The force of fire ascended first on high, And took its dwelling in the vaulted sky: Then air succeeds, in lightness next to fire; Whose atoms from unactive earth retire. […] To her daughter, who presided over the fiery element, Numa Pompilius consecrated an altar, where virgins, named Vestals, maintained perpetual fire. […] Prometheus, grand-son of Uranus, having deceived Jupiter, he was punished by being withheld from the element of fire; and to enrage his sovereign, he formed a being of clay, of workmanship so exquisite, that it scarcely seemed to need life to add to its beauty, and to complete his performance, assisted ‌by Minerva, he stole fire from the chariot of the sun, wherewith to animate his image. […] Thou thinkest we will rend thee bone from bone, And nerve from nerve, working like fire within! […] His body, consumed by fire, was found by the nymphs of the place, and honoured with a decent burial.