LIII.
Less wisely he, his curious search to serve,
In helpless creature teased the quivering nerve,
And strove to probe the covert ways of life
By living butchery with learned knife,
And cruel anodyne that chained the will,
Yet left the shuddering victim conscious still:
But Nature shrinks from foul and fierce attack,
Nor yields her holiest truths on such a murderer’s rack.