Ere long á fecret audierce hall obtain,
And to my purpules Abfyrtus gain.
My plan (1 reck not) if it please, purfue:
Go, flay my brother, and the fight renew.'
Such were the fares the treacherous lovers
laid;

And by large prefents was the prince betray'd.
The heralds with thefe fpecious prefents bore 500
The veil Hypfipyle fo lately wore.

Fach grace in Naxos ifle, with art divine,
Wrought the rich raiment for the god of wine;
He gave it Thons, his illuftrious heir,
And Theas to Hypfipyle the fair;

She gave it Jafon; wondering you behold

And with new tranfport trace th' embroider'd gold.

What time with large nectareous draughts opprefs'd,

510

On the foft vefture Bacchus funk to rest,
Clofe by his fide the Cretan maid reclin'd,'
At Naxos ifle whom Thefeus left behind;
From that blefs'd hour the robe, with odours
fill'd,

Ambrofial fragrance wide around diftill'd.

Her guileful purposes the magic maid
In order thus before the heralds laid:

That foon as night her fable shade had spread,
And to the temple was Medea led,
Thither Abfertus fhould repair and hear
A project pleafing to a brother's ear:

How fhe, the golden fleece in triumph borne,
Would to Acta fpeed her wifh'd return;

How Phrixus' treacherous fons prolong'd her stay,

530

And her to cruel foes confign'd à prey.
Then far the flung her potent spells in air,
Which lur'd the distant favage from his lair.
Curfe of mankind' from thee contentions flow,
Diaftrous love! and every heart-felt woe:
Thy darts the children of thy foes infest,
As now they rankle in Medea's breaft.
How vanquish'd by her wiles, Abfyrtus fell,
la feemly order now my mufe muft tell.
Medea now fecur'd in Dian's fane,
The Colchians hafien to their ships again.
Jafon meanwhile lies in clofe ambush bent,
Ablyrtus and his friends to circumvent.
Him, yet unpractis'd in his fifter's guile,
His ready thip had wafted to the ifle :
Conceal'd in night they tugg'd their toilfume oars,
Till in the bay fecure the veffel moors.
Alone, m confidence, the tripling came,
Ard at Diana's porch approach'd the dame,
(She like a torrent look'd, when fwoln with rain,
Which foaming terrifies the village-fwain);
To learn what fnare her wily art could lay,
To drive thefe bold adventurers away.
And all was plann'd; when from his ambuscade
Sprung fon's fon, and fhook his lifted blade.
The confcious fifter, ftung with fecret dread,
Left her own eyes fhould view Abfyrtus dead,
Turn'd from the murderous fcene afide diftrefs'd,
And veil'd her guilty face beneath her veft.
As falls an ox beneath the triker's blow,
So was Abfyrtus laid by Jafon low.

TRANS. II.

540

551

Near that bright fane the neighbouring Brugi

built,

He eyes his victim, and completes his guilt.
Here funk he low; and to his bleeding fide,
Compreffing both his hands the hero died.
Medea's veil receiv'd the purple flood,

And her fair vellure blufh'd with brother's blood.

Hell's blackeft fury the diré fcene furvey'd, 560
And mark'd with fidelong eye the reeking blade.
The pious rite for blood in fecret fpilt,
Jafon fulfils, and expiates his guilt.
The fkin he rafes from the body flain,
Thrice licks the blood, thrice fpits it out again.
Then with collected earth the corfe he prefs'd;
And fill his bones with Abfyrteans rest.

When in full profpect the bright flambeau blaz'd,

Which to conduct the chiefs Medea rais'd,
Elate with hope the radiant guide they view, 750
And near the Colchian vessel Argo drew.
As lions fierce the timorous flocks difmay,
Leap o'er the folds, and drive them far away;
As trembling doves before the kite retreat,
So before Argo flies the Colchian fleet,
Furious as flame, on all the hoft they prey'd,
And low in death was each affailant laid.
Jafon at length, to aid his valiant crew,
Who little need his aid, appear'd in view.
For not a fear their gallant hearts opprefs'd, 58q
Save what their Jafon's fafety might fuggeft.
The chiefs aflembled with Medea fat,
And on their future voyage thus debate;
Peleus began: Now, ere Aurora rife,

A fpeedy embarkation I advise:

A different course with.caution let us choofe; From that far different which the foe purfues. For (fuch my fanguine hope) when morning.

light

You flaughter'd heaps difclofes to their fight, No words will win them to purtue us far, 593 No tongue entice them to renew the war. Sedition foon, their prince Absyrtus dead, Will, like a peft, o'er all the navy spread : Secure and free fhall we recrofs the main, Their forces fcatter'd, and their fovereign flain.' He faid; the chiefs confented, and with hafte Re-enter'd Argo, and their oars embrac'd. Hard by Electris, laft of ifles, they row, Near which, Eridanus, thy waters flow.

