LXXX. "Why now those ancient Lapithae recall, Ixion and Pirithous? There in sight The black rock frowns, and ever threats to fall. On golden pillars shine the couches bright, And royal feasts their longing eyes invite. But lo, the eldest of the Furies' band Sits by, and oft uprising in her might, Warns from the banquet, with uplifted hand, And thunders in their ears, and waves a flaming brand. LXXXI. "Those, who with hate a brother's love repaid, Or drove a parent outcast from their door, Or, weaving fraud, their client's trust betrayed; Those, who--the most in number--brooded o'er Their gold, nor gave to kinsmen of their store; Those, who for foul adultery were slain, Who followed treason's banner, or forswore Their plighted oath to masters, here remain, And, pent in dungeons deep, await their doom of pain. LXXXII. "Ask not what pain; what fortune or what fate O'erwhelmed them, nor their torments seek to know. These roll uphill a rock's enormous weight, Those, hung on wheels, are racked with endless woe. There, too, for ever, as the ages flow, Sad Theseus sits, and through the darkness cries Unhappy Phlegyas to the shades below, 'Learn to be good; take warning and be wise; Learn to revere the gods, nor heaven's commands despise.' LXXXIII. "There stands the traitor, who his country sold, A tyrant's bondage for his land prepared; Made laws, unmade them, for a bribe of gold. With lawless lust a daughter's shame he shared; All dared huge crimes, and compassed what they dared. Ne'er had a hundred mouths, if such were mine, Nor hundred tongues their endless sins declared, Nor iron voice their torments could define, Or tell what doom to each the avenging gods assign. LXXXIV. "But haste we," adds the Sibyl; "onward hold The way before thee, and thy task pursue. Forged in the Cyclops' furnaces, behold Yon walls and fronting archway, full in view. Leave there thy gift and pay the God his due." She spake, and thither through the dark they paced, And reached the gateway. He, with lustral dew Self-sprinkled, seized the entrance, and in haste High o'er the fronting door the fateful offering placed. LXXXV. These dues performed, they reach the realms of rest, Fortunate groves, where happy souls repair, And lawns of green, the dwellings of the blest. A purple light, a more abundant air Invest the meadows. Sun and stars are there, Known but to them. There rival athletes train Their practised limbs, and feats of strength compare. These run and wrestle on the sandy plain, Those tread the measured dance, and join the song's sweet strain.