Strong-winged _this_ Eagle, either wafter ready To buoy and to upbear that body great. Potent of beak and claw, of eye-glance steady, Lord of the air, and master of its fate, It seems, it seems, sailing in splendid state Athwart the stretches of the skyey blue. Yet what might be the fleet-winged wanderer's fate. Did either pinion fail? Its flight is true Only when level buoyed upon the plumy two. "A shaft of light upon its wings descended. And every golden feather gleamed therein." Ay! and their fate's inextricably blended; Let either faint or flag, they shall not win Athwart the aërial azure clear and thin. Brothered in use are they, in use and need. See how the Serpent's many-coloured skin Writhes hither, thither, with insidious heed, Striving to maim _one_ pinion. Shall the pest succeed? Bred far below, in dank malarious slime, That Serpent hath no power to soar in air, Save clinging to winged creatures that can climb The empyrean; yet from its foul lair It sprang to the broad wings it would ensnare, Encoil, enshackle, hamper, break, drag down. How swept the Bird so low that it should dare, That Worm, to wriggle midst its plumes full grown, And with the Air's sole monarch thus dispute the crown? Alas! the Eagle stooped; those well-poised pinions Faltered, and beat the air unevenly; Nor shall the Bird maintain its proud dominions If those wings lapse from rhythm, pulse awry. Vain power of beak and claw, keenness of eye, Or pride of crested head, if those broad vanes Beat without balance true the clouded sky. The lord of those etherial domains, Once wing-maimed, pitiless fate to the dull earth enchains. That Serpent is a sinister birth of time, The likeness of the light 'twould fain take on, But 'tis engendered from the poisonous slime Of hate, and greed, and darkness. Though it don Apollo's guise, 'tis but Apollyon. To shackle, poison, palsy is its aim. Venom and violence never yet have won A victory truly worthy of the name. To call this thing Toil's friend is friendship to defame. "An Eagle and a Serpent wreathed in fight!" There is the symbol he who runs may read. The Bird is Trade, with pinions balanced right; Labour and Capital in love agreed, All's well; the Serpent shall not then succeed In shackling that, or in destroying this. The snake, a venomous worm of poisonous breed, In vain shall coil and knot, shall strike and hiss. Mark, Wealth! mark, Toil! The moral's one you scarce can miss! * * * * * [Illustration: "IN THE AIR!" "AN EAGLE AND A SERPENT WREATHED IN FIGHT!" THERE IS THE SYMBOL HE WHO RUNS MAY READ. THE BIRD IS TRADE, WITH PINIONS BALANCED RIGHT; LABOUR AND CAPITAL IN LOVE AGREED,