The crimes of men began to grow so great,
That how to punish justly puzzled Fate;
Heaven sighed at last, that to his sons so dear
A punishment’s decreed, and so severe:
Go, says eternal justice, hell-hounds, go,
And execute my dread commands below;
Fix your rapacious claws on every door,
Despoil the rich, and poorer make the poor;
Pity not age, add to his weight of years,
And fill the wretched widow’s eyes with tears;