OF TEMPER.
57
Self-mov'd it seem'd, but soon the nymph beheld
A grisly figure, who the stern impell'd.
Wading behind, the horrid form appear'd;
Above the water his strong arm he rear'd,
And cross the creeping flood the crazy vessel steer'd.
The heavenly Sprite observ'd her trembling ward,
Whose growing fears the hideous pass abhorr'd,
And cheering thus she spake: "This spectre boasts
The chief dominion of these dreary coasts:
To him, thy pilot, without dread, consign
And place thy body in his bark supine!
So thro' this arching rock thou 'lt pass alone,
Safe from the perils of th' incumbent stone:
Embark undaunted!—on the farther side
Thou 'lt surely find me, thy unfailing guide.
Nor let this pilot raise thy groundless dread,
This sullen Charon of the froward dead,
A phantom, never blest with human life,
Tho' oft on earth his noxious power is rife;
A grisly figure, who the stern impell'd.
Wading behind, the horrid form appear'd;
Above the water his strong arm he rear'd,
And cross the creeping flood the crazy vessel steer'd.
The heavenly Sprite observ'd her trembling ward,
Whose growing fears the hideous pass abhorr'd,
And cheering thus she spake: "This spectre boasts
The chief dominion of these dreary coasts:
To him, thy pilot, without dread, consign
And place thy body in his bark supine!
So thro' this arching rock thou 'lt pass alone,
Safe from the perils of th' incumbent stone:
Embark undaunted!—on the farther side
Thou 'lt surely find me, thy unfailing guide.
Nor let this pilot raise thy groundless dread,
This sullen Charon of the froward dead,
A phantom, never blest with human life,
Tho' oft on earth his noxious power is rife;
