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Which, hew'd by Mars himself, from Indian

quarries came,

Oppos'd to her, on t' other side advance Thence issued such a blast and hollow roar,
The costly feast, the carol, and the dance, As threaten'd from the hinge to heave the door.
Minstrels and music, poetry and play,
In through that door a northern light there shone;
And balls by night, and tournanients by day.Twas all it had, for windows there were none.
All these were painted on the wall, and more;The gate was adamant, eternal frame!
With acts and monuments of times before :
And others added by prophetic doom,
And lovers yet unborn, and loves to come:
For there th' Idalian mount and Citheron,
The court of Venus was in colors drawn:
Before the palace gate, in careless dress,
And loose array, sat portress Idleness :
There, by the fount, Narcissus pin'd alone;
There Sampson was, with wiser Solomon,

Medea's charins were there, Circean feasts,
With bowls that turn'denamour'dyouthistobeasts.
Here might be seen, that beauty, wealth and wit,
And prowess, to the pow'r of love submit:
The spreading snare for all mankind is laid:
And lovers all betray, and are betray'd.
The Goddess' self some noble hand had wrought;
Smiling she seem'd, and full of pleasing thought:
From Ocean as she first began to rise,
And smooth'd the ruffled seas and clear'd the skies;
She trod the brine all bare above the breast,
And the green waves but ill conceal'd the rest;
A lute she held; and on her head was scen
A wreath of roses red, and myrtles green;
Her turtles fann'd the buxom air above,
And, by his mother, stood an infaut Love.
With wings unfledg'd, his eyes were banded
His hands a bow, his back a quiver bore, [o'er,
Supplied with arrows bright and keen, a deadly

store.

But in the dome of mighty Mars the red
With diff'rent figures all the sides were spread;
This temple, less in form, with equal grace,
Was imitative of the first in Thrace:
For that cold region was the lov'd abode,
And sov'reign mansion, of the warrior god.
The landscape was a forest wide and bare,
Where neither beast nor human kind repair;
The fowl, that scent afar, the borders Av,
And shun the bitter blast, and wheel aboutthesky.
A cake of scurf lies baking on the ground;
And prickly stabs instead of trees are found;
Or woods with knots and knares deform'd and
old,

Headless the most, and hideous to behold:
A ratling tempest through the branches went,
That stripp'd them bare, and one sole way they
bent.

Heaven froze above severe, the clouds congeal, And through the crystal vault appear'd the standing hail;

Such was the face without: a mountain stood
Threat'ning from high, and overlook'd the wood
Beneath the low'ring brow, and on a bent,
The temple stood of Mars armipotent :
The frame of burnish'd steel that cast a glare
From far, and seem'd to thaw the freezing air.
A straightlong entry to the temple led,
Blind with high walls, and horror over head:

The labor of a God; and all along
Tough iron plates were clench'd to make it
A tun about was ev'ry pillar there: [strong.
A polish'd mirror shone not half so clear.
There saw I how the secret felon wrought,
And treason lab'ring in the traitor's thought;
Aud midwife Time the ripen'd plot to murder
brought.

There the red anger dar'd the pallid fear;
Next stood hypocrisy with holy leer,
Soft smiling, and demurely looking down,
But hid the dagger underneath the gown:
Th' assassinating wife, the household fiend;
And, far the blackest there, the traitor friend.
On t' other side, there stood destruction bare,
Unpunish'd rapine, and a waste of war;
Contest, with sharpen'd knives, incloisters drawn,
And all with blood bespread the holy lawn.
Loud menaces were heard, and foul disgrace,
And bawling infamy, in language base;
Till sense was lost in sound, and silence fled
the place.

The slayer of himself yet saw I there,
The gore congeal'd was clotted in his hair:
With eyes half clos'd and gaping mouth he lay,
And grim as when he breath'd his sullen soul
In midst of all the dome misfortune sat, [away.
And gloomy discontent, and fell debate,
And madness laughing in his ireful mood;
And arin'd complaint on theft, and cries of blood.
There was the murder'd corpse, in covert laid,
And violent death in thousand shapes display'd:
The city to the soldier's rage resign'd;
Successless wars, and poverty behind:
Ships burnt in fight, or fore'd on rocky shores,
And the rash hunter strangled by the boars:
The new-born babe, by nurses overlair; [inade
And the cook caught within the raging fire he
All ills of Mars's nature, flame and steel;
The gasping charioteer beneath the wheel
Of his own car: the ruin'd house that falls,
And intercepts her lord betwixt the walls;
The whole division that to Mars pertains;
All trades of death that deal in steel for gains
Were there: the butcher, armorer, and smith,
Who forges sharpen'd falchions, or the scythe
The scarlet conquest on a tow'r was plac'd,
With shouts and soldiers' acclamations grac'd
A pointed sword hung threat'ning o'er his head
Sustain'd but by a slender twine of thread.
There saw I Mars's ides, the capitol,
The seer in vain foretelling Cæsar's fall;
The last triumvirs, and the wars they move,
And Anthony, who lost the world for love.
These, and a thousand more, the fane adorn ;
Their fates were painted ere the men were

