CVIII.

ON COMINIUS.

If by the verdict o' folk thy hoary old age (O Cominius!) Filthy with fulsomest lust ever be doomed to the death, Make I no manner of doubt but first thy tongue to the worthy Ever a foe, cut out, ravening Vulture shall feed; Gulp shall the Crow's black gorge those eye-balls dug from their sockets, 5 Guts of thee go to the dogs, all that remains to the wolves.

If, O Cominius, by the people's vote thy hoary age made filthy by unclean practices shall perish, forsure I doubt not but that first thy tongue, hostile to goodness, cut out, shall be given to the greedy vulture-brood, thine eyes, gouged out, shall the crows gorge down with sable maw, thine entrails [shall be flung] to the dogs, the members still remaining to the wolf.