By both his parents of descent divine, Great Jove and Phoebus grac'd his noble line: Heaven had not crown'd his wishes with a son, But two fair daughters heir'd his state and throne. To him Apollo (wondrous to relate!
But who can pierce into the depths of Fate ?) Had sung-"Expect thy sons on Argos' shore, A yellow lion, and a bristly boar." This long revolv'd in his paternal breast, Sate heavy on his heart, and broke his rest; This, great Amphiarus, lay hid from thee, Though skill'd in fate, and dark futurity. The father's care and prophet's art were vain, For thus did the predicting god ordain.
Lo hapless Tydeus, whose ill-fated hand Had slain his brother, leaves his native land, And, seiz'd with horrour, in the shades of night, Through the thick deserts headlong urg'd his flight: Now by the fury of the tempest driven, He seeks a shelter from th' inclement heaven, Till, led by Fate, the Theban's steps he treads, And to fair Argos' open court succeeds.
When thus the chiefs from different lands resort T' Adrastus' realms, and hospitable court; The king surveys his guests with curious eyes, And views their arms and habit with surprise. A lion's yellow skin the Theban wears, Horrid his mane, and rough with curling hairs; Such once employ'd Alcides' youthful toils, Ere yet adorn'd with Nemea's dreadful spoils. A boar's stiff hide, of Calydonian breed, Oenides' manly shoulders overspread : Oblique his tusks, erect his bristles stood; Alive, the pride and terrour of the wood.
Struck with the sight, and fix'd in deep amaze, Th' king th' accomplish'd oracle surveys, Reveres Apollo's vocal caves, and owns The guiding godhead, and his future sons. O'er all his bosom secret transports reign, And a glad horrour shoots through every vein.
Cui Phoebus generos (monstrum exitiabile dictu! Mox adaperta fides) evo ducente canebat Setigerumque suem, et fulvum adventare leonem. Hæc volvens, non, ipse pater, non, docte futuri Amphiaraë, vides; etenim vetat autor Apollo. Tantum in corde sedens ægrescit cura parentis.
Ecce autem antiquam fato Calydona relinquens Olenius Tydeus (fraterni sanguinis illum Conscius horror agit) eadem sub nocte sopora Lustra terit, similesque notos dequestus et imbres, Infusam tergo glaciem, et liquentia nimbis Ora, comasque gerens, subit uno teginine, cujus Fusus humo gelida, partem prior hospes habebat.→ Hic primum lustrare oculis cultusque virorum Telaque magna vacat; tergo videt hujus inanem Impexis utrinque jubis horrere leonem, Illius in speciem, quem per Teumesia Tempe Amphitryoniades fractum juvenilibus armis Ante Cleonæi vestitur prælia monstri. Terribiles contra setis, ac dente recurvo Tydea per latos humeros ambire laborant Exuvia, Calydonis honos. stupet omine tanto Defixus senior, divina oracula Phobi Agnoscens, monitusque datos vocalibus antris. Obtutu gelida ora permit, lætusque per artus. Horror iit. sensit manifesto numine ductos Affore, quos nexis ambagibus augur Apollo Portendi generos, vultu fallente ferarum,
To Heaven he lifts his hands, erects his sight, And thus invokes the silent queen of night:
"Goddess of shades, beneath whose gloomy reign Yon spangled arch glows with the starry train ; You, who the cares of Heaven and Earth allay, Till Nature, quicken'd by th' inspiring ray, Wakes to new vigour with the rising day; O thou, who freest me from my doubtful state, Long lost and wilder'd in the maze of Fate! Be present still: oh goddess! in our aid: Proceed, and firm those omens thou hast made. We to thy name our annual rites will pay, And on thy altars sacrifices lay;
The sable flock shall fall beneath the stroke, And fill thy temples with a grateful smoke. Hail, faithful Tripos! hail, ye dark abodes Of awful Phœbus: I confess the gods!"
Thus, seiz'd with sacred fear, the monarch pray'd;
Then to his inner court the guests convey'd : Where yet thin fumes from dying sparks arise, And dust yet white upon each altar lies, The relics of a former sacrifice.
The king once more the solemn rites requires, And bids renew the feasts, and wake the fires. His train obey, while all the courts around With noisy care and various tumult sound. Embroider'd purple clothes the golden beds; This slave the floor, and that the table spreads; A third dispels the darkness of the night, And fills depending lamps with beams of light; Here loaves in canisters are pil'd on high, And there in flames the slaughter'd victims fly. Sublime in regal state Adrastus shone, Stretch'd on rich carpets on his ivory throne; A lofty couch receives each princely guest; Around at awful distance wait the rest.
