Yes, yes, I will requite her scorn;
She’ll rue it, sure as she is born!”——
Ah, bootless boast! the stone so great
Exceeds by far his strength in weight.
In vain he digs and delves the ground,
And clears away the rubbish round,
And gathering strength with his vexation,
Widens the fearful excavation.
He cannot move the stone for life;
So forc’d at last, he calls his wife,