Ovid

“ Those Rocks and Woods that oft thy Strain had led,⁠
Mourn for their Charmer, and lament him dead;
And drooping Trees their leafy Glories shed.
Näïds and Dryads with dishevel'd Hair
Promiscuous weep, and Scarfs of Sable wear;
Nor cou'd the River-Gods conceal their Moan,
But with new Floods of Tears augment their own.
His mangled Limbs lay scatter'd all around,
His Head, and Harp a better Fortune found;
In Hebrus' Streams they gently roul'd along,
And sooth'd the Waters with a mournful Song.
Soft deadly Notes the lifeless Tongue inspire,
A doleful Tune sounds from the floating Lyre ”

“ And not content with Seas, insult the Shore,
When Ocean, Air, and Earth at once ingage,
And rooted Forests fly before their Rage:
At once the clashing Clouds to Battle move,
And Lightnings run across the Fields above:
I know them well, and mark'd their rude Comport,
While yet a Child within my Father's Court:
In times of Tempest they command alone,
And he but sits precarious on the Throne:
The more I know, the more my Fears augment ”

“ The Gods their Shapes to Winter-Birds translate,
But both obnoxious to their former Fate.
Their conjugal Affection still is ty'd,
And still the mournful Race is multiply'd:
They bill, they tread; Alcyonè compress'd,
Sev'n Days sits brooding on her floating Nest:
A wintry Queen: Her Sire at length is kind,
Calms ev'ry Storm, and hushes ev'ry Wind,
Prepares his Empire for his Daughter's Ease,
And for his hatching Nephews smooths the Seas. ”

“ To whom in Fame, the Pow'r his Sire shall yield.
⁠Jove, who ador'd the Nymph with boundless Love,
Did from his Breast the dangerous Flame remove.
He knew the Fates, nor car'd to raise up one,
Whose Fame and Greatness should eclipse his own.
On happy Peleus he bestow'd her Charms,
And bless'd his Grandson in the Goddess' Arms.
⁠A silent Creek Thessalia's Coast can show;
Two Arms project, and shape it like a Bow;
'Twould make a Bay, But the transparent Tide
Does scarce the yellow-gravel'd Bottom hide;
For the quick Eye may thro' the liquid Wave
A firm unweedy level Beach perceive. ”

“ Whose Balms renew the Limbs to Labours of the Day,
Care shuns thy soft Approach, and sullen flies away!
Adorn a Dream, expressing human Form,
The Shape of him, who suffer'd in the Storm,
And send it flitting to the Trachin Court,
The Wreck of wretched Ceyx to report:
Before his Queen bid the pale Spectre stand,
Who begs a vain Relief at Juno's Hand. ”

“ The Cries of Men are mix'd with rattling Shrowds;
Seas dash on Seas, and Clouds encounter Clouds:
At once from East to West, from Pole to Pole,
The forky Lightings flash, the roaring Thunders roul.
⁠Now Waves on Waves ascending scale the Skies,
And in the Fires above the Water fries:
When yellow Sands are sifted from below,
The glitt'ring Billows give a golden Show:
And when the fouler Bottom spews the Black,
The Stygian Dye the tainted Waters take:
Then frothy White appear the flatted Seas,
And change their Colour, changing their Disease. ”

“ The Sails are drunk with Show'rs, and drop with Rain,
Sweet Waters mingle with the briny Main.
No Star appears to lend his friendly Light;
Darkness, and Tempest 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 Soldier foremost in the Fight,
Makes way for others, and an Host alone
Still presses on, and urging gains the Town ”

“ Th' intruding Seas, and Waves ejects on Waves.
⁠In this Confusion while their Work they ply,
The Winds augment the Winter of the Sky,
And wage intestine Wars; the suff'ring Seas
Are toss'd, and mingled as their Tyrants please.
The Master would command, but in despair
Of Safety, stands amaz'd with stupid Care,
Nor what to bid, or what forbid he knows,
Th' ungovern'd Tempest to such Fury grows:
Vain is his Force, and vainer is his Skill ”

“ While the fat Entrails crackle in the Fire,
And Sheets of Smoak in sweet Perfume aspire;
Till Proteus rising from his oozy Bed,
Thus to the poor desponding Lover said:
No more in anxious Thoughts your Mind employ;
For yet you shall possess the dear expected Joy.
You must once more th' unwary Nymph surprize,
As in her cooly Grot she slumbring lies;
Then bind her fast with unrelenting Hands,
And strain her tender Limbs with knotted Bands. ”