Fdiderat. tunc sic tendens ad sidera palmas: Nox, quæ terrarum cœlique amplexa labores Ignea multivago transmittis sidera lapsu, Indulgens reparare animum, dum proximus ægris Infundat Titan agiles aniinanribus ortus, Tu mihi perplexis quæsitam erroribus ultro Advehis alma fidem, veterisque exordia fati Detegis. assistas operi, tuaque omnia firmes! Semper honoratam dimensis orbibus anni Te domus ista colet: nigri tibi, Diva, litabunt Electa cervice greges, lustraliaque exta Lacte nova perfusus edet Vulcanius ignis. Salve, prisca fides tripodum, obscurique recessus; Deprendi, Fortuna, deos. sic fatus; et ambos Innectens manibus, tecta ulterioris ad aulæ Progreditur. canis etiamnum altaribus ignes, Sopitum cinerem, et tepidi libamina sacri Servabant; adolere focos, epulasque recentes Instaurare jubet. dictis parere ministri Certatim accelerant. vario strepit icta tumultu Regia: pars ostro tenues, auroque sonantes Emunire toros, altosque inferre tapetas; Pars teretes levare manu, ac disponere mensas: Ast alii tenebras et opacam vincere noctem Aggressi tendunt auratis vincula lychnis. His labor inserto torrere exanguia ferro Viscera cæsarum peculum; his, cumulare canis Perdomitan saxo Cererem. lætatur Adrastus Obsequio fervere domum. jainque ipse superbis Fulgebat stratis, solioque effultus cburno. Parte alia juvenes siccati vulnera lymphis Discumbunt: simul ora notis fœdata tuentur,
And now the king, his royal feast to grace, Acestis calls, the guardian of his race, Who first their youth in arts of virtue trajn'd, And their ripe years in modest grace maintain'd; Then softly whisper'd in her faithful ear, And bade his daughters at the rites appear. When, from the close apartments of the night, The royal nymphs approach divinely bright; Such was Diana's, such Minerva's face ; Nor shine their beauties with superior grace, But that in these a milder charm endears, And less of terrour in their looks appears. As on the herpes first they cast their eyes, O'er their fair cheeks the glowing blushes rise, Their downcast looks a decent shame confess'd, Then on their father's reverend features rest.
The banquet done, the monarch gives the sign To fill the goblet high with sparkling wine, Which Danaus us'd in sacred rites of old,
While with rich gums the fuming altars blaze, Salute the god in numerous hymns of praise.
Then thus the king: "Perhaps, my noble guests, These honour'd altars, and these annual feasts To bright Apollo's awful name design'd, Unknown, with wonder may perplex your mind, Great was the cause; our old solemnities From no blind zeal or fond tradition rise; But, sav'd from death, our Argives yearly pay These grateful honours to the god of day.
"When by a thousand darts the Python slain With orbs unroll'd lay covering all the plain, (Transfix'd as o'er Castalia's streams he hung, And suck'd new poisons with his triple tongue) To Argos' realms the victos god resorts, And enters old Crotopus' humble courts. This rural prince one only daughter bless'd, That all the charms of blooming youth possess'd; Fair was her face, and spotless was her mind,
With sculpture gracid, and rough with rising gold. Where filial love with virgin sweetness join'd.
Here to the clouds victorious Perseus flies, Medusa seems to move her languid eyes, And, ev'n in gold, turns paler as she dies.
