A Russian officer, in martial tread
Over a heap of bodies, felt his heel
Seized fast, as if ’twere by the serpent’s head
Whose fangs Eve taught her human seed to feel;
In vain he kicked, and swore, and writhed, and bled,
And howled for help as wolves do for a meal—
The teeth still kept their gratifying hold,
As do the subtle snakes described of old.