Note 730 — PART THE THIRD. (continued 5)
Reading edition
Cowper here inverts the order of the names, and attributes to Teucer, what in the original is ascribed to Meriones.
At once Meriones withdrew the bow From Teucer's hand, but held the shaft the while, Already aim'd...... He ey'd the dove aloft beneath a cloud, And struck her circling high in air; the shaft Pass'd through her, and returning pierc'd the soil Before the foot of brave Meriones. She, perching on the mast again, her head Reclin'd, and hung her wide-unfolded wing; But, soon expiring, dropp'd and fell remote.
The concluding lines of this passage convey a beautiful and affecting image.