He strains, claps his wings, arches his back,

Drives in his talons, out! out!

In the white anguish of this travail, Watkin

Hurls off his blankets, tears an axe from the nail

Batters the bed, hews table, splits the floor,

Hears Prinny whine at his feet, leaps, strikes again,

Strikes, yammering.

At that instant with a clatter

Noise of a bursting dam, a toppling wall,

Out flies the new-born creature from his mouth