And seeing me he scream’d, and would have fled,
But, with a grasp of steel, I clutch’d[1283] his throat,
And, though he craved for mercy, strangled him,
And crush’d[1284] the reptile’s form beneath my foot,
Then left him[1285] lying on the meadow path,
And onward[1286] swiftly sped—I know not where,
Until, o’ercome by agony of heart,
Upon the grass[1287] in dark despair I fell!
My throat[1288] was parch’d, a mist[1289] came o’er my eyes,
My head was rack’d, the blood forsook my veins,