TRANSLATIONS.

209
Now all undrest the shining gaddess stood, And call'd their lord Actuon to the game;
When young Adæon, wilder'd in the wood, He shook his head in answer to the name ;
To the cool grot by his hard fate betray'd,

He heard, but wish'd he had indeed been gonc, ,
The fountains fill'd with naked nymphs survey'd, Or only to have stood a looker-on,
The frighted virgins shriek'd at the surprise

But, to his grief, he finds himself no near,
(The forest echo'd with their piercing cries). And feels his ravenous dogs with fury tear
Then in a huddle round their goddess prest: Their wretched master panting in a deer.
She, proudly eminent above the rest,
With blushes glow'd; such blushes as adorn
The ruddy welkin, or the purple moro :
And though the crowdiug nymphs her body hide,
Hali backward shrunk, and view'd him from aside.

THE BIRTH OF BACCHUS.
Surpris'd, at first she would have snatch'd her how,
But sees tie circling waters round her flow; ACTżon's sufferings, and Diana's rage,
These in the hollow of her hand she took,

i id all the th. ughts of men and gods engage;
And dalh'd them in his face, while thus the spoke : Some call'd the evils, which Diana wrought,
« Tell, if thou canst, the wondrous fight disclos'd; Too great, and disproportion'd to the fault;
" A goddess naked to thy view expos'd"

Other, again esteem'd Actzon's woes This faid, the man begun to dilappear

Fit for a virgin goddess to impose. By low degrees, and ended in a deer.

The hearers into different parts divide,
A rising horn on either brow he wears,

And reasons are produc'd on either side.
And stretches out his neck, and pricks his ears ; Juno alone, of all that heard the pews,
Rough is his skin, with sudden hairs o'er-grown, Nor would condemn the goddess, nor excuse :
His bolom pants with fears before unknown. , She heeded not the justice of the deed,
Transform'd at length, he flies away in hafte, Bur jey'd to see the race of Cadmus bieed;
And wonders why he flies a way so fast

For still the kept Europa in her mind,
But as by chance, within a neighbouring brook, And, for her fake, detefted all her kind.
He saw his branching horns and alter'd look, Besides, to aggravate her hate, the heard
Wretched Actæon! in a doleful tone

How Semele, to sove's embrace preferr'd, He try'd to speak, but only gave a groan;

Was now grown big with an imniorral load, And as he wept, within the watery glass

And carry'd in her womb a future god. He saw the big round drops, with filent pace, Thus terribly incens'd, the goddess broke Run trickling down a favage hairy face.

To ludden fury, and abruptly spoke :
What hould he do? Or seek his old abodes,

" Are my reproaches of fo small a force ?
Or herd among the deer, and sculk in wouds ? “'Tis time I then pursue apother course :
Here shame dissuades him, there his fear prevails, It is decreed the guilty wretch shall die,
And each by turns his aching heart assails. « If l'in indeed the mistress of the sky;
As he thus ponders, he behind him fpies

“ If rightly styi'd among the powers above His opening hounds, and now he hears their cries: “ The wife and fifter of the thundering Jove A generous pack, or to maintain the chace,

(And none can sure a litter's right deny); Or snuff the vapour from the scented grass. “ It is decreed the guilty wretch shall die.

He bounded off with fear, and swiftly ran ~ She boasts an honour I can hardly claim; O'er craggy mountains, and the flwery plain; « Pregnant the rises to a mother's name; Through brakes and thickcta furc'd his way and “ While proud and vain she triumphs in her Jove, flew

" And shows the glorious tokens of his love : Through many a ring, where once he did pursue. « But if I'm still the mistress of the skies, In vain he oft endeavour'd to proclaim

“ By her own lover the fund beauty dies." His new misfortune, and to tell his name;

This said, descending in a yellow cloud,
Nor voice nor words che brutal congue supplies; Before the gates of Semele the stood.
From shouting mon, and horns, and dogs, he flies, Old Beroë's decrepit shape she wears,
Deafen'd and funn'd with their promiscuous Her wrinkled visage, and her hoary hairs;
cries.

