University of Virginia Library

HERTHA
Therein hast thou, O Man, my sufferance.
And entrance shalt thou find, by my Caves mouth
Midst rocks, nigh hand; to them which once were flesh;
Whose thousand generations dead, laid up;
In thát great House of Darkness, rest beneath.
And know, before thine hour, thou shalt not pass.
Fear not: those also in my Bosom sleep.
Moreover I, before thy living steps,
Amidst those storied deeps, will send my Voice.
Guide to thy feet and Guardian of thy life:
Till thou, in hour prefixt, from thence revert.