160
ALBANIA;
And Shetland many-creeked, the cod alarms.
High from his trunk, a river shot upright;
Plays dreadful, bellowing loud, and foaming fast.
Yet him all daring men in boats besiege,
And tire with far launched blows, though struggling fierce;
Till, worsted now, and bleeding, he resigns
His ivory, oil, and amber, erst devoured.
How different he! that, of enormous size, 70
Lords o'er the coast of Ross, gigantic king!
Behold at high noon, glorying in his strength,
He rides the dreadful deep, in search of prey.
While young and old, with dint of idle steel
Incessant, vie his hugeness to assail:
In vain he, though with numbers thus beset,
Defies the circling rage of little men;
Yet short his glory! for, whom now no strength,
No wicked wit of men combined, can daunt;
Him, soon mere casual winds, and tempests wild 80
Shall daunt, and hurry to inglorious death,
Dashing on rocks, while from his riven skull
White spermaceti issues, fat and strong:
And now thrown out, before his foes he lies
Dead on the shore, extended far and wide,
Yet frights, even laid so low, the astonished crowd.
High from his trunk, a river shot upright;
Plays dreadful, bellowing loud, and foaming fast.
Yet him all daring men in boats besiege,
And tire with far launched blows, though struggling fierce;
Till, worsted now, and bleeding, he resigns
His ivory, oil, and amber, erst devoured.
How different he! that, of enormous size, 70
Lords o'er the coast of Ross, gigantic king!
Behold at high noon, glorying in his strength,
He rides the dreadful deep, in search of prey.
While young and old, with dint of idle steel
Incessant, vie his hugeness to assail:
In vain he, though with numbers thus beset,
Defies the circling rage of little men;
Yet short his glory! for, whom now no strength,
No wicked wit of men combined, can daunt;
Him, soon mere casual winds, and tempests wild 80
Shall daunt, and hurry to inglorious death,
Dashing on rocks, while from his riven skull
White spermaceti issues, fat and strong:
And now thrown out, before his foes he lies
Dead on the shore, extended far and wide,
Yet frights, even laid so low, the astonished crowd.
