When he had defeated the dragons in poisonous marshes,

And giants who threatened the highways, when he, whom the people

Revered, had resisted the locks of the women he captured,

He battled on nebulous peaks with the wing-bearing serpent

Whose challenge and mockery struck his companions with terror.

They warned him in vain, and the fight was so long that his powers

Forsook him. The monster escaped, its perilous pinion

Inflicted a blow, and the wound would never heal over.

The light in his eyes flickered out, no venture could rouse him.

He clung to the narrow retreat of his home where he suffered

His anguish alone, and kept himself carefully hidden

From carrying mothers, who daydream of beautiful children,

From heroes-to-be whom the gods lend their favour and friendshi