lifting their tall heads to heaven, a dire assemblage—like 35
as on some tall peak, skyey oaks or cone-bearing cypresses
stand together, a lofty forest of Jupiter, or a grove of
Diana. Headlong our crews are driven by keen terror to
fling out the ropes anywhither, and stretch their sails to
the winds that would catch them. On the other hand,
Helenus’ warning bids them not to hold on their way
between Scylla and Charybdis, a passage on either side
removed but a hair’s breadth from death; so our purpose 5
stands to spread our sails backward. When lo! the north