The Secret & Riddles of the Sphinx

I've had just enough time to...  learn the secret of the Sphinx

In Las Vegas, I could not decipher the secrets of the Sphinx...

In the land of sand and gold

I was stopped by a Sphinx of old who

Asked riddles to pass or be devoured

“What creature has one voice

And is four-footed, two and three?”

“Oh, Man!” I exclaimed,

What answer can I give to that?

The Sphinx looked up in surprise

The correct answer I had supplied

For man crawls on fours, walks on two

And in old age the cane makes three

The next question was about sisters,

“One gives birth to the other

And, she gives birth to the first.

Who are the sisters two?"

If I were to think “Night and Day”

I thought out loud, I could not say

The Sphinx stood up on all fours

Surveyed me curiously and said

“Only one last riddle remains,

Answer and you will not be slain”

because I cannot tell the real from the illusion.

“Would you love a creature hideous

To save or kill for your own sake?”

That is no riddle but a trick

Either answer will be a mistake

If I were to die, it might as well be for “love!”

And I gave that to the Sphinx straight

With a mighty roar, she sprang

My eyes closed waiting for her fangs

Over my head she flew and dashed hers

Against the rock it smashed

I lived to tell this tale

But I cannot give you an end for

I never discovered the Sphinx’s secret.