And the rot's got in;
So if your dauntless pluck you'd show
Now is your time a cruise to go
On board of the Arethusa
THE VULTURE:
AN ORNITHOLOGICAL STUDY.
AFTER THE LATE EDGAR A. POE.
The Vulture is the most cruel, deadly, and voracious of birds of prey. He is remarkable for his keen scent, and for the tenacity with which he invariably clings to the victim on whom he has fixed his gripe. He is not to be shaken off whilst the humblest pickings remain. He is usually to be found in an indifferent state of feather.—New Translation of Cuvier.
Once upon a midnight chilling, as I held my feet unwilling
O'er a tub of scalding water, at a heat of ninety-four;
Nervously a toe in dipping, dripping, slipping, then outskipping,