Averse, with planted feet, and, from the right,

Tugged at the solid stone with all his might.

Thus heaved, the fixed foundations of the rock

Gave way; heaven echoed at the rattling shock.

Tumbling, it choked the flood: on either side

The banks leap backward, and the streams divide;

The sky shrunk upward with unusual dread,

And trembling Tyber dived beneath his bed.

The court of Cacus stands revealed to sight;

The cavern glares with new-admitted light.