Sonnet 44

'Twas once a tortoise and a scorpion, Across a river which had rose to crack. Thus saith' scorpion, "be thy champion, And calmly place thyself upon thine back". "To sir with love, if I do this for thee, Heaven would grant me wings for wind to sing". And saith' the tortoise, "we would never be, If ye upon thy back would place a sting". So thus they sailed and streams stirred salt and dreams, While something pierced inside the tortoise spine. "Dost why dear Sir, now we're both dead it seems", The scorpions reply, "twas natures wine". Beneath the riverbanks did both them fall, And Nature's nile conceived their drowning call.