
 XLII

Once in the wind of morning
 I ranged the thymy wold;
The world-wide air was azure
 And all the brooks ran gold.

There through the dews beside me
 Behold a youth that trod,
With feathered cap on forehead,
 And poised a golden rod.

With mien to match the morning
 And gay delightful guise
This is a variation on Hermes (Mercury), with his winged cap (and sandals) and the caduceus rod. Hermes leads the soul into the underworld. 
 Hermes is more than the messenger of the gods. The  Oxford Classical Dictionary  explains under the entry “Hermes”: 
 He is generally well-disposed, and negotiates the ransom of Hector with pleasantness and good humour. His titles stress speed and beneficence. He is also the god who guides: he shows transhumant shepherds the way and leads teams of animals; he guides people, especially travellers, for whom he marks out the route in the form of a pillar or herm. He takes divine children to safety (thus he gives Dionysus to the Hymphs of Nysa, as depicted in the  famous statue by Praxiteles , and Arcas to Maia), and is generally a patron of children (Heracles, Achilles); he also helps heroes such as Perseus, for whom he obtains the bronze sickle used by the hero to decapitate Medusa, and Heracles. He leads Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena to Paris, the judge in their beauty contest. As god of movement, he is leader of the Nymphs and the Charites. Finally, as  psychopompos  (one who escorts souls), he leads the dead to Hades, summoning them to the journey beyond, taking them by the hand and accompanying them on to Charon’s boat. 

The Merry Guide