BEASTS ROYAL.

From Egypt, Africa and Gaul

CÆSAR his Roman triumph brings:

Dark queens and ruddy-bearded kings,

And scowling Britons led in thrall,

And elephants with silver rings;

But oh, more excellent than all,

This pensive beast, this mottled beast,

From the marshes of the East.

Patres conscripti, hail him now

Divine! Through Rome his triumph rolls;

Oysters in barrels, pearls in bowls,

Chariots and horsemen, moving slow

Where purple garlands droop on poles.

Patres conscripti, crown his brow,

Who brought us from the golden East

This unimagined peerless beast!

Never has CÆSAR made our foes

Weep more than he has made us laugh;

He who divides the world in half

With the long shadow of his nose,

And bridges oceans with his staff,

Brings now, with pomp of vine and rose,

This wondering and wondrous beast

From the subjugated East.

In bronze and basalt let us raise

The bust of CÆSAR; he has done

Great things for Rome; but here is one

Above the rest, o'ertopping praise.

The elephants and kings are gone,

But still the roaring tumult sways—

Much for the Conqueror of the East,

More for the incomparable beast.