It was the time when Ouse display’d
His lilies newly blown;*
Their beauties I intent survey’d,
And one I wish’d my own.
With cane extended far I sought
To steer it close to land;
But still the prize, though nearly caught,
Escap’d my eager hand.
Beau marked my unsuccessful pains
With fixt consid’rate* face,
And puzzling set his puppy brains
To comprehend the case.
But with a chirrup clear and strong,
Dispersing all his dream,
I thence withdrew, and follow’d long
The windings of the stream.
My ramble finished, I return’d.
Beau trotting far before
The floating wreath again discern’d,
And plunging left the shore.
I saw him with that lily cropp’d
Impatient swim to meet
My quick approach, and soon he dropp’d
The treasure at my feet.
Charm’d with the sight, the world, I cried,
Shall hear of this thy deed,
My dog shall mortify the pride
Of man’s superior breed;
But, chief, myself I will enjoin,
Awake at duty’s call,
To show a love as prompt as thine
To Him who gives me all.
* ‘Blown’ here means ‘blooming, in flower’, from Old English blowan, ‘bloom, flourish or prosper’. In The Eve of St Agnes John Keats (1795-1821) wrote:
Sudden a thought came like a full-blown rose,
Flushing his brow, and in his pained heart
Made purple riot.
The adjective ‘full-blown’ is often used to mean ‘in its most complete and developed form’, e.g. a full-blown fight (as opposed to a scuffle) or a full-blown musical (as opposed to a play with a few songs in it).
* ‘Considerate’ is used here not in the modern sense of ‘careful not to inconvenience or harm others’, but in the archaic sense of ‘showing careful thought’.