By many a swoln and knotted fold, and high
And far, the neck, receding lithe and thin, 205
Sustained a crested head, which warily
Shifted and glanced before the Eagle's steadfast eye.
x.
With clang of wings and scream, the Eagle sailed
Incessantly—sometimes on high concealing 210
Its lessening orbs, sometimes as if it failed,
Drooped through the air; and still it shrieked and wailed,
And casting back its eager head, with beak
And talon unremittingly assailed
The wreathed Serpent, who did ever seek 215
Upon his enemy's heart a mortal wound to wreak.
xi.
Within the sphere of that appalling fray!
For, from the encounter of those wondrous foes,
A vapour like the sea's suspended spray 220
Hung gathered: in the void air, far away,
Floated the shattered plumes; bright scales did leap,
Where'er the Eagle's talons made their way,
Like sparks into the darkness;— as they sweep,
Blood stains the snowy foam of the tumultuous deep. 225
xii.
And many a change, a dark and wild turmoil;
Sometimes the Snake around his enemy's neck
Locked in stiff rings his adamantine coil,
Unto the Eagle, faint with pain and toil, 230
Remitted his strong flight, and near the sea
Languidly fluttered, hopeless so to foil
His adversary, who then reared on high
His red and burning crest, radiant with victory.
xiii.
Where they had sunk together, would the Snake
Relax his suffocating grasp, and scourge
The wind with his wild writhings; for to break
That chain of torment, the vast bird would shake
The strength of his unconquerable wings 240
As in despair, and with his sinewy neck,
Dissolve in sudden shock those linked rings,
Then soar—as swift as smoke from a volcano springs.
xiv.
Thus long, but unprevailing:—the event 245
Of that portentous fight appeared at length:
