How he obeyed;--the price how great
His brave obedience cost,
Fancy would faulter to relate,
In wild conjecture lost.

But Truth and Love, the upright pair,
Who witnessed Fido's worth,
His wond'rous virtue shall declare,
A lesson to the earth!

Not in the battle's gory tide,
Nor in the stormy seas,
No! Fido's noble faith was tried
In scenes of sportive ease.

Often in India's sultry soil
To brace the languid limb,
'Twas Edward's pleasure, after toil,
To take a fearless swim.

Bold in a flood he lov'd to leap.
When full the current flow'd;
Nor dreamt the water, dark, and deep.
The crocodile's abode.

And fearless he and Fido oft,
Along the stream would glide;
Their custom from the bank aloft
To vault into the tide!