Tho' there the brazen tow'r was ftorm'd of old,
When Jove defcended in almighty gold.
Yet I can pardon thofe obfcurer rapes,
Thofe bashful crimes difguis'd in borrow'd shapes;
But Thebes, where fhining in celestial charms 360
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 deferves, may
Ah why fhould Argos feel the rage of Jove? 365
Yet fince thou wilt thy fifter-queen control,
Since ftill the luft of difcord fires thy foul,
Go, raze my Samos, let Mycene fall,
And level with the dust the Spartan wall;
No more let mortals Juno's pow'r invoke, 370°
Her fanes no more with eastern incense smoke,
Nor victims fink beneath the facred stroke?
But to your Ifis all my rites transfer,
Let altars blaze, and temples fmoke for her;
Extinguas, feptis et turribus aureus intres.
Mentitis ignofco toris: illam odimus urbem,
Quam vultu confeffus adis; ubi confcia magni 360
Signa tori, tonitrus agis, et mea fulmina torques.
Facta luant Theba: cur hoftes eligis Argos? 365
Quin age, fi tanta eft thalami difcordia fancti,
Et Samon, et veteres armis exfcinde Mycenas;
Verte folo Sparten, cur ufquam fanguine fefto 370
Conjugis ara tuæ, cumulo cur thuris Eoi
Læta calet? melius votis Mareotica fumat
Coptos, et ærifoni lugentia flumina Nili.
Quod fi prifca luunt autorum crimina gentes,
For her, thro' Egypt's fruitful clime renown'd,
Let weeping Nilus hear the timbrel found.
But if thou must reform the ftubborn times,
Avenging on the fons 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 defign'd
To date his vengeance; to what bounds confin'd?
Begin from thence, where first Alpheus hides
His wand'ring fiream, and thro' the briny tides
Unmix'd to his Sicilian river glides. 385
Thy own Arcadians there the thunder claim,
Whofe impious rites difgrace thy mighty name;
Who raise thy temples where the chariot stood
Of fierce Oenomaus, defil'd with blood;
Where once his fteeds their favage banquet found,
And human bones yet whiten all the ground. 391
Say, can thofe honours please; and canit thou love
Prefumptuous Crete, that boasts the tomb of Jove!
Subvenitque tuis fera hæc fententia curis ;
Percenfere ævi fenium, quo tempore tandem
Terrarum furias abolere, et fecula retro
Emendare fat eft? Jamdudum a fedibus illis
Incipe, fluctivaga qua præterlabitur unda,
Sicanos longe relegens Alpheus amores.
Arcades hic tua (nec pudor eft) delubra nefaftis
Impofuere locis: illic Mavortius axis
Genomai, Geticoque pecus stabulare fub Æmo 390 Dignius: abruptis, etiamnum inhumata procorum Relliquiis trunca ora rigent. tamen hic tibi templi Gratus honos. placet Ida nocens, mentitaque manes
And shall not Tantalus' kingdom share
Thy wife and fifter'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 impofe
Thy plagues, and curfe 'em with such fons as those.
Thus, in reproach and pray'r, the Queen ex-
prefs'd
The rage and grief contending in her breast.
Unmov'd remain'd the ruler of the sky,
And from his throne return'd this ftern reply.
'Twas thus I deem'd thy haughty foul would
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 filence fee the Fates fulfil
'T'heir work, and rev'rence our fuperior will. 410
Creta tuos. me Tantaleis confiftere tectis,
Quæ tandem invidia eft? belli deflecte tumultus,
Et generis miferefce tui. funt impia late
Regna tibi, melius generos paffura nocentes.
Finierat mifcens precibus convicia Juno, At non ille gravis, dictis, quanquam afpera, motus, Reddidit hæc: Equidem haud rebar te mente fe
Laturam, quodcunque tuos (licet æquus) in Argos Confulerem, neque me (detur fi copia) fallit 401 Multa fuper Thebis Bucchum, aufuramque Dionem
Ver. 393. with fuch fons as those.] Eteccles and Polynices.
For by the black infernal Styx I swear,
(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 fhades repair;
Bid hell's black monarch my commands obey,
And give up Laius to the realms of day,
Whole ghoft yet fhiv'ring on Cocytus' fand,
Expects its paffage to the further strand:
Let the pale fire revifit Thebes, and bear
Thefe 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.
Dicere, fed noftri reverentia ponderis obstat.
Horrendos etenim latices, Stygia æquora fratris
Obteftor, manfurum et non revocabile verum,
Nil fore quo dictis flectar. quare impiger ales 415
Portantes præcede Notos Cyllenia proles:
Aera per liquidum, regnifque illapfus opacis
Dic patruo, Superas fenior fe tollat ad auras
Laius, extinctumn nati quem vulnere, nondum
Ulterior Lethes accepit ripa profundi
Lege Erebi: ferat hæc diro mea juffa nepoti:
Germanum exilio fretum, Argolicifque tumentem
Hofpitiis, quod fponte cupit, procul impius aula
Arceat, alternum regni inficiatus honorem:
Hinc caufa irarum: "certo reliqua ordine ducam.
The god obeys, and to his feet applies Thofe golden wings that cut the yielding skies. His ample hat his beamy locks o'erfpread, 331 And veil'd the ftarry glories of his head. He feiz'd the wand that causes fleep to fly, Or in foft flumbers feals the wakeful eye; That drives the dead to dark Tartarean coafts, Or back to life compels the wand'ring ghofts. 436 Thus, through the parting clouds, the fon of May Wings on the whistling winds his rapid way; Now fmoothly fteers thro' air his equal flight, Now fprings aloft, and tow'rs th' ethereal height; Then wheeling down the steep of heav'n he flies, And draws a radiant circle o'er the fkies.
Mean time the banish'd Polynices roves (His Thebes abandon'd) thro' th' Aonian groves, While future realms his wand'ring thoughts de
His daily vifion and his dream by night;
Paret Atlantiades dictis genitoris, et inde Summa pedum propere plantaribus illigat alis, 430 Obnubitque comas, et temperat aftra galero. Tum dextræ virgam inferuit, qua pellere dulces Aut fuadere iterum fomnos, qua nigra fubire 435 Tartara, et exangues animare affueverat umbras. Defiluit; tenuique exceptus inhorruit aura. Nec mora, fublimes raptim per inane volatus 440 Carpit, et ingenti defignat et ingenti nubila gyro. Interea patriis olim vagus exul ab oris Oedipodionides furto deferto pererrat
Aoniæ. jam jamque animis male debita regna 445 Concipit, et longum fignis cunctantibus annum
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