But free as India's leopard; and his mail,

Whose shekels none in Israel might bear,

Was like a cedar's tassel on his frame.

His crest was Judah's kingliest; and the look

Of his dark, lofty eye, and bended brow,

Might quell the lion. He led on, but thoughts

Seem'd gathering round which troubled him. The veins

Grew visible upon his swarthy brow,

And his proud lip was press'd as if with pain.

He trod less firmly; and his restless eye