or the Battle of the FROGS and MICE.
5
And how Physignathus his Way pursu'd:
But when he felt the Waves with secret Dread
To roar, and foam, and thunder o'er his Head,
He rent his Hair, and curst his hapless Fate;
He blam'd his Folly, but alas! too late.
Close were his Feet contracted to his Breast;
Grief and Despair his lab'ring Thoughts opprest:
He strove to see the Shore, but strove in vain;
Deeply he sigh'd; his Sighing told his Pain;
Help he had none, but what his Tail supply'd,
To stem the Fury of the raging Tide;
That was his Oar, and That he hop'd would save
His rescu'd Body from the liquid Grave.
Nor did he cease to call on Heav'n for Aid;
Till interrupted by the Flood he said:
Not thus the Bull in former Ages bore
His beauteous [1]Mistress to the Cretan Shore;
As this dissembling, hateful Frog conveys
My wretched Weight through the resounding Seas.
But when he felt the Waves with secret Dread
To roar, and foam, and thunder o'er his Head,
He rent his Hair, and curst his hapless Fate;
He blam'd his Folly, but alas! too late.
Close were his Feet contracted to his Breast;
Grief and Despair his lab'ring Thoughts opprest:
He strove to see the Shore, but strove in vain;
Deeply he sigh'd; his Sighing told his Pain;
Help he had none, but what his Tail supply'd,
To stem the Fury of the raging Tide;
That was his Oar, and That he hop'd would save
His rescu'd Body from the liquid Grave.
Nor did he cease to call on Heav'n for Aid;
Till interrupted by the Flood he said:
Not thus the Bull in former Ages bore
His beauteous [1]Mistress to the Cretan Shore;
As this dissembling, hateful Frog conveys
My wretched Weight through the resounding Seas.
- ↑ Europa.
Scarce
