Page:Near nature's heart; a volume of verse (IA nearnaturesheart00jack).pdf/98

 Your coming days are all unknown to me, Your pitfall, or your pest; But God is good; I trust and pray that He May hold you to His breast, Oh baby mine!

THE SNAKE THAT'S KING

The snake that's king deserves his crown, Above his kind in wood and town; For man was ne'er bit by the king, Though snake-fond ones to him will cling; But I prefer no such renown.

With boys I frolic up and down, The playful kids who never frown; And small respect at times I fling The snake—that's king.

O Muse, tell me the oldest clown; Why fickle Eve preferred no gown; And why she ceased at once to sing, And deigned within her heart to bring The Snake that's king?

Picture of a King Snake nearly five feet long, swallowing a somewhat shorter Rattler, after a struggle which lasted for two hours.

Photograph by Mr. Alfred Austell near Atlanta, Ga.