Soon as fire was stolen away,Pale Fever's stranger host and wan DecaySwept o'er earth's polluted face,And slow Fate quicken'd Death's once halting pace.Daedalus the void air triedOn wings, to humankind by Heaven denied;Acheron's bar gave way with easeBefore the arm of labouring Hercules.Nought is there for man too high;Our impious folly e'en would climb the sky,Braves the dweller on the steep,Nor lets the bolts of heavenly vengeance sleep.The touch of Zephyr and of Spring has loosen'd Winter's thrall;The well-dried keels are wheel'd again to sea:The ploughman cares not for his fire, nor cattle for their stall,And frost no more is whitening all the lea.