is as well known to the readers of Mythology as that of his brother
Jupiter.
The place of his residence being gloomy, and consequently unbearable to
those goddesses whose hand he sought in marriage, and who looked for a
gayer life than he could offer them, they all refused to become the sharer
of his possessions. Pluto, however, was by no means willing to sit quietly
down in single blessedness, thinking, perhaps, that the very reason which
they assigned for their refusal, was an additional one in his favour for
wishing a soother of his lot.
It was in his visit to the island of Sicily, that the God saw and became
enamoured of Proserpine, as she gathered flowers in the plains of Enna.
{104}
------"He comes to us
From the depths of Tartarus.
For what of evil doth he roam
From his red and gloomy home.
In the centre of the world
Where the sinful dead are hurled?
Mark him as he moves along,
Drawn by horses black and strong.
Such as may belong to night,
Ere she takes her morning flight,
Now the chariot stops: the God
On our grassy world hath trod,
Like a Titan steppeth he,
Yet full of his divinity.
On his mighty shoulders lie
Raven locks, and in his eye
A cruel beauty, such as none
Of us may wisely look upon."