BOOK THE NINTH.
347
Groan'd underneath the bitter tyranny 620
Of a fierce Dæmon; his coarse hair was red,
Pale grey his eyes, and blood-shot; and his face
Wrinkled by such a smile as Malice wears
In ecstasy. Well-pleased he went around,
Plunging his dagger in the hearts of some, 625
Or probing with a poison'd lance their breasts,
Or placing coals of fire within their wounds;
Or seizing some within his mighty grasp
He fix'd them on a stake, and then drew back,
And laughed to see them writhe.
"These," said the Spirit, 630
"Are taught by Cruelty, to loath the lives
They led themselves. Here are those wicked men
Who loved to exercise their tyrant power
On speechless brutes; bad husbands undergo
A long purgation here; the Traffickers 635
In human flesh here too are disciplin'd
Till by their sufferings they have equall'd all
The miseries they inflicted, all the mass
Of a fierce Dæmon; his coarse hair was red,
Pale grey his eyes, and blood-shot; and his face
Wrinkled by such a smile as Malice wears
In ecstasy. Well-pleased he went around,
Plunging his dagger in the hearts of some, 625
Or probing with a poison'd lance their breasts,
Or placing coals of fire within their wounds;
Or seizing some within his mighty grasp
He fix'd them on a stake, and then drew back,
And laughed to see them writhe.
"These," said the Spirit, 630
"Are taught by Cruelty, to loath the lives
They led themselves. Here are those wicked men
Who loved to exercise their tyrant power
On speechless brutes; bad husbands undergo
A long purgation here; the Traffickers 635
In human flesh here too are disciplin'd
Till by their sufferings they have equall'd all
The miseries they inflicted, all the mass
"Of
