Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Monstrosities, Animal Behaviour, Controversy

    Discusses the observation of the 'Great Sea Serpent' by a 'British navigator'. Asks 'Where, if there is a serpent of the deep [...] Can that extraordinary reptile keep', especially since, as 'an amphibious creature', he 'can't be always swimming in the sea'. Paraphrasing a line from William Shakespeare's Macbeth, wonders whether the serpent is not 'a false creation, / Proceeding from the grog-oppressed brain', but notes that those who saw it 'say they saw him plain, / Without the customary duplication'. Satisfied that the beast is 'a long way out at sea; / For nowhere else that monster doth appear', and can only 'conjecture' over whether 'a Sea Serpent does or does not swim'.