Then whurrs his tufted tail, and stooping low
His wide mouth near the ground, his dreadful roar
Makes all the desart tremble: he proclaims
His ire--proclaims his strong necessity;
And that surprise or artifice he scorns.
Unskill'd, alas! in philosophic lore,
Unbless'd with scientific erudition;
How can I sing of elemental War,
Or the contending powers of opposite
Attractions, that impel, and poize, and guide,
The ever-rolling Spheres: Animal War,
The flux of Life, devouring and devour'd,
Ceaseless in every tribe, through Earth, and Air,
And Ocean, transcends my utmost ken.

From obvious truths my Song has aim'd to shew
That War is an inevitable Ill;
An Ill through Nature's various Realms diffus'd;
An Ill subservient to the General Good.
With sympathetic sense of human woes
Deeply impress'd, the melancholy Muse
With modesty asserts this mournful Truth:
'Tis not in human wisdom to avert,
Though every feeling heart must sure lament,
The SAD NECESSITY of FATAL WAR.

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