There passed they in

At portals of the high, celestial House,

And on beyond the starry-golden court,

Through amorous hidden ways, and winding paths

Set round with splendors, to the spangled hall

Of secret audience for noble guests.

Here Charis labored, so Hêphæstos bade,

Moulding the room’s adornments; here she built

Low couches, framed in ivory, overlain

With skins of pard and panther, and the fleece