Matilda in the River Lethe.
Except from Dante’s Divine Comedy
Illustrated by Gustave Dore
She had drawn me into the stream up to my throat,
and pulling me behind her, she sped on
over the water, light as any boat.
Nearing the sacred bank, I heard her say
in tones so sweet I cannot call them back,
much less describe them here: “Asperges me.”
Then the sweet lady took my head between
her open arms, and embracing me, she dipped me
and made me drink the waters that make clean.