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the bridge of the dragon.
They sought in vain to reason of their ill. Frantic were some, and cried bewildered:"We are but playthings of Almighty will."— "Take we our flocks and cattle," others said,"And last year's hoardings of the press and mill; Alas! what fruitful valley lies ahead,Or whither shall we go, that pestilenceAnd aching famine may not follow hence?"
They called to mind the ancient prophecy That in the fiery Dragon's rule abhorred,The first year, blight would take the grain, and dry The honey juices, which their orchards stored;But if another Spring, his ghastly sigh Came curdling up the wind, shedding abroadIts sick, hoar vapors, far more dreadful blightOn man and beast, and on the earth would light.
Ere then, dead seers had said, worse loss will be, Than loss of corn and wine:—of noble dower