There from the chase Jove's towering eagle bears, On golden wings, the Phyrgian to the stars: Still as he rises in th' ethereal height, His native mountains lessen to his sight; While all his sad companions upward gaze, Fix'd on the glorious scene in wild amaze; And the swift hounds, affrighted as he flies, Run to the shade, and bark against the skies. This golden bowl with generous juice was crown'd,
The first libation sprinkled on the ground: By turns on each celestial power they call, With Poœbus' name resounds the vaulted hall, The courtly train, the strangers, and the rest,
* Crown'd with chaste laurel, and with garlands dress'd,
Inque vicem ignoscunt, tunc rex longævus Acesten (Natarum hæc altrix, eadem et fidissima custos Lecta sacrum justæ Veneri occultare pudorem) Imperat acciri, tacitaque immurmurat aure. Nec mora præceptis; cum protinus utraque virgo Arcano egressæ thalamo (mirabile viṣu) Pallados armisonæ, pharetratæque ora Dianæ Fque ferunt, terrore minus, nova deinde pudori Visa virûm facies: paritur, pallorque, ruborque Purpureas hausere genas; oculique verentes Ad sanctum rediere patrem. Postquam ordine
Victa fames, signis perfectam auroque nitentem Iasides pateram famulos ex more poposcit, Qua Danaus libare deis seniorque Phoroneus Assueti. tenet hæc operum cælata figuras: Aureus anguicomam præsecto Gorgona collo Ales habet. jam jamque vagas (ita visus) in auras Exilit: illa graves oculos, languentiaque ora Pene movet, vivoque etiam pallescit in auro. Hinc Phrygius fulvis venator tollitur alis: Gargara desidunt surgenti, et Troja recedit. Stant mæsti comites, frustraque sonantia laxant. Ora canes, umbramque petunt, et nubila latrant. Hanc undante mero fundens, vocat ordine cunctos Coelicolas: Phœbum ante alios, Phoebum omnis ad
Happy and happy still she might have prov'd, Were she less beautiful, or less belov'd! But Phœbus lov'd, and on the flowery side Of Nemea's stream the yielding fair enjoy'd : Now, ere ten moons their orb with light adorn, Th' illustrious offspring of the god was born; The nymph, her father's anger to evade, Retires from Argos to the sylvan shade; To woods and wilds the pleasing burthen bears, And trusts her infant to a shepherd's cares.
"How mean a fate, unhappy child, is thine! Ah, how unworthy those of race divine! On flowery herbs in some green covert laid, His bed the ground, his canopy the shade, He mixes with the bleating lambs his cries, While the rude swain his rural music tries, To call soft slumber on his infant eyes.
Thure, vaporatis lucent altaribus ignes, Forsitan, ô juvenes, quæ sint ea sacra, quibusque Præcipuum causis Phoebi obtestemur honorem, Rex ait, exquirunt animi. non inscia suasit Relligio: magnis exercita cladibus olim Plebs Argiva litant: animos advertite, pandam: Postquam cœrulei sinuosa volumina monstri, Terrigenam Pythona, deus septem orbibus atris Amplexum Delphos, squamisque annosa terentem Robora; Castaliis dum fontibus ore trisulco Fasus hiat, nigro sitiens alimenta veneno, Perculit, absumptis numerosa in vulnera telis, Cyrrhæique dedit centum per jugera campi Vix tandem explicitum; nova deinde piacula cædi Perquirens, nostri tecta haud opulenta Crotopi Attigit. huic primis, et pubem ineuntibus annis Mira decore pio, servabat nata penates Intemerata toris. felix si, Delia nunquam Furta, nec occultum Phobo socjasset amorem. Namque ut passa deum Nemeæi ad fluminis undam, Bis quinos plena cum fronte resumeret orbes Cynthia, sidereum Latonæ fœta nepotem Edidit: ac pœnæ metuens (neque enim ille coactis Donasset thalamis veniam pater) avia rura Eligit: ac natum septa inter ovilia furtim Montivago pecoriș custodi mandat alendum.
Non tibi digna, puer, generis cunabula tanti Gramineos dedit herba toros, et vimine querno Texta domus: clausa arbutei sub cortice libri
Membra tepent, suadetque leves cava fistula som- Et pecori commune solum. sed fata nec illum [no
Yet ev'n in those obscure abodes to live, Was more, alas! than cruel Fate would give; For on the grassy verdure as he lay, And breath'd the freshness of the early day, Devouring dogs the helpless infant tore,
Fed on his trembling limbs, and lapp'd the gore. Th' astonish'd mother, when the rumour came, Forgets her father, and neglects her fame, With loud complaints she fills the yielding air, And beats her breast, and rends her flowing hair; Then wild with anguish to her sire she flies, Demands the sentence, and contented dies.
"But, touch'd with sorrow for the dead too late, The raging god prepares t' avenge her fate. He sends a monster, horrible and fell, Begot by Furies in the depths of Hell. The pest a virgin's face and bosom bears; High on a crown a rising snake appears, Guards her black front, and hisses in her hairs: About the realm she walks her dreadful round, When Night with sable wings o'erspreads the ground,
Devours young babes before their parent's eyes, And feeds and thrives on public miseries.
