Page:Agamemnon (1877) Browning.djvu/76

60 And thus a man, by no milk's help,

Within his household reared a lion's whelp

That loved the teat

In life's first festal stage:

Gentle as yet,

A true child-lover, and, to men of age,

A thing whereat pride warms;

And oft he had it in his arms

Like any new-born babe, bright-faced, to hand

Wagging its tail, at belly's strict command

But in due time upgrown,

The custom of progenitors was shown:

For—thanks for sustenance repaying

With ravage of sheep slaughtered—