1. Might it be that EP connected ant and centaur because both have six limbs? 2. In connection with the vanity theme, the line's meaning doesn't seem that mysterious-- to me, anyway. All he's saying is that all us little critters puff ourselves up in our minds-- (we become centaurs) and puff up the importance of our little worlds of concern (enemy lizards become dragons)--far beyond their real significance. Nevertheless, it's fun to see all these ingenious explications offered up here. The line does serve as a wonderful Rorschach for us literary critics. This is my own second run at it. ==Dan P At 03:14 PM 3/14/99 -0500, you wrote: >Michael Coyle asked: "what *do* these lines mean? >>The ant's a centaur in his >> dragon world." > I like this question a lot--because I don't know the answer either, >but have puzzled by it for about ten years, after taking it for granted for >the previous twenty. Dan Pearlman Office: Department of English 102 Blackstone Blvd. #5 University of Rhode Island Providence, RI 02906 Kingston, RI 02881 Tel.: 401 453-3027 Tel.: 401 874-4659 email: [log in to unmask] Fax: 401 874-2580 http://www.uri.edu/artsci/english/clf/