Black Beetles in Amber

There were brave men, some one has truly said,

Before Atrides (those were mostly dead

Behind him) and ere you could e'er occur

Actaeon lived, Nimrod and Bahram-Gur.

In strength and speed and daring they excelled:

The stag they overtook, the lion felled.

Ah, yes, great hunters flourished before you,

And—for Munchausen lived—great talkers too.

There'll be no more; there's much to kill, but—well,

You have left nothing in the world to tell!