Steamed into the arched sky, carrying death.

On its banks sounded never a bird’s song;

Whence “Avernus,” “birdless” in the Greek tongue.

Hard-by the Sibyl hallowed victims, four

Steers dusk-coloured; proceeding first to pour

Wine on their heads, and on the altar burn

Bristles from between the horns she had shorn;

Next, by blood calling Hecate, Divine

In Heaven as Hell, to further their design.

The Prince then to the Furies’ kith and kin—