Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE PARTRIDGES: AN ELEGY, by ? PRATT


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE PARTRIDGES: AN ELEGY, by                    
First Line: Hard by yon copse, that skirts the flowery vale
Last Line: "spare, spare my babes; and I the death embrace.'"
Alternate Author Name(s): Pratt Of Peterborough, Mr.
Subject(s): Partridge


"Hard by yon copse, that skirts the flowery vale,
As late I walked to taste the evening breeze,
A plaintive murmur mingled in the gale,
And notes of sorrow echoed through the trees.

Touched by the pensive sound, I nearer drew:
But my rude step increased the cause of pain:
Soon o'er my head the whirring Partridge flew,
Alarmed; and with her flew an infant train.

But short th'excursion;—for, unused to play,
Feebly the unfledged wings th'essay could make:
The parent, sheltered by the closing day,
Lodged her loved covey in a neighbouring brake.

Her cradling pinions there she amply spread,
And hushed th'affrighted family to rest;
But still the late alarm suggested dread,
And closer to their feathery friend they pressed.

She, wretched parent! doomed to various woe,
Felt all a mother's hope, a mother's care;
With grief foresaw the dawn's impending blow,
And to avert it, thus preferred her prayer:

'O thou! who e'en the sparrow dost befriend,
Whose providence protects the harmless wren;
Thou God of birds! these innocents defend
From the vile sport of unrelenting men.

For soon as dawn shall dapple yonder skies,
The slaughtering gunner, with the tube of fate,
While the dire dog the faithless stubble tries,
Shall persecute our tribe with annual hate.

O may the sun, unfanned by cooling gale,
Parch with unusual heat th'undewy ground;
So shall the pointer's wonted cunning fail,
So shall the sportsman leave my babes unfound.

Then shall I fearless guide them to the mead,
Then shall I see with joy the plumage grow;
Then shall I see (fond thought!) their future breed,
And every transport of a parent know.

But if some victim must endure the dart,
And Fate marks out that victim from my race.
Strike, strike the leaden vengeance through this heart;
Spare, spare my babes; and I the death embrace.'"





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