LINES
Addressed to Lieut. R.W.H. Hardy, R.N., on the Perusal of his Volume of Travels in the Interior of Mexico
'Tis pleasant, lolling in our elbow chair,
Secure at home, to read descriptions rare
Of venturous traveller in savage climes;
His hair-breadth 'scapes, toil, hunger—and sometimes
The merrier passages that, like a foil
To set off perils past, sweetened that toil,
And took the edge from danger; and I look
With such fear-mingled pleasure thro' thy book,
Adventurous Hardy! Thou a diver[16] art,
But of no common form; and for thy part
Of the adventure, hast brought home to the nation
Pearls of discovery—jewels of observation.
ENFIELD, January, 1830.
[Footnote 16: Captain Hardy practised this art with considerable success. [Note in Athenaeum.]