To Dog

Pervading pest! Old Adam, when he saw Thy prime progenitor, I doubt not, swore And kicked the curst kioodle from the door, Though now thy whelpage we protect by law. In faith, thou must have been a beastly, raw, Uncultivated monster many score Immemorable centuries before Thy rigor was by breeding made to thaw. How racy of the soil thou must have been!— Indigenous and close to nature’s heart! How strong thy jaw-lock, habits how unclean, And what a sink of infamy thy heart! It may be, though, thou wert created upright. If Man (the angels’ care) could fall, a pup might.