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Now from the depth of hell they lift their fight,
And at a distance fee fuperior light;

The lafhing billows make a loud report,
And beat her fides, as batt'ring rams a fort:
Or as a lion bounding in his way,

With force augmented, bears against his prey.
Sidelong to feize; or unappall'd with fear,
Springs on the toils, and rushes on the spear:
So feas impell'd by winds, with added pow'r
Affault the fides, and o'er the hatches tow'r.

The planks (their pitchy cov'rings wafh'd away) Now yield; and now a yawning breach display: The roaring waters with a hoftile tide Rush through the ruins of her gaping fide. Meantime in fheets of rain the fky defcends, And ocean fwell'd with waters upwards tends; One rifing, falling one, the heav'ns and fea Meet at their confines, in the middle way: The fails are drunk with fhow'rs, and drop with rain, Sweet waters mingle with the briny main. No star appears to lend his friendly light; Darkness and tempeft make a double night; But flashing fires disclose the deep by turns, And while the lightnings blaze, the water burns. Now all the waves their scatter'd force unite;

And as a foldier foremost in the fight,

Makes way for others, and an hoft alone
Still preffes on, and urging gains the town;

So while th' invading billows come a-breast,
'The hero tenth advanc'd before the reft,
Sweeps all before him with impetuous sway,
And from the walls defcends upon the prey;
Part following enter, part remain without,
With envy hear their fellows conquʼring fhout,
And mount on others backs, in hopes to share
The city, thus become the feat of war.

An univerfal cry refounds aloud,

The failors run in heaps, a helpless crowd;
Art fails, and courage falls, no fuccour near;
As many waves, as many deaths appear.
One weeps, and yet defpairs of late relief;
One cannot weep, his fears congeal his grief,
But ftupid with dry eyes expects his fate :
One with loud fhrieks laments his loft eftate,

And calls thofe happy whom their fun'rals wait.

This wretch with pray'rs and vows the Gods implores,
And ev'n the fkies he cannot fee, adores.

That other on his friends his thoughts beftows,
His careful father, and his faithful fpoufe.
The covetous worldling in his anxious mind,
Thinks only on the wealth he left behind.

All Ceyx his Alcyonè employs,

For her he grieves, yet in her absence joys;
His wife he wishes, and would ftill be near,
Not her with him, but wifhes him with her:
Now with laft looks he feeks his native fhore,
Which fate has deftin'd him to fee no more;

}

He

He fought, but in the dark tempeftuous night
He knew not whither to direct his fight.
So whirl the feas, fuch darkness blinds the sky,
That the black night receives a deeper dye.

The giddy fhip ran round; the tempest tore Her maft, and over-board the rudder bore. One billow mounts, and with a fcornful brow, Proud of her conquest gain'd, insults the waves below; Nor lighter falls, than if fome giant tore

Pindus and Athos with the freight they bore,

And tofs'd on feas; prefs'd with the pond'rous blow,

Down finks the ship within the abyss below:

Down with the veffel fink into the main

The many, never more to rife again.

Some few on scatter'd planks with fruitless care,

Lay hold, and swim; but while they swim despair.
Ev'n he who late a fceptre did command,

Now grafps a floating fragment in his hand:
And while he ftruggles on the ftormy main,
Invokes his father, and his wife, in vain.
But yet his confort is his greatest care,
Alcyonè he names amidst his pray'r;

Names as a charm against the waves and wind:
Moft in his mouth, and ever in his mind.
Tir'd with his toil, all hopes of safety past,

From pray'rs to wishes he defcends at laft;

That his dead body, wafted to the fands,
Might have its burial from her friendly hands.

As oft as he can catch a gulp of air,

And peep above the feas, he names the fair :

And ev'n when plung'd beneath, on her he raves,
Murm'ring Alcyonè below the waves:

At last a falling billow stops his breath,

Breaks o'er his head, and whelms him underneath.
Bright Lucifer unlike himself appears

That night, his heav'nly form obscur'd with tears;
And fince he was forbid to leave the skies,
He muffled with a cloud his mournful eyes.

Mean-time Alcyonè (his fate unknown)
Computes how many nights he had been gone.
Obferves the waning moon with hourly view,
Numbers her age, and wishes for a new ;
Against the promis'd time provides with care,
And haftens in the woof the robes he was to wear:
And for herself employs another loom,

New-drefs'd to meet her Lord returning home,

Flatt'ring her heart with joys, that never were to come: She fum'd the temples with an od❜rous flame,

And oft before the facred altars came,

Το

pray for him, who was an empty name.
All pow'rs implor'd, but far above the reft
To Juno fhe her pious vows addrefs'd,
Her much-lov'd lord from perils to protect:
And safe o'er feas his voyage to direct :
Then pray'd, that she might still possess his heart,
And no pretending rival fhare a part;

}

This laft petition heard of all her pray'r,
The reft, difpers'd by winds, were lost in air.

But fhe, the goddess of the nuptial bed,
Tir'd with her vain devotions for the dead,
Refolv'd the tainted hand should be repell'd,
Which incense offer'd, and her altar held :
Then Iris thus bespoke : thou faithful maid,
By whom thy queen's commands are well convey'd,
Hafte to the house of fleep, and bid the God
Who rules the night by vifions with a nod,
Prepare a dream, in figure, and in form
Refembling him who perifh'd in the ftorm:
This form before Alcyonè prefent,

To make her certain of the fad event.

Indu'd with robes of various hue the flies, And flying draws an arch, (a fegment of the skies :) Then leaves her bending bow, and from the steep Defcends, to fearch the filent houfe of fleep.

BAUCIS

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