Vain is the force of man, and Heav'n's as vain, To crush the pillars which the pile sustain. From hence are heard the groans of ghosts, the pains Of sounding lashes and of dragging chains. But Hecate, when she gave to rule the woods, Then led me trembling thro' these dire abodes, And taught the tortures of th' avenging gods. Straight, o'er the guilty ghost, the Fury shakes The sounding whip and brandishes her snakes, And the pale sinner, with her sisters, takes. You see, before the gate, what stalking ghost Commands the guard, what sentries keep the post.
More formidable Hydra stands within, Whose jaws with iron teeth severely grin.
The gaping gulf low to the center lies, And twice as deep as earth is distant from the skies. The rivals of the gods, the Titan race, Here, sing'd with lightning, roll within th' unfathom'd space. But he, the King of Heav'n, obscure on high, Bar'd his red arm, and, launching from the sky His writhen bolt, not shaking empty smoke, Down to the deep abyss the flaming felon strook. There Tityus was to see, who took his birth From heav'n, his nursing from the foodful earth. Here his gigantic limbs, with large embrace, Infold nine acres of infernal space.