Califto there ftood manifeft of shame,
And, turn'd a bear, the northern ftar became :
Her fon was next, and by peculiar grace
In the cold circle held the fecond place:
The stag Acteon in the stream had spy'd
The naked huntrefs, and, for feeing, dy'd:
His hounds, unknowing of his change pursue
The chace, and their mistaken master slew.
Peneian Daphne too was there to fee,
Apollo's love before, and now his tree :
Th' adjoining fane th' affembled Greeks exprefs'd,
And hunting of the Caledonian beast. Oenides' valor, and his envy'd prize; The fatal pow'r of Atalanta's eyes; Diana's vengeance on the victor fhown, The murdrefs mother; and confuming fon; The Volfcian queen extended on the plain; The treafon punish'd, and the traitor flain. The reft were various huntings, well defign'd, And favage beasts destroy'd, of ev'ry kind. The graceful goddess was array'd in green; About her feet were little beagles feen,
That watch'd with upward eyes the motions of their queen.
Her legs were buskin'd, and the left before;
In act to shoot, a filver bow she bore,
And at her back a painted quiver wore.
She trod a wexing moon, that foon would wane,
And drinking borrow'd light, be fill'd again :
With downcaft eyes, as feeming to survey
The dark dominions, her alternate fway.
Before her ftood a woman in her throes,
And call'd Lucina's aid, her burden to difclofe.
All these the painter drew with fuch command,
That Nature fnatch'd the pencil from his hand,
Afham'd and angry that his art could feign
And mend the tortures of a mother's pain.
Thefeus beheld the fanes of ev'ry God,
And thought his mighty coft was well bestow'd.
So princes now their poets fhould regard;
But few can write, and fewer can reward.
The theatre thus rais'd, the lifts enclos'd,
And all with vaft magnificence difpos'd,
We leave the monarch pleas'd, and hafte to bring
The knights to combat; and their arms to fing.
HE day approach'd when Fortune should
decide
Th' important enterprize, and give the Bride;
For now, the rivals round the world had fought,
And each his rival, well appointed, brought.
The nations, far and near, contend in choice,
And fend the flow'r of war by public voice;
That after, or before, were never known
Such chiefs, as each an army feem'd alone:
Befide the champions; all of high degree,
Who knighthood lov'd, and deeds of chivalry,
Throng'd to the lifts, and envy'd to behold
The names of others, not their own, enroll'd.
Nor feems it strange; for ev'ry noble knight
Who loves the fair, and is endu'd with might,
In fuch a quarrel wou'd be proud to fight.
There breathes not scarce a man on British ground
(An ifle for love and arms of old renown'd)
But would have fold his life to purchase fame,
To Palamon or Arcite fent his name:
And had the land felected of the best,
Half had come hence, and let the world provide the reft.
A hundred knights with Palamon there came,
Approv'd in fight, and men of mighty name;
Their arms were fev'ral, as their nations were,
But furnish'd all alike with fword and spear.
Some wore coat armor, imitating scale;
And next their skins were ftubborn fhirts of mail.
Some wore a breastplate and a light juppon,
Their horfes cloth'd with rich caparison :
Some for defence would leathern bucklers ufe,
Of folded hides; and other fhields of pruce.
One hung a pole axe at his faddle-bow,
And one a heavy mace to fhun the foe;
One for his legs and knees provided well,
With jambeux arm'd, and double plates of fteel:
This on his helmet wore a lady's glove,
And that a fleeve embroider'd by his love.
With Palamon above the reft in place,
Lycurgus came, the furly king of Thrace;
Black was his beard, and manly was his face;
The balls of his broad eyes roll'd in his head,
And glar'd betwixt a yellow and a red:
He look'd a lion with a gloomy stare,
And o'er his eye-brows hung his matted hair:
Big-bon'd, and large of limbs, with finews strong,
Broad-fhoulder'd, and his arms were round and
Four milk-white bulls (the Thracian use of old)
Were yok'd to draw his car of burnish'd gold.
Upright he stood, and bore aloft his shield,
Confpicuous from afar, and overlook'd the field.
His furcoat was a bear-fkin on his back;
His hair hung long behind, and gloffy raven black.
His ample forehead bore a coronet
With sparkling diamonds, and with rubies fet:
Ten brace, and more, of greyhounds, fnowy fair,]
And tall as ftags, ran loose, and cours'd around
his chair,
A match for pards in flight, in grappling for the
With golden muzzles all their mouths were bound, And collars of the fame their necks furround. Thus through the fields Lycurgus took his way; His hundred knights attend in pomp and proud array. To match this monarch, with ftrong Arcite came Emetrius king of Inde, a mighty name,
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