Strong as Zeus. Brag boldly, like the cock beside his partlet. Bright as fair sunshine after winter’s storms. Thou art not dead; not even though thou didst die, for children are to the deceased reputation preserving; and like corks they buoy up the net, upholding the twist of the flaxen cord from the deep. Crouching as for refuge. Dear as the land to shipwrecked mariner. Deceitful, like crows. Faithful as dog, the lonely shepherd’s pride. Firm as the shaft that props the towering dome. Light and fleeting as a dream of night lost in garish day.Follow the track of blood … Like to some hound that hunts a wounded fawn. Huddle together at random … like the forms of dreams. Radiant … as moon that breaks a stormy night. Rumbling like a restless torrent lashing the mountain-side. Stately as a column. Strong as the mainstay of the laboring bark. Suppliant … like a white-spotted heifer on the lofty rocks, where trusting for aid she lows, telling to the herdsman her troubles. Sweet as fresh fount to thirsty wanderer. True as the faithful watchdog of the fold. True as the helm, the bark’s protecting guide. A strain unmusical, like a dumb nightingale insatiate of song. Welcome as land to sailors long at sea. Whirl’d away like flakes of foam. Wild as vulture’s cry.
