 | The embargo ; or, sketches of the times |  |
ENIGMAS.
I.
A giant form, erect I lift my brow,Square is my head, and square my shape below;
My smoky nostrils breathe an ill perfume,
And fierce combustion rages in my womb.
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II.
Known to all men, in every country found,My taper form is rooted in the ground;
Green ample tresses hide my lofty head,
And high in air my lifted arms are spread.
III.
An imp of night, a blazing torch I bear,Small is my size, my texture light as air;
O'er bogs and fens, I urge my trackless way,
And lead the silly traveller astray.
IV.
With frowning aspect, and with streaming hair,I roam bewilder'd through the fields of air;
My strange demeanour, ominous appears,
And vulgar souls are fill'd with groundless fears.
V.
With force resistless, through the plains I glide,Leap from the cliff, or down the mountain slide;
The earth beneath my footsteps melts away,
And rugged rocks consume by slow decay.
VI.
Green is my aspect, wrinkled oft my face,My twining arms the ponderous globe embrace,
Go, boasting mortal, of thy knowledge vain,
And count the subjects that my realms contain!
VII.
Firm on my base, 'midst circumambient air,I rise, in native grandeur, strong and fair;
My open breast receives the driving storm,
And a green mantle clings around my form!
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VIII.
No mortal power my fury can withstand,With swelling floods I inundate the land;
On heavy wing, with sweeping force I ride,
Tall forests crush, and whelm the builder's pride!
IX.
The son of war, in brazen armour bound,Black is my throat as midnight, and profound;
From my dark entrails forc'd, with startling roar,
Wide-rolling clouds and swift-wing'd death I pour
X.
Sulphureous mixtures in our bosoms ride,And chrystal waters, stolen from the tide;
We give new beauty to the blasted heath,
Or deal the stroke of instantaneous death.
XI.
Fair Flora's pride the daughters of the Sun,Our colour various, but our nature one;
Woo'd by the breeze, at morn we ope our eyes,
Frequent the lawn, or in the garden rise.
December, 1807.
| The embargo ; or, sketches of the times | |