Whilst in her trembling gait fbe totters on,
When now the feetest of the pack, that prest

And learns to tattle in the nurse's tone. Close at his heels, and sprung before the rest, The goddess, thus disguis'd in age, beguil'd Had fasten'd on him, straight another pair

With pleasing stories her false foster-child. Hung on his wounded haunch, and held him there, Much did the talk of love, and when the came Till all the pack came up, and every hound To niention to the nymph her lover's name, Tore the fad huntsman grovelling on the ground, Fetching a figh, and holding down her head, Who now appear'd but one continued wound. " 'Tis well," says she, "if all be true that's said. With droppiog tears his bitter fate he moans, « But trust me, child, I'm much inclin'd to fear And fills the mountain with his dying groans.

« Some counterfeit in this your Jupiter. His servants with a pitcous look he lpies,

« Many an honest well deägning maid And turns about his supplicating eyes.

“ Has been by these pretended gods betray'd. His servants, ignorant of what had chanc'd, * But if he be indeed the thundering Jove, Vith cager halte and joyful shouts advancd, “ Bid him, when next he coures the sites of love, VOL. VII.

O

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1)

« Descend triumphant from th' ethereal sky, 1 Juno the truth of what was said deny'd; “ In all the pomp of his divinity;

Tirefias therefore must the cause decide ; Encompass'd round by those celestial charms, For he the pleasure of each sex had try'd. “ With which he fills th' immortal Juno's armis." It happen'd once, within a shady wood, “ 'Th' unwary nymph, ensnar'd with what she Two twisted snakes he in conjunction view'd; said,

When with his staff their slimy folds he broke, Desir'd of Jove, when next he sought her bed, And lost his manhcod at the fatal Itroke. To grant a certain gift which she would choose; But, after seven revolving years, he view'd « Fear not,'' replied the god, “ that I'll refuse The self-fame serpents in the self-fame wood; " Whate'er you aik: may Styx confirni may yoice, " Anc if," says he, "fuch viriue in you lie, “ Choose what you will, and you shall have your “ That he who dares your fliny folds untie co choice.”

(my arms “ Must change his kind, a second stroke I'll " Then," says the nympha, “ when next you seek

try." “ May you descend in those celestial charins Again he struck the snakes, and stood again « With which your Juno's bolom you inflame, New-lex'd, and straight recover'd into man. " And fill with transport heaven's inmortal Him therefore both the Deities create dane.

(voice : The sovereign unipire in their grand debate : The god surpris'd would fain have stopp'd her And he declar'd for Jove : when Juno, fir'd, But he had sworn, and she had made her choir. More than so trivial an affair requir'd,

To liecp his promise, he ascends, and shrouds Depriv'd him, in her fury, of his fight, His awiul brow in whirlwinds and in clouds; And left him groping round in sudden night. Whilst all around, in terrible array,

But Jove (for so it is in heaven decreed, His thunders ratele, and his lightnings play. That no one god repeal another's deed) And yet, the dazzling lustre to abate,

Irradiates all his soul with inward lighe, He fet not out in all his pomp and state,

And with the prophet's art relieves the want of Clad in the mildest lightning of the skies,

fight.
And arni'd with thunder of the smallest size :
Not those huge bolts, by which the giants flain
Lay overthrown on the Phlegrean plain.
Twas of a lefser mold, and lighter weight;
They call it thunder of a second rate,

THE TRANSFORMATION OF ECHO.
For the rough Cyclops, who by Jove's cominand
Temper'd the bolt, and turn'd ic to his hand,

FAM’D far and near for knowing things to come, Work'd up less flame and fury in its make,

From him th' inquiring nations sought their And quench'd it sooner in the standing lake.

doom; Thus dreadfully adorn'd, with horror bright, The fair Liriope his answers try'd, Th'illustrious god, descending from his height,

And first th' unerring prophet justify'd; Came rushing on her in a form of light.

This nymph the god Cephisus had abus'd, The mortal dame, too feeble to engage

With all his winding waters circumfus'd, The lightning's flashes and the thunder's rage,

And on the Nereid got a lovely boy, Consum'd amidst the glories she desir'd,

Whom the soft maids ev'n then beheld with joy. And in the terrible embrace expir’d.

The tender dame, solicitous to know But, to presente his offspring from the tomb, Whether her child should reach old age or no, Jove took hint flooking from the blasted womb; Consults the fage Tiresias, who replies, And, if on ancient tales we may rely,

« If e'er he knows himself, he surely dies." Inclos'd ch'abortive infant in his thigh.

