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124

XV.

He led him on through many a gloomy vault,
Until at length they came
Where twice five thousand steps descended,
And polished marble was their frame:
Above, the flickering flame
Revealed the damp and dripping roof:
It was a reeking rock of darkest gloom,
Against the inroads of the sea scarce proof.
And as they downward wended,
It seemed that they descended
Into the bowels of a yawning tomb;
For damp and noxious steams came through the air,
And hung like halos round the lamp-light's lurid glare.