Sometimes he gave out oracles, amused
With mortal folly; resting on the shrines;
Or, all in some fair Sibyl's form infused,
Spoke from her quivering lips, or penned her mystic lines. [FN#13]
[FN#13] This passage merely accords with the belief that the
responses of the ancient oracles were spoken by fiends, or evil
spirits. We need only look into the "New Testament for a confirmation
of the power which such beings were supposed to possess of speaking
from the lips of mortals."