How far revenge and woman's rage can rife,
When weltering in her blood the harlot dies.

Thus various paffions rul'd by turns her breast.
She now refolves to fend the fatal vest,

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Dy'd with Lernæan gore, whofa power might move
His foul anew, and rouze declining love.
Nor knew the what her fudden rage beftows,
When the to Lichas trufts her future woes;
With foft endearments the the boy commands
To bear the garment to her husband's hands.

Th' unwitting hero takes the gift in hatte,
And o'er bis fhoulders Lerna's poifon caft.
As firft the fire with frankincenfe he ftrows,
And utters to the gods his holy vows;
And on the marble altar's polifh'd frame
Pours forth the grapy ftream; the rifing flame
Sudden diffolves the fubtle poifonous juice,
Which taints his blood, and all his nerves bedews.
With wonted fortitude he bore the smart,
And not a groan confefs'd his burning heart.
At length his patience was fubdued by pain,
He rends the facred altar from the plain;
Oete's wide forefts echo with his cries!
Now to rip off the deathful robe he tries.
Where'er he plucks the veft, the skin he tears,
The mangled muscles and huge bones he bares,
(A ghaftly fight!) or, raging with his pain,
To rend the sticking plague he tugs in vain.
As the red iron hiffes in the flood,
So boils the venom in his curdling blood.
Now with the greedy flame his entrails glow,
And livid fweats down all his body flow;
The cracking nerves burnt-up are burst in twain,
The lurking venom melts his fwimming brain.

Then, lifting both his hands aloft, he cries,
Glut thy revenge dread emprefs of the skies;
Sate with my death the rancour of thy heart,
Look down with pleasure, and enjoy my smart.
Or, if e'er pity mov'd a hoftile breaft
(For here I ftand thy enemy profest),
Take hence this hateful life, with tortures torn,
Inur'd to trouble, and to labours born.
Death is the gift most welcome to my woe,
And fuch a gift a step-dame may bestow.
Was it for this Bufiris was fubdued,

What if the Thracian horfes, fat with gore,
Who human bodies in their mangers tore,

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I faw, and with their barbarous lord o'erthrew ?
What if thefe hands Nema 's lion flew ?
Did not this neck the heavenly globe fuftain?-
The female partner of the thunderer's reign,
Fatigu'd, at length fufpends her harsh commands;
Yet no fatigue hath flack'd thefe valiant hands.
But now new plagues purfue me; neither force,
Nor arms, nor darts, can stop their raging course.
35 Devouring flame through my rack'd entrails itrays, 95
And on my lungs and thrivel'd mufcles preys;
Yet ftill Eurytheus, breathes the vital air!

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What mortal now fhall feek the gods with prayer?

THE TRANSFORMATION

OF

LYCHAS INTO A ROCK.

THE hero faid; and, with the torture ftung,
Furious o'er O-te's lofty hills he fprung:

Stuck with the fhaft, thus fcours the tiger round,
And feeks the flying author of his wound.

Now might you fee him trembling, now he vents 5
His anguish'd foul in groans and, loud laments;

He ftrives to tear the clinging veft in vain,
And with up-rooted forefts ftrews the plain;
Now, kindling into rage, his hands he rears,
60 And to his kindred gods directs his prayers.

ΤΟ

When Lychas, lo, he fpies; who trembling flew,
And, in a hollow rock conceal'd from view,
Had fhunn'd his wrath. Now grief renew'd his pain,
His madnefs chaf'd, and thus he raves again:

65 Lychas, to thee alone my fate I owe,

Whofe barbarous temples reek'd with strangers'
blood?

Prefs'd in thefe arms, his fate Antæus found,
Nor gain'd recruited vigour from the ground.

Did I not triple-form'd Geryon fell?

Or did I fear the triple dog of hell?

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Who bore the gift, the caufe of all my woe.
The youth all, pale with fhivering fear was ftung,
And vain excufes faulter'd on his tongue.
Alcides fnatch'd him, as with fuppliant face
He ftrove to clafp his knees, and beg for grace.
He tofs'd him o'er his head-with airy courfe,
And hurl'd with more than with an engine's force;
Far o'er th' Euboean main aloft he flies,
And hardens by degrees amid the skies.
So fhowery drops, when chilly tempefts blow,

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In balls congeal'd the rolling fleeces bound,
In folid hail refult upon the ground.