46 But generous rage the bold Chorabus warms, Chorahus, fam'd for virtue, as for arms; Some few like him, inspir'd with martial flame, Thought a short life well lost for endless fame. These, where two ways in equal parts divide, The direful monster from afar descry'd; Two bleeding babes depending at her side, Whose panting vitals, warm with life, she draws, And in their hearts einbrues her cruel claws. The youths surround her with extended spears But brave Chorobus in the front appears, Deep in her breast he plung'd his shining sword, And Hell's dire monster back to Hell restor❜d.
Concessere larem: viridi nam cespite terræ Projectum temere, et patulo cœlum ore trahentem, Dira canum rabies morsu depasta cruento Disiicit. Hic vero attonitas ut nuntius aures Matris adit, pulsi exanimo genitorque, pudorque, Et metus: ipsa ultro sævis plangoribus amens Tecta replet, vacuumque ferens velamine pectus Occurrit confessa patri. nec motus, at atro Imperat, infandum! cupientem occumbere leto. Sero memor thalami, mæstæ solatia morti, Phœbe, paras. monstrum infandis Acheronte sub
Conceptum Eumenidum thalamis, cui virginis ora Pectoraque, æternum stridens a vertice surgit Et ferrugineam frontem discriminat anguis: Hæc tam dira lues nocturno squallida passu Illabi thalamis, animasque a stirpe recentes Abripere altricum gremiis, morsuque cruento Devesci, et multum patrio pinguescere luctu. Haud tulit armorum præstans animique Chorobus; Seque ultro lectis juvenum, qui robore primi Famam posthabita faciles extendere vita, Obtulit. illa novos ibat populata penates Portarum in bivio. lateri duo corpora parvûm Dependent, et jam unca manus vitalibus hæret, Ferratique ungues tenero sub corde tepescunt. Obvius huic latus omne virûm stipante coronâ, It juvenis, ferrumque ingens sub pectore diro Condidit; atque imas animæ mucrone corusco Scrutatus latebras, tandem sua monstra profundo Reddit habere Jovi. juvat ire, et visere juxta
Th' Inachians view the slain with vast surprize, Her twisting volumes, and her rolling eyes, Her spotted breast, and gaping womb embru'd With livid poison, and our children's blood. The croud in stupid wonder fix'd appear, Pale ev'n in joy, nor yet forget to fear. Some with vast beams the squalid corpse engage, And weary all the wild efforts of rage. The birds obscene, that nightly flock'd to taste, With hollow screeches fled the dire repast; And ravenous dogs, allur'd by scented blood, And starving wolves ran howling to the wood.
"But, fir'd with rage, from cleft Parnassus
Avenging Phoebus bent his deadly bow, And hissing flew the feather'd fates below: A night of sultry clouds involv'd around The towers, the fields, and the devoted ground: And now a thousand lives together fled, Death with his scythe cut off the fatal thread, And a whole province in his triumph led.
"But Phoebus, ask'd why noxious fires appear, And raging Sirius blasts the sickly year; Demands their lives by whom his monster fell, And dooms a dreadful sacrifice to Hell.
"Blest be thy dust, and let eternal fame Attend thy manes, and preserve thy name, Undaunted hero! who, divinely brave, In such a cause disdain'd thy life to save; But view'd the shrine with a superior look, And its upbraided godhead thus bespoke :
"With piety, the soul's securest guard And conscious virtue, still its own reward, Willing I come, unknowing how to fear; Nor shalt thou, Phoebus, find a suppliant here.
Liventes in morte oculos, uterique nefandan Proluviem, et crasso squallentia pectora tabo, Qua nostræ cecidere animæ. stupet Inacha pubes, Magnaque post lacrymas etiamnum guadia pallent. Hi trabibus duris, solatia vana dolori, Proterere exanimes artus, asprosque molares Deculcare genis; nequit iram explere potestas, Illam et nocturno circum stridore volantes Impasta fugistis aves, rabidamque canum vim, Oraque sicca ferunt trepidorum inhiâsse luporum. Sævior in miseros fatis ultricis ademptæ Delius insurgit, summaque biverticis umbra Parnassi residens, arcu crudelis iniquo Pestifera arma jacit, camposque, et celsa Cyclopum Tecta superjecto nebularum incendit amictu. Labuntur dulces animæ: Mors fila sororum Ense metit, captamque tenens fert manibus ur- bem.
