Escalier des grandeurs et des ignominies, Bagne effrayant des morts, pilori des néants, Saignant, fumant, infect, ce charnier de géants Semblait fait pour pourrir le squelette du monde.

I have, in this rough work, shaped out a man Whom this beneath world doth embrace and hug With amplest entertainment: my free drift Halts not particularly, but moves itself In a wide sea of wax: no levelled malice Infects one comma in the course I hold: But flies an eagle flight, bold, and forth on, Leaving no tract behind.