If you ask why my heart so swells with rage And why, on its pliant neck, my head is unbowed; It is that I boast of Antaeus' lineage, And hurl back at the conqueror his thunderous arrows. Yes, I am one the Avenger has possessed, And he has stamped my brow with his fevered mouth, Beneath the pallor of Abel, bloodstained alas, Rises the relentless flush of Cain, my brother! The last one, Jehovah, vanquished by your genius, Who, from the depths of hell, cried "Tyranny!" He is my father Dagon or forebear Belus . . . In the waters of Cocytus three times they plunged me down; Now, as sole protector of the Amalekite, my mother, The ancient dragon's teeth I have sown again. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONGS OF INNOCENCE: INTRODUCTION by WILLIAM BLAKE TIME, REAL AND IMAGINARY; AN ALLEGORY by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE THE VOLUNTEER by ELBRIDGE JEFFERSON CUTLER THE DOG by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES HYSTERIA by THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT |