And now the guard no more can keep

His painful watch; his eyes, opprest,

Are fainting for their natural sleep;

His living flesh and blood must rest,

The Beast must sleep or die.

Then he, full faint and languidly,

Unwreathes his rings and strives to fly,

And still retreating, slowly trails

His stiff and heavy length of scales.

But that unweariable foe,

With will relentless, follows still;

No breathing time, no pause of fight

He gives, but presses on his flight;

Along the vaulted chambers, and the ascent

Up to the emerald-tinted light of day,

He harasses his way,

Till lifeless, underneath his grasp,

The huge Sea-Monster lay.