The Earl Of Shaou’s Work

As the young millet, by the genial rain
Enriched, shoots up luxuriant and tall,
So, when we southward marched with toil and pain,
The Earl of Shaou cheered and inspired us all.

We pushed our barrows, and our burdens bore;
We drove our wagons, and our oxen led.
‘The work once done, our labor there is o’er,
And home we travel,’ to ourselves we said.

Close kept our footmen round the chariot track;
Our eager host in close battalions sped.
‘When once our work is done, then we go back,
Our labor over,’ to themselves they said.

Hard was the work we had at Seay to do,
But Shaou’s great earl the city soon upreared.
The host its service gave with ardor true;–
Such power in all the earl’s commands appeared!

We did on plains and low lands what was meet;
We cleared the springs and streams, the land to drain.
The Earl of Shaou announced his work complete,
And the King’s heart reposed, at rest again.