born,

All

All copied from the heavens, and ruling force
Of the red star, in his revolving course.
The form of Mars high on a chariot stood,
All sheath'd in arms, and grully look'd the God:
Two geomantic figures were display'd
Above his head, a warrior and a maid;

;de.}

Tir'd with deformities of death, I haste To the thira temple of Diana chaste.

For now the rivals round the world had sought, And each his number, well appointed, brought. The nations far and near contend in choice, And send the flow'r of war by public voice; That after, or before, were never known Such chiefs, as each an army seem'd alone: Beside the champions, all of high degree, Who knighthood lov'd and deeds of chivalry, Throng'd to the lists, and envied to behold' A sylvan scene with various greens was drawn, The names of others, not their own, enroll'd. Shades on the sides and on the midst a lawn:Nor seems it strange; for every noble knight The silver Cynthia, with her nymphs around, Pursued the flying deer, the woods with horns Calisto there stood manifest of shame, [resound: And turn'd a bear, the northern star became : Her son was next, and by peculiar grace In the cold circle held the second place : The stag Acteon in the stream had spied The naked huntress, and, for seeing, died: His hounds, unknowing of his change, pursue The chace, and their mistaken master slew. Pencian Daphne too was there to see, Apollo's love before, and now his tree: Th'adjoining faneth'assembled Greeks express'd, And hunting of the Caledonian beast. Oenides' valor, and his envied prize; The fatal pow'r of Atalanta's eyes; Diana's vengeance on the victor shown, The murd'ress mother, and consuming son; The Volscian queen extended on the plain; The treason punish'd, and the traitor slain. The rest were various huntings, well design'd, And savage beasts destroy'd, of ev'ry kind. The graceful goddess was array'd in green; About her feet were little beagles seen, That watch'd with upward eyes the motions of their queen.

}

Her legs were buskin'd, and the left before,
In act to shoot; a silver bow she bore,
And at her back a painted quiver wore.
She trod a waxing moon, that soon would wane,
And, drinking borrow'd light, be fill'd again;
With down cast eyes, as seeming to survey
The dark dominions, her alternate sway.
Before her stood a woman in her throes,
And call'd Lucina'said, her burden to disclose.
All these the painter drew with such command,
That Nature snatch'd the pencil from his hand,
Asham'd and angry that his art could feign
And mend the tortures of a mother's pain.
Theseus beheld the fanes of ev'ry God,
And thought his mighty cost was well bestow'd.
So princes now their poets should regard;
But few can write, and fewer can reward.
The theatre thus rais'd, the lists inclos'd,
And all with vast magnificence dispos'd,
We leave the monarch pleas'd, and haste to bring
The knights to combat, and their arms to sing.

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Who loves the fair, and is endued with might,
In such a quarrel would be proud to fight.
There breathes not scarce a man on British ground
(An isle for love and arms of old renown'd)
But would have sold his life to purchase fame,
To Palamon or Arcite sent his name:
And had the land selected of the best, [the rest.
Half had come hence, and let the world provide
A hundred knights with Palamon there came,
Approv'd in sight, and men of mighty name;
Their arms were sev'ral, as their nations were,
But furnish'd all alike with sword and spear.
Some wore coat-armor imitating scale;
And next their skins were stubborn shirts of mail;
Some wore a breast-plate and a light juppon,
Their horses cloth'd with rich caparison;
Some for defence would leathern bucklers use
Of folded hides, and others shields of pruce;
One hung a pole-ax at his saddle-bow,
And one a heavy inace to stun the foe;
One for his legs and knees provided well,
With jambeux arm'd, and double plates of steel:
This on his helmet wore a lady's glove,
And that a steeve embroider'd by his love.
With Palamon, above the rest in place,
Lycurgus canie, the surely king of Thrace;
Black was his beard, and manly was his face;
The balls of his broad eyes roll'd in his head,
And glar'd betwixt a yellow and a red :
He look'd a lion with a gloomy stare,
And o'er his eye-brows hung his matted hair:
Big-bon'd, and large of limbs, with sinews strong,
Broad-shoulder'd, and his arms were round and
long.

