'Twere idle to upbraid the good old plea--
Might governs all, the rest were mock'ry.
The plumpest fly a sparrow's meal provides--
The heartless bird its agony derides:
"Nay," quoth relentless Sparrow, "you must die,
For you, weak thing, are not so strong as I."
A Hawk surprised him at his dainty meal,
In vain the Sparrow gasped his last appeal;
[Illustration: "The faithful groom the pawing steed attends,
The maudlin Cyclops all oblique ascends;
But ere the lambent flames consume the town
The Cid unhorsed, like Bacchus, topples down." _Page_ 21.]
"Wherefore, Sir Hawk, must I, thy victim, die?"
"Peace," quoth the Hawk, "thou art less strong than I."
Grimly an
