Behold again, to stop the mouth,
And bring thee further down,
Thy fellow-creature, Behemoth,
A beast so strong, so grown.

Were flesh his meat, what would suffice
His vast capacious womb,
Which could whole flocks, at once or twice,
And num'rous herds entomb?

Therefore it was the Maker's care,
Such ruin to prevent,
To make the ox's food his fare,
The grass his aliment.

The strength I did on him bestow,
Within his loins remains;
The navel of his belly too,
His mighty force contains.

Like to cedar tall and high,
With tempests tost about.
From side to side, in gallantry,
He moves his pliant snout.

Wrapt are the sinews of his thighs,
Like complicated cords,
Which close involv'd with many ties,
United force affords.

His bones are firm like bolts of brass,
Which guard the pond'rous frame;
Their strength the bars of iron surpass,
Well temper'd in the flame;

O' th' brutal kind this bulky beast
Is the chief work of mine;
Craft, use, in him, beyond the rest,
Structure and strength combine.

On him his Maker did bestow,
Instead of fighting arms,
An active trunk to wound his foe,
And guard himself from harms.

But God can kill the elephant,
Soon as a gnat or fly;
So will his sword the combatant,
That dare his pow'r defy.

This beast prodigious, for his food,
Frequents the verdant plains,
The grassy mountains, deserts broad,
Where he a monarch reigns.

And there to him the forest's beasts
Do all in troops resort;
They know him harmless to his guests,
And by him fearless sport.

Thence he retreats to groves for ease,
Lies in the shady wood,
By reeds and fens, and willow-trees,
That deck the purling flood.

Fearless his mouth, he when a-thirst,
To Jordan does apply;
Nor doubts but with a glut, at first,
He'll drink the river dry.

He draws it up with greedy eyes,
And who can in his sight,
With him attempt, or enterprize,
A fair and open fight?

Who can, by force, the beast command?
And who e'er undertook,
Into his nose, with strength of hand,
To fix the serville hook?

Through snares and gins his piercing nose
And snout is his defence;
By art surprise him may his foes,
But not by violence.

Thou dar'st not that strong beast offend,
Lest soon he thee devour;
Why wilt thou then with God contend,
From whom he gets his pow'r?