And with them too all joy and gladness fled!
CANTO XIV.
THE DELIVERANCE OF IDUNA.
As vanish ’fore the wind the vapours light,
Thus sinks each action of the human race
Into th’ abyss of sempiternal night;
One billow sinks; another mounts apace:
Alternate peace coquetting plays with war;
Now in the sheath the glaive inglorious lies,