Ovid

“ And blame those noble Flights our Youth inspire;
Where Nature kindly summons let us go,
Our sprightly Years no Bounds in Love shou'd know,
Shou'd feel no Check of Guilt, and fear no Ill;
Lovers, and Gods act all things at their Will:
We gain one Blessing from our hated Kin,
Since our Paternal Freedom hides the Sin;
Uncensur'd in each others Arms we lye,
Think then how easie to compleat our Joy.
Oh pardon, and oblige a blushing Maid,
Whose Rage the Pride of her vain Sex betray'd;
Nor let my Tomb thus mournfully complain,
Here Byblis lies, by her lov'd Caunus slain. ”

“ Our Parents with our own Desires agree;
But Nature, stronger than the Gods above,
Refuses her Assistance to my Love;
She sets the Bar that causes all my Pain;
One Gift refus'd, makes all their Bounty vain.
And now the happy Day is just at hand,
To bind our Hearts in Hymen's holy Band:
Our Hearts, but not our Bodies: Thus accurs'd,
In midst of Water I complain of Thirst.
Why com'st thou, Juno, to these barren Rites,
To bless a Bed defrauded of Delights?
But why shou'd Hymen lift his Torch on high,
To see two Brides in cold Embraces lye?
⁠Thus Love-sick Iphis her vain Passion mourns ”

“ From the persisting Hate of Juno rose.
As here and there she pass'd, by Chance she sees
The fated Goddess; on her close-prest Knees
Her fast knit Hands she leans; with chearful Voice
Galanthis cries, Whoe'er thou art, rejoyce,
Congratulate the Dame, she lies at rest,
At length the Gods Alcmena's Womb have blest.
Swift from her Seat the startled Goddess springs,
No more conceal'd, her Hands abroad she flings;
The Charm unloos'd, the Birth my Pangs reliev'd;
Galanthis' Laughter vex'd the Pow'r deceiv'd.
Fame says, the Goddess dragg'd the laughing Maid
Fast by the Hair ”

“ E're the dire Secret from my Breast was torn;
To thee a helpless vanquish'd Wretch I come,
'Tis you alone can save, or give my Doom;
My Life, or Death this Moment you may chuse,
Yet think, Oh think, no hated Stranger sues,
No Foe; but one, alas! too near ally'd,
And wishing still much nearer to be ty'd.
The Forms of Decency let Age debate,
And Virtue's Rules by their cold Morals state ”

“ My closing Lips, and hides my Head in Shades:
Remove your Hands; the Bark shall soon suffice,
Without their Aid, to seal these dying Eyes.
She ceas'd at once to speak, and ceas'd to be;
And all the Nymph was lost within the Tree:
Yet latent Life thro' her new Branches reign'd,
And long the Plant a human Heat retain'd. ”

“ And crackle round those Limbs that mock the Fire:
A sudden Terror seiz'd th' immortal Host,
Who thought the World's profess'd Defender lost.
This when the Thund'rer saw, with Smiles he cries,
'Tis from your Fears, ye Gods, my Pleasures rise;
Joy swells my Breast, that my all-ruling Hand
O'er such a grateful People boasts Command,
That you my suff'ring Progeny would aid;
Tho' to his Deeds this just Respect be paid,
Me you've oblig'd. Be all your Fears forborn,
Th' OEtean Fires do thou, great Hero, Scorn.
Who vanquish'd all things, shall subdue the Flame. ”

“ Iphis the Man, has to the Goddess paid
The Vows, that Iphis offer'd when a Maid.
⁠Now when the Star of Day had shewn his Face,
Venus, and Juno with their Presence grace
The Nuptial Rites, and Hymen from above
Descending to compleat their happy Love:
The Gods of Marriage lend their mutual Aid;
And the warm Youth enjoys the lovely Maid. ”

