Of all those Aethiop monarchs, beyond measure, The first was this, for riches and for might;
But he with all his puissance, all his treasure, Alas! had miserably lost his sight.
And yet was this the monarch's least displeasure;
Vexed by a direr and a worse despite;
Harassed, though richest of those Nubian kings, By a perpetual hunger's cruel stings.