Page 112 of Tiger's Voyage

by William Blake

But now, from between the black & white spiders,

a cloud and fire burst and rolled thro’ the deep black’ning all beneath,

so that the nether deep grew black as a sea, & rolled with a terrible noise;

beneath us was nothing now to be seen but a black tempest,

till looking east between the clouds & the waves,

we saw a cataract of blood mixed with fire,

and not many stones’ throw from us appear’d and sunk again

the scaly fold of a monstrous serpent;

at last, to the east, distant about three degrees

appear’d a fiery crest above the waves;

slowly it reared like a ridge of golden rocks,

till we discover’d two globes of crimson fire,

from which the sea fled away in clouds of smoke;

and now we saw, it was the head of Leviathan;

his forehead was divided into streaks of green & purple

like those on a tyger’s forehead:

soon we saw his mouth & red gills

hang just above the raging foam

tinging the black deep with beams of blood,

advancing toward us

with all the fury of a spiritual existence.

I sat back in my chair and reached for Kishan’s hand. “Well, that’s just great. Monstrously vague. Terrifically amorphous.”

When Mr. Kadam began describing theories and comparisons between the creature known as Leviathan and the monster called the kraken, I noticed Ren running his fingers over another book that he had set discreetly on the floor.

I turned to him and asked, “What is it, Ren? If you’ve found something else, you might as well share it.”

“It’s nothing. Just a poem that I’d found.”

Despite my love of his reading voice, the passage gave me chills.

THE KRAKEN

By Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Below the thunders of the upper deep;