“ Thus thro' the trembling Boughs in Sighs complains.
⁠If to the Wretched any Faith be giv'n,
I swear by all th' unpitying Pow'rs of Heav'n,
No wilful Crime this heavy Vengeance bred,
In mutual Innocence our Lives we led.
If this be false, let these new Greens decay,⁠
Let sounding Axes lop my Limbs away,
And crackling Flames on all my Honours prey.
Now from my branching Arms this Infant bear,
Let some kind Nurse supply a Mother's Care;
Yet to his Mother let him oft be led,
Sport in her Shades, and in her Shades be fed ”

“ Business, and worldly Thoughts might fill his Breast,
Sometimes ev'n Love it self may be an irksome Guest:
He cou'd not else have treated me with Scorn,
For Caunus was not of a Tygress born;
Nor Steel, nor Adamant has fenc'd his Heart,
Like mine 'tis naked to the burning Dart.
⁠Away false Fears! he must, he shall be mine,
In Death alone I will my Claim resign ”

“ He boasts his Birth from Jove, recounts his Spoils,
His Step-dame's Hate subdu'd, and finish'd Toils.
⁠Can Mortals then (said I) with Gods compare?
Behold a God; mine is the watry Care:
Through your wide Realms I take my mazy Way,
Branch into Streams, and o'er the Region stray:
No foreign Guest your Daughter's Charms adores,
But one who rises in your native Shores.
Let not his Punishment your Pity move;
Is Juno's Hate an Argument for Love?
Though you your Life from fair Alcmena drew;
Jove's a feign'd Father, or by Fraud a true.
Chuse then ”

“ Dryden.
⁠The Fame of this, perhaps, thro' Crete had flown:
But Crete had newer Wonders of her own,
In Iphis chang'd: For, near the Gnossian Bounds,
(As loud Report the Miracle resounds)
At Phœstus dwelt a Man of honest Blood,⁠
But meanly born, and not so rich as good;
Esteem'd, and lov'd by all the Neighbourhood;
Who to his Wife, before the Time assign'd
For Child-birth came, thus bluntly spoke his Mind.
If Heav'n, said Lygdus, will vouchsafe to hear,⁠
I have but two Petitions to prefer;
Short Pains for thee, for me a Son and Heir.
Girls cost as many Throes in bringing forth ”

“ Besides, when born, the Titts are little worth;
Weak puling things, unable to sustain
Their Share of Labour, and their Bread to gain.
If, therefore, thou a Creature shalt produce,
Of so great Charges, and so little Use,
(Bear Witness, Heav'n, with what Reluctancy)
Her hapless Innocence I doom to die. ”

“ Thus whirl'd with nervous Force thro' distant Air,
The purple Tide forsook his Veins, with fear;
All Moisture left his Limbs. Transform'd to Stone,
In ancient Days the craggy Flint was known;
Still in th' Eubean Waves his Front he rears,⁠
Still the small Rock in human Form appears
And still the Name of hapless Lychas bears.
The Apotheosis of Hercules.
⁠But now the Hero of immortal Birth
Fells OEte's Forests on the groaning Earth;
A Pile he builds; to Philoctetes. Care
He leaves his deathful Instruments of War ”

“ Heav'n must destroy me, if it would preserve.
And that's my Fate, or sure it would have fent
Some usual Evil for my Punishment:
Not this unkindly Curse; to rage and burn,
Where Nature shews no Prospect of Return.
Nor Cows for Cows consume with fruitless Fire,
Nor Mares, when hot, their Fellow-Mares desire:
The Father of the Fold supplies his Ewes;⁠
The Stag through secret Woods his Hind pursues;
And Birds for Mates the Males of their own Species chuse. ”

“ Andræmon lov'd; and blest in all those Charms
That pleas'd a God, succeeded to her Arms.
⁠A Lake there was, with shelving Banks around,
Whose verdant Summit fragrant Myrtles crown'd,
Those Shades unknowing of the Fates, she sought,
And to the Naiads fiow'ry Garlands brought;
Her smiling Babe (a pleasing Charge) she prest
Between her Arms, and nourish'd at her Breast.
Not distant far a watry Lotos grows ”