1

Then Peter gave a sudden jerk,
A jerk that from a dungeon-floor
Would have pulled up an iron ring;
But still the heavy-headed Thing
Stood just as he had stood before !

Quoth Peter, leaping from his seat,
"There is some plot against me laid";
Once more the little meadow-ground

And all the hoary cliffs around
He cautiously surveyed.

All, all is silent-rocks and woods,

All still and silent-far and near!
Only the Ass, with motion dull,

405

410

Upon the pivot of his skull

Turns round his long left ear.

415

Thought Peter, What can mean all this?

Some ugly witchcraft must be here !

-Once more the Ass, with motion dull,
Upon the pivot of his skull
Turned round his long left ear.

Suspicion ripened into dread;
Yet with deliberate action slow,
His staff high-raising, in the pride
Of skill, upon the sounding hide,1
He dealt a sturdy blow.

420

425

The poor Ass staggered with the shock;
And then, as if to take his ease,1

In quiet uncomplaining mood,

Upon the spot where he had stood,

Dropped gently down upon his knees;

430

As gently on 2 his side he fell;

And by the river's brink did lie;

And, while he lay like one that mourned,
The patient Beast on Peter turned

Upon the Beast the sapling rings;

His lank sides heaved,6 his limbs they stirred;
He gave a groan, and then another,

The edition of 1836 returns to the text of 1819.

5 1836.

Of that which went before the brother,
And then he gave a third.

All by the moonlight river side
He gave three miserable groans;
And not till now hath Peter seen

How gaunt the Creature is, how lean
And sharp his staring bones!1

With legs stretched out and stiff he lay :-
No word of kind commiseration

Fell at the sight from Peter's tongue ;

445

450

With hard contempt his heart was wrung,
With hatred and vexation.

The meagre beast lay still as death;
And Peter's lips with fury quiver;
Quoth he, "You little mulish dog,
I'll fling your carcass like a log
Head-foremost down the river!"

455

460

1 1836. In the two editions of 1819 this stanza formed two

In the editions of 1820-1832, only the second of these stanzas is retained, with the following change of text in 1827:—

And, while he halts, was clearly shown
(What he before in part had seen)

How gaunt the Creature was, and lean,

1827.

In the final text of 1836 the two stanzas of 1819 are compressed

into one (ll. 446-50).

An impious oath confirmed the threat-
Whereat from the earth on which he lay
To all the echoes, south and north,
And east and west, the Ass sent forth
A long and clamorous bray! 2

This outcry, on the heart of Peter,
Seems like a note of joy to strike,
Joy at the heart of Peter knocks;
But in the echo of the rocks
Was something Peter did not like.

Whether to cheer his coward breast,
Or that he could not break the chain,
In this serene and solemn hour,
Twined round him by demoniac power,
To the blind work he turned again.

Among the rocks and winding crags;
Among the mountains far away;
Once more the Ass did lengthen out

More ruefully a deep-drawn shout,

1

465

470

475

The hard dry see-saw of his horrible bray ! 4 480

What is there now in Peter's heart!

Or whence the might of this strange sound?

The moon uneasy looked and dimmer,

The broad blue heavens appeared to glimmer,
And the rocks staggered all around—

485

From Peter's hand the sapling dropped!
Threat has he none to execute;

"If any one should come and see

That I am here, they'll think," quoth he,
“I'm helping this poor dying brute.”

He scans the Ass from limb to limb,

And ventures now to uplift his eyes;
More steady looks the moon, and clear,
More like themselves the rocks appear
And touch more quiet skies.1

His scorn returns-his hate revives;
He stoops the Ass's neck to seize
With malice-that again takes flight;
For in the pool a startling sight

Meets him, among the inverted trees.2

490

495

500

505