The seven-headed dragon (or ogre) whose head grew back again whenever it was sliced off, occurs in several fairy-tales, all too realistic an image for modern problems, whether personal or political.

MODERN MONSTERS

Merlin warned the eager young knight:
"Take your stand where the river runs faster.
You know you face a venomous fight.
The snake won't accept you for master.

"The segments will join back together
If you chop him to pieces on land.
So lure your prey to the river:
Let each slice float away and be drowned.

"Even your armour must slit him,
Or his coils will strangle you numb;
And you ears must be stopped while you hit him,
Till his siren song is dumb."

So Childė Wynd, in his armour,
Fought the snake in the flowing river,
With his ears closed to the charmer,
Till he'd hacked off every sliver;

Till each of the seven heads, singing,
Had been washed away in the torrent,
And each of the seven coils, clinging,
Had dropped from his armour, in torment.

Legend from a ballad-singer,
Of knights and dragons fuming,
Yet modern fables are stranger,
With unseen monsters looming.

An enemy who is invisible
Rules lives, instead of the snake.
His tyranny is just as terrible.
His strength is as hard to break.

The seven heads surround you,
Offering spurious choices.
In the river that might have drowned you,
Close your ears to the voices.