A Roman poet's impression of one of Mount Etna's eruptions

The Roman poet, Virgil gave what was probably a first-hand description of an eruption (thanks to Wikipedia):

A spreading bay is there, impregnable

To all invading storms; and Aetna's throat

With roar of frightful ruin thunders nigh.

Now to the realm of light it lifts a cloud

Of pitch-black, whirling smoke, and fiery dust,

Shooting out globes of flame, with monster tongues

That lick the stars; now huge crags of itself,

Out of the bowels of the mountain torn,

Its maw disgorges, while the molten rock

Rolls screaming skyward; from the nether deep

The fathomless abyss makes ebb and flow.

—Virgil