Page:The ascent of man by Blind, Mathilde.djvu/102

 Eyes of sluggish greed through rank weeds stealing,
 * Breath whose venomous fumes mount through the air,

Till benumbed the helpless victim, reeling.
 * Drops convulsed into the reptile snare.

Now we fared o'er sweltering wastes whose steaming
 * Clouds of tawny sand the wanderer blind.

Herds of horses with their long manes streaming
 * Snorted thirstily against the wind;

O'er the waste they scoured in shadowy numbers,
 * Gasped for springs their raging thirst to cool,

And, like sick men mocked in fevered slumbers,
 * Stoop to drink—and find a phantom pool.

What of antelopes crunched by the leopard?
 * What if hounds run down the timid hare?

What though sheep, strayed from the faithful shepherd,
 * Perish helpless in the lion's lair?