Quærenti quæ causa duci, quis ab æthere lævus Ignis, et in totum regnaret Sirius annum ! Idem autor Pæan rursus jubet ire cruento Inferias monstro juvenes, qui cæde potiti.
Fortunate animi, longumque in sæcula digne Promeriture diem! non tu pia degener arma Occulis, aut certæ trepidas occurrere morti. Cominus ora ferens, Cyrrhæi in limine templi Constitit, et sacras ita vocibus asperat iras:
Non missus, Thymbræe, tuos supplexve penates Advenio mea me pietas, et conscia virtus Has egere vias. ego sum qui cæde subegi, Phoebe, tuum mortale nefas, quem uubibus atris, Et squallente die; nigra quem tabe sinistri Quæris, inique, poli. quod si monstra effera magnis,
Thy monster's death to me was ow'd alone, And 'tis a deed too glorious to disown. Behold him here, for whom, so many days, Impervious clouds conceal'd thy sullen rays; For whom, as man no longer claim'd thy care, Such numbers fell by pestilential air! But if th' abandon'd race of human kind From gods above no more compassion find; If such inclemency in Heaven can dwell, Yet why must unoffending Argos feel The vengeance due to this unlucky steel? On me, on me, let all thy fury fall, 'Nor err from me, since I deserve it all: Unless our desert cities please thy sight, Or funeral flames reflect a grateful light, Discharge thy shafts, this ready bosom rend, And to the shades a ghost triumphant send; But for my country let my fate atone, Be mine the vengeance, as the crime my own.' "Merit distress'd, impartial Heaven relieves : Unwelcome life relenting Phoebus gives; For not the vengeful power, that glow'd with rage, With such amazing virtue durst engage. The clouds dispers'd, Apollo's wrath expir'd, And from the wondering god th' unwilling youth Thence we these altars in his temple raise, [retir'd. And offer annual honours, feasts, and praise; Those solemn feasts propitious Phœbus please: These honours, still renew'd, his ancient wrath ap-
"But say, illustrious guest!" (adjoin'd the king) "What name you bear, from what high race you spring?
The noble Tydeus stands confess'd, and known Our neighbour Prince, and heir of Calydon. Relate your fortunes, while the friendly night And silsnt hours to various talk invite." The Theban bends on earth his gloomy eyes; Confus'd and sadly thus at length replies : "Before these altars how shall I proclaim (Oh generous prince!) my nation or my name, Cara adeo Superis, jacturaque vilior orbis, Mors hominum, et sævo tanta inclementia cœlo est; Quid meruere Argi? me, me divûm optime, solum Objecisse caput fatis præstabit, an illud Lene magis cordi, quod desolata domorum Tecta vides? ignique datis cultoribus omnis Lucet ager? sed quid fando tua tela manusque Demoror? expectant matres, supremaque fundunt Vota mihi. Satis est: merui, ne parcere velles. Proinde move pharetras, arcusque intende sonoros, Insignemque animam leto demitte: sed illuin Pallidus Inachiis qui desuper imminet Argis, Dum morior, depelle globum. Fors æqua merentes Respicit. Ardentem tenuit reverentia cædis Latoïdem, tristemque viro summissus honorem Largitur vitæ. Nostro mala nubila cœlo Diffugiunt; at tu stupefacti a limine Phœbi Exoratus abis. Inde hæc stata sacra quotannis Solennes recolunt epulæ, Phoebeiaque placat Templa novatus honos. Has forte invisitis aras, Vos quæ progenies? quanquam Calydonius (Eneus, Et Parthaoniæ (dudum si certus ad aures Clamor iit) tibi jura domûs: tu pande quis Argos Advenias quando hæc variis sermonibus hora est. Dejecit mæstos extemplo Ismenius heros In terram vultus, taciteque ad Tydea læsum Obliquare oculos. Tum longa silentia movit : Non super hos divûm tibi sum quærendus bonores Unde genus, quæ terra mihi: quis defluat ordo
Or through what veins our ancient blood has roll'a? Let the sad tale for ever rest untold! Yet if, propitious to a wretch unknown, You seek to share in sorrows not your own; Know then, from Cadmus I derive my race, Jocasta's son, and Thebes my native place.” To whom the king (who felt his generous breast Touch'd with concern for his unhappy guest) Replies:-" Ah why forbears the son to name His wretched father, known too well by Fame? Fame, that delights around the world to stray, Scorns not to take our Argos in her way. Ev'n those who dwell where suns at distance roll, In northern wilds, and freeze beneath the pole; And those who tread the burning Libyan lands, The faithless Syrtes, and the moving sands; Who views the western sea's extremest bounds, Or drink of Ganges in their eastern grounds, All these the woes of Edipus have known, Your Fates, your Furies, and your haunted town If on the sons the parents' crimes descend, What prince from those his lineage can defend? Be this thy comfort, that 'tis thine t'efface With virtuous acts thy ancestor's disgrace, And be thyself the honour of thy race. But see! the stars begin to steal away, And shine more faintly at approaching day. Now pour the wine; and in your tuneful lays Once more resound the great Apollo's praise."
