To the slime-rooted and wind-shaken reed

That shivers in the shallows.

I who perched,

An eagle on the topmost pinnacle

Of the State's eminence, and harried thence

All lesser fowl like sparrows!—I to hide

Like a chased moor-hen in a marsh, and bate

The breath that awed the world into a whisper,

That would not shake a taper-flame or stir

A flickering torch to flaring!