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“To thee I went, and thus I spake:
‘My homeward journey I would take.’
Thou, lord, didst grant my prayer to me,–
Then safely traversed I the sea;
And, when I reached my native strand,
I caused a skilful artist’s hand
To make a dragon’s image, true
To his that now so well I knew.
On feet of measure short was placed
Its lengthy body’s heavy load;
A scaly coat of mail embraced
The back, on which it fiercely showed.”

“Its stretching neck appeared to swell,
And, ghastly as a gate of hell,
Its fearful jaws were open wide,
As if to seize the prey it tried;
And in its black mouth, ranged about,
Its teeth in prickly rows stood out;
Its tongue was like a sharp-edged sword,
And lightning from its small eyes poured;
A serpent’s tail of many a fold
Ended its body’s monstrous span,
And round itself with fierceness rolled,
So as to clasp both steed and man.”

“I formed the whole to nature true,
In skin of gray and hideous hue;
Part dragon it appeared, part snake,
Engendered in the poisonous lake.
And, when the figure was complete,
A pair of dogs I chose me, fleet,
Of mighty strength, of nimble pace,
Inured the savage boar to chase;
The dragon, then, I made them bait,
Inflaming them to fury dread,
With their sharp teeth to seize it straight,
And with my voice their motions led.”

“And, where the belly’s tender skin
Allowed the tooth to enter in,
I taught them how to seize it there,
And, with their fangs, the part to tear.
I mounted, then, my Arab steed,
The offspring of a noble breed;
My hand a dart on high held forth,
And, when I had inflamed his wrath,
I stuck my sharp spurs in his side,
And urged him on as quick as thought,
And hurled my dart in circles wide
As if to pierce the beast I sought.”

“And though my steed reared high in pain,
And champed and foamed beneath the rein,
And though the dogs howled fearfully,
Till they were calmed ne’er rested I.
This plan I ceaselessly pursued,
Till thrice the moon had been renewed;
And when they had been duly taught,
In swift ships here I had them brought;
And since my foot these shores has pressed
Flown has three mornings’ narrow span;
I scarce allowed my limbs to rest
Ere I the mighty task began.”

“For hotly was my bosom stirred
When of the land’s fresh grief I heard;
Shepherds of late had been his prey,
When in the marsh they went astray.
I formed my plans then hastily,–
My heart was all that counselled me.
My squires instructing to proceed,
I sprang upon my well-trained steed,
And, followed by my noble pair
Of dogs, by secret pathways rode,
Where not an eye could witness bear,
To find the monster’s fell abode.”

“Thou, lord, must know the chapel well,
Pitched on a rocky pinnacle,
That overlooks the distant isle;
A daring mind ’twas raised the pile.
Though humble, mean, and small it shows
Its walls a miracle enclose,–
The Virgin and her infant Son,
Vowed by the three kings of Cologne.
By three times thirty steps is led
The pilgrim to the giddy height;
Yet, when he gains it with bold tread,
He’s quickened by his Saviour’s sight.”

“Deep in the rock to which it clings,
A cavern dark its arms outflings,
Moist with the neighboring moorland’s dew,
Where heaven’s bright rays can ne’er pierce through.
There dwelt the monster, there he lay,
His spoil awaiting, night and day;
Like the hell-dragon, thus he kept
Watch near the shrine, and never slept;
And if a hapless pilgrim chanced
To enter on that fatal way,
From out his ambush quick advanced
The foe, and seized him as his prey.”