Observations placeholder
Crosse, Andrew – Poems – The Red Deer
Identifier
026643
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Not only did he love the hills, the trees, the streams, the flowers, but the wild animals that found an asylum in his grounds became objects of his affection; he used to say, "I think I could tame every animal in creation, except my own species." He had many singular adventures with animals. His sympathy with them, and his feelings generally, are well portrayed in the following poetical piece, which dates about the time.
A description of the experience
..LINES ON A RED DEER TURNED OUT BEFORE THE, STAG HOUNDS, ON BROOMFIELD HILL.
"Away! away! to the hills away!
The hounds are on thy trail!
Away! away! at a breath's delay
Thy blood shall stain the vale!
Away! away! beleaguered thing I
O’er bank, and bog, and brake!
Thy foes' fierce shouts behind thee ring;
Thy life-it is the stake!
Trust to thy speed thy friend to prove,
But trust not man; for he
Craves mercy from the Power above,
But none he shows to thee!
“Trust to the wilds, the foods, the wave,
The precipice, the plain:
If such as these may fail to save,
Thy trusting is in vain!
“Strain every nerve, exert thy skill,
And thread the tangled maze;
Baffle pursuit in pool or rill,
Each step on land betrays!
And now, if close thy foes are found,
Then bravely turn and die I
The freeborn gales that float around
Shall waft thy final sigh!"