Long-liv'd the dubious mother in suspense, Here, when the babe had all his tine fulfill’d,

Till time unriddled all the prophet's sense, Ino fist took him for her foster-child;

Narcissus now his fixteenth year began, Then the Niseans, in their dark abode,

Just turn'd of boy; and on the verge of man; Nurs'd secretly, with milk, the thriving god.

Many a friend the blooning youth caress'd,
Many a lovesick maid her flame confess'd.
Such was his pride, in vain the friend caress’d,
The lovesick maid in vain her flame confefs'd.

Once, in the woods, as he pursu'd the chace, THE TRANSFORMATION OF TIRESIAS. The babbling Echo had defcry'd his face;

She, who in others' words her silence breaks, ?Twas now, while these transactions part on earth, Nor fpeaks herself but when another speaks. And Bacchus thus procur'd a second birth, Echo was then a naid, of speech bereft, When Jove, dispos’d to lay aside the weight of wonted speech; for though her voice was left, Of public enpirc, and the cares of state;

juno a curse did on her tongue impose, As to his queen in nectar buwls he quaff'd, To fport with every sentence in the close. *** In troth," says he, (and as he spoke he laughd.) Full often, when the goddess might have caught €. The sense of pleasure in the male is far

Jove and her rivals in the very fault, * More dull and dead, than what you females This nymph with subtle stories would delay u Mare."

Her coming, till the lovers flipr'd away.

211

move?

TRANSLATIONS.

. The goddess found out the deceit in time,

What could, fond youth, this helpless pafton And then she cry'd, “ That tongue, for this thy « crime,

What kindle io thee this anpity'd love? " Which could so many subtle tales produce, Thy owo warm blush within the water glows, « Shall be hereafter but of little use."

With thee the colour'd ihadow comes and goes, Hence 'tis she prattles in a fainter tone,

Its empty being on thyself relies;
With mimic sounds, and accents not her owo. Step chou aside, and the frail charmer dies.
This lovesick virgin, over-joy'd to find

Still o'er the fountain's wat'ry gleam he
The boy alone, still follow'd him behind;
When glowing warmly at her near approach, Mindless of sleep, and negligent of food;
As sulphur blazes at the taper's touch,

Still view'd his face, and languilh'd as he She long'd her hidden passion to reveal,

view'd. And tell her pains, but had nut words to tell : At length he rais'd his head, and thus began She can't begin, but waits for the rebound, To vent his griefs, and tell the woods his pain; To catch his voice, and to return the sound. “ You trees," says he, “ and thou surrounding The nymph, when nothing could Narcissus move,

grove, Still dash'd with blushes for her flighted love, " Who ofc have been the kindly scenes of love, Liv'd in the shady covert of the woods,

" Tell me, if e'er witbin your shades did lie In solitary caves and dark abodes

" A youth so tortur'd, so perplex'd as l! Where pining wander'd the rejected fair,

" I who before me see the charming fair, Till, harass'd out, and worn away with care, “ Whilst there he tands, and yet he stands not The founding keleton, of blood bereft,

" there : Besides her bones and voice had nothing left. « lo such a maze of love my thoughts are loft ; Her bones are pecrify'd, her voice is found « And yet no bulwark town, nor diftant coast, In vaults, where still it doubles every found. “ Preserves the beauteous youth from being feen,

« No mountains rise, nor oceans flow between.

“ A shallow water hinders my embrace; THE STORY OF NARCISSUS.

" And yet the lovely mimic wears a face

“ That kindly smiles, and when I bend to join Thus did the nymph in vain caress the boy,

My lips to his, he fondly bends to mine. He still was lovely, but he still was coy:

" Hear, gentle youth, and pity my complaint, When one fair virgin of the Nighted train

“ Come from thy well, thou fair inhabitant. Thus pray'd the gods, provok'd by his disdain, My charms an easy conquest have obtained “ Oh may he love like me, and love like me in « O'er other hearts, by thee alone disdain'd. " vain!"