Did not thefe hands the bull's arm'd forehead hold? Thicken at firft, then whiten into frow

VOL. VIL

H

THE

APOTHEOSIS OF HERCULES.

BUT now the hero of immortal birth

Fells Oete's forefts on the groaning earth;
A pile he builds; to Philoctetes' care
He leaves his deathful inftruments of war;
To him commits thofe arrows, which again
Muft fee the bulwarks of the Trojan reign.
The fon of Pæan lights the lofty pyre,
High round the ftructure climbs the greedy fire;
Plac'd on the top, thy nervous shoulders spread
With the Nemean fpoils thy careless head;
Rais'd on the knotty club, with look divine;
Here thou, dread hero of celeftial line,

Waft ftretch'd at eafe; as when, a cheerful gueft, Wine crown'd thy bowls, and flowers thy temples dreft.

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could no more th' increafing fmart sustain:
My horror kindles to recount the pain;
Cold chills my limbs while the tale purfue,
And now methinks I feel my pangs anew.
Seven days and nights amidst inceffant throes,
Fatigued with ills I lay nor knew repofe;
When lifting high my hands, in fhrieks I pray'd, 25
Implor'd the gods, and call'd Lucina's aid."

30

She came, but prejudic'd, to give my fate
A facrifice to vengeful Juno's hate.
She hears the groaning anguish of my fits,
And on the altar at my door he fits;
O'er her left knee her croffing leg fhe caft,
Then knits her fingers clofe and wrings them faft:
This ftay'd the birth; in muttering verfe the pray'd,
The muttering verfe th' unfinish'd birth delay'd.
Now with fierce struggles, raging with my pain, 35
At Jove's ingratitude I rave in vain.
How did I with for death? fuch groans I sent,
As might have made the flinty heart relent.
Now the Cadmeian matrons round me prefs,
Offer their vows, and feek to bring redrefs.
Among the Theban dames Galanthis ftands,
35 Strong limb'd, red-hair'd, and just to my commands:
She first perceiv'd that all thefe racking woes
From the perfifting hate of Juno rofe.

30

'Tis from your fears, ye gods, my pleatures rife; 20
Joy fwells my breaft, that my all-ruling hand
O'er fuch a grateful people boasts command,
That you my fuffering progeny would aid;
Though to his deeds this just refpect be paid,
Me you've oblig'd. Be all your fears forborn,
Th' Oetean fires do thou, great hero, fcorn.
Who vanquish'd all things, fhall fuboue the flame.
That part alone of grofs maternal frame
Fire fhall devour; while what from me he drew
Shall live immortal, and its force fubdue;
That, when he's dead, I'l raife to realms above;
May all the powers the righteous act approve!
If any god diffent, and judge too great
The facred honours of the heavenly feat,
Ev'n he shall own, his deeds deferve the sky,
Ev'n he, reluctant, fhall at length comply.
Th' affembled powers affent. No frown till now
Had mark'd with paffion vengeful Juno's brow.
Meanwhile whate'er was iu the power of flame
Was all confum'd, his body's nervous frame
No more was known;-or human form bereft,
Th' eternal part of Jove alone was left.

As an old ferpent cafts his fcaly veit,
Wreathes in the fun, in youthful glory dreft;
So when Alcides mortal mould refign'd,
His better part enlarg'd, and grew refin'd,
Auguft his vifage fhone; almighty Jove
In his fwift car his honour'd offspring drove;
High o'er the hollow clouds the courfers fly,
And lodge the hero in the starry sky.

THE TRANSFORMATION

OF GALANTHIS.

ATLAS perceiv'd the load of heaven's new gueft.
Revenge still rancour'd in Euryftheus' breaft

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As here and there the pafs'd, by chance the fees 45
The feated goddefs; on her clofe-prefs'd knees
Her faft-knit hands fhe leans: with cheerful voice
Calanthis cries, Whoe'er thou art, rejoice;
Congratulate the dame, the lies at reft,

At length the gods Alcmena's womb have bleft. 50
Swift from her feat the ftartled goddess springs,
45 No more conceal'd, her hands abroad fhe flings;
The charm unloos'd, the birth my pangs reliev'd;
Galanthis' laughter vex'd the
power deceiv'd.
Fame fays, the goddefs dragg'd the laughing maid 55
Faft by the hair; in vain her force effay'd
50 Her groveling body from the ground to rear;
Chang'd to fore-feet her fhrinking arms appear;
Her hairy back lier former hue retains,
The form alone is loft; her ftrength remains;
Who, fince the lie did from her mouth proceed,
Shall from her pregnant mouth bring forth her breed;
Nor fhall the quit her long-frequented home,
But haunt thofe houfes where the lov'd to roam.

