Hamilcar, somnolent Prince of the City of Books—
Thou guardian nocturnal ! Like that Divine Cat
Who combated the impious in Heliopolis—
In the night of the great combat—thou dost defend
From vile nibblers those books which the old savant
Acquired at the cost of his slender savings and
Indefatigable zeal . Sleep, Hamilcar, softly
As a sultana, in this library, that shelters
Thy military virtues; for verily in thy
Person are united the formidable aspect
Of a Tartar warrior and the slumbrous grace of a
Woman of the Orient . Sleep, thou heroic
Voluptuous Hamilcar, while awaiting that
Moonlight hour in which the mice will come forth to dance
Before the Acta Sanctorum of the learned Bollandists !

* 2nd Paragraph of The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard by Anatole France as translated by Lafcadio Hearn and versified by :

*[ WSB ]_.