Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE LAST MAN: A CROCODILE, by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE LAST MAN: A CROCODILE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Hard by the lilied nile I saw
Last Line: Tearing the hairy leeches from his throat.
Subject(s): Crocodiles; Travel; Journeys; Trips


Hard by the lilied Nile I saw
A duskish-dragon stretched along,
The brown habergeon of his limbs enameled
With sanguine almandines and rainy pearl:
And on his back there lay a young one sleeping,
No bigger than a mouse; with eyes like beads,
And a small fragment of its speckled egg
Remaining on its harmless, pulpy snout;
A thing to laugh at, as it gaped to catch
The baulking merry flies. In the iron jaws
Of the great devil-beast, like a pale soul
Fluttering in rocky hell, lightsomely flew
A snowy trochilus, wotj roseate beak
Tearing the hairy leeches from his throat.





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