1This vast

leviathan1

, whose breathing blows

2Huge floods and

shoals2

of fishes through his nose;

3He

whose fair consort in salt pickle lies3

4To feast the Jews (or else their

Talmud4

lies);

5Even

he who treated Jonah in his belly5

6With wholesome

chilus6

and

provoking jelly7

,

7With

poignant8

sauce and

unctuous9

caviar,

8A diet as restorative as rare—

9Even he, the

chief of all the sons of pride10

,

10Cannot pursue his prey without a guide.

11

The little musculus doth swim before11

,

12Lest

he12

in shelves or sands his bulk should moor.

13

And of the whale’s abundance she but lives13

;

14Th’imperious

monster14

scraps and

mammocks15

gives.

15So may you see Nile’s

caiman16

gaping lie

16Whilst in and out his mouth

the wren17

doth fly

17To wake him when the

ichneumon18

,

her19

foe,

18Into her loathéd

entrails20

strives to go;

19For which the putrid flesh

she21

picks away

20Between her teeth, this being all her pay.

21So greatest monarchs poorest vassals need;

22So hungry peasants pampered nobles feed.

23Then let those that are placed the rest above

24Answer their labor with their care and love,

25

And pity those which labor at the plough22

;

26’Tis God that made the difference and not thou.