A Journey Safe And Sure

On came the beauteous creature, clothed in white,
And seeming as he came in countenance
A star of dawn all tremulous with light.

He spread his arms abroad, and spread his vans,
And, "Come," said he, "the stairs are nigh: henceforth
An easier climb is yours and every man's."

Glad summons - but with few to prize its worth!
O human race, born to take flight and soar,
Why fall ye, for one breath of wind, to earth?

He brought us to the rock's cleft aperture,
And there he brushed my forehead with his wings;
Then promised me a journey safe and sure.

- Dante, Purgatory [D. Sayers], Canto XII