The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-02-09
FAMOUS DOCS
OF POETRY
THE sARps HAVE SUNG OF THE
FIDELITY OF MANS FOUR
FooTEo FRIEND.

and young alike. Man Is the god
Of the cog,t said Bacon. Love me.
love my dog. said the English poet.
He Is the only creature faithful to
the end. said honest old Crabbe. Far
back. In the very dawn of letters, we
read ofdArgis, the classic type OF
fidelity and watchfulness. the friend
of Ulysses. the dog of Homer. After
separation OF more than. twenty
years. when friends had forgotten,
and even the loving wife mourned
him Us lost. old Argus knew his lord.
"Ife knew and stroye to weep,
Insain be tried to crawl and kiss the
Feet.
Yet, all he could, Install, his ears, his
eyss
Salate his master and confess his joys.
Soft pity touched his mighty masters
soul,
Adown his cheek a tear unbidden
STOLE
In all poetry there is nothing more
tender than those lines that tell how
ths faithful creature, taking one last.
fond look at his master, lies down
and lets life softly ebb away" Liter.
ature Is full of dog pictures; his cheer
tni bark echoes from many printed
Page, ms bright eyes CLEAN Ia many
q work OF art, his graceful limbs are
fxed IN monument and statue.
Shakespeare, OF course, has left
bright sketches of dogs. both great
and smail-"rray, Blanche, and
Sweetheart, and all the others"--and
rs we know from fair tradition was
in real life a lover of mans humble
s .i'tattl sohe OUT dogfover could
nave SO oeautitaliy described the
.,''.a'.ls. - ih lSs
tlheir heads are hung with ears that
sweep away tne morning dews.
Srookkheea and dew'lapped, like
ih hsssssan baiis;
s2 '' ~, IN pursuit, put matched In mouth
Ake peiis'
.ss.ca saiaef eaeh' a cry more unable
"as ~. nsNer Ho'io 60 10, nor cheered
WIN morn,
y 10 SPARTA nor tn Thessaiy.'
8 ~ IN 1ihe Two Gehtlemen OF Verona
~ t 's' " 14aunce, VINO loves his dog
na mas more than human fellow.
snip win ,s| MN. He calls Crab the
sou ,,sS e aos mat ever hved because
~ a ..el lios weep WIN him when his
. .atnaiy were IN trouble. He says: "oft
, .sa saAeh crap 5 taults upon me mad
pent oeaeath the stripes were meant
lor MN. and seems to think 1t no
more than Crab should dc, for him in
' fetarh,
In THE Tanning OF the Shrew" the
lcrd tells his huntsmen to tender
We'll the hounds and master and man
discuss the doings of Merriman and
clowder, of Silver and Bellman and
Echo. rs IL they were intimate friends.
Almost a volume might be filed with
the doings Of the dogs of Shakespeare.
The sour, little, spitefui Pope had
one aniable weakness-if It be a
weakness-in that he was a man of
dogs. BE must have loved them, too.
or he could never have translated
Homer and his Argus with SO much
feeling. He had one real dog, named
bounce. whose epitaph was well writ.
tensby himself, and in 1.-THE Rape Of
the Lock. hs makes pretty by.piay,
inSwhich the lap dog brightens up the
scene, where the court lady reevls in
sPuffs. powders. patches. Bibles bill.
iet-dcax."
Many are the dogs of the p,owboy
poet ssg7WE
Who can forget the "Twa Dogs"
one his own fayorite, the other "keen.
II for his thonor's pleasure" a gentle,
man and scholar of high degree?.
Nothing better did Burns write than
the story of his brave Laath.