pale ravener of horrible meat


About the Shark, phlegmatical one,
Pale sot of the Maldive sea,
The sleek little pilot-fish, azure and slim,
How alert in attendance be.
From his saw-pit of mouth, from his charnel of maw,
They have nothing of harm to dread,
But liquidly glide on his ghastly flank
Or before his Gorgonian head;
Or lurk in the port of serrated teeth
In white triple tiers of glittering gates,
And there find a haven when peril's abroad,
An asylum in jaws of the Fates!
They are friends; and friendly they guide him to prey,
Yet never partake of the treat --
Eyes and brains to the dotard lethargic and dull,
Pale ravener of horrible meat.
Herman Melville, 'The Maldive Shark'

Image: Damien Hirst, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living. 1991. Tiger shark, glass, steel, 5% formaldehyde solution.

Given how many dead animals Damien Hirst goes through, the phrase 'pale ravener of horrible meat' would be more aptly applied to him.