Deem’st thou I’d strike him? No, indeed
Mark me, I’d try persuasion’s art,
For cruelty offends my heart:
Had all resembled me, I ween,
Martin, thy law had needless been
Of speechless brutes from blows to screen
The poor head;
For had I an ass averse to speed
I ne’er would strike him; no indeed!
I’d give him hay, and cry, “Proceed,”