Rise by degrees in length from first to last;
As on a cliff the ascending thicket grows;
Or different reeds the rural pipe compose:
Along the middle runs a twine of flax,
The bottom stems are join’d by plaint wax;
Thus, well compact, a hollow bending brings
The fine composure into real wings.
His boy, young Icarus, that near him stood,
Unthinking of his fate, with smiles pursued
The floating feathers, which the moving air