Four milk-white bulls(the Thracian use of old)
Were yok'd to draw his car of burnish'd gold.
Upright he stood and bore aloft his shield,
Conspicuous from afar, and overlook'd the field.
His surcoat was a bear-skin on his back;
His hairhung long behind, and glossy raven black.
His ample forehead bore a coronet
With sparkling diamonds and with rubies set:
Ten brace, and more, of greyhounds, snowy fair
And tall as stags, ran loose, and cours'd around
[the bear:

his chair,

A match for pards in flight, in grappling for
With golden muzzles all theirmouthswerebound,
And collars of the same their necks surround.
Thus thro' the field Lycurgus took his way;
His hundred knights attend in pomp and proud

array.

To match this monarch, with strong Arcite came
Emetrius, king of Inde, a mighty name,

Beneath the sliding sun, thou runn'st thy race,
Dost fairest shine, and best become thy place.
For thee the winds their eastern blasts forbear,
Thy mouth reveals the spring, and opens all the

year.

On a bay courser, goodly to behold, [gold. There, falling ou his knees before her shrine,
The trappings of his horse adorn'd with barb'rous He thus implor'd with pray'rs her pow'r divine.
Not Mars bestrode a steed with greater grace; Creator Venus, genial pow'r of love,
His surcoat o'er his arms was cloth of Thrace,The bliss of men below, and gods above!
Adorn'd with pearls, all orient, round, and great;
His saddle was of gold, with emeralds set.
His shoulders large a mantle did attire,
With rubies thick, and sparkling as the fire;
His amber-color'd locks in ringlets run, [sun.
With graceful negligence, and shone against the
His nose was aquiline, his eyes were blue,
Ruddy his lips, and fresh and fair his hue :
Some sprinkled freckles on his face were seen,
Whose dusk set off the whiteness of the skin;
His awful presence did the crowd surprise,
Nor durst the rash spectator meet his eyes;
Eyes that confess'd him born for kingly sway,
So fierce, they flash'd intolerable day.

His
age in nature's youthful prime appear'd,
And just began to bloom his yellow beard.
Whene'er he spoke, his voice was heard around,
Loud as a trumpet, with a silver sound.
A laurel wreath'd his temples, fresh and green;
And myrtle sprigs, the marks of love, were mix'd
Upon
his fist he bore, for his delight, [between.
An eagle well reclaim'd, and lily white.

}

His hundred knights attend him to the war,
All arm'd for battle, save their heads were bare.
Words and devices blaz'd on every shield,
And pleasing was the terror of the field.
Forkings,and dukes, and barons, you might see,
Like sparkling stars, though diff'rent in degree,
All forth' increase of arms, and love of chivalry.
Before the king tame leopards led the way,
And troops of lions innocently play.
So Bacchus thro' the conquer'd Indies rode,
And beasts ingambols frisk 'dbeforethehonest god.
In this array the war of either side
Through Athens pass'd with military pride.
At prime, they enter'd on the Sunday morn;
Richtap stryspread thestreets, and flow'rs the posts
The town was all a jubilee of feasts; [adorn,

Thee, Goddess, thee the storms of winter fly,
Earth smiles with flow'rs renewing, laughs the
sky,
[apply.

And birds to lays of love their tuneful notes

For thee the lion loaths the taste of blood,
And roaring hunts his female thro' the wood:
For thee the bulls re-bellow thro' the groves,
And tempt the stream, and snuff their absent
loves.