" But why fhould I despair ? I'm sure he burns Rhamnusia pity'd the neglected fair,

« With equal flames, and languishes by turns. And with just vengeance answer'd to her prayer. " Whene'er I stoop, he offers at a kiss :

There stands a fountain in a darksome wood, " And when my arms I stretch, he stretches his Nor stain'd with falling leaves nor rising mud; “ His eyes with pleasure on my face he keeps, Untroubled by the breath of winds it rests,

" He smiles ny failes, and when I weep he Unsully'd by the touch of men or beasts;

weeps. High bowers of shady trees above it grow,

« Whene'er I speak, his moving lips appear And rising grass and cheerful greens below. " To utter something which I cannot hear, Pleas'd with the form and coolness of the place, « Ah wretched me! I now begin too late And over-heated by the morning chace,

« To find out all the long perplex'd deceit; Narcisus on the grassy verdure lies :

“ It is myself I love, myself I see ;
But whilst within the crystal fount he tries « The gay delusion is a part of me.
To quench his heat, he feels new heats arise. “ I kindle up the fires by which I burn,
For, as his own bright image he survey'd,

" And my own beauties from the well return. He fell in love with the fantastic shade;

" Whom Iliould I court? How utter my consAnd o'er the fair resemblance hung unmov'd, Nor knew, fond youth! it was himself he lov'd. « Enjoyment but produces niy restrains, The well-turn'd neck and shoulders he descrics, " And too much plenty makes me die for want. The spacious forehead, and the sparkling eyes; “ How gladly would I from myself remove! The hands that Bacchus might not scorn co fhow, " And at a distance set the thing I love. And hair that round Apollo's head mighe flow, My breast is warm'd with such unusual fire, With all the purple youthfulness of face,

« I wish him absent whom I most desire. (nigh; That gently blushes in the watery glass.

« And now I faint with grief; my fate draws By his own flames consum'd, the lover lies, - In all the pride of blooming youth I die. And gives himself the wound by which he dies. " Death will the forrows of my heart relieve. To the cold water oft he joins his lips,

« O might the visionary youth survive, Oft catching at the beauteous fhade he dips " I should with joy my latest breath resign! His arms, as often from himself he slips.

But, oh! I see his fate involv'd in mine." Nor knows he who it is his arnis pursue

This said, the weeping yonth again retura'd With cager clasps, but loves he knows not who. To the clear fountain, where again he burn'di

plaint ?

His tears defac'd the surface of the well,

All ranks and sexes to his orgies ran, Tiith circle after circle, as they fell :

To mingle in the pomps, and fill the train. And now the lovely face but half appears,

When Pentheus thus his wicked rage express'd : O'er-run with wrinkles, and deform'd with tears. . " What madness, Thebans, has your f ui poffels'd ? “ Ah whither," cries Narcisus, “ dost thou fly? “ Can hollow timbrels, can a drunken thout, “ Let me still feed the flame by which I die ; " And the lewd clamours of a beastly rout,

Let me still fee, though I'm no further bleft." “ Thus quell your courage? Can the weak alarm Then rends his garment off, and beats his brcast : " Of women's yell those ftubborn souls disarm, His naked borom redden'd with the blow,

• Whom nor the sword nur trumpet e'er could In such a blush as purple clusters show,

fright, Ere yet the sun's autumnal hears refine

ir Nor the loud din and horror of a fight? The sprightly juice, and mellow it to wine. " And you, our fires, who left your old abodes, The glowing beautics of his brcast he spics, “ And fix'd in foreign earth your country gods ; And with a new redoubled passion dies

" Will you without a stroke your city yield, As wax dissolves, as ice begins to run,

" And poorly quit an undisputed field ? And trickle into drops before the sun,

" But you, whose youth and vigour should inspire So melts the youth, and larguishes away :

" Heroic warmth, and kindle martial tire, His beauty withers, and his limbs decay,

" Whom hurnith'd arnis and crested helmets grace, And none of those attractive charms remain, “ Not flowery garlands and a painted face; To which the flighted Echo sued in vain.

“ Rcnumber him to whom you stand ally'd: She saw him in his present misury,

" Tlie serpent for his well of waters dy'd. Whom, spite of all her wrongs, she griev'd to see. Hcfiiught the trong ; do you his courage show, She answer'd sadly to the lover's nioan,

" And gain a conquest o'er a feeble foe. Sigh'd back his fighs, and grcan'd co every groan ; " If Thebes mutt fall, oh might the fates afford " A youth! belov'd in vain," Narcissus cries; A nobler doon, from famine, fire, or sword! « Ah youth! belov'd in vain," the nymph re- " Then might the Thebans perish with renown: plies.

