no book of monsters is complete

without the minotaur of crete.

yet should i draw him you would quail,

so in his place i draw a veil.

o stars, that from creation's birth

have winked at everything on earth,

who shine where poets fear to tread,

relate the story in my stead!

although it's comforting to know

that theseus slew him long ago,

we need not boast, we too could do

with—well, a theseus or two.