Tis thine, whate'er is pleasant, good or fair,
All nature is thy province, life thy care:
Thou mad'sttheworld, and dosttheworldrepair..
Thou gladder of the mount of Cytheron,
Increase of Jove, companion of the sun;
If e'er Adonis touch'd thy tender heart,
Have pity, Goddess, for thou know'st the smart,
Alas! I have not words to tell my grief;
To vent my sorrow would be some relief;
Light suff'rings give us leisure to complain;
We groan, but cannot speak, in greater pain.
O Goddess, tell thyself what I would say,
Thou know'st it, and I feel too much to pray.
So grant my suit, as I inforce my might,
In love to be thy champion and thy knight;
A servant to thy sex, a slave to thee,
A foe profest to barren chastity.
Nor ask I fame or honor of the field,
Nor choose I more to vanquish than to yield :
In my divine Emilia make me blest,
Let fate, or partial chance, dispose the rest:
Find thou the manner, and the means prepare
Possession, more than conquest, is my care.
Mars is the warrior's god; in him it lies,
On whom he favors to confer the prize;
With smiling aspect you serenely move
In your fifth orb, and rule the realm of love.
The fates but only spin the coarser clew,
The finest of the wool is left for you.
Spare me but one small portion of the twine,
And let the sisters cut below your line:
The rest among the rubbish may they sweep,
Or add it to the yarn of some old miser's heap.
sur-But if you this ambitions pray'r deny

So Theseus will'd in honor of his guests;
Himself with open arms the king embrac'd,
Than all the rest in their degrees were grac'd.
No harbinger was needful for a night,
For ev'ry house was proud to lodge the knight.
I pass the royal treat, nor must relate
The gifts bestow'd, nor how the champions sat:
Who first or last, or how the knights address'd
Their vows, or who was fairest at the feast:
Whose voice, whose graceful dance did most

prise ;

Soft am'rous sighs, and silent love of eyes,
The rivals call my Muse another way,
To sing their vigils for th' ensuing day.
'Twas ebbing darkness, past the noon of night;
And Phospher on the confines of the light,
Promis'd the sun, ere day began to spring;
The tuneful lark already stretch'd her wing,
And, fliek'ring on her nest, made short essays
to sing:

When wakeful Palamon, preventing day,
Took to the royal lists his early way, pray.

To Venus at her fane, in her own house to

(A wish, I grant, beyond mortality),
Then let ine sink beneath proud Arcite's arms,
And I, once dead, let him possess her charms.
Thus ended he; then with observance due
The sacred incense on her altar threw
The curling smoke mounts heavy from the fires;
At length it catches flame, and in a blaze expires;
At once the gracious Goddess gave the sign,
Her statue shook, and trembled all the shrine:
Pleas'd Palamon the tardy omen took;

Hence the flames pursued the trailing smoke,
knewhisboonwasgranted; but the day [delay.
To distance driven, and joy adjourn'd with long

New

Now morn with rosy light had streak'd the sky; | When, lo! the burning fire that shone so bright, Up rose the sun, and up rose Emily; Address'd her early steps to Cynthia's fane, In state attended by her maiden train, Who bore the vests that holy rites require, Incense, and od'rous gums, and cover'd fire. The plenteous horns with pleasant mead they

crown,

Nor wanted aught besides in honor of the moon.
Nowwhile the templesmok'dwith hallow'dsteam
They wash the virgin in a living stream;
The secret ceremonies 1 conceal,
Uncouth, perhaps unlawful, to reveal,
But such they were as Pagan use requir'd,
Perform'd by women when the men retir'd,
Whose eyes profane their chaste mysterious rites
Might turn to scandal, or obscene delights.
Well-meaners think no harm; but for the rost,
Things sacred they pervert, and silence is the best.
Her shining hair, uncomb'd, was loosely spread,
A crown of mastless oak adorn'd her head:
When to the shrine approach'd the spotless maid
Had kindling fires on either altar laid

(The rites were such as were observ'd of old,
By Statius in his Theban story told);
Then kneeling with her hands across her breast,
Thus lowly she preferr'd her chaste request :

O Goddess, hunter of the woodland green,
To whom both heaven, and earth, and seas, are

seen;

Queen of the nether skies, where half the year
Thy silver beams descend, and light the gloomy
sphere;

