Why should he have a noble face?
Is he to be a general also?
Or a king?
Or a heavenly god?

Sphinx Babylone is also winged,
A lion with wings.

Why should he have wings?
Is he to be a bird also?
Or a spirit?
Or a winged thought?

Evidently he is all that.
A sphinx of power.
Ah, the Babylonian sphinx
Is a winged lion which is always standing.
A winged lion will never lie down before other beasts.

The Babylonian sphinx.

Do the great wings always flame from his shoulder sockets?
Of course, they do.

Knowing the strength of his heart,
The massive strength of his paws,
The great wings, like flames, are fanned out
From his shoulder-sockets.

And the proud Babylonian sphinx watches the borders,
And roars to announce himself to the wolves,
the jackals, the dragons and the bears
To secure and increase his mighty empire.

Proud intellect, high-soaring mind
Like an eagle, sweeping the round of heaven
And watching the empire
On two wings, like a pair of compasses:
The mighty Sphinx Babylone, staring, like an eagle,
Down on the land