[a]Quisquis iter tendis, vitreas qua lucidus undas Speluncae late Thamesis praetendit opacae; Marmorea trepidant qua lentae in fornice guttae, Crystallisque latex fractus scintillat acutis; Gemmaque, luxuriae nondum famulata nitenti Splendit, et incoquitur tectum sine fraude metallum; Ingredere O! rerum pura cole mente parentem; Auriferasque auri metuens scrutare cavernas.

But by the time that he has arrived at this stage of his development, or degradation, the poet is hardly to be called a strong man, he who is so munch the slave of his own moods that he must needs see no object save through them, is not very likely to be able to resist the awe which nature's grandeur and inscrutability brings with it, and to say firmly, and yet reverently: Si fractus illibatur orbis, Impavidum ferient ruinae.