, that flounders in the stream, Sorely distress’d, and, struggling, strives to mount The steepy shore. Haply once more escaped; Again he stands at bay, amid the groves Of willows, bending low their downy heads. Outrageous transport fires the greedy pack; These swim the deep, and those crawl up with pain The slippery bank, while others on firm land Engage; the stag repels each bold assault, Maintains his post, and wounds for wounds returns. As when some wily corsair boards a ship [Sidenote: BOOK III THE CHASE v. 579-602.]