Now, on his right, he leaves Parthenope, + 

His left, Misenus jutting in the sea; + 

Arrives at Cuma, and with awe survey’d + 

The grotto of the venerable maid: + 

Begs leave through black Avernus to retire, + 

And view the much-loved manes of his sire. + 

Straight the divining virgin raised her eyes; + 

And, foaming with a holy rage, replies: + 

“Oh thou, whose worth thy wondrous works proclaim, + 

The flames thy piety, the world thy fame, + 

Though great be thy request, yet shalt thou see + 

The Elysian fields, the infernal monarchy, + 

Thy parent’s shade. This arm thy steps shall guide: + 

To suppliant virtue nothing is denied.” + 

She spoke, and pointing to the golden bough, + 

Which in the Avernian grove refulgent grew, + 

“Seize that,” she bids: he listens to the maid, + 

Then views the mournful mansions of the dead; + 

The shade of great Anchises, and the place + 

By fates determined to the Trojan race. + 

As back to upper light the hero came, + 

He thus salutes the visionary dame: + 

“Oh! whether some propitious deity, + 

Or loved by those bright rulers of the sky, + 

With grateful incense I shall style you one, + 

And doom no godhead greater than your own. + 

’Twas you restored me from the realms of night, + 

And gave me to behold the fields of light, + 

To feel the breezes of congenial air, + 

And nature’s best benevolence to share.” + 