“ Strikes the still Shore, and frights us with Surprize.
Strait a huge Wolf rush'd from the marshy Wood,
His Jaws besmear'd with mingled Foam, and Blood.
Tho' equally by Hunger urg'd, and Rage,
His Appetite he minds not to asswage;
Nought that he meets, his rabid Fury spares,
But the whole herd with mad Disorder tears.
Some of our Men who strove to drive him thence,
Torn by his Teeth, have dy'd in their Defence.
The ecchoing Lakes, the Sea, and Fields, and Shore,
Impurpled blush with Streams of reeking Gore.
Delay is Loss, nor have we time for Thought ”

“ She said, and to the neighbouring Mole she strode,
(Rais'd there to break th' Incursions of the Flood;)
⁠Headlong from hence to plunge her self she springs,
But shoots along, supported on her Wings;
A Bird new-made, about the Banks she plies,
Not far from Shore, and short Excursions tries;
Nor seeks in Air her humble Flight to raise,
Content to skim the Surface of the Seas:
Her Bill, tho' slender, sends a creaking Noise,
And imitates a lamentable Voice. ”

“ As for a Stranger wept, and thus began.
⁠Poor Wretch, on stormy Seas to lose thy Life,
Unhappy thou, but more thy widow'd Wife!
At this she paus'd; for now the flowing Tide
Had brought the Body nearer to the Side:
The more she looks, the more her Fears increase,
At nearer Sight; and she's her self the less:
Now driv'n ashore, and at her Feet it lies,
She knows too much, in knowing whom she sees:
Her Husband's Corps; at this she loudly shrieks,
'Tis he, 'tis he, she cries, and tears her Cheeks,
Her Hair, and Vest ”

“ And toss'd on Seas; press'd with the pond'rous Blow,
Down sinks the Ship within th' Abyss below:
Down with the Vessel sink into the Main
The many, never more to rise again.
Some few on scatter'd Planks, with fruitless Care,
Lay hold and swim, but while they swim, despair. ”

“ And fresh Surprize to all the Audience gives.
O Peleus, Peleus, dreadful News I bear,
He said; and trembled as he spoke for Fear.
The worst, affrighted Peleus bid him tell,
Whilst Ceyx too grew pale with friendly Zeal.
Thus he began: When Sol Mid-heav'n had gain'd,
And half his Way was past, and half remain'd,
I to the level Shore my Cattle drove,
And let them freely in the Meadows rove;
Some stretch'd at length admire the watry Plain,
Some crop'd the Herb, some wanton swam the Main.
A Temple stands of antique Make hard by,
Where no gilt Domes, nor Marble lure the Eye ”

“ The Lute, emboss'd with glitt'ring Jewels, blaz'd.
In his right Hand he nicely held the Quill,
His easy Posture spoke a Master's Skill.
The Strings he touch'd with more than human Art,
Which pleas'd the Judge's Ear, and sooth'd his Heart ”

“ To plunge his Body in, and wash away the Stain.
The King instructed to the Fount retires,
But with the golden Charm the Stream inspires:
For while this Quality the Man forsakes,
An equal Pow'r the limpid Water takes;
Informs with Veins of Gold the neighb'ring Land,
And glides along a Bed of golden Sand.
⁠Now loathing Wealth, th' Occasion of his Woes,
Far in the Woods he sought a calm Repose ”

“ Extending not beyond our human Kind.
Another, Birds, and Beasts, and Dragons apes,
And dreadful Images, and Monster Shapes:
This Demon, Icelos, in Heav'n's high Hall
The Gods have nam'd; but Men Phobetor call. ”

“ In vain their Toes, and Feet they look to find,
For ev'n their shapely Legs are cloath'd with Rind.
One smites her Thighs with a lamenting Stroke,
And finds the Flesh transform'd to solid Oak;
Another, with Surprize, and Grief distrest,
Lays on above, but beats a wooden Breast.
A rugged Bark their softer Neck invades,
Their branching Arms shoot up delightful Shades ”

“ And squeaking Horn-pipes eccho thro' the Skies,
Which, in hoarse Consort with the Drum, confound
The moving Lyre, and ev'ry gentle Sound:
Then 'twas the deafen'd Stones flew on with Speed,
And saw, unsooth'd, their tuneful Poet bleed.
The Birds, the Beasts, and all the Savage Crew
Which the sweet Lyrist to Attention drew,
Now, by the Female Mob's more furious Rage,
Are driv'n, and forc'd to quit the shady Stage.
Next their fierce Hands the Bard himself assail,
Nor can his Song against their Wrath prevail:
They flock, like Birds ”

“ Secure to live together, or to die.
⁠These Reasons mov'd her warlike Husband's Heart,
But still he held his Purpose to depart?
For as he lov'd her equal to his Life,
He would not to the Seas expose his Wife ”