Goddess of maids, and conscious of our hearts;
So keep me from the vengeance of thy darts,
Which Niobe's devoted issue felt,
When hissingthroughtheskiesthefeather'd deaths
As I desire to live a virgin life, [were dealt;
Nor know the name of mother or of wife.
Thy votress from my tender years I am,
And love, like thee, the woods and sylvan game.
Like death, thou know'st, I loath the nuptial
And man, the tyrant of our sex, I hate, [state,
A lowly servant, but a lofty mate;
Where love is duty on the female side;
On theirs mere sensual gust, and sought with surly
Now by thy triple shape, as thou art scen [pride.
In heaven, earth, hell, and ev'ry where a queen,
Grant this my first desire; let discord cease,
And make betwixt the rivals lasting peace :
Quench their hot fire, or far from me remove
The flame, and turn it on some other love:
Or, if my frowning stars have so decreed,
That one must be rejected, one succeed,
Make him my lord, within whose faithful breast
Is fix'd my image, and who loves me best.
But, oh! even that avert! I choose it not,
But take it as the least unhappy lot.
A maid I am, and of thy virgin train;
Oh let me still that spotless name retain!
Frequent the forests, thy chaste will obey,
And only make the beasts of chace my prey!
The flames ascend on either altar clear, [pray'r.
While thus the blameless maid address'd her

Flew off, all sudden, with extinguish'd light,
And left one altar dark, a little space; [blaze:
Which turn'd self-kindled, and renew'd the
The other victor flame a moment stood,
Then fell, and lifeless left the extinguish'd wood;
| For ever lost, the irrevocable light
Forsook the black'ning coals, and sunk to night:
At either end it whistled as it flew, [dew;
And as the brands were green, so dropp'd the
Infected as it fell with sweat of sanguine hue.

The maid from that ill omen turn'd her eyes,
And with loud shrieks and clamors rent theskies,
Nor knew what signified the boding sign,
But found the pow'rs displeas'd, and fear'd the
wrath divine.

Then shook the sacred shrine, and sudden light Sprung through the vaulted roof, and made the temple bright.

The pow'r, behold! the pow'r in glory shone,

By her bent bow and her keen arrows known;
The rest, a huntress issuing from the wood,
Reclining on her cornel spear she stood.
Then gracious thus began: Dismiss thy fear,
And Heaven's unchang'd decrees attentive hear:
More pow'rful Gods have torn thee from my side,
Unwilling to resign, and doom'd a bride :
The two contending knights are weigh'd above;
One Mars protects, and one the Queen of Love:
But which the man, is in the Thund'rer's breast;
This he pronounc'd, 'tis he who loves thee best.
The fire that once extinct reviv'd again,
Foreshows the love allotted to remain :
Farewell! she said, and vanish'd from the place;
The sheaf of arrows shook, and rattled in the case.
Aghast at this the royal virgin stood,
Disclaim'd, and now no more a sister of the wood:
But to the parting Goddess thus she pray'd :
Propitious still be present to my aid,
Nor quite abandon your once favor'd maid.
Then sighing she return'd; but smil'd betwixt,
With hopes and fears, and joyswith sorrows mixt.
Of Mars, who shar'd the heptarchy of pow'r,
The next returning planetary hour
His steps bold Arcite to the temple bent,
T adore with Pagan rites the pow'rarmipotent:
Then prostrate low before his altar lay, [pray :
And rais'd his manly voice, and thus began to
Strong God of arms, whose iron sceptre sways
The freezing North, and Hyperborean seas,
And Scythian colds, and Thracia's winter coast,
Where stand thy steeds, and thou art honor'd
[known,
There most; but ev'ry where thy pow'r is
The fortune of the fight is all thy own:
Terror is thine, and wild amazement, flung
From out thy chariot, withers even the strong
And disarray and shameful rout ensue,
And force is added to the fainting crew.
Acknowledg'd as thou art, accept my pray'r,
If aught I have achiev'd deserve thy care:
If to my utmost pow'r with sword and shield-
dar'd the death, unknowing how to yield,
And, falling in my rank, still kept the field:
X 4

I

most:

Then

Then let my arms prevail, by thee sustain'd,
That Emily by conquest may be gain'd..
Have pity on my pains; nor those unknown
To Mars, which, when a lover, were his own.
Venus, the public care of all above,
Thy stubborn heart has soften'd into love:
Now by her blandishments and pow'rful charms,
When yielded she lay curling in my arms,
Ev'n by thy shame, if shame it may be call'd,
When Vulcan had thee in his net enthrall'd;
O envied ignominy, sweet disgrace,
When ev'ry God that saw thee wish'd thy place!
By those dear pleasures, aid my arms in fight,
And make me conquer in my patron's right:
For I am young, a novice in the trade,
The fool of love unpractis'd to persuade,
And want the soothing arts that catch the fair;
But, caught myself, lie struggling in the snare:
And she I love, or laughs at all my pain,
Or knows her worth too well, and pays me with
disdain,

