By many a swoln and knotted fold, and high
And far, the neck, receding lithe and thin,
Sustained a crested head, which warily

Shifted and glanced before the Eagle's steadfast eye.

X

Around, around, in ceaseless circles wheeling

With clang of wings and scream, the Eagle sailed Incessantly-sometimes on high concealing

Its lessening orbs, sometimes as if it failed,

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Drooped through the air; and still it shrieked and wailed, And casting back its eager head, with beak And talon unremittingly assailed

The wreathed Serpent, who did ever seek

Upon his enemy's heart a mortal wound to wreak.

ΧΙ

What life, what power, was kindled and arose
Within the sphere of that appalling fray!
For, from the encounter of those wondrous foes,
A vapour like the sea's suspended spray
Hung gathered: in the void air, far away,
Floated the shattered plumes; bright scales did leap,
Where'er the Eagle's talons made their way,
Like sparks into the darkness;-as they sweep,
Blood stains the snowy foam of the tumultuous deep.

XII

Swift chances in that combat-many a check,
And many a change, a dark and wild turmoil;
Sometimes the Snake around his enemy's neck
Locked in stiff rings his adamantine coil,
Until the Eagle, faint with pain and toil,
Remitted his strong flight, and near the sea
Languidly fluttered, hopeless so to foil
His adversary, who then reared on high
His red and burning crest, radiant with victory.

XIII

Then on the white edge of the bursting surge,
Where they had sunk together, would the Snake

Relax his suffocating grasp, and scourge

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The wind with his wild writhings; for to break
That chain of torment, the vast bird would shake

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The strength of his unconquerable wings
As in despair, and with his sinewy neck,
Dissolve in sudden shock those linked rings,

Then soar-as swift as smoke from a volcano springs.

XIV

Wile baffled wile, and strength encountered strength,
Thus long, but unprevailing :-the event
Of that portentous fight appeared at length:

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Until the lamp of day was almost spent

It had endured, when lifeless, stark, and rent,
Hung high that mighty Serpent, and at last
Fell to the sea, while o'er the continent,
With clang of wings and scream the Eagle passed,
Heavily borne away on the exhausted blast.

XV

And with it fled the tempest, so that ocean

And earth and sky shone through the atmosphere--Only, 'twas strange to see the red commotion

Of waves like mountains o'er the sinking sphere
Of sunset sweep, and their fierce roar to hear
Amid the calm: down the steep path I wound

To the sea-shore-the evening was most clear
And beautiful, and there the sea I found
Calm as a cradled child in dreamless slumber bound.

XVI

There was a Woman, beautiful as morning,
Sitting beneath the rocks, upon the sand
Of the waste sea-fair as one flower adorning
An icy wilderness-each delicate hand
Lay crossed upon her bosom, and the band
Of her dark hair had fall'n, and so she sate

Looking upon the waves; on the bare strand
Upon the sea-mark a small boat did wait,
Fair as herself, like Love by Hope left desolate.

XVII

It seemed that this fair Shape had looked upon
That unimaginable fight, and now

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That her sweet eyes were weary of the sun,

As brightly it illustrated her woe;

For in the tears which silently to flow

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Paused not, its lustre hung: she watching aye

The foam-wreaths which the faint tide wove below

Upon the spangled sands, groaned heavily,

And after every groan looked up over the sea.

XVIII

And when she saw the wounded Serpent make
His path between the waves, her lips grew pale,
Parted, and quivered; the tears ceased to break
From her immovable eyes; no voice of wail
Escaped her; but she rose, and on the gale
Loosening her star-bright robe and shadowy hair

Poured forth her voice; the caverns of the vale
That opened to the ocean, caught it there,
And filled with silver sounds the overflowing air.

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XIX

She spake in language whose strange melody
Might not belong to earth. I heard, alone,
What made its music more melodious be,
The pity and the love of every tone;

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But to the Snake those accents sweet were known
His native tongue and hers; nor did he beat
The hoar spray idly then, but winding on
Through the green shadows of the waves that meet
Near to the shore, did pause beside her snowy feet.

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XX

Then on the sands the Woman sate again,

And wept and clasped her hands, and all between, Renewed the unintelligible strain

Of her melodious voice and eloquent mien ;

And she unveiled her bosom, and the green

And glancing shadows of the sea did play

O'er its marmoreal depth:-one moment seen,

For ere the next, the Serpent did obey

Her voice, and, coiled in rest, in her embrace it lay.

