III.
Soone after this I saw on th’other side
A curious Coffer made of heben* wood,
That in it did most precious treasure hide,
Exceeding all this baser worldës good: 620
Yet through the overflowing of the flood
It almost drowned was and done to nought,
That sight thereof much griev’d my pensive thought.
[* Heben, ebony.]
At length, when most in perill it was brought,
Two angels, downe descending with swift flight, 625
Out of the swelling streame it lightly caught,
And twixt their blessed armes it carried quight
Above the reach of anie living sight:
So now it is transform’d into that starre,
In which all heavenly treasures locked are. 630