Now of the journey: one can well conceive

Now of the journey: one can well conceive The numerous incidents which tend t’relieve The dull monotony of such a tour, And thus make sweet the elsewise tedious hour, That constant friend, prince of the upper main, Was scarce molested from the rosy dawn Until he rounded o’er the distant hills— When there forth swung (as he revolving swells) Promiscuous clouds across his fiery way And spread, like beacon-fires, the closing day. Thus advantageous ’neath umbrageous trees, Which rustled in the June-time fragrant breeze, Th’ aspiring peasantry as blithe as gay Enjoy the intervals of making hay,— Round went the tea, or round the home-brew’d ale, And thus they transiently themselves regale; And now and then, as each in turn doth quaff The timely cup, uproarious ’rose a laugh. A drover now, with breast bare to the sun, Inquired the hour, and urg’d the cattle on; His ashen beam fell sore upon their loins, And with the lash some imprecation joins; They, in reply to the unrighteous law, Reluctantly obey the fellsome blow. Again: some practised beggars plead for alms In moanful accent, and with dirty palms; Some kindly creature on the coach throws down A copper coin or two; they smile or frown, According as the gift is small or great, And then again they lazily retreat,— Repeating, most persistently, the cry To whomsoever may be passing by: Perhaps at night, some place offensive slunk, They curse the giver and get beastly drunk. And then th’ eccentric roadside “public” signs, Grotesquely figured, and inscribed with lines As various writ as various the designs:— “The Rose and Crown.” “The Stag.” “The Bull.” “The Bear.” The “Coach and Horses.” “Horses, Hounds, and Hare.” “The Rising Sun.” “The Seven Stars.” “Half-moon.” “The Maid and Magpie:” and “The Old Green Man.” Of “Heads”—The Duke’s: The Queen’s: The King’s. “King’s Arms.”— High-colour’d frontages, whose wondrous charms— To the unwary—oft are fraught with ill; While he, the “landlord,” dotes upon his till. All these attend to make the trav’ler smile, To less’ the length, as ’twere, of every mile.

The sun.