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Ladon, once Pheneos, an Arcadian Stream,
(Ambiguous in th' Effects, as in the Name)
By Day is wholfome Bev'rage; but is thought
By Night infected, and a deadly Draught.

Thus running Rivers, and the standing Lake, Now of thefe Virtues, now of those partake: Time was (and all Things Time and Fate obey) When fast Ortygia floated on the Sea;

Such were Cyanean Ifles, when Typhis steer'd
Betwixt their Streights, and their Collifion fear'd;
They fwam where now they fit; and firmly join❜ą
Secure of rooting up, refift the Wind.
Nor Etna vomiting fulphureous Fire
Will ever belch; for Sulphur will expire,
(The Veins exhausted of the liquid Store:) [more

Time was fhe caft no Flames; in time will caft no
For whether Earth's an Animal, and Air
Imbibes; her Lungs with Coolness to repair,
And what the fucks remits; she still requires
Inlets for Air, and Outlets for her Fires;

When tortur'd with convulfive Fits the fhakes, That Motion choaks the Vent, till other Vent she

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Or when the Winds in hollow Caves are clos'd, And fubtil Spirits find that way oppos'd,

They tofs up Flints in Air; the Flints that hide
The Seeds of Fire, thus tofs'd in Air, collide,
Kindling the Sulphur, till the Fewel spent

The Cave is cool'd, and the fierce Winds relent.
Or whether Sulphur, catching Fire, feeds on
Its unctuous Parts, till all the Matter gone
The Flames no more afcend; for Earth fupplies
The Fat that feeds them; and when Earth denies
That Food, by length of Time confum'd, the Fire
Famish'd for want of Fewel muft expire.

A Race of Men there are, as Fame has told,
Who fhiv'ring fuffer Hyperborean Cold,
Till nine times bathing in Minerva's Lake,
Soft Feathers,todefend their naked Sides,they take.
'Tis faid, the Scythian Wives (believe who will)
Transform themselves to Birds by Magick Skill;
Smear'd over with an Oil of wond'rous Might,
That adds new Pinions to their airy Flight.

But this by fure Experiment we know, That living Creatures from Corruption grow:

Hide in a hollow Pit a flaughter'd Steer,
Bees from his putrid Bowels will appear;

Who like their Parents haunt the Fields, and bring
Their Hony-Harveft home, and hope another
Spring.

The Warlike-Steed is multiply'd, we find,
To Wafps and Hornets of the Warrior Kind.
Cut from a Crab his crooked Claws, and hide
The reft in Earth, a Scorpion thence will glide
And fhoot his Sting, his Tail in Circles tofs'd
Refers the Limbs his backward Father loft.
And Worms, that ftretch onLeaves their filmy Loom,
Crawl from their Bags, and Butterflies become.
Ev'n Slime begets the Frog's loquacious Race:
Short of their Feet at first, in little space
With Arms and Legs endu'd,long Leaps they take,
Rais'd on their hinder part, and fwim the Lake,
And Waves repel: For Nature gives their Kind,
To that intent, a length of Legs behind.

The Cubs of Bears a living Lump appear, When whelp'd, and no determin'd Figure wear, Their Mother licks 'em into Shape, and gives As much of Form, as the her felf receives,

The Grubs from their sexangular Abode
Crawl out unfinish'd, like the Maggot's Brood:
Trunks without Limbs; till time at leisure brings
The Thighs they wanted, and their tardy Wings.
The Bird who draws the Carr of Juno, vain
Of her crown'd Head, and of her Starry Train;
And he that bears th' Artillery of Jove,

The strong-pounc'd Eagle, and the billing Dove;
And all the feather'd Kind, who cou'd fuppofe
(But that from fight the furest Sense he knows)
They from th' included Yolk not ambient White
There are who think the Marrow of a Man, arose,
Which in the Spine, while he was living, ran;
When dead, the Pith corrupted will become
A Snake, and hifs within the hollow Tomb.

All these receive their Birth from other Things;
But from himself the Phenix only springs;
Self-born, begotten by the Parent Flame
In which he burn'd, another and the fame;
Who not by Corn or Herbs his Life fuftains,
But the fweet Effence of Amomum drains;
And watches the rich Gums Arabia bears,
While yet in tender Dew they drop their Tears,

He, (his five Centuries of Life fulfill'd)
His Neft on Oaken Boughs begins to build,
Or trembling tops of Palm, and first he draws
The Plan with his broad Bill, and crooked Claws,
Nature's Artificers; on this the Pile

Is form'd, and rifes round, then with the Spoil
Of Cafia, Cynamon, and Stems of Nard,
[rear'd:
(For Softness strew'd beneath,) his Fun'ral Bed is
Fun'ral and Bridal both; and all around
The Borders with corruptlefs Myrrh are crown'd,
On this incumbent; 'till ætherial Flame
First catches, then confumes the coftly Frame:
Confumes him too, as on the Pile he lies;
He liv'd on Odours, and in Odours dies.

An Infant-Phenix from the former fprings, His Father's Heir, and from his tender Wings Shakes off his Parent Duft, his Method he pursues, And the fame Leafe of Life on the fame Terms re

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When grown to Manhood he begins his reign,
And with ftiff Pinions can his Flight fuftain,
He lightens of its Load, the Tree that bore

His Father's Royal Sepulcher before,

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