We scarce know if we ride or we fly.

You have all of the hippogriff heard,

For mettle and speed a rare thing,

Half-breed betwixt courser and bird,

Keeping pace with foot and with wing.

The bird of the desert is he,

The ostrich of beautiful plume,

Skimming earth, as a swallow the sea,

Or an eagle the lofty blue dome.

He laughs at the speed of the hind,