MANTICORE

Phil Roberts 1957 (Melbourne)



Through the awful sky
The Manticore is soaring,
Seeking human prey below
Its manlike head is roaring.

Through the evil darkness
The sphinx-like terror roams,
Waiting for the gullibly to leave
The safety of their homes.

A lion-like beast is flying
Across the peaceful azure blue,
No hint of the monstrous things
The Manticore is about to do.

A tail of long, lethal spines
It can shoot out at its prey,
Sleeping through the night-time
Hunting throughout the day.

Hunting out living prey
From oceans to burnished sand,
Living upon most creatures
Yet its favourite food is man.

Sweeping through the skies
So majestically it's winging,
Then raising its man-like head
It begins an unearthly singing.

Spotting humans far below
The Manticore is descending,
Fearless people dance and play
Their lives will soon be ending.

THE END
© Copyright 2022 Philip Roberts
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

About this poem

The Manticore in legend has the head of a human, the body of a lion, and a tail of venomous spines similar to porcupine quills, while other depictions have it with the tail of a scorpion. There are some accounts that the spines can be shot like arrows, thus making the manticore a lethal predator

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Written on July 25, 2022

Submitted by philip0157 on September 15, 2022

Modified on March 05, 2023

50 sec read
3

Quick analysis:

Scheme XABA XCXC ADXD XEXE EXXX XAXA BAEA XXX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 891
Words 166
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3

Phil Roberts

I turn 65 on the 31st of January 2022. I love cats, rock music, and horror fiction and poetry more…

All Phil Roberts poems | Phil Roberts Books

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