nd drive the wedge m

mn morn to eve his soitary

ggy and lean and shrewd, with

ail cropp'd short, baff lurcher ai

g attends him. Close behind his net eeps he slow, and now with many a risk, de comp'ring, snatches up the drifted sana th iv ry teeth, or picachs it with his × ut en shakes a powder d ..and by a tor toỷ. edless of ali s prank ***rdy chui

ng day, they goss
oping at the house wor

The feather'd tribes dem sie hair on wing,
And half on foot, they brush the fleecy flood,
scions, and fearful of too deep a plunge.
sparrows peep, and quit the shelt ring eaves
ize the fair occasion; well they eye
scatter'd grain, and, thievishly resolved
pe th' imperding famine, often scared

And coarser grass upspearing o'er the rest,
Of late unsightly and unseen, now shine
Conspicuous, and, in bright apparel clad,
And fledged with icy feathers, nod superb.
The cattle mourn in corners, where the fence
Screens them, and seem, half petrified, to sleep
In unrecumbent sadness. There they wait
Their wonted fodder, not, like hung'ring man,
Fretful if unsupplied, but silent, meek,

And patient of the slow-paced swain's delay.
He from the stack carves out th' accustom'd load,
Deep-plunging, and again deep-plunging oft
His broad keen knife into the solid mass:
Smooth as a wall the upright remnant stands,
With such undeviating and even force
He severs it away: no needless care,
Lest storms should overset the leaning pile
Deciduous, or its own unbalanced weight.
Forth goes the woodman, leaving unconcern'd
The cheerful haunts of man, to wield the axe
And drive the wedge in yonder forest drear,
From morn to eve his solitary task.

Shaggy and lean and shrewd, with pointed ears
And tail cropp'd short, half lurcher and half cur,
His dog attends him. Close behind his heel
Now creeps he slow, and now with many a frisk,
Wide-scamp'ring, snatches up the drifted snow
With iv'ry teeth, or ploughs it with his snout;
Then shakes his powder'd coat and barks for joy.
Heedless of all his pranks the sturdy churl
Moves right toward the mark; nor stops for aught,
But now and then, with pressure of his thumb,
T'adjust the fragrant charge of a short tube,
That fumes beneath his nose; the trailing cloud
Streams far behind him, scenting all the air.
Now from the roost, or from the neighb'ring pale,
Where, diligent to catch the first faint gleam
Of smiling day, they gossip'd side by side,
Come trooping at the housewife's well-known call
The feather'd tribes domestic; half on wing,
And half on foot, they brush the fleecy flood,
Conscious, and fearful of too deep a plunge.
The sparrows peep, and quit the shelt'ring eaves
To seize the fair occasion; well they eye
The scatter'd grain, and, thievishly resolved
T'escape th' impending famine, often scared