бо

10

'Aurora for her aged fpoufe complains,
And Ceres grieves for Jafon's freezing veins;
Vulcan would Erichthonius' years renew;
Her future race the care of Venus drew,
She would Anchifes' blooming age restore ;
A different care employ'd each heavenly power.
Thus various interefts did their jars increase,
Till Jove arofe;-he fpoke-their tumults cease.
-Is any reverence to our prefence given?
Then why this difcord 'mong the powers of heaven?
Who can the fettled will of Fate fubdue?
Twas by the Fates that lolaüs knew

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Shall give Callirhoe's race a youthful bloom.
A fecond youth. The Fates' determin'd doom
Arms nor ambition can this power obtain:
Quell your defires; even Me the Fates restrain.
Could I their will control, no rolling years
Had acus bent down with filver hairs;
Then Rhadamanthus ftill had youth possess'd,
And Minos with eternal bloom been blefs'd.
Jove's words the fynod mov'd; the powers give o'er,
And urge in vain unjust complaint no more.
Since Rhadamanthus' veins now flowly flow'd,
And acus and Minos bore the load;

NOW from her lips a folemn oath had pafs'd,
That Iolaus the gift alone fhould taste,
Had not just Themis thus maturely faid
(Which check'd her vow, and aw'd the blooming
maid) :

Thebes is embroil'd in war. Capaneus stands
Invincible; but by the thunderer's hands
Ambition fhall the guilty brothers fire,
Both rush to mutual wounds, and both expire.
The reeling earth fhall ope her gloomy womb,
Where the yet breathing bard fhall find his tomb.
The fon fhall bathe his hands in parent's blood,
And in one act be both unjust and good.
Of home and fenfe depriv'd, where'er he flies,
The furies and his mother's ghost he spies.
His wife the fatal bracelet fhall implore,
And Phegens ftain his fword in kindred gore.
Callirhoe fhall then with fuppliant prayer
Prevail on Jupiter's relenting ear.
Jove fhall with youth her infant fons infpire,
And bid their bofoms glow with manly fire.

THE DEBATE OF THE GODS.

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15

you by choice, Miletus, fled his reign,
And your fwift veffel plow'd th' Ægean main;
On Afiatic fhores a town you frame,
Which still is honour'd with the founder's name.
Here you Cyanëe knew, the beauteous maid,
As on her father's winding banks she stray'd:
Caunus and Byblis hence their lineage trace,
The double offspring of your warm embrace.

40

From the Beginning of the Sixth Book of OVID'S
METAMORPHOSES.

ARGUMENT.

Pallas, vifiting the Mufes on their hill to fee the fountain Hippocrene, is by them informed how the Pierides were changed into chattering pies for rivaling the nine fifters in song This fimulating the Goddess to take vengeance on Arachne, the daughter of lamon, who defied her in her own art, gives rife to the following story.

WHEN Themis thus with prefcient voice had spoke PALLAS, attentive, heard the Mufes' fong,

Among the gods a various murmur broke;

Difenfion rofe in each immortal breaft,

That one fhould grant what was deny'd the reft.

Pleas'd that fo well they had reveng'd their wrongs
Reflecting thus,-A vulgar foul can praife;
My fame let glorious emulation raise:

Swift vengeance fhall purfue th' audacious pride 5
That dares my facred Deity deride:

Revenge the Goddefs in her breast revolves;
And straight the bold Arachne's fate refolves;

f

Defire of conquet fways the giddy maid,
To certain ruin by vain hopes betray'd:
The Goddess with her ftubborn will comply'd,"
And deign'd by trial to convince her pride.
Both take their stations, and the piece prepare,
And order every flender thread with care.
15 The web inwraps the beam; the reed divides,
While through the widening fpace the shuttle
glides,

"To Pallas yield;-with Heaven you ftrive in A glowing warmth the blended colours give,

To mountains chang'd, their lofty heads arife, 130 | Here to Bifaltis was thy love convey'd,

And lofe their leffening fummits in the skies.

