A Dog bespoke a sucking Lamb,
That used a she-goat as her dam,
" You little fool, why, how you baa!
This goat is not your own mamma :"
Then pointed to a distant mead,
Where several sheep were put to feed.
" I ask not," says the Lamb, "for her
Who had me first at Nature's spur,
And bore me for a time about,
Then, like a fardel, threw me out;
But her that is content to bilk
Her own dear kids, to give me milk."
" Yet she that yean'd you sure," says Tray,
" Should be preferr'd"-- I tell thee nay---
Whence could she know that what she hid
Was black or white ?-but grant she did--
I being thus a male begot
'Twas no great favor, since my lot
Was hour by hour, throughout my life,
To dread the butcher and his knife.
Why should I therefore give my voice
For her who had no pow'r or choice
In my production, and not cleave
To her so ready to relieve,
When she beheld me left alone,
And has such sweet indulgence shown ?"
Kind deeds parental love proclaim
Not mere necessity and name.