Now all undrest the shining goddess stood, When young Acteon, wilder'd in the wood, To the cool grot by his hard fate betray'd, The fountains fill'd with naked nymphs furvey'd, The frighted virgins fhriek'd at the surprise (The forest echo'd with their piercing cries). Then in a huddle round their goddess preft: She, proudly eminent above the rest, With blushes glow'd ; fuch blushes as adorn The ruddy welkin, or the purple morn: And though the crowdiug nymphs her body hide, Half backward fhrunk, and view'd him from afide. Surpris'd, at first she would have fnatch'd her bow, But fees the circling waters round her flow; These in the hollow of her hand fhe took, And dash'd them in his face, while thus fhe spoke : "Tell, if thou canft, the wondrous fight disclos'd; "A goddess naked to thy view expos'd" This faid, the man begun to dilappear By flow degrees, and ended in a deer. A rising horn on either brow he wears, And stretches out his neck, and pricks his ears; Rough is his fkin, with fudden hairs o'er-grown, His bofom pants with fears before unknown. Transform'd at length, he flies away in hafte, And wonders why he flies away so fast But as by chance, within a neighbouring brook, He saw his branching horns and alter'd look, Wretched Acteon! in a doleful tone He try'd to speak, but only gave a groan; And as he wept, within the watery glass He faw the big round drops, with filent pace, Run trickling down a favage hairy face. What should he do? Or seek his old abodes, Or herd among the deer, and fculk in woods? Here shame diffuades him, there his fear prevails, And each by turns his aching heart affails. As he thus ponders, he behind him spies His opening hounds, and now he hears their cries: A generous pack, or to maintain the chace, Or fnuff the vapour from the scented grafs. He bounded off with fear, and swiftly ran Through many a ring, where once he did purfue. When now the fleetest of the pack, that preft And call'd their lord Acteon to the game; But, to his grief, he finds himself too near, THE BIRTH OF BACCHUS. ACTEON's fufferings, and Diana's rage, id all the th ughts of men and gods engage; Some call'd the evils, which Diana wrought, Too great, and difproportion'd to the fault; Other, again esteem'd Actæon's woes Fit for a virgin goddess to impofe. The hearers into different parts divide, And reafons are produc'd on either side. Juno alone, of all that heard the news, Nor would condemn the goddess, nor excuse: She heeded not the justice of the deed, But joy'd to fee the race of Cadmus bieed; For ftill fhe kept Europa in her mind, And, for her fake, detefted all her kind. Befides, to aggravate her hate, she heard How Semele, to Jove's embrace preferr'd, Was now grown big with an immortal load, And carry'd in her womb a future god, Thus terribly incens'd, the goddess broke To fudden fury, and abruptly spoke : tr "Are my reproaches of fo small a force? "'Tis time I then purfue another course : "It is decreed the guilty wretch shall die, "If I'm indeed the mistress of the fky; "If rightly styl'd among the powers above "The wife and fifter of the thundering Jove "(And none can sure a fifter's right deny); "It is decreed the guilty wretch shall die. "She boasts an honour I can hardly claim; Pregnant the rises to a mother's name; "While proud and vain fhe triumphs in her Jove, "And fhows the glorious tokens of his love: "But if I'm still the mistress of the skies, "By her own lover the fond beauty dies.” This faid, defcending in a yellow cloud, Before the gates of Semele the stood. Old Beroë's decrepit shape she wears, 'Tis well," fays fhe, "if all be true that's faid. "But trust me, child, I'm much inclin'd to fear "Some counterfeit in this your Jupiter. "Many an honeft well defigning maid "Has been by these pretended gods betray'd. "But if he be indeed the thundering Jove, "Bid him, when next he courts the rites of love, "Defcend triumphant from th' ethereal fky, "In all the pomp of his divinity; cr Encompass'd round by those celestial charms, "With which he fills th' immortal Juno's arms. "Th' unwary nymph, enfnar'd with what she faid, Defir'd of Jove, when next he fought her bed, To grant a certain gift which fhe would choose; "Fear not," replied the god, "that I'll refufe "Whate'er you aik: may Styx confirm my voice, "Choose what you will, and you fhall have your " choice." [my arms "Then," fays the nymph," when next you seek "May you defcend in thofe celeftial charins "With which your Juno's bosom you inflame, "And fill with tranfport heaven's immortal "dame." [voice: The god furpris'd would fain have ftopp'd her But he had fworn, and fhe had made her cho. To keep his promife, he afcends, and fhrouds The mortal dame, too feeble to engage But, to prefete his offspring from the tomb, Juno the truth of what was said deny'd; It happen'd once, within a fhady wood, Two twisted snakes he in conjunction view'd; When with his ftaff their flimy folds he broke, And loft his manhood at the fatal ftroke. But, after seven revolving years, he view'd The self-fame ferpents in the self-same wood; "And if," fays he, fuch virtue in you lie, "That he who dares your flimy folds untie "Muft change his kind, a fecond stroke I'll “try." Again he ftruck the fnakes, and flood again THE TRANSFORMATION OF ECHO. FAM'D far and near for knowing things to come, From him th' inquiring nations fought their doom; The fair Liriope his answers try'd, Narciffus now his fixteenth year began, Once, in the woods, as he purfu'd the chace, To fport with every fentence in the clofe. Full often, when the goddess might have caught Jove and her rivals in the very fault, This nymph with fubtle ftories would delay Her coming, till the lovers flipp'd away. The goddess found out the deceit in time, ❝ crime, "Which could so many fubtle tales produce, The nymph, when nothing could Narciffus move, Rhamnufia pity'd the neglected fair, Mindless of fleep, and negligent of food; Still view'd his face, and languifh'd as he view'd. At length he rais'd his head, and thus began To vent his griefs, and tell the woods his pain; "You trees," fays he," and thou furrounding grove, "Who oft have been the kindly fcenes of love, "Tell me, if e'er within your shades did lie "A youth fo tortur'd, fo perplex'd as I ! " I who before me fee the charming fair, "Whilft there he ftands, and yet he ftands not "there: "In such a maze of love my thoughts are loft; "And yet no bulwark town, nor diftant coast, "Preferves the beauteous youth from being feen, "No mountains rife, nor oceans flow between. "A fhallow water hinders my embrace; "And yet the lovely mimic wears a face "That kindly fmiles, and when I bend to join "My lips to his, he fondly bends to mine. "Hear, gentle youth, and pity my complaint, "Come from thy well, thou fair inhabitant. 3 My charms an eafy conquest have obtained "O'er other hearts, by thee alone disdain'd. "But why fhould I despair? I'm fure he burns "With equal flames, and languishes by turns. "Whene'er I stoop, he offers at a kifs: "And when my arms I ftretch, he stretches his. "His eyes with pleasure on my face he keeps, "He fmiles ny fmiles, and when I weep he weeps. "Whene'er I speak, his moving lips appear "To utter fomething which I cannot hear, "Ah wretched me! I now begin too late "To find out all the long perplex'd deceit; "It is myfelf I love, myself I fee; "The gay delufion is a part of me. "I kindle up the fires by which I burn, "And my own beauties from the well return. "Whom should I court? How utter my coniplaint? "Enjoyment but produces my restraint, "And too much plenty makes me die for want. "How gladly would I from myself remove! “And at a distance set the thing I love. My breaft is warm'd with such unusual fire, "I wish him abfent whom I moft defire. [nigh; "And now I faint with grief; my fate draws "In all the pride of blooming youth I die. "Death will the forrows of my heart relieve. "O might the visionary youth furvive, "I should with joy my latest breath refign! "But, oh! I see his fate involv'd in mine.' This faid, the weeping youth again return'ð To the clear fountain, where again he burn'd; · His tears defac'd the furface of the well, And now the lovely face but half appears, She faw him in his prefent mifery, "Farewell," fays he the parting found fcarce fell For him the Naiads and the Dryads mourn, All ranks and fexes to his orgies ran, "Nor the loud din and horror of a fight? He fought the ftrong; do you his courage show, "Nor the hack'd helmet, nor the dufty field, "Go quickly, drag th' audacious boy to me; Thus did th' audacious wretch thofe rites profane; blood, [more. The captive views him with undaunted eyes, And, arm'd with inward innocence, replies: "From high Meonia's rocky hores I came, "Of poor defcent, Acates is my name : "My fire was meanly born; no oxen plough'd "His fruitful fields, nor in his paftures low'd. "His whole eftate within the waters lay; "With lines and hooks he caught the finny prey ; "His art was all his livelihood; which he "Thus with his dying lips bequeath'd to me : "In ftreams, my boy, and rivers, take