1 The smoke alas, must still ascend,
And never will their torment end,
No respite can the damned obtain,
No interval of rest from pain;
Millions of years shall pass away,
Nor shorten the eternal day,
While still in blasphemies they own
Their punishment but just begun.

2 Vain, wretched man, whose fond desire
Would quench the everlasting fire,
Or teach it will not always last,
After a course of æons past;
O mayst thou never, never know
The dark abyss of endless woe,
Or in its literal strictness feel
The truth of an eternal hell.