Oh father Phoebus! whether Lycia's coast And snowy mountains thy bright presence boast; Whether to sweet Castalia thou repair, And bathe in silver dews thy yellow hair; Or, pleas'd to find fair Delos float no more, Delight in Cynthus, and the shady shore; Or chuse thy seat in Ilion's proud abodes, The shining structures rais'd by labouring gods; By thee the bow and mortal shafts are borne; Eternal charins thy blooming youth adorn :
Sanguinis antiqui, piget inter sacra fateri. Sed si præcipitant miserum cognoscere curæ, Cadmus origo patrum, tellus Mavortia Theba, Et genitrix Jocasta mini. Tum motus Adrastus Hospitiis (agnovit enim) quid nota recondis ? Scimus, ait: nec sic aversum fama Mycenis Volvit iter. Regnum, et furias, oculosque pudentes Novit et Arctois si quis de solibus horret, Quique bibit Gangen, aut nigrum occasibus intrat Oceanum, et si quos incerto littore Syrtes Destituunt: ne perge queri, casusque priorum Annumerare tibi. Nostro quoque sanguine multum Frravit pietas; nec culpa nepotibus obstat. Tu modo dissimilis rebus mereare secundis Excusare tuos. Sed jam temone supino Languet Hyperboreæ glacialis portitor ursæ. Fundite vina focis, servatoremque parentum Latoïden votis iterumque iterumque canamus. Phoebe parens, seu te Lycia Pataræa nivosis Exercent dumeta jugis, seu rore pudico Castaliæ flavos amor est tibi mergere crines: Seu Trojam Thymbræus habes, ubi fama volentem Ingratis Phrygios humeris subiisse molares: Seu juvat Egæum feriens Latonius umbra Cynthus, et assiduam pelago non quærere Delon: Tela tibi, longeque feros icutandus in hostes Arcus, et ætherii dono cessere parentes Eternum florere genas. Tu doctus iniquas Parcarum prænôsse minas, fatuinque quod nitra est ; Et summo placitura Jovi. Quis letifer annus, Bella quibus populis, mutent quæ sceptra cometa,
Skill'd in the laws of secret fate above, And the dark counsels of almighty Jove, Tis thine the seeds of future war to know, The change of sceptres, and impending woe, When direful meteors spread through glowing air Long trails of light, and shake their blazing hair. Thy rage the Phrygian felt, who durst aspire T'excel the music of thy heavenly lyre; Thy shafts aveng'd lewd Tityus' guilty flame, Th' immortal victim of thy mother's fame; Thy hand slew Python, and the dame who lost Her numerous offspring for a fatal boast. In Phlegya's doom thy just revenge appears, Condemn'd to furies and eternal fears; He views his food, but dreads, with lifted eye, The mouldering rock that trembles from on high.
Propitious hear our prayer, O power divine! And on thy hospitable Argos shine, Whether the style of Titan please thee more, Whose purple rays th' Achæmenes adore ; Or great Osiris, who first taught the swain In Pharian fields to sow the golden grain ; Or Mitra, to whose beams the Persian bows, And pays, in hollow rocks, his awful vows; Mitra, whose head the blaze of light adorns, Who grasps the struggling heifer's lunar horns.
Tu Phryga submittis citharæ. Tu matris honori Terrigenam Tityon Stygiis extendis arenis. Te viridis Python, Thebanaque mater ovantem, Horruit in pharetris. Ultrix tibi torva Megæra Jejunum Phlegyam subter cava saxa jacentem Eterno premit accubitu, dapibusque profanis Instimulat: sed mista famem fastidia vincunt. Adsis & memor hospitii, Junoniaque arva Dexter ames; seu te roseum 'l'itana vocari Gentis Achæmeniæ ritu, seu præstat Osirin Frugiferum, seu Persei sub rupibus antri Indignata sequi torquentem cornua Mitram.
