Iv

But Man, he perceived, was stubborn, Grew regular brute, once cub born; And it struck him as expedient-- Ere he tried, to make obedient The wolf, fox, bear, and monkey By piping advice in one key,-- That his pipe should play a prelude To something heaven-tinged not hell-hued, Something not harsh but docile, Man-liquid, not Man-fossil-- Not fact, in short, but fancy. By a laudable necromancy He would conjure up ghosts--a circle Deprived of the means to work ill Should his music prove distasteful And pearls to the swine go wasteful. To be rent of swine--that was hard! With fancy he ran no hazard: Pact might knock him o'er the mazard.