A BESTIARY: THE LION by ANONYMOUS

I

THE Lion from a hill doth hear
If the huntsman draws anear,
Or thro' his scent so keen,
Knoweth him nigh, I ween;
By which-ever way he will
Wend to the dale from hill,
His foot-prints, at that same tide,
Behind him he well doth hide,
His tail doth with dust o'erlay
The track that would mark his way,
Either with dust or with dew,
That no man may him pursue.
Thus he goeth adown to his den
Where he hideth him well from men.

II

And another custom is his;
Whene'er he is born, I wis,
All still the lion doth keep,
And stirs not, as if in sleep,
Till that the sunshine's ray
Doth three times upon him play,
Then his sire doth cause him to wake
With the roaring he doth make.

III

A third custom the lion doth keep;
When he lieth adown to sleep,
Never, in his repose,
The lids of his eyes he'll close.

@3Significatio@1

I

The hill that is very high,
Is Heaven, assuredly,
And the Lion, our Lord shall be --
Above, in Heaven, is He,
Whenas it seemed Him well
Here upon earth to dwell,
The Fiend might not know, I wis,
Tho' all huntsman's craft were his,
How He came down that tide,
Nor how He Himself did hide.
Or unto that Maiden came --
Mary, I trow, her name --
From whom He took human frame.

II, III

When Our Lord for us did die,
And willed in the grave to lie,
In a cave so still He lay
Till it came unto the Third day;
With His Father's help, that stead,
He rose again from the dead;
To Life eternal thus
'T is His will to waken us.
As a shepherd his flock doth keep
Is He Shepherd, we, His sheep,
He will shield us from all ill
If His word we hearken still
And in no way forsake His will.

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...