The tresses of the woods,
With the light dallying of the west-wind play,
And the full-brimming floods,
As gladly to their goal they run,
Hail the returning sun.
James G. Percival.
VII.
The Flock.
Dyer’s poem of “The Fleece,” though little read now-a-days, has found warm admirers among the great poets of England. Akenside once remarked that he should regulate his opinion of the public taste by the reception of “The Fleece;” for if it were not to succeed, “he should think it no longer reasonable to expect fame from excellence.” And Mr. Wordsworth appears to have been very much of the same opinion:
“Bard of 'The Fleece,’ whose skillful genius made
That work a living landscape, fair and bright,