« But now a beardlcís victor sacks the town; " Farewell," says he : the parting sound fcarce fell “ Whom nor the prancing steed, nor ponderous From his faint lips, but the reply'd," Farewell."

shield, Then on th' unwholesome earth he gasping lies,

“ Nor the hack'd helmet, nor the dusty field, Till death shucs up those felf-admiring eyes. “ But the soft joys of luxury and ease, To the cold Mades his flitting ghost retires, * The purple vests, and flowery garland please. And in the Stygian waves itfelf adoires.

“ Stand then afide, I'll make the counterfeit For him the Naiads and the Dryads mourn, “ Renounce his godhead, and confess the cheat, Whom the fad Echo answers in her curn :

" Acrisius from the Grecian walls repell'd And now the filter-nymphs prepare his urn; " This boasted power; why then should PenWhen, looking for his corple, they only found

on theus yield? A rising stalk with yellow bloffunis crown'd. « Go quickly, drag th' audacious boy to mc;

« f'll try the furce of his divinity."
Thus did th' audacious wretch chose rites profane;

His friends disuade th' audacious wretch in vain;
THE STORY OF PENTHLUS.

In vain his grandfire urg'd him to give o'er

His impious threats; the wretch but raves the This sad event gave blind Tiresas fame,

So have I seen a river gently glide, (more. Through Greece establish'd in a prophet's name. In a smooth curse, and inoffensive tide;

Th' unhallow'd Penthous only durit deride But if with dans its current we rcftrain, The cheared people, and their eyeless guide. It bears down all, and foams along the plain. To whom the prophet in his fury said,

But now his servants came besmear'd with Shaking thc hoal y honours of his head;

blood, “ Twere well, presumptuous man, 'were well Sent by their haughty princc to seize the god; (6 fvr thce

The god they found not in the frantic throng, " If thou wert eycless tou, and blird, like me : But dragged a zcalous votaiy along. " For the time comes, nay, 'tis already here, " When the young goal's soieninities ap¡ ear i Which if thou doit not with just rilcs adorn,

THE MARINERS TRANSFORMED TO I hy impious carcase into pieces torn, « Shail Rrew the woods, and hang on every

DOLPHINS. 6 thorn. " Then, then, remember what I now foretel, HIM Pentheus vicw'd with fury in his look, « And own the blind Tiresias faw too well." And {carce with-held his hands, while thus he Sull Pentheus Scorns him, and derides his skill;

fpoke : But time did all the prophet's tlirtats fulfi). “ Vile flave, whom speedy vengeance shall pursue l'ur sow through pruftrate Grecce young Bac- "And terrify thy bale feditious crow: chun rode,

Thy county and thy parentage reveal, Whill howling matrons celebrate the fod. " And, why thou join' li io chele mad orgies, tell."

215

crew

TRANSLATIONS, The captive views him with undaunted eyes, “ Fear not, said Proteus, child, but tell us where And, arm'd with inward innocence, replies : “ You wish to land, and trust our friendly care.

" From high Meonia's rocky shores I came, “ To Naxos then direct your course, says he; " Of poor descent, Accetes is my name :

“ Naxos a hopitable port shall be 6 My fire was meanly born; no oxen plough'd “ To each of you, a joyful home to me. of His fruitful fields, nor in his pastures low'd. “ By every god that rules the sea or sky, “ His whole estate within the waters lay;

“ The perjur'd villains promise to comply, " With lines and hooks he caught the finny prey; “ And bid nie haften to unmoor the ship. " His art was all his livelihood; which he

" With eager joy I launch into the deep; • Thus with his dying lips bequeath'd to me: " And, heedless of the fraud, for Naxos stand : “ In streams, my boy, and rivers, take thy chance; " They whisper oft, and beckon with the hand. " There swims, said he, thy whole inheritance, “ And give nie signs all anxious for their prey, “ Long did I live on this poor legacy,

« To tack about, and steer another way. « Till, tir'd with rocks, and my own native sky, « Then let some other to my pott succeed, « To arts of navigation I inclin'd;

“ Said I, I'm guiltless of so loul a deed. “ Observ'd the turns and changes of the wind : " What, says Ei halion, mult the ship's whole « Learn'd the fit havens, and began to note " The stormy Hyades, the rainy Goat,

" Follow your humour, and depend on you? “ The bright Taygete, and the shining Bears, « And straight himself he feated at the prore, 66 With all the sailors catalogue of stars.

