A lighter vessel needs must carry thee."
And unto him the Guide: "Vex thee not, Charon;
It is so willed there where is power to do That which is willed; and farther question not."
Thereat were quieted the fleecy cheeks Of him the ferryman of the livid fen, Who round about his eyes had wheels of flame.
But all those souls who weary were and naked Their colour changed and gnashed their teeth together, As soon as they had heard those cruel words.
God they blasphemed and their progenitors, The human race, the place, the time, the seed Of their engendering and of their birth!
Thereafter all together they drew back, Bitterly weeping, to the accursed shore, Which waiteth every man who fears not God.
Charon the demon, with the eyes of glede, Beckoning to them, collects them all together, Beats with his oar whoever lags behind.
As in the autumn-time the leaves fall off, First one and then another, till the branch Unto the earth surrenders all its spoils;
In similar wise the evil seed of Adam Throw themselves from that margin one by one, At signals, as a bird unto its lure.
So they depart across the dusky wave, And ere upon the other side they land, Again on this side a new troop assembles.
"My son," the courteous Master said to me, "All those who perish in the wrath of God Here meet together out of every land;
And ready are they to pass o'er the river, Because celestial Justice spurs them on, So that their fear is turned into desire.
This way there never passes a good soul;
And hence if Charon doth complain of thee, Well mayst thou know now what his speech imports."
This being finished, all the dusk champaign Trembled so violently, that of that terror The recollection bathes me still with sweat.
The land of tears gave forth a blast of wind, And fulminated a vermilion light, Which overmastered in me every sense, And as a man whom sleep hath seized I fell.