9
V.
Descend we next to where the beetling cliftsHang their high cornice o'er the margent steep,Whose uncouth slope their crumbling fragments heap,Sole track to yon dark portal, n that upliftsIn gothic guise its pointed crown, and leadsTo the dread cloister, in whose vaulted groinThe shelving beds and gushing billows join,And rock and river blend their arched heads.There crawl the slimy reptiles of the deep,Glazing th' obnoxious path, and dimly seenBy the dull lantern of that drizzling skreen;Through which day's beams with faint refraction peep, A baleful radiance pale, that gives the night Perplexing gleams obscure, the shades of tortured light.
