And deadlier poisons arm the Serpent's tooth;

In gloomy shades, impassable to Man,

Where matted foliage exclude the Sun,

The torpid Birds that crawl from bough to bough

Utter their notes of terror: while beneath

Fury and Venom, couch'd in murky dens,

Hissing and yelling, guard the hideous gloom.

O'er dreary wastes, untrod by human feet,

Without controul the lordly Lion reigns;

And every creature trembles at his voice:

When risen from his den, he prances forth,

Extends his talons, shakes his flaky mane,

Then whurrs his tufted tail, and stooping low

His wide mouth near the ground, his dreadful roar

Makes all the desart tremble: he proclaims

His ire—proclaims his strong necessity;

And that surprise or artifice he scorns.

  Unskill'd, alas! in philosophic lore,

Unbless'd with scientific erudition;

How can I sing of elemental War,

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