XXI

Then she arose, and smiled on me with eyes
Serene yet sorrowing, like that planet fair,
While yet the daylight lingereth in the skies

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Which cleaves with arrowy beams the dark-red air, And said: "To grieve is wise, but the despair Was weak and vain which led thee here from sleep: This shalt thou know, and more, if thou dost dare With me and with this Serpent, o'er the deep, A voyage divine and strange, companionship to keep.' 315

XXII

Her voice was like the wildest, saddest tone,

Yet sweet, of some loved voice heard long ago.

I wept. 'Shall this fair woman all alone,
Over the sea with that fierce Serpent go?

His head is on her heart, and who can know
How soon he may devour his feeble prey?'-

Such were my thoughts, when the tide gan to flow; And that strange boat like the moon's shade did sway Amid reflected stars that in the waters lay:

XXIII

A boat of rare device, which had no sail

But its own curvèd prow of thin moonstone,

Wrought like a web of texture fine and frail,

To catch those gentlest winds which are not known
To breathe, but by the steady speed alone

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With which it cleaves the sparkling sea; and now

We are embarked-the mountains hang and frown Over the starry deep that gleams below,

A vast and dim expanse, as o'er the waves we go.

XXIV

And as we sailed, a strange and awful tale
That Woman told, like such mysterious dream
As makes the slumberer's cheek with wonder pale!
"Twas midnight, and around, a shoreless stream,
Wide ocean rolled, when that majestic theme
Shrined in her heart found utterance, and she bent
Her looks on mine; those eyes a kindling beam.
Of love divine into my spirit sent,

And ere her lips could move, made the air eloquent.

XXV

'Speak not to me, but hear! Much shalt thou learn, Much must remain unthought, and more untold,

In the dark Future's ever-flowing urn:

Know then, that from the depth of ages old,
Two Powers o'er mortal things dominion hold

Ruling the world with a divided lot,

Immortal, all-pervading, manifold,

Twin Genii, equal Gods-when life and thought

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Sprang forth, they burst the womb of inessential Nought.

XXVI

'The earliest dweller of the world, alone,
Stood on the verge of chaos. Lo! afar
O'er the wide wild abyss two meteors shone,
Sprung from the depth of its tempestuous jar:
A blood-red Comet and the Morning Star
Mingling their beams in combat-as he stood,

All thoughts within his mind waged mutual war,

In dreadful sympathy-when to the flood

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That fair Star fell, he turned and shed his brother's blood.

XXVII

One Shape of many names; the Fiend did revel
In victory, reigning o'er a world of woe,
For the new race of man went to and fro,
Famished and homeless, loathed and loathing, wild,
And hating good-for his immortal foe,

"Thus evil triumphed, and the Spirit of evil,
One Power of many shapes which none may know,

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He changed from starry shape, beauteous and mild, To a dire Snake, with man and beast unreconciled.

XXVIII

'The darkness lingering o'er the dawn of things,

Was Evil's breath and life; this made him strong To soar aloft with overshadowing wings;

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And the great Spirit of Good did creep among
The nations of mankind, and every tongue
Cursed and blasphemed him as he passed; for none

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Knew good from evil, though their names were hung

In mockery o'er the fane where many a groan,

As King, and Lord, and God, the conquering Fiend did own,

XXIX

"The Fiend, whose name was Legion; Death, Decay, Earthquake and Blight, and Want, and Madness pale,. Winged and wan diseases, an array

Numerous as leaves that strew the autumnal gale;
Poison, a snake in flowers, beneath the veil

Of food and mirth hiding his mortal head;

And, without whom all these might nought_avail, Fear, Hatred, Faith, and Tyranny, who spread

Those subtle nets which snare the living and the dead.

XXX

'His spirit is their power, and they his slaves

In air, and light, and thought, and language, dwell; And keep their state from palaces to graves,

In all resorts of men-invisible,

But when, in ebon mirror, Nightmare fell

To tyrant or impostor bids them rise,

Black-winged demon forms-whom, from the hell, His reign and dwelling beneath nether skies,

He loosens to their dark and blasting ministries.

XXXI

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'In the world's youth his empire was as firm
As its foundations. . . Soon the Spirit of Good,
Though in the likeness of a loathsome worm,
Sprang from the billows of the formless flood,
Which shrank and fled; and with that Fiend of blood
Renewed the doubtful war Thrones then first shook,

And earth's immense and trampled multitude
In hope on their own powers began to look,

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And Fear, the demon pale, his sanguine shrine forsook. 405

XXXII

'Then Greece arose, and to its bards and sages,
In dream, the golden-pinioned Genii came,
Even where they slept amid the night of ages,
Steeping their hearts in the divinest flame

Which thy breath kindled, Power of holiest name! 410

And oft in cycles since, when darkness gave
New weapons to thy foe, their sunlike fame
Upon the combat shone-a light to save,

Like Paradise spread forth beyond the shadowy grave.