Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BESTIARY, by ABRAHAM MOSES KLEIN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BESTIARY, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: God breathe a blessing on
Last Line: The beast nebuchadnezzar.
Alternate Author Name(s): Klein, A. M.
Subject(s): Animals; Hunting; Hunters


God breathe a blessing on
His small bones, every one!
The little lad, who stalks
The bible's plains and rocks
To hunt in grammar'd woods
Strange litters and wild broods;
The little lad who seeks
Beast-muzzles and bird-beaks
In cave and den and crypt,
In copse of holy script;
The little lad who looks
For quarry in holy books.

Before his eyes is born
The elusive unicorn;
There, scampering, arrive
The golden mice, the five;
Also, in antic shape,
Gay peacock and glum ape.
He hears a snort of wrath:
The fiery behemoth;
And then on biblic breeze
The crocodile's sneeze.
He sees the lion eat
Straw, and from the teat
Of tigress a young lamb
Suckling, like whelp nigh dam.

Hard by, as fleet as wind
They pass, the roe and hind,
Bravely, and with no risk,
He holds the basilisk,
Pygarg and cockatrice.
And there, most forest-wise
Among the bestiaries
The little hunter eyes
Him crawling at his leisure:
The beast Nebuchadnezzar.





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