Ovid

“ But Earth nor Sea his scatter'd Bones wou'd keep,
Which, after floating long, a Rock became,
Still infamous with Scyron's hated Name.
When Fame to court thy Acts and Years proceeds,
Thy Years appear but Cyphers to thy Deeds.
For thee, brave Youth, as for our Common-wealth,
We pray; and drink, in yours, the Publick Health. ”

“ She check'd her rising Sighs, and thus reply'd.
⁠How cou'd the Thought of such inhuman Wrong
Escape (said she) from pious Jason's Tongue?
Does the whole World another Jason bear,
Whose Life Medea can to yours prefer?
Or cou'd I with so dire a Change dispence:
Hecate will never join in that Offence:
Unjust is the Request you make, and I
In Kindness, your Petition shall deny;
Yet she that grants not what you do implore,
Shall yet essay to give her Jason more;
Find Means t' encrease the Stock of Æson's Years,
Without Retrenchment of your Life's Arrears ”

“ His Earth-born Foes to fiercer Fury move,
And accessary to his Murder prove?
The Gods forbid⸻But Pray'rs are idle Breath,
When Action only can prevent his Death.
Shall I betray my Father, and the State,
To intercept a rambling Hero's Fate;
Who may sail off next Hour, and sav'd from Harms
By my Assistance, bless another's Arms?
Whilst I, not only of my Hopes bereft,
But to unpity'd Punishment am left.
If he is false, let the Ingrateful bleed!
But no such Symptom in his Looks I read.
Nature wou'd ne'er have lavish'd so much Grace
Upon his Person, if his Soul were base. ”

“ While at his Mouth, and thro' his op'ning Wound,
A double Inlet her Infusion found;
His feeble Frame resumes a youthful Air,
A glossy Brown his hoary Beard and Hair.
The meager Paleness from his Aspect fled,
And in its Room sprang up a florid Red;
Thro' all his Limbs a youthful Vigour flies,
His empty'd Art'ries swell with fresh Supplies:
Gazing Spectators scarce believe their Eyes. ”

“ Display'd an Air so pleasing, as might charm
A Goddess, and a Vestal's Bosom warm.
Her ravish'd Eyes survey him o'er and o'er,
As some gay Wonder never seen before;
Transported to the Skies she seems to be,
And thinks she gazes on a Deity. ”

“ Thy native Land, tho' barb'rous, can present
A Bridegroom worth a Royal Bride's Consent:
And whether this Advent'rer lives, or dies,
In Fate, and Fortune's fickle Pleasure lies.
Yet may he live! for to the Pow'rs above,⁠
A Virgin, led by no Impulse of Love,
So just a Suit may, for the Guiltless, move.
Whom wou'd not Jason's Valour, Youth, and Blood
Invite? or cou'd these Merits be withstood,
At least his charming Person must encline
The hardest Heart⸻I'm sure 'tis so with mine!
Yet, if I help him not, the flaming Breath
Of Bulls, and Earth-born Foes must be his Death. ”

“ And first, on him, the Operation prov'd.
⁠A wreath-horn'd Ram is brought, so far o'er-grown
With Years, his Age was to that Age unknown;
Of Sense too dull the piercing Point to feel,
And scarce sufficient Blood to stain the Steel.
His Carcass she into a Cauldron threw,
With Drugs whose vital Qualities she knew;
His Limbs grow less, he casts his Horns, and Years,
And tender Bleatings strike their wondring Ears.
Then instantly leaps forth a frisking Lamb,
That seeks (too young to graze) a suckling Dam. ”

“ The passive Savages like Statues stand,
While he their Dew-laps stroaks with soothing Hand;
To unknown Yoaks their brawny Necks they yield,
And, like tame Oxen, plow the wond'ring Field.
The Colchians stare; the Græcians shout, and raise
Their Champion's Courage with inspiring Praise. ”

“ The rav'nous Birds, and Beasts avoid the Prey:
Th' offensive Bodies rot upon the Ground,
And spread the dire Contagion all around.
⁠But now the Plague, grown to a larger Size,
Riots on Man, and scorns a meaner Prize.
Intestine Heats begin the Civil War,⁠
And Flushings first the latent Flame declare,
And Breath inspir'd, which seem'd like fiery Air.
Their black dry Tongues are swell'd, and scarce can move,
And short thick Sighs from panting Lungs are drove.
They gape for Air, with flatt'ring Hopes t'abate
Their raging Flames, but that augments their Heat. ”

