LINES
Reading edition
Addressed to Lieut. R.W.H. Hardy, R.N., on the Perusal of his Volume of Travels in the Interior of Mexico
'Tis pleasant, lolling in our elbow chair, Secure at home, to read descriptions rare Of venturous traveller in savage climes; His hair-breadth 'scapes, toil, hunger—and sometimes The merrier passages that, like a foil To set off perils past, sweetened that toil, And took the edge from danger; and I look With such fear-mingled pleasure thro' thy book, Adventurous Hardy! Thou a diver[16] art, But of no common form; and for thy part Of the adventure, hast brought home to the nation Pearls of discovery—jewels of observation.
ENFIELD, January, 1830.
[Footnote 16: Captain Hardy practised this art with considerable success. [Note in Athenaeum.]]