And when those fun'ral flames no longer burn,
(The duft compos'd within a pious urn)
Ev'n in that urn their brother they confess,
And hug it in their arms, and to their bosoms press.
His tomb is rais'd; then, ftretch'd along the
Those living monuments his tomb furround: Ev'n to his name, infcrib'd, their tears they pay, Till tears and kiffes wear his name away.
But Cynthia now had all her fury spent,
Not with lefs ruin, than a race, content:
Excepting Gorge, perish'd all the feed,
And her whom heav'n for Hercules decreed.
Satiate at last, no longer the purfu'd
The weeping fifters; but with wings endu'd,
And horny beaks, and fent to flit in air;
Who yearly round the tomb in feather'd flocks
repair.
Out of the Eighth Book of
The author, pursuing the deeds of Thefeus, relates bow he, with his friend Pirithous, were invited by Achelous, the River-God, to flay with him, till his waters were abated. Achelous entertains them with a relation of his own love to Perimele, who was changed into an island by Neptune, at his request. Pirithous, being an atheist, derides the legend, and denies the power of the Gods to work that miracle. Lelex, another companion of Thefeus, to confirm the ftory of Achelous, relates another metamorphofis of Baucis and Philemon into trees of which he was partly an eye-witness,
HUS Achelous ends: his audience hear
With admiration, and admiring fear
The pow'rs of heav'n; except Ixion's son,
Who laugh'd at all the Gods, believ'd in none;
He fhook his impious head, and thus replies,
Thefe legends are no more than pious lies
You attribute too much to heav'nly fway,
To think they give us forms, and take away.
The reft, of better minds, their fenfe declar'd
Against this doctrine, and with horror heard.
Then Lelex rofe, an old experienc'd man,
And thus with fober gravity began:
Heav'n's power is infinite: earth, air, and sea,
The manufacture mafs, the making power obey:
By proof to clear your doubt ; in Phrygian
ground
Two neighb'ring trees, with walls encompass'd round,
Stand on a mod'rate rife, with wonder shown,
One a hard oak, a fofter linden one :
I faw the place and them, by Pittheus sent
To Phrygian realms, my grandfire's government.
Not far from thence is feen a lake, the haunt
Of coots, and of the fishing cormorant :
Here Jove with Hermes came; but in disguise
Of mortal men conceal'd their Deities:
One laid afide his thunder, one his rod;
And many toilfome steps together trod;
For harbour at a thousand doors they knock'd,
Not one of all the thousand but was lock'd.
At last an hofpitable house they found,
A homely shed; the roof, not far from ground, Was thatch'd with reeds and ftraw together
There Baucis and Philemon liv'd, and there
Had liv'd long marry'd, and a happy pair :
Now old in love; tho little was their store,
Inur'd to want, their poverty they bore,
Nor aim'd at wealth, profeffing to be
For mafter or for fervant here to call,
Was all alike, where only two were all.
Command was none, where equal love was paid,
Or rather both commanded, both obey'd.
From lofty roofs the Gods repuls'd before,
Now ftooping, enter'd thro the little door;
The man (their hearty welcome first express'd)
A common settle drew for either guest,
But ere they fat, officious Baucis lays
Two cushions ftuff'd with straw, the feat to raise; Coarfe, but the beft fhe had; then takes the
Of afhes from the hearth, and spreads abroad The living coals, and left they fhou'd expire, With leaves and barks the feeds her infant-fire ;
Itfmokes, and then with trembling breath the blows, Till in a chearful blaze the flames arofe.
With brush-wood and with chips she strengthens these,
And adds at laft the boughs of rotten trees.
The fire thus form'd, the fets the kettle on,
(Like burnish'd gold the little feether shone)
Next took the coleworts which her husband got
From his own ground (a small well water'd spot;)
She stripp'd the stalks of all their leaves; the best
She cull'd, and then with handy care fhe drefs'd.
High o'er the hearth a chine of bacon hung;
Good old Philemon feiz'd it with a prong,
And from the footy rafter drew it down,
Then cut a slice, but fcarce enough for one:
Yet a large portion of a little store,
Which for their fakes alone he with'd were more.
This in the pot he plung'd without delay,
To tame the flesh, and drain the falt away.
The time between, before the fire they fat,
And shorten'd the delay by pleafing chat.
A beam there was, on which a beechen pail
Hung by the handle, on a driven nail :
This fill'd with water, gently warm'd, they set
Before their guests; in this they bath'd their feet,
And after with clean towels dry'd their sweat :
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