Classic Poem

[ Invocation and subject ]

Ye mighty Demons, whose tremendous sway
The shadowy tribes of airy Ghosts obey,
To whose insatiate portion ever fall
All things that perish on this earthly ball,
Whom livid Styx with lurid torrent bounds
And fiery Phlegethon for aye surrounds,
Dark, deep and whirling round his flaming caves
The braying vortex of his breathless waves,
Eternal Spirits! to your bard explain
The dread Arcana of the Stygian reign—
How that stern Deity, Infernal Jove,
First felt the power, and owned the force of love;
How Hell's fair Empress first was snatched away
From Earth's bright regions, and the face of day;
How anxious Ceres wandered far and near
Now torn by grief and tortured now by fear,
Whence laws to man are given, and acorns yield
To the rich produce of the golden field.