For sure I am, unless I win in arms,

To stand excluded from Emilia's charms:
Nor can my strength avail, unless by thee
Endued by force, I gain the victory;
Then for the fire which varm'd thy gen'rous
Pity thy subject's pains and equal smart. [heart,
So be the morrow's sweat and labor mine,
The palm and honor of the conquest thine:
Then shall the war, and stern debate, and strife
Immortal, be the business of my life;
And in thy fane, the dusty spoils among, [hung;
High on the burnished roof my banner shall be
Rank'd with my champions buckler, and below,
With arms revers'd, th' achievements of my foc:
And while these limbs the vital spirit feeds,
While day to night, and night to day succeeds,
Thy smoking altar shall be fat with food
Of incense, and the grateful stream of blood;
Burnt off'rings morn and evening shall be thine,
And fires eternal in thy temple shine.
The bush of yellow beard, this length of hair,
Which from my birth inviolate I bear,
Guiltless of steel and from the razor free,
Shall fall a plenteous crop, reserv'd for thee;
So may my arms with victory be blest :
I ask no more: let fate dispose the rest. [close
The champion ceas'd; there followed in the
A hollow groan: a murmuring wind arose ;
The rings of iron, that on the doors were hung,
Sent out a jarring sound, and harshly rung;
The bolted gates flew open at the blast;
The storm rush'd in, and Arcite stood aghast;
The flames were blown aside, yet shone they
bright,

Fann'd by the wind, and gave a ruffled light.
Then from the ground, a scent began to rise,
Sweet-smelling as accepted sacrifice:

This omen pleas'd, and as the flames aspire
With odorous incense Arcite heaps the fire;
Nor wanted hymns to Mars, or heathen charms:
At length the nodding statue clash'd his arms,
And with a sullen sound and feeble cry [victory.
Half sunk, and half pronounced, the word of

For this, with soul devout, he thank'd the God;
And of success secure, returned to his abode.

These vows thus granted rais'd a strife above
Betwixt the God of War and Queen of Love.
She granting first had right of time to plead;
But he had granted too, nor would recede.
Jove was for Venus; but he feared his wife;
And seemed unwilling to decide the strife;
Till Saturn from his leaden throne arose,
And found a way the diff'rence to compose:
Though sparing of his grace, to mischief bent,
He seldom does a good with good intent.
Wayward, but wise; by long experience taught,
To please both parties, for ill ends, he sought:
For this advantage age from youth has won,
As not to be outridden, though outrun :
By fortune he was now to Venus trin'd,
And with stern Mars in Capricorn was join'd:.
Of him disposing in his own abode,
He sooth'd the Goddess, while he gull'd the God.
Cease, daughter, to complain and stint the strife;
Thy Palamon shall have this promis'd wife:
And Mars, the lord of conquest in the fight
With palm and laurel shall adorn his knight.
Wide is my course, nor turn I to my place,
Till length of time, and more with tardy pace.
Man feels me, when I press th' ethereal plains;
My hand is heavy, and the wound remains.
Mine is the shipwreck, in a wat'ry sign;
And, in an earthy, the dark dungeon mine.
Cold shivering agues, melancholy care,
And bitter blasting winds, and poison'd air,
Are mine, and wilful death, resulting from
despair.

from S

The throtling quinsey 'tis my star appoints,
And rhuematisms ascend, to rack the joints:
When churls rebel against their native prince,
I arm their hands and furnish with pretence;
And, housing in the lion's hateful sign,
Bought senates, and deserting troops are mine.
Mine is the privy pois'ning; I command
Unkindly seasons and ungrateful land.
By me kings' palaces are push'd to ground,
And miners crush'd beneath their mines arefound.
'Twas I slew Sampson, when the pillar'd hall
Fell down, and crush'd the many with the fall.
My looking is the fire of pestilence,
That sweeps at once the people and the prince.
Now sweep no more but trust thy grandsire's art,
Mars shall be pleas'd, and thou perform thy part.
"Tis ill, though diff'rent your complexions are,
The family of Heaven for men should war.
Th' expedient pleas'd, where neitheir lost his
right;

Mars had the day, and Venus had the night.
The management they left to Chronos' care;
Now turn we to th' effect, and sing the war.

In Athens all was pleasure, mirth, and play,
All proper to the spring, and sprightly May:
Which ev'ry soul inspir'd with such delight,
'Twas jesting all the day, and love at night.
Heaven smil'd, and gladded was the heart of

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