Hence Strife fhall rife, and mortal War fucceed;
The guilty Realms of Tantalus fhall bleed;
Fix'd is their Doom; this all-remembring Breast
Yet harbours Vengeance for the Tyrant's Feast.

He faid; and thus the Queen of Heav'n return'd; (With fudden Grief her lab'ring Bofom burn'd) Muft I whofe Cares Phoroneus' Tow'rs defend, Muft I, oh Jove! in bloody Wars contend? Thou know'ft thofe Regions my Protection claim, Glorious in Arms, in Riches, and in Fame: Tho' there the fair Ægyptian Heifer fed, And there deluded Argus slept and bled

Tho' there the Brazen Tow'r was storm'd of old, When Jove defcended in Almighty Gold.

Yet I can pardon thofe obfcurer Rapes,

Those bashfulCrimes difguis'd in borrow'dShapes;

But

But Thebes, where fhining in Coeleftial Charms Thou cam'ft Triumphant to a Mortal's Arms, When all my Glories o'er her Limbs were spread, And blazing Lightnings danc'd around her Bed; Curs'd Thebes the Vengeance it deserves, may

[prove,--

Ah why shou'd Argos feel the Rage of Jove?
Yet fince thou wilt thy Sifter-Queen controul,
Since ftill the Luft of Discord fires thy Soul,
Go, rafe my Samos, let Mycenè fall,

And level with the Duft the Spartan Wall:
No more let Mortals Juno's Pow'r invoke,
Her Fanes no more with Eastern Incense fmoke,
Nor Victims fink beneath the Sacred Stroke;
But to your Isis all my Rites transfer,

Let Altars blaze and Temples fmoke for her;
For her, thro' Egypt's fruitful Clime renown'd,
Let weeping Nilus hear the Timbrel sound.

But

But if thou must reform the stubborn Times,

Avenging on the Sons the Father's Crimes,

And from the long Records of distant Age
Derive Incitements to renew thy Rage;
Say, from what Period then has Jove design'd
To date his Vengeance; to what Bounds confin'd?
Begin from thence, where first Alphëus hides
His wandring Stream, and thro' the briny Tydes,
Unmix'd, to his Sicilian River glides,

Thy own Arcadians there the Thunder claim,
Whofe impious Rites difgrace thy mighty Name,
Who raise thy Temples where the Chariot stood
Of fierce Oenömaus, defil'd with Blood;
Where once his Steeds their favageBanquet found,
And Human Bones yet whiten all the Ground.
Say, can thofe Honours please? and canft thou love
Prefumptuous Crete,that boasts the Tomb of Jove?

And

And fhall not Tantalus his Kingdoms fhare
Thy Wife and Sifter's Tutelary Care?
Reverse, O Jove, thy too fevere Decree,
Nor doom to War a Race deriv'd from thee;
On Impious Realms, and barb'rous Kings, impose
Thy Plagues, and curfe 'em with fuch * Sons as
[thofe.

Thus,in Reproach and Pray'r,the Queen exprest The Rage and Grief contending in her Breast; Unmov'd remain'd the Ruler of the Sky,

And from his Throne return'd this stern Reply. 'Twas thus I deem'd thy haughty Soul wou'd bear. The dire, tho' juft, Revenge which I prepare Against a Nation thy peculiar Care:

No lefs Dione might for Thebes contend,

Nor Bacchus lefs his Native Town defend,
Yet these in Silence fee the Fates fulfil

Their Work, and rev'rence our Superior Will.

*

Tydens and Polynices.

For

For by the black infernal Styx I fwear,

(That dreadful Oath which binds the Thunderer) 'Tis fix'd; th' irrevocable Doom of Jove;

No Force can bend me, no Perfuafion move. Hafte then, Cyllenius, thro' the liquid Air, Go mount the Winds, and to the Shades repair; Bid Hell's black Monarch my Commands obey, And give up Laius to the Realms of Day, Whose Ghost yet fhiv'ring on Cocytus' Sand Expects its Paffage to the farther Strand: Let the pale Sire revifit Thebes, and bear These pleafing Orders to the Tyrant's Ear; That, from his exil'd Brother, fwell'd with Pride Of foreign Forces, and his Argive Bride, Almighty Jove commands him to detain The promis'd Empire, and Alternate Reign: Be this the Cause of more than mortal Hate; The reft, fucceeding Times fhall ripen into Fate.

The