17 



To fame unknown, but no less worthy, he, 

 &quot;Who, of all men, first found and tasted thee. 

 How great his faith ! his courage how audacious ! 

 To swallow thee, cold, slimy, and vivacious ! 

 What tremor his ! as when thou first didst glide 

 Down his oesophagus, and didst nimbly hide 

 Within the inner man ; but when, by repetition, 

 He gained, at length, the rapturous fruition 

 Of all thy charms, what triumph his ! to find 

 That he, of all, had given to mankind 

 A new sensation ! 



Was t Phut, or Peleg, Shem, or great Magog ? 



Or lively Nimrod, or perhaps his dog ? 



Or did the royal lips of great Nebu- 



Chadnozzor first smack over you ; 



Ere yet, a ruminant, this stately sinner 



Was sent, with cows and goats, to pick his dinner ? 



Or broiled, or roasted, did thy unctuous savor 



Perfume the marble halls of old Belshazzar ? 



Did Pharaoh gulp thee, ere the sea gulped him ? 



Or Troglodyte, or Scandinavian grim ? 



Long, long ago ! 