THE FABLE OF DRYOPE. PROM OVID'S METAMORPHOSES, BOOK IX.
SHE said, and for her lost Galanthis sighs, When the fair consort of her son replies: Since you a servant's ravish'd form bemoan, And kindly sigh for sorrows not your own; Let me (if tears and grief permit) relate A nearer woe, a sister's stranger fate. No nymph of all chalia could compare For beauteous form with Dryope the fair, Her tender mother's only hope and pride (Myself the offering of a second bride). This nymph, compress'd by him who rules the day, Whom Delphi and the Delian isle obey, Andræmon lov'd; and, bless'd in all those charms That pleas'd a god, succeeded to her arms.
DIXIT: : et, admonitu veteris commota ministræ, Ingemuit: quam sic nurus est adfata dolentein: Te tamen ô genitrix, alienæ sanguine vestro Rapta movet facies. quid si tibi mira sororis [que Fata meæ referam? quanquam lacrymæque dolor- Impediunt, prohibentque loqui. fuit unica matri (Me pater ex alia genuit) notissima formâ Echalidum Dryope: quam virginitate carcntem, Vimque Dei passam, Delphos Delonque tenentis, Excipit Andræmon; et habetur conjuge felix.
A lake there was, with shelving banks around, Whose verdant summit fragrant myrtles crown'd. These shades, unknowing of the Fates, she sought, And to the Naiads flowery garlands brought; Her smiling babe (a pleasing charge) she prest Within her arms, and nourish'd at her breast. Not distant far, a watery lotos grows;
The spring was new, and all the verdant boughs, Adorn'd with blossoms, promis'd fruits that vie In glowing colours with the Tyrian dye : Of these she cropp'd to please her infant son; And I myself the same rash act had done, But lo! I saw (as near her side I stood) The violated blossoms drop with blood. Upon the tree I cast a frightful look; The trembling tree with sudden horrour shook Lotis the nymph (if rural tales be true), As from Priapus' lawless lust she flew, Forsook her form; and, fixing here, became A flowery plant, which still preserves her name. This change unknown, astonish'd at the sight, My trembling sister strove to urge her flight: And first the pardon of the nymphs implor'd, And those offended sylvan powers ador'd: But when she backward would have fled, she found Her stiffening feet were rooted in the ground: In vain to free her fastening feet she strove, And, as she struggles, only moves above; She feels th' encroaching bark around her grow By quick degrees, and cover all below: Surpris'd at this, her trembling hand she heaves To rend her hair; her hand is fill'd with leaves: Where late was hair, the shooting leaves are
To rise, and shade her with a sudden green. The child Amphissus, to her bosom press'd, Perceiv'd a colder and a harder breast,
And found the springs, that ne'er till then deny'ą Their milky moisture, on a sudden dry'd. I saw, unhappy! what I now relate, And stood the helpless witness of thy fate,
Est lacus, acclivi devexo margine formam Littoris efficiens: summum myrteta coronant. Venerat huc Dryope fatorum nescia ; quoque Indignere magis, Nymphis latura coronas. Inque sinu puerum, qui nondum impleverat annum, Dulce ferebat onus; tepidique ope lactis alebat. Haud procul a stagno, Tyrios imitata colores, In spem baccarum florebat aquatica lotos. Carpserat hine Dryope, quos oblectamina nato Porrigerct, flores: et idem factura videbar; Namque aderam. Vidi guttas e store cruentas Decidere; et tremulo ramos horrore moveri. Lotis in hanc nymphe, fugiens obscœna Priapi, Scilicet, ut referunt tardi nunc denique agrestes, Contulerat versos, servato nomine, vultus.
Noscierat soror hoc; quæ cum perterrita retro Ire, et adoratis vellet discedere nymphis, Hæserunt radice pedes. Convellere pugnat: [imo, Nec quidquam, nisi Summa, movet. succrescit ab Totaque paulatim lentus premit inguina cortex. Ut vidit, conata manu laniare capillos, Fronde manum implevit ; frondes caput omne tene.
At puer Amphissos (namque hoc avus Eurytus illi Addiderat nomen) materna rigescere sentit Ubera: nec sequitur ducentem lacteus humor. Spectatrix aderam fati crudelis; opemque
Non poteram tibi ferre, soror: quantumque valebam,
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