Bird Parliament by Farid ud-Din Attar translated by Edward FitzGerald

Once on a time from all the Circles seven 1

Between the stedfast Earth and rolling Heaven

THE BIRDS, of all Note, Plumage, and Degree,

That float in Air, and roost upon the Tree;

And they that from the Waters snatch their Meat,

And they that scour the Desert with long Feet;

Birds of all Natures, known or not to Man,

Flock'd from all Quarters into full Divan,

On no less solemn business than to find

Or choose, a Sultan Khalif of their kind, 10

For whom, if never theirs, or lost, they pined.

The Snake had his, 'twas said; and so the Beast