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Rh rise before him the broad bastions of Tartarus, round which flows the fiery stream of Phlegethon:—

In front a portal stands displayed,

On adamantine columns stayed;

Nor mortal nor immortal foe

Those massy gates could overthrow.

An iron tower of equal might

In air uprises steep;

Tisiphonè, in red robes dight,

Sits on the threshold day and night,

With eyes that know not sleep.

Hark! from within there issue groans,

The cracking of the thong,

The clank of iron o'er the stones

Dragged heavily along."

Æneas asks of his companion the meaning of these fearful sounds. They are the outcries of the wicked in torment. They may not be seen by human eyes; but Deiphobè herself has been shown all the horrible secrets of their prison-house by Hecate, when intrusted by that goddess with the charge of the entrance to the Shades. She tells Æneas how Rhadamanthus sits in judgment there, and forces the wicked to confess their deeds. Crimes successfully concealed on earth are there made manifest; then the culprit is handed over to the Furies for punishment. Such punishments are various as the crimes; strange and horrible in the cases of extraordinary offenders,—especially against the majesty of the gods. In the lowest gulf of all,—

Where Tartarus, with sheer descent,

Dips 'neath the ghost-world twice as deep