Question not how shall this riddle find its reading;
    It will solve itself full soon without thine aid. 
  Say not love hath turned his back, and left thee bleeding—­
    Whom hath love deserted, hast thou heard it said?

  If death tries to fright thee, fear not beyond measure;
    He will flee from those who boldly face his frown. 
  Hunt not thou the fleeting deer of worldly pleasure—­
    Lion it will turn, and hunt the hunter down. 
  Chain thyself no longer, heart, to any treasure;
    Then thou shalt not say thou art into fetters thrown.

* * * * *

  A PARABLE[55] (1822)

  In Syria walked a man one day
  And led a camel on the way. 
  A sudden wildness seized the beast,
  And as they strove its rage increased. 
  So fearsome grew its savagery
  That for his life the man must flee. 
  And as he ran, he spied a cave
  That one last chance of safety gave. 
  He heard the snorting beast behind
  Come nearer—­with distracted mind
  Leaped where the cooling fountain sprang,
  Yet not to fall, but catch and hang;
  By lucky hap a bramble wild
  Grew where the o’erhanging rocks were piled. 
  He saved himself by this alone,
  And did his hapless state bemoan. 
  He looked above, and there was yet
  Too close the furious camel’s threat
  That still of fearful rage was full. 
  He dropped his eyes toward the pool,
  And saw within the shadows dim
  A dragon’s jaws agape for him—­
  A still more fierce and dangerous foe
  If he should slip and fall below. 
  So, hanging midway of the two,
  He spied a cause of terror new: 
  Where to the rock’s deep crevice clung
  The slender root on which he swung,
  A little pair of mice he spied,
  A black and white one side by side—­
  First one and then the other saw
  The slender stem alternate gnaw. 
  They gnawed and bit with ceaseless toil,
  And from the roots they tossed the soil. 
  As down it ran in trickling stream,
  The dragon’s eyes shot forth a gleam
  Of hungry expectation, gazed
  Where o’er him still the man was raised,
  To see how soon the bush would fall,
  The burden that it bore, and all. 
  That man in utmost fear and dread
  Surrounded, threatened, hard bested,
  In such a state of dire suspense
  Looked vainly round for some defense. 
  And as he cast his bloodshot eye
  First here, then there, saw hanging nigh
  A branch with berries ripe and red;
  Then longing mastered all his dread;
  No more the camel’s rage he saw,
  Nor yet the lurking dragon’s maw,
  Nor malice of the gnawing mice,
  When once the berries caught his eyes. 
  The furious beast might rage above,
  The dragon watch his every move,
  The mice gnaw on—­naught heeded he,
  But seized the berries greedily—­
  In pleasing of his appetite
  The furious beast forgotten quite.