“ With pious Off'rings they'd appease the Skies,⁠
But they, e're yet th' attoning Vapours rise,
Before the Altars fall, themselves a Sacrifice:
They fall, while yet their Hands the Gums contain,
The Gums surviving, but their Off'rers slain. ”

“ Rest to their Urns, unworthy are to live.
⁠What you request, thus Æacus replies,⁠
Not I, but Truth and common Faith denies;
Athens and we have long been sworn Allies:
Our Leagues are fix'd, confed'rate are our Pow'rs,
And who declare themselves their Foes, are ours. ”

“ Infected all the Air, and poison'd as it flew.
Our Fountains too a dire Infection yield,
For Crowds of Vipers creep along the Field,
And with polluted Gore, and baneful Steams,
Taint all the Lakes, and venom all the Streams.
⁠The young Disease with milder Force began,
And rag'd on Birds, and Beasts, excusing Man.
The lab'ring Oxen fall before the Plow,
Th' unhappy Plow-men stare, and wonder how:
The tabid Sheep, with sickly Bleatings, pines;
Its Wooll decreasing, as its Strength declines:
The warlike Steed, by inward Foes compell'd,
Neglects his Honours, and deserts the Field ”

“ Discretion this, Affection that perswades.
I see the Right, and I approve it too,
Condemn the Wrong,⸻and yet the Wrong pursue. ”

“ To give the New born Youth an equal Share,
And call them Myrmidons, from what they were.
You saw their Persons, and they still retain
The Thrift of Ants, tho' now transform'd to Men.
A frugal People, and inur'd to Sweat,
Lab'ring to gain, and keeping what they get.
These, equal both in Strength and Years, shall join
Their willing Aid, and follow your Design,
With the first Southern Gale that shall present
To fill your Sails, and favour your Intent. ”

“ Her Garments closely girt, but loose her Hair;
Thus sally'd, like a solitary Sprite,
She traverses the Terrors of the Night.
⁠Men, Beasts, and Birds in soft Repose lay charm'd,
No boistrous Wind the Mountain-Woods alarm'd ”

“ More swift than Light'ning he the Toils surpast,
And in his Course Spears, Men, and Trees o'er-cast.
We slipt our Dogs, and last my Lelaps too,
When none of all the mortal Race wou'd do:
He long before was struggling from my Hands,
And, e're we cou'd unloose him, broke his Bands.
That Minute where he was, we cou'd not find,
And only saw the Dust he left behind.
I climb'd a neighb'ring Hill to view the Chase,
While in the Plain they held an equal Race;
The Savage now seems caught, and now by Force
To quit himself, nor holds the same strait Course ”

“ And, while the Dragon slept, to distant Greece,
Thro' cheated Guards, convey'd the Golden Fleece.
But now to bolder Action I proceed,
Of such prevailing Juices now have need,
That wither'd Years back to their Bloom can bring,
And in dead Winter raise a second Spring.
And you'll perform't⸻
You will; for lo! the Stars, with sparkling Fires,
Presage as bright Success to my Desires:
And now another happy Omen see!
A Chariot drawn by Dragons waits for me.
⁠With these last Words she leaps into the Wain,
Stroaks the Snakes Necks, and shakes the Golden Rein ”

“ By Reason strives to quench the raging Fire;
But strives in vain!⸻Some God (she said) withstands,
And Reason's baffl'd Council countermands.
What unseen Pow'r does this Disorder move?
'Tis Love,⸻at leaft 'tis like, what Men call Love.
Else wherefore shou'd the King's Commands appear
To me too hard?⸻But so indeed they are.
Why shou'd I for a Stranger fear, lest he⁠
Shou'd perish, whom I did but lately see?
His Death, or Safety, what are they to me?
Wretch, from thy Virgin-Breast this Flame expel,
And soon⸻Oh cou'd I, all wou'd then be well!
But Love, resistless Love, my Soul invades ”