He thought at once him to have swallowed quite,
And rushed upon him with outrageous pride;
Who him r'encountring fierce, as hawk in flight,
Perforce rebutted back. The weapon bright
Taking advantage of his open jaw,
Ran through his mouth with so importune might,
That deep impierced his darksome hollow maw,
And back retired, his life blood forth with all did draw.

So down he fell, and forth his life did breathe,
That vanished into smoke and clouds swift;
So down he fell, that the earth him underneath
Did groan, as feeble so great load to lift;
So down he fell, as a huge rocky cliff,
Whose false foundation waves have washed away,
With dreadful poise is from the mainland rift,
And rolling down, great Neptune doth dismay;
So down he fell, and like a heaped mountain lay.

Book 1, Canto 11