As that rebellious angel, who, from heaven,
To regions of eternal pain was driven,
When dreadless he forsook the Stygian shore
The distant realms of Eden to explore;
Here, on sulphureous clouds sublime upheaved,
With daring wing th’ infernal air he cleaved;
There, in some hideous gulf descending prone,
Far in the void abrupt of night was known—
E’en so she climbs the briny mountain’s height,
Then down the black abyss precipitates her flight: