Beloved of lovers, bards, astronomers,
Mythologists and other lunatics,
What blurs thy shield? The Puritan avers
He finds a Sabbath-breaker stealing sticks
Defined thereon. The Jews placed Jacob there;
The Romans found a Sibyl with a scroll.
A toad, a frog, a cat, a rat, a hare,
Two children bearing buckets on a pole,
An elephant, the green of moldy cheese,
Dark Cain with thorns, his scornful sacrifice,
Upon a fork--and portents like to these
Are seen from different lands by different eyes;
Yet most upon thy silver surface, trace
A maiden's features--each with a different face.