Aroused in an all unholy war,
Seest not that there may be for them an end
Of the long strife?--Or when the skiey sun
And all the heat have won dominion o'er
The sucked-up waters all?--And this they try
Still to accomplish, though as yet they fail,--
For so aboundingly the streams supply
New store of waters that 'tis rather they
Who menace the world with inundations vast
From forth the unplumbed chasms of the sea.
But vain--since winds (that over-sweep amain)
And skiey sun (that with his rays dissolves)
Do minish the level seas and trust their power
To dry up all, before the waters can
Arrive at the end of their endeavouring.
Breathing such vasty warfare, they contend
In balanced strife the one with other still
Concerning mighty issues,--though indeed
The fire was once the more victorious,
And once--as goes the tale--the water won
A kingdom in the fields. For fire o'ermastered
And licked up many things and burnt away,
What time the impetuous horses of the Sun
Snatched Phaethon headlong from his skiey road
Down the whole ether and over all the lands.