Swoops from the mountain in his pride of strength,

And hurries off on high the sheep and hare;

But, when he's aged, sits him dully down

Upon some temple's top, weak, lean, and starved;

And this is thought a direful prodigy.

And Laïs would be rightly reckon'd one;

For when she was a nestling, fair and youthful,

The guineas made her fierce; and you might see

E'en Pharnabázus easier than her.

But now that her years are running four-mile heats,