Fish-Monsters and Myths. 1 1 3 



Her snorting oft, at sunset, on the coast 



Of Argus, fruitful land of vital grain, 



The wanton damsel mocks, and children join 



Insultant, to provoke with rustic names ; 



Suddenly awak'd she starts with uncouth gait 



Gleaning their steps, and now with either hand 



Gathers, and throws full fast stone after stone ; 



Blind with revenge, nor mindful of her end, 



Though near ; for now her neck the hissing ball 



Hath pierced. . . . 



In vain, alas ! thou homeward hasteth back, 



Mad to have risked thy life with artful man 



On land, to thee strange element, where now 



Thou agonising liest, a monument 



For others not to dare their sphere beyond ; 



While children, from their flight retiring, gaze 



And wonder at the shaggy monster's form." 



The seal is the "dire" Phoca of poetry, sometimes a 

 " scaly " beast that (as in Spenser), draws the shell chariots 

 of sea divinities, but more often an ordinary seal, found in 

 the high seas, rolling in company with whales and " grampi," 

 as more than one poet calls them. 



" Old sea-lion of the North " is an excellent conceit of 

 Mackay, speaking of the Viking. 



It is characteristic of poets to prefer for their purpose 

 those " fish " that are associated with old myths, and have 

 classical associations, rather than those that are simply 

 picturesque in nature. The dolphin, nautilus, and Behe- 

 moth are therefore especial favourites, while as terms of 

 reproach the shark and pike are of frequent occurrence. 

 Yet all the same, when we have allowed for the normal 

 prepossession of bards in favour of the ancient and mythi- 

 cal, heraldic or absurd, there remains a considerable balance 

 of very good description of, and pretty thought, about the 

 real water-folk. 



In the general struggle some of them have attained to 



H 



