God breathe a blessing on His small bones, every one! The little lad, who stalks The bible's plains and rocks To hunt in grammar'd woods Strange litters and wild broods; The little lad who seeks Beast-muzzles and bird-beaks In cave and den and crypt, In copse of holy script; The little lad who looks For quarry in holy books. Before his eyes is born The elusive unicorn; There, scampering, arrive The golden mice, the five; Also, in antic shape, Gay peacock and glum ape. He hears a snort of wrath: The fiery behemoth; And then on biblic breeze The crocodile's sneeze. He sees the lion eat Straw, and from the teat Of tigress a young lamb Suckling, like whelp nigh dam. Hard by, as fleet as wind They pass, the roe and hind, Bravely, and with no risk, He holds the basilisk, Pygarg and cockatrice. And there, most forest-wise Among the bestiaries The little hunter eyes Him crawling at his leisure: The beast Nebuchadnezzar. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ALMANACH DU PRINTEMPS VIVAROIS by HAYDEN CARRUTH OVID, OLD BUDDY, I WOULD DISCOURSE WITH YOU A WHILE by HAYDEN CARRUTH THE CRESCENT MOON by AMY LOWELL ADELAIDE AND JOHN WILKES BOOTH by EDGAR LEE MASTERS O GLORIOUS FRANCE by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |