And when I looked beyond this crowd I saw
A throng upon the shore of wide river,
Which made me ask,
"Master, I would like to know:

Who are these people, and what law is this
That makes those souls so eager for the crossing-
As I can see, even in this dim light?"

And he: "All this will be made plain to you
As soon as we shall come to stop awhile
Upon the sorrowful shore of Acheron."

Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy Volume 1: Inferno. Page 91, Lines 70-78, Canto III, Penguin Classics, Indiana University, 2003