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The Gryphon

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It chanced that Allah, looking round,     When he had made his creatures, found     Half of an Eagle and a pair     Of extra Lion legs to spare.     So, hating waste, he took some glue     And made a Gryphon of the two.     But when his handiwork he eyed,     He frowned--and it was petrified,     Doomed for all time to represent     Impatience on a monument.     Sometimes upon our path to-day     Its living counterpart will stray--     Columbia's Eagle strutting in     An awf'ly English Lion's skin,     With glass in eye and swagg'ring gait:     Behold the Gryphon up to date.

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"It chanced that Allah, looking round,..."

"The Gryphon" is a quintessential example of Oliver Herford's signature style... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

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"Here's to our Goddess, Liberty,     Idol of bronze..."

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