A fearful gathering, bodies stripped of life,
Yet moving; some in pairs, husband and wife,
Girls who had virgins died, and beardless youths,
With parents’ kisses warm upon their mouths;
And some though freed from flesh ignorant where
Their dwelling fixed, sad phantoms, thin as air.
Each waiting judgment; now forgetting all
Griefs in a greater, in the musical
Challenge to Dis to yield its prey; while, on
And on, the chant rolled, till its way it won