In that, in all the strength of art was seen
The wretched fate of the Pygmæan queen;
Juno, enrag'd, refents th' audacious aim,
And to a crane transforms the vanquish'd dame;
In that voracious fhape the ftill appears,
And plagues her people with perpetual wars.

In this, Antigone for beauty ftrove
With the bright confort of imperial Jove:
Juno, incens'd, her royal power difplay'd,
And to a bird converts the haughty maid.
Laomedon his daughter's fate bewails,
Nor his, nor Ilion's fervent prayer prevails,
But on her lovely skin white feathers rife;
Chang'd to a clamorous ftork, the mounts the
fkies.

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195

When a rough ram deceiv'd the yielding maid.
Ceres, kind mother of the bounteous year,
Whofe golden locks a fheafy garland bear;
And the dread dame, with hifling ferpents hung,
135 (From whom the Pegafæan courfer fprang)
Thee in a fnuffling ftallion's form enjoy,
Exhauft thy ftrength, and every nerve employ;
Melantho as a dolphin you betray,
And sport in pleasures on the rolling sea :
140 Such juft proportion graces every part,
Nature herself appears improv'd by art.
Here in difguife was mighty Phoebus feen,
With clownish aspect, and a ruftic mien;
Again transform'd, he's drefs'd in falcon's plumes,
And now the lion's noble shape affumes;
Now, in a fhepherd's form, with treacherous fmiles
He Macareian Iffe's heart beguiles.
Here his plump fhape enamour'd Bacchus leaves, 205
And in the grape Erigone deceives,
There Saturn, in a neighing horfe, she wove,
And Chiron's double for rewards his love.
Feltoons of flowers, inwove with ivy, shine,,
Border the wondrous piece, and round the texture
twinę.

145

In the remaining orb, the heavenly maid.
The tale of childlefs Cynaras difplay'd;
A fettled anguish in his look appears,
And from his bloodshot eyes flow ftreams of tears;
On the cold ground, no more a father, thrown, 150
He for his daughters clafp'd the polish'd stone.
And, when he fought to hold their wonted charms,
The temple's steps deceiv'd his eager arms.
Wreaths of green olive round the border twine,
And her own tree inclofes the defign.

Arachne paints th' amours of mighty Jove,
How in a bull the God difguis'd his love;
A real bull feems in the piece to roar,
And real billows breaking on the shore :
In fair Europa's face appears furprise,
To the retreating land the turns her eyes,
And feems to call her maids, who wondering
And with her tears increas'd the briny flood
Her trembling feet the by contraction faves
From the rude infult of the rifing waves.

Here amorous Jove diffolving Læda trod,
And in the vigorous fwan conceal'd the god.
Love lends him now an eagle's new difguife,
Beneath his fluttering wings Afteria lies,

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215

Not Pallas, nor ev'n fpleen itself, could blame The wondrous work of the Mæonian dame; With grief her vaft fuccefs the Goddess bore, And of cœleftial crimes the story tore. Her boxen fhuttle now, enrag'd, fhe took, And thrice the proud Idmonian artist ftruck: Th' unhappy maid, to fee her labours vain, Grew refolute with pride, and shame, and pain: Around her neck a fatal noofe fhe ty'd, And fought by fudden death her guilt to hide. Pallas with pity faw the defperate deed, 165 And thus the virgin's milder fate decreed: "Live, impious rival, mindful of thy crime, "Sufpended thus to waste thy future time; "Thy punishment involves thy numerous race, 225 "Who for thy fault shall share in thy disgrace."

ftood,

Th' enlivening colours here with force exprefs'd 170 Her incantation magic juices aid,

How Jove the fair Antiope carefs'd.

In a strong fatyr's muscled form he came,
Inftilling love tranfports the glowing dame,
And lufty twins reward his nervous flame.
Here how he footh'd the bright Alcmena's love,
Who for Amphitryon took th' impoftor Jove;
And how the God in golden fhower lur'd
The guarded nymph, in brazen walls immur'd;
How, in a fwain, Mnemofyne he charms;
How lambent flame the fair Egina warms:
And how with various glittering hues inlaid
In ferpent's form Deois he betray'd.

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Here you, great Neptune, with a fhort-liv'd flame
In a young bull enjoy the Æolian dame.
Then in Enipeus' shape intrigues pursue:
'Tis thus th' Aloids boaft defcent from you.

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With fprinkling drops the bath'd the pendent