Might plunge and perish. 'Tis no labor here675
To travel, for the road itself draws down.
As often whirlpools suck unwilling ships,
So does the air, down streaming, urge us on,
And hungry chaos. Here the clutching shades
Permit no backward step. Deep in the abyss,
With peaceful shallows gentle Lethe glides,680
And by its draughts removes all mortal care
And, that no backward way may be allowed,
With many folds it wraps the stream of death;