With foul effluvia and odors filled,
By darkness, dampness and decay distilled.
For noisome vapors float in gaseous waves,
In cavern depths of men-created caves,
And generate in humid warmth or cold
The loathsome mildew and corrupting mould.
At length, through cruel maze of grate and stone,
By paths circuitous and ways unknown,
We reached the cell,—as hideous a den,
As ever held unwilling beasts or men.