The Maldive Shark

by Herman Melville

　　

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About the Shark, phlegmatical one,Pale sot of the Maldive sea,The sleek little pilot-fish, azure and slim,How alert in attendance be.From his saw-pit of mouth, from his charnel of mawThey have nothing of harm to dread,But liquidly glide on his ghastly flankOr before his Gorgonian head:Or lurk in the port of serrated teethIn white triple tiers of glittering gates,And there find a haven when peril's abroad,An asylum in jaws of the Fates!They are friends; and friendly they guide him to prey,Yet never partake of the treat—Eyes and brains to the dotard lethargic and dull,Pale ravener of horrible meat.

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