" And cack'd about, and fought another shore. « Once, as by chance for Delos I design'd,

“ The beauteous youth now found himself « My vessel, driv'n by a strong gust of wind,

“ betray'd, " Moor'd in a Chian creek : ashore I went, " And from the deck the rising wares survey'd, * And all the following night in Chios spent. “ And seem'd to weep, and as he wepe he said; " When morning rose, I sent my mates to bring “ And do you thus my cały faith beguile ? ** Supplies of water from a neighbouring spring, « Thus do you hear me to my native isle? * Whilft I the morion of the winds explor'd; « Will such a muleitude of nien employ " Then summon'd in my crew, and went aboard. " Their strength against a weak defenceless boy? Opheltes heard my summons, and with joy

« In vain did I che godlike youth deplore, " Brought to the shore a soft and lovely boy, “ The niore I begg'd, they thwarted me the more. " With more than female sweetness in his look, “ And now, by all the gods in heaven that hear " Whom ftraggling in the neighbouring fields he " This solemn oath, by Bacchus' self, I swear, " cook.

• The mighty miracle chat did entue, " With fumes of wine the litele captive glows, Alchough it seems beyond belief, is true. " And nods with Alcep, and staggers as he goes. “ The vessel, fix'd and rooted in the flood,

" I view'd him nicely, and began to trace “ Unmov'd hy all the beating billows stood. " Each heavenly feature, each immortal grace, “ In vain the mariners would plough the main " And saw divinity in all his face.

“ Wich fails unfurl'd, and strike their oars in vain; es I know not who, said I, chis god should be; “ Around their oars a twining ivy cleaves, " But that he is a god I plainly see:

bi And clinibs the mast, and hides the cords in " And thou, whoe'er thou art, excuse the force

as leaves : “ These men have us'd, and oh befriend our “ The fails are cover'ŭ with a cheerful green,

"
course :

“ And berries in the fruitful canvas seen. Pray not for us, the nimble Didys cry'd; “ Amidst the waves a sudden forest rears “ Didys, that could the main top-mast bestride,

« Its verdant head, and a new spring appears. • And down the ropes with active vigour slide. S " The god we now behold with open eyes; " To the same purpose old Epopeus spoke,

A herd of spotted panthers round hini lies “ Who overlook'd the oars, and tin'd the stroke; “ In glaring forms; the grapy clusters spread ok The same the pilot, and the same the rest; “ On his fair brows, and daugle on his head. “ Such impious avarice their souls posseft. “ And whilst he frowns, and brandishes his spear,

Nay, heaven forbid that I should bear away “ My mates, surpriz'd with madness or with fear, 6 Within my vessel fo divine a prey,

Leap'd over-board; Grit perjur'd Madon found " Said I ; and stood to hinder their intent:

mto

“ Rough scales and fins his ftiffening fides lur" When Lycabas, a wretch for murder (ent

« round: " From Tuscany, to suffer banishment,

“ Ah what, cries one, has thus transformi'd thy " With his clench'd fist had struck nic over

" look?

Straight his own mouth grew wider as he spoke: " Had not my hands in falling grasp'd a cord. “ And now himself he views with like surprise. « His base confederates the fact approre;

“ Still at his oar ch' induftrious Libys plies; " When Bacchus (for 'twas he) began to move, “ But, as he plies, each busy arm thrinks in, * Wak'd by the noise and clamours which they “ And by degrees is fashion'd to a fin.

[gaz'd: “ Another, as he catches at a cord, And shook his drowsy limbs, and round him “ Misses his arms, and, tumbling over-board, What means this noise ? he crics ; am I betray'd? “ With his broad fins ard forky rail he lares Ah! whither, whither must I be convey'di? " The rising surge, and flounces in he waves.

}

« board,

rais'd;

1