thy chance; "There fwims, faid he, thy whole inheritance. "Long did I live on this poor legacy, "Till, tir'd with rocks, and my own native sky, "To arts of navigation I inclin'd; "Obferv'd the turns and changes of the wind: "Learn'd the fit havens, and began to note "The ftormy Hyades, the rainy Goat, "The bright Taygete, and the fhining Bears, "With all the failors catalogue of stars. ર "Once, as by chance for Delos I defign'd, " My vessel, driv'n by a strong gust of wind, "Moor'd in a Chian creek: afhore I went, "And all the following night in Chios spent. "When morning rofe, I fent my mates to bring Supplies of water from a neighbouring spring, "Whilft I the motion of the winds explor'd; "Then fummon'd in my crew, and went aboard. Opheltes heard my fummons, and with joy Brought to the fhore a foft and lovely boy, "With more than female sweetness in his look, "Whom ftraggling in the neighbouring fields he "took. "With fumes of wine the little captive glows, "And nods with fleep, and ftaggers as he goes. "I view'd him nicely, and began to trace "Each heavenly feature, each immortal grace, "And faw divinity in all his face. "I know not who, faid I, this god fhould be; "But that he is a god I plainly see : "And thou, whoe'er thou art, excufe the force "These men have us'd, and oh befriend our " course ! Pray not for us, the nimble Dictys cry'd; "Dictys, that could the main top-mast bestride, And down the ropes with active vigour flide.'S "To the fame purpose old Epopeus fpoke, "Who overlook'd the oars, and tim'd the stroke ; "The fame the pilot, and the fame the rest; "Such impious avarice their fouls poffeft. Nay, heaven forbid that I should bear away "Within my veffel fo divine a prey, "Said I; and stood to hinder their intent: "When Lycabas, a wretch for murder fent "From Tuscany, to fuffer banishment, "With his clench'd fift had ftruck me over "board, "Had not my hands in falling grafp'd a cord. "His bafe confederates the fact approve; "When Bacchus (for 'twas he) began to move, "Wak'd by the noise and clamours which they "rais'd; [gaz'd: "And fhook his drowfy limbs, and round him What means this noife? he cries; am I betray'd? Ah whither, whither muft I be convey'd ? "Fear not, faid Proteus, child, but tell us where "You wish to land, and truft our friendly care. "To Naxos then direct your course, says he; "Naxos a hofpitable port fhall be "To each of you, a joyful home to me. By every god that rules the fea or sky, "The perjur'd villains promife to comply, "And bid me haften to unmoor the ship. "With eager joy I launch into the deep; "And, heedlefs of the fraud, for Naxos ftand: "They whisper oft, and beckon with the hand. "And give me figns all anxious for their prey, "To tack about, and fteer another way. "Then let fome other to my post succeed, "Said I, I'm guiltlefs of fo foul a deed. "What, fays Ethalion, must the ship's whole "And from the deck the rising waves furvey'd, "And seem'd to weep, and as he wept he said; "And do you thus my eafy faith beguile? "Thus do you bear me to my native ifle? "Will fuch a multitude of men employ "Their strength against a weak defencelefs boy? "In vain did I the godlike youth deplore, "The more I begg'd, they thwarted me the more. "And now, by all the gods in heaven that hear "This folemn oath, by Bacchus' felf, I swear, "The mighty miracle that did enfue, Although it feems beyond belief, is true. "The veffel, fix'd and rooted in the flood, "Unmov'd by all the beating billows ftoed. "In vain the mariners would plough the main "With fails unfurl'd, and strike their oars in vain; "Around their oars a twining ivy cleaves, "And climbs the maft, and hides the cords in "leaves: "The fails are cover'd with a cheerful green, "The god we now behold with open eyes; "A herd of spotted panthers round him lies "In glaring forms; the grapy clusters spread "On his fair brows, and dangle on his head. "And whilft he frowns, and brandishes his fpear, My mates, furpriz'd with madness or with fear, "Leap'd over-board; first perjur'd Madon found Rough fcales and fins his stiffening fides fur "round: "Ah what, cries one, has thus transform'd thy "look? Straight his own mouth grew wider as he spoke: "And now himself he views with like furprise. "Still at his oar th' induftrious Libys plies; "But, as he plies, each bufy arm shrinks in, "And by degrees is fashion'd to a fin. "Another, as he catches at a cord, "Miffes his arms, and, tumbling over-board, "With his broad fins and forky tail he laves "The rifing furge, and flounces in he waves. |