Alexandria Daily Advertiser

From the Virginia Gazette.
THE LION AND THE TARAPIN.
[By a young gentleman of North Carolina.]
BELLA! HORRIDA BELLA!!!
The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.
A famed Hibernian in this curious age,
Confined the king of beasts within a cage:
Keeping his majesty in durance vile,
From place to place he journeyed many a mile,
Travelled thro' Roan, Halifax and Nath,
And pocketed a devilish deal of cash.
Commenced a gentleman, and taught a play :
He grew in grace with fortune every day ;
As Tully eloquent, as Stentor loud,
Thus he harangued the ever wondering crowd :
" Come gentlemen, behold the sweetest creature,
" That e'er was modeled by the hand of nature.
" A spectacle to feast a curious eye on,
" Come gentlemen, walk up and see the Lion.
" All beasts confessed his tyranny complete,
" And trembling crouched for mercy at his feet,
" No animal his peerless power withstood;
" He reigned the monarch of the Lybian wood ;
Sole sovereign of the plain-no odds he begs,
" Of any beast that walks upon four legs."
" Ah!" said a planter " in our modern age,
" To see the mightiest monarch in a cage,
" Is no new thing--but by the immortal Gods,
" If you declare this Lion asks no odds,
" An animal I'll bring Shall make him roar,
" And bathe that visage with his royal gore.
" Make you the wager" -and behold what follows.
" Done," says the master, " for one hundred dollars."
Off went the Planter for his beast o keen,
All wondering what the Devil he could mean.
At length he brought, the Lion to oppose
What seemed " a fiddle that had feet and toes."*
Here, boastful wretch, behold this loggerhead,
Who never from his adversary fled :
Sole monarch of the swamp, he fights his foe.
With certain skill, and conquers at a blow ;
Shew him the royal Lion, and you'll see,
" He'll reverence kings, like prince Egalite."
Now for the fight the combatants prepare,
Now in the cage behold the adventurous pair!
The scales of victory hanging in the skies,
Were there discovered by poetic eyes ;
Wavering in doubt, unknowing to abide,
For Carolina's boast or Afric's pride.
Wise Tarapin beneath his coat of mail
Took in secure his head, and legs, and tail.
So, when the wind blows hard, and thunders roll,
And tempests shake the world from pole to pole
The cautious sailor sees the verging woe,
Furls up his sails, and drops his yards below ;
Rides on the billows tops sublime and vast,
And comes serene, the elemental blast.
Advancing firm--the monarch of the plain
Lashed his long tail, and reared his mighty mane;
Held out his princely paw ; and at one whack,
Extended Tarapin upon his back.
But free from pain, and without loss of gore.
The Carolinian found his legs once more ;
Laughed at the Lion's strength, and mocked his frown,
And rose the stronger for his knocking down.
Twas thus of old--poetic history shows,
Alcides fought, and thus Antaeus rose.
Hark ! from the skies a rattling peal of thunder,
The Gods and Goddesses looked down with wonder!
'Tis a Land-Turtle with the Lion strives,
They never saw such fighting in their lives.
" Now. let the Carolinian win, one said,
And shook the reverend honors of his head.
Whom Jupiter befriends must then prevail,
So smiling victory turns the dubious scale,
Leo, unknowing whom he had to fight,
Stooped down his head to take a nearer sight ;
While Tarapin, serene, watchful, never cared.
Directly seized his highness by the beard ;
That is, to bite the lion by the jowl
He could not disengage him for his soul :
Close as a lover to his mistress dear,
Close as the pillory to the rascal's ear,
Close as a mouse to a bag of joes,
So close hung Tarapin to Leo's nose.
Soon as the master saw what came to pass,
Not Sancho grieved so loudly for his ass ;
Not with more sorrow did the Trojan dames,
Bewail their Hector dead, and Troy in flames,
Nor trembling Frenchmen with more rage and fear,
At the last feat of general Dumouriez,
At length to generous pity all inclined
With Godlike sympathy within his mind,
The great Hibernian eyed the fray as cruel,
In tears exclaiming, " On ! my best ! my jewel."
Then to the Planter turned-" Oh ! my dearest money.
" Release my Lion and receive your money.!"
The subtle hero liking well the truce,
Received his bet, and let the Lion loose,
Then to the mighty conqueror said, " yes; go
" Enjoy your freedom in the vale below :
" O, may your bed of laurel leaves be made,
" And sweet magnolias bloom round your
" head.
Amphibious victor ! Tarapin divine !
" Yours be the glory, but the wager's mine."
COLUMBUS.
Richmond, Dec. 13, '99.
* See a Tour through the United States," by one Smith. He thus describes the Tarapin.; "I Saw an animal crawl behind a rock, which I could compare to nothing but a fiddle with teeth 'to it.