The evening dew was clear and cold: Upon the harsh ungrateful mould All stiffly lay the hero bold Thorough the dreamless night; But when the face of peering day Shot o’er the cliff its crimson ray, All stiff and aching as he lay, Sleep seized the weary knight— A blissful sleep; for when the sense Was bound with blindness most intense, With sharp-eyed soul he saw, Ev’n at his side, in light arrayed, Serene with placid power displayed, The chaste Athenian Jove-born maid, And worshipped her with awe; And in her hand—a well-known sight— The wingèd steed she led, That bent the knee before the knight, And bowed its lofty head. Raptured he woke; with sense now clear He saw the heavenly maid, And in her hand a massive spear, Firm-planted, she displayed; And thus she spake: “Ephyrian knight, Dear to the gods art thou, Not vainly did thy prayer invite My aid to wing thy airy flight To Cragus’ rocky brow. A friendly god is thy provider; If thou hast wisely planned, Fear not; the steed doth wait the rider, The spear doth claim the hand. That snake-born monster’s horny hide, That was not made to feel, May never yield life’s crimson tide To sharpest Rhodian steel; But with this spear from Vulcan’s forge, Right through the mouth in the deep gorge If thou shalt pierce it, then This dire Chimera, breathing flame, Thou with a hero’s hand shalt tame, And win thyself a glorious name Among the Xanthian men.” Upstood the knight, with hope elate, And felt the aching pain abate From all his sore-bruised limbs; The wingèd steed he straight bestrode, And to Chimera’s black abode Through liquid air he swims. The deep-mouthed Terror ’gan to bray, The forky fire-tongues ’gan to play, The fretful serpents hissed dismay Round all the rocky wall; But with direct and eager speed The rider and the heavenly steed Rushed to achieve the fearless deed At glorious danger’s call. The knight, with curious eye, did note The centre of the roaring throat, And while it gaped with gory jaws To thunder fear around, Forward he rode—nor any pause, But right into Chimera’s gorge He drove the spear from Vulcan’s forge,