The Hippopotamus T.S. Eliot

        Similiter et omnes revereantur Diaconos, ut
        mandatum Jesu Christi; et Episcopum, ut Jesum
        Christum, existentem filium Patris; Presbyteros
        autem, ut concilium Dei et conjunctionem
        Apostolorum. Sine his Ecclesia non vocatur; de
        quibus suadeo vos sic habeo.

        S. IGNATII AD TRALLIANOS.

        And when this epistle is read among you, cause
        that it be read also in the church of the
        Laodiceans.

The broad-backed hippopotamus
Rests on his belly in the mud;
Although he seems so firm to us
He is merely flesh and blood.

Flesh-and-blood is weak and frail,
Susceptible to nervous shock;
While the True Church can never fail
For it is based upon a rock.

The hippo's feeble steps may err
In compassing material ends,
While the True Church need never stir
To gather in its dividends.