“Thus tried, thou must thine indolence disown,”
The Maser said; “for seats of downy plume
And quilted couches lead not to renown;
Without acquiring which, who life consume,
Leave of themselves on earth such trace behind,
As froth on water; in the air, as fume.
Up therefore quick: with energy of mind
Conquer thy gasping: mind can never fail
Save when the cumbrous flesh its impulse bind.
A longer stair it needs thee yet to scale” (XXIV, lines unnumbered, pg. 94)
— Dante Alighieri, The Divina Commedia of Dante, trans. James Ford (London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1870).