The EYES of AR GUS transformed into a PEACOCK'S TRAIN.
Now Jove no longer cou'd her fuff'rings bear; But call'd in hafte his airy meffenger,
The fon of Maïa, with fevere decree
To kill the keeper, and to fet her free.
With all his harnefs foon the God was fped;
His flying hat was faften'd on his head;
Wings on his heels were hung, and in his
He holds the virtue of the fnaky wand.
The liquid air his moving pinions wound,
And, in the moment, fhoot him on the ground.
Before he came in fight, the crafty God
His wings difmifs'd, but still retain'd his rod :
That fleep-procuring wand wife Hermes took,
Bnt made it seem to fight a fhepherd's hook.
With this he did a herd of goats controul;
Which by the way
he met, and flily ftole.
Clad like a country fwain, he pip'd, and fung;
And playing drove his jolly troop along.
With pleasure Argus the musician heeds;
But wonders much at those new vocal reeds.
And whofo'er thou art, my friend, said he,
Up hither drive thy goats, and play by me:
This hill has brouze for them, and fhade for thee.
The God, who was with ease induc'd to climb,
Began discourse to pafs away the time;
And still betwixt his tuneful pipe he plies;
And watch'd his hour, to close the keeper's eyes,
With much ado, he partly kept awake;
Not fuffring all his eyes repose to take :
And ask'd the stranger, who did reeds invent,
And whence began so rare an inftrument.
The TRANSFORMATION of SYRINX into REEDS.
Then Hermes thus ; a nymph of late there
Whofe heav'nly form her fellows did surpass.
The pride and joy of fair Arcadia's plains;
Belov'd by Deities, ador'd by fwains:
Syrinx her name, by Sylvans oft purfu'd,
As oft fhe did the luftful Gods delude:
The rural and the wood-land pow'rs difdain'd;
With Cynthia hunted, and her rites maintain'd;
Like Phoebe clad, e'en Phoebe's felf the feems,
So tall, fo ftraight, fuch well-proportion'd limbs:
The niceft eye did no distinction know,
But that the Goddess bore a golden bow:
Diftinguish'd thus, the fight fhe cheated too.
Defcending from Lycæus, Pan admires
The matchlefs nymph, and burns with new defires.
A crown of pine upon his head he wore;
And thus began her pity to implore.
But ere he thus began, fhe took her flight
So fwift, fhe was already out of fight.
Nor stay'd to hear the courtship of the God;
But bent her course to Ladon's gentle flood:
There by the river ftopt, and tir'd before,
Relief from water-nymphs her pray'rs implore.
Now while the luftful God, with speedy pace, Just thought to ftrain her in a ftrict embrace, He fills his arms with reeds, new rifing on the place.
And while he fighs his ill fuccefs to find,
The tender canes were fhaken by the wind;
And breath'd a mournful air, unheard before;
That much surprising Pan, yet pleas'd him more.
Admiring this new mufic, thou, he said,
Who canst not be the partner of my bed,
At least shalt be the confort of my mind;
And often, often, to my lips be join'd.
He form'd the reeds, proportion'd as they are:
Unequal in their length, and wax'd with care,
They still retain the name of his ungrateful fair.
While Hermes pip'd, and fung, and told his tale,
The keeper's winking eyes began to fail,
And drowsy flumber on the lids to creep;
Till all the watchman was at length asleep.
Then foon the God his voice and fong fuppreft;
And with his pow'rful rod confirm'd his reft:
Without delay his crooked falchion drew,
And at one fatal ftroke the keeper flew.
Down from the rock fell the diffever'd head,
Opening its eyes in death, and falling bled;
And mark'd the paffage with a crimson trail:
Thus Argus lies in pieces, cold and pale;
And all his hundred eyes, with all their light,
Are clos'd at once, in one perpetual night.
These Juno takes, that they no more may fail,
And spreads them in her peacock's gaudy tail.
Impatient to revenge her injur'd bed,
She wreaks her anger on her rival's head;
With furies frights her from her native home,
And drives her gadding round the world to roam :
Nor ceas'd her madness and her flight, before,
She touch'd the limits of the Pharian fhore.
At length, arriving on the banks of Nile,
Wearied with length of ways, and worn with toil, She laid her down and leaning on her knees, Invok'd the cause of all her miseries:
And caft her languishing regards above,
For help from heav'n, and her ungrateful Jove.
She figh'd, fhe wept, fhe low'd; 'twas all she cou'd;
And with unkindness feem'd to tax the God.
Laft, with an humble pray'r, fhe begg'd repofe,
Or death at leaft to finish all her woes.
Jove heard her vows, and with a flatt'ring look,
In her behalf to jealous Juno fpoke.
He caft his arms about her neck, and faid:
Dame, reft fecure; no more thy nuptial bed
This nymph fhall violate; by Styx I swear,
And every oath that binds the Thunderer.
The Goddess was appeas'd: and at the word
Was lo to her former shape reftor'd.
The rugged hair began to fall away;
The sweetness of her eyes did only stay,
Tho not fo large; her crooked horns decrease;
The wideness of her jaws and noftrils cease:
Her hoofs to hands return, in little space;
The five long taper fingers take their place;
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