Page:Collected poems vol 1 de la mare.djvu/55

 PON a bank, easeless with knobs of gold,
 * Beneath a canopy of noonday smoke,

I saw a measureless Beast, morose and bold,
 * With eyes like one from filthy dreams awoke,

Who stares upon the daylight in despair For very terror of the nothing there.

This beast in one flat hand clutched vulture-wise
 * A glittering image of itself in jet,

And with the other groped about its eyes
 * To drive away the dreams that pestered it;

And never ceased its coils to toss and beat The mire encumbering its feeble feet.

Sharp was its hunger, though continually
 * It seemed a cud of stones to ruminate,

And often like a dog let glittering lie
 * This meatless fare, its foolish gaze to sate;

Once more convulsively to stoop its jaw, Or seize the morsel with an envious paw.

Indeed, it seemed a hidden enemy
 * Must lurk within the clouds above that bank,

It strained so wildly its pale, stubborn eye,
 * To pierce its own foul vapours dim and dank;