Ralph Waldo Emerson, comp. (1803–1882). Parnassus: An Anthology of Poetry. 1880.
Collusion between a Alegaiter and a Water-SnaikJ. W. Morris
“T
Which runs into Gautimaly, a warm country,
Lying near the Tropicks, covered with sand;
Hear and their a symptum of a Wilow,
Hanging of its umberagious limbs & branches
Over the clear streme meandering far below.
This was the home of the now silent Alegaiter,
When not in his other element confine’d:
Here he wood set upon his eggs asleep
With 1 ey observant of flis and other passing
Objects: a while it kept a going on so:
Fereles of danger was the happy Alegaiter!
But a las! in a nevil our he was fourced to
Wake! that dreme of Blis was two sweet for him.
1 morning the sun arose with unusool splender
Whitch allso did our Alegaiter, coming from the water,
His scails a flinging of the rais of the son back,
To the fountain-head which tha originly sprung,
But having not had nothing to eat for some time, he
Was slepy and gap’d, in a short time, widely.
Unfoalding soon a welth of perl-white teth,
The rais of the son soon shet his sinister ey
Because of their mutool splendor and warmth.
The evil Our (which I sed) was now come;
Evidently a good chans for a water snaik
Of the large specie, which soon appeared
Into the horison, near the bank where repos’d
Calmly in slepe the Alegaiter before spoken of,
About 60 feet was his Length (not the ’gaiter)
And he was aperiently a well-proportioned snaik.
When he was all ashore he glared upon
The iland with approval, but was soon
‘Astonished with the view and lost to wonder’ (from Wats)
(For jest then he began to see the Alegaiter)
Being a nateral enemy of his’n, he worked hisself
Into a fury, also a ni position.
Before the Alegaiter well could ope
His eye (in other words perceive his danger)
The Snaik had enveloped his body just 19
Times with ‘foalds voluminous and vast’ (from Milton)
And had tore off several scails in the confusion,
Besides squeazing him awfully into his stomoc.
Just then, by a fortinate turn in his affairs,
He ceazed into his mouth the careless tale
Of the unreflecting water-snaik! Grown desperate
He, finding that his tale was fast squesed
Terrible while they roaled all over the iland.
It was a well-conduckted Affair; no noise
Disturbed the harmony of the seen, ecsept
Onct when a Wilow was snaped into by the roaling.
Eeach of the combatence hadn’t a minit for holering.
So the conflick was naterally tremenjous!
But soon by grate force the tale was bit complete-
Ly of; but the eggzeration was too much
For his delicate Constitootion: he felt a compression
Onto his chest and generally over his body;
When he ecspress’d his breathing, it was with
Grate difficulty that he felt inspired again onct more.
Of course this State must suffer a revolootion.
So the Alegaiter give but one yel, and egspired.
The water-snaik realed hisself off, & survay’d
For say 10 minits, the condition of
His fo: then wondering what made his tail hurt,
He sloly went off for to cool.”