The cries of prisoned beasts weird horror lent
To the wild scene of uproar and despair.
A lion's roar high over all the cries!
There is a crash—out into the night
The tawny creature leaps with glowing eyes,
Then stands defiant in the fierce red light.
"The lion's loose! The lion! Fly for your lives!"
But deathlike silence falls upon them all,
So paralyzed with fear that no one strives
To make escape, to move, to call!