Sentence:  nor was the doom / of guilty deed, but of a hapless wight / to sudden madness stung, ere <WSD>ripe</WSD> to die, / therefore the Queen of Hades had not shorn / the fair tress from her forehead, nor assigned / that soul to Stygian dark. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Ready for action or effect; prepared.