Then gently rifing from his fide and bed,
In all her bright attire her limbs array'd.

And now, her fair-crown'd head aloft fhe rears, Nor more a mortal, but herself appears : Her face refulgent, and majestic mien, Confefs'd the goddefs, Love's and Beauty's Queen. Then thus, aloud, the calls: "Anchifes, wake; "Thy fond repose and lethargy forsake : "Look on the nymph who late from Phrygia came, "Behold me well---fay, if I feem the fame.”

At her first call, the chains of fleep were broke, And, ftarting from his bed, Anchifes woke : But when he Venus view'd without disguise, Her fhining neck beheld, and radiant eyes; Aw'd and abah'd, he turn'd his head afide, Attempting with his robe his face to hide. Confus'd with wonder, and with fear opprefs'd, In winged words, he thus the Queen address'd : “When first, O Goddefs, I thy form beheld, "Whose charms fo far humanity excell'd; "To thy celeftial power my vows I paid, “And with humility implor'd thy aid : "But thou, for fecret caufe to me unknown, “Didst thy divine immortal state disown. "But now, I beg thee by the filial love "Due to thy father, Ægis-bearing Jove, "Compaffion on my human state to show ; "Nor let me lead a life infirm below; "Defend me from the woes which mortals wait, "Nor let me share of men the common fate :

"Since never man with length of days was bleft, "Who in delights of love a deity poffefs'd."

To him, Jove's beauteous daughter thus replied:
"Be bold, Anchifes; in my love confide :
"Nor me, nor other God, thou need'st to fear,
"For thou to all the heavenly race art dear.
"Know, from our loves, thou fhalt a fon obtain,
“Who over all the realm of Troy fhall reign ;
"From whom a race of monarchs fhall defcend,
"And whofe pofterity fhall know no end.
"To him thou fhalt the name Eneas give,
“As one, for whofe conception I must grieve,
"Oft as I think, he to exift began

"From my conjunction with a mortal man.”
But Troy, of all the habitable earth,
To a fuperior race of men gives birth;
Producing heroes of th' ætherial kind,
And next refembling gods in form and mind.
From thence great Jove to azure skies convey'd
To live with gods, the lovely Ganymede.
Where, by th' immortals honour'd (strange to see !)
The youth enjoys a blefs'd eternity.

In bowls of gold he ruddy nectar pours,

And Jove regales in his unbended hours.

Long did the King, his fire, his absence mourn,
Doubtful by whom, or where, the boy was borne:
Till Jove at length, in pity of his grief,
Difpatch'd Argicides to his relief;
And, more with gifts to pacify his mind,
He fent him horfes of a deathlefs kind,
Whofe feet outftript in speed the rapid wind.

}

Charging

Charging withal fwift Hermes to relate
The youth's advancement to a heavenly flate;
Where all his hours are pafs'd in circling joy,
Which age can ne'er decay, nor death destroy.
Now, when this embaffy the King receives,
No more for absent Ganymede he grieves ;
The pleafing news his aged heart revives,
And with delight his fwift-heel'd fteeds he drives.
"But when the golden-thron'd Aurora made
"Tithonus partner of her rofy bed,
"(Tithonus too was of the Trojan line,
Refembling gods in face and form divine)
For him the ftrait the thunderer addrefs'd,
"That with perpetual life he might be blefs'd:

"But ah! how rafh was fhe, how indifcreet! "The moft material bleifing to omit ;

46

Neglecting, or not thinking to provide,

"That length of days might be with ftrength supplied; "And to her lover's endless life, engage

"An endless youth, incapable of age.

"But hear what fate befell this heavenly fair, "In gold enthron'd, the brightest child of air. "Tithonus, while of pleafing youth poffefs'd, "Is by Aurora with delight carefs'd; "Dear to her arms, he in her court refides, "Beyond the verge of earth, and ocean's utmost tides. "But when she saw grey hairs begin to spread, "Deform his beard, and difadorn his head,

"The

"The goddess cold in her embraces grew,

"His arms declin'd, and from his bed withdrew;
"Yet ftill a kind of nurfing care the fhow'd,
"And food ambrofial, and rich cloaths beftow'd:
"But when of age he felt the fad extreme,
"And every nerve was fhrunk, and limb was lame,
"Lock'd in a room her ufelefs spouse she left,
"Of youth, of vigour, and of voice bereft.
"On terms like thefe, I never can defire
"Thou should'st to immortality aspire.

"Could'ft thou indeed, as now thou art, remain, "Thy strength, thy beauty, and thy youth retain, "Could't thou for ever thus my husband prove, "I might live happy in thy endless love;

"Nor fhould I e'er have caufe to dread the day,
"When I must mourn thy lofs and life's decay.
"But thou, alas! too foon and fure must bend
"Beneath the woes which painful age attend;
"Inexorable age! whofe wretched state
"All mortals dread, and all immortals hate.

"Now, know, I also must my portion share,
"And for thy fake reproach and fhame must bear.
"For I, who heretofore in chains of love
"Could captivate the minds of gods above,
"And force them, by my all-fubduing charms,
"To figh and languish in a woman's arms :
"Muft now no more that power superior boast,
"Nor tax with weaknefs the celeftial hoft;
"Since I myself this dear amends have made,
*And am at laft by my own arts betray'd.

"Erring

"Erring like them, with appetite deprav'd, "This hour, by thee, I have a fon conceiv'd; "Whom hid beneath my zone, I must conceal, "Till Time his being and my fhame reveal.

"Him fhall the nymphs who thefe fair woods adorn "In their deep bofoms nurse, as foon as born; "They nor of mortal nor immortal feed "Are faid to fpring, yet on Ambrofia feed, "And long they live, and oft in chorus join "With gods and goddeffes in dance divine. "Thefe the Sileni court; thefe Hermes loves, "And their embraces feeks in fhady groves. "Their origin and birth these nymphs deduce "From common parent earth's prolific juice; "With lofty firs which grace the mountain's brow, "Or ample-spreading oaks at once they grow; "All have their trees allotted to their care, "Whofe growth, duration, and decrease they share. "But holy are these groves by mortals heid, "And therefore by the ax are never fell'd. "But when the fate of fome fair tree draws nigh, "It firft appears to droop, and then grows dry ; "The bark to crack and perifh next is feen, "And last the boughs it fheds, no longer green: "And thus the nymphs expire by like degrees, "And live and die coæval with their trees.

"Thefe gentle nymphs, by my persuasion won, "Shall in their fweet receffes nurse my fon; "And when his cheeks with youth's firft blushes glow, "To thee the facred maids the boy shall show.

"More