Jove faw him enter the fublime abodes,
And, as he mix'd among the croud of Gods,
Beckon❜d him out, and drew him from the rest,
And in foft whispers thus his will expreft:
"My trufty Hermes, by whofe ready aid
"Thy Sire's commands are through the world convey'd,
"Refume thy wings, exert their utmost force,
"And to the walls of Sidon speed thy courfe;
"There find a herd of heifers wandering o'er
"The neighbouring hill, and drive them to the shore."
Thus spoke the God, concealing his intent.
The trufty Hermes on his meffage went,

And found the herd of heifers wandering o'er
A neighbouring hill, and drove them to the fhore;
Where the King's daughter with a lovely train
Of fellow-nymphs, was sporting on the plain.
The dignity of empire laid aside

(For love but ill agrees with kingly pride);
The ruler of the skies, the thundering God,
Who shakes the world's foundations with a nod,
Among a herd of lowing heifers ran,

Frisk'd in a bull, and bellow'd o'er the plain.
Large rolls of fat about his fhoulders clung,
And from his neck the double dewlap hung.
His fkin was whiter than the fnow that lies
Unfully'd by the breath of fouthern skies;
Small shining horns on his curl'd forehead stand,
As turn'd and polish'd by the workman's hand;
His eye-balls roll'd, not formidably bright,
But gaz'd and languish'd with a gentle light.

His

His every look was peaceful, and exprest
The foftness of the lover in the beast.

Agenor's royal daughter, as she play'd
Among the fields, the milk-white bull furvey'd,
And view'd his spotless body with delight,
And at a distance kept him in her fight.

At length fhe pluck'd the rifing flowers, and fed
The gentle beaft, and fondly ftrok'd his head.
He stood well-pleas'd to touch the charming fair,
But hardly could confine his pleasure there.
And now he wantons o'er the neighbouring strand,
Now rolls his body on the yellow fand;
And now, perceiving all her fears decay'd,
Comes toffing forward to the royal maid;

Gives her his breast to stroke, and downward turns
His grifly brow, and gently ftoops his horns.
In flowery wreaths the royal virgin drest

His bending horns, and kindly clapt his breaft.
Till now grown wanton, and devoid of fear,
Not knowing that the preft the thunderer,
She plac'd herself upon his back, and rode
O'er fields and meadows, feated on the God.
He gently march'd along, and by degrees
Left the dry meadow, and approach'd the feas;
Where now he dips his hoofs, and wets his thighs,
Now plunges in, and carries off the prize.
The frighted nymph looks backward on the shore,
And hears the tumbling billows round her roar;
But ftill fhe holds him faft: one hand is borne
Upon his back; the other grafps a horn:

Her

Her train of ruffling garments flies behind,
Swells in the air, and hovers in the wind.
Through ftorms and tempefts he the virgin bore,
And lands her fafe on the Dictean shore;
Where now, in his divineft form array'd,
In his true shape he captivates the maid :
Who gazes on him, and with wondering eyes
Beholds the new majestic figure rife,
His glowing features, and celestial light,
And all the God difcover'd to her fight.

OVID'S METAMORPHOSE S.

W

B O ок III.

THE STORY OF CAD MUS.

HEN now Agenor had his daughter loft,
He fent his fon to fearch on every coast;
And sternly bid him to his arms restore

The darling maid, or fee his face no more.
But live an exile in a foreign clime;

Thus was the father pious to a crime.

The restless youth search'd all the world around; But how can Jove in his amours be found? When, tir'd at length with unsuccessful toil, To fhun his angry fire and native foil, He goes a fuppliant to the Delphic dome; There asks the God what new-appointed home Should end his wanderings, and his toils relievę. The Delphic oracles this anfwer give :

"Behold among the fields a lonely cow,

~46 Unworn with yokes, unbroken to the plough;

Mark well the place where first she lays her down, "There measure out thy walls, and build thy town, "And from thy guide Boeotia call the land,

"In which the deftin'd walls and town fhall stand." No fooner had he left the dark abode,

Big with the promise of the Delphic God,
When in the fields the fatal cow he view'd,

Nor gall'd with yokes, nor worn with fervitude;
Her gently at a distance he pursued;

And,

And, as he walk'd aloof, in filence pray'd
To the great power whose counfels he obey'd.
Her way through flowery Panopè fhe took,
And now, Cephifus, crofs'd thy filver brook;
When to the heavens her fpacious front the rais'd,
And bellow'd thrice, then backward turning gaz'd
On those behind, till on the destin'd place
She ftoop'd, and couch'd amid the rising grass.
Cadmus falutes the foil, and gladly hails

The new-found mountains, and the nameless vales,
And thanks the Gods, and turns about his eye
To fee his new dominions round him lie;
Then fends his fervants to a neighbouring grove
For living ftreams, a facrifice to Jove.
O'er the wide plain there rose a fhady wood
Of aged trees; in its dark bosom stood

A bushy thicket, pathlefs and unworn,

O'er-run with brambles, and perplex'd with thorn:
Amidst the brake a hollow den was found,
With rocks and shelving arches vaulted round.
Deep in the dreary den, conceal'd from day,
Sacred to Mars, a mighty dragon lay,

Bloated with poison to a monstrous fize;
Fire broke in flashes when he glanc'd his eyes:
His towering crest was glorious to behold,

His fhoulders and his fides were fcal'd with gold;
Three tongues he brandish'd when he charg'd his foes:
His teeth ftood jaggy in three dreadful rows.

The Tyrians in the den for water fought,

And with their urns explor'd the hollow vault :