599

Soon as their leader's fate the Colchians knew, They vow'd deftruction to the Grecian crew; And eager to o'ertake the Mynian train, Had travers'd in their wrath the boundless main, But Juno, as her thunder awful roll'd, Prefag'd her vengeance, and their pride con

troul'd.

Dreading eta's ire, the vanquish'd hoft
Far diftant voyag'd from the Colchian coaft.
Unnumber'd ports the fcatter'd fleet explor'd:
Some to thofe ifles repair'd where Jafon moor'd,
Nam'd from Abfyrtus: fome where ftately flows
The flood Illyricum, expect repofe;
Befide whofe bank a lofty tower they rear'd,
Where Cadmus' and Harmonia's tomb appear'd;

ម

750

To lakes that delug'd all the Celtic plain. Difaftrous fate had here their labour foil'd, And of her boafted prowess Argo fpoil'd, (For through a creek to ocean's depths convey'd, To fure deftruction had the heroes stray'd); But Juno haften'd from on high, and stood On a tall rock, and shouted o'er the flood. All heard, and all with fudden terror fhook: For loud around them bursts of thunder broke. Admonish'd thus, fubmiffive they return, And steering back their better course discern. 760 Mid' Celta and Lugurians long they stray'd, But reach'd the fea-beat fhore by Juno's aid: O'er them each day her cloudy veil fhe drew, And thus from human fight conceal'd the crew; Whofe fhip had now the broad mid channel pafs'd, And rode amid the Stachades at laft: [vain. For Jove's twin fons had pray'd, nor pray'd in Hence rear they altars, and due rites ordain To thefe kind powers, whose influential aid Not only Argo's bold adventurers sway'd; But later voyagers, by Jove's decree. Have own'd their happy influence o'er the fea. The Stochades now leffening from their view, Swift to thalia's ifle the vessel flew, With chalks, that, as they cover'd, ting'd the The heroes rubb'd their wearied bodies o'er. Here are their quoits and wond'rous armour fram'd,

[fhore,

Here is their port display'd, Argoüs nam'd.
Hence failing, they the Tyrrhene shore survey,
As through Aufonia's deeps they cleave their li
quid way.

Reas' celebrated port they reach,

781

And faften here their balfers to the beach.
Here faw they Circe, as in ocean's bed,
Dilmay'd with nightly dreams, the plung'd her
head.

(gore

For thus the forceress dream'd; that blood and Had imear'd her walls, and flow'd around her floor:

That all her treafur'd ftores were wrapp'd in flame,
With which the lur'd each paffenger that came.
That copious ftreams of blood her hand apply'd,
And her fears vanish'd as the flames fubfide. 690
For this the magic dame, as morning rofe,
Wah'd in the cleaning wave her locks and clothes,

800

Monsters, unlike the favage, bestial race,
Unlike to humankind in gait or face,
Limbs not their own fupport whofe hideous frame
As fheep their fhepherd follow, these their dame.
Such monfters once the pregnant earth disclos'd,
Of heterogeneous fhape and limbs compos'd:
No drying winds had then the foil condens'd,
No folar rays their genial warmth difpens'd;
But time perfection to each creature gave:
Monsters like these were seen in Circe's cave,
All, ftedfaft gazing on her form and face,
Pronounc'd the forceress of Aeta's race.
Those terrors vanish'd, which her dream infpir'd,
Back to her gloomy cell the dame retir'd.
Clofe in her guileful hand she grasp'd each guest,
And bade them follow where her footsteps prefs'd.
The crowd aloof at Jafon's mandate stay'd,
While he accompanied the Colchian maid.
Together thus they Circe's steps pursue,
Till her enchanting cave arofe in view.

810

830

Their vifit's caufe her troubled mind diftrefs'd; On downy feats fhe plac'd each princely guest. They round her hearth fat motionless and mute: (With plaintive fuppliants fuch manners fuit) Her folded hands her blushing face conceal; Deep in the ground he fix'd the murderous fteel; Nor dare they once, in equal forrow drown'd, Lift their dejected eyelids from the ground. 820 Circe beheld their guilt: fhe faw they fled From vengeance hanging o'er the murderer's head. The holy rites, approv'd of Jove, the pays: (Jove, thus appeas'd, his hafty vengeance stays) Thefe rites from guilty ftains the culprits clear, Who lowly fuppliant at her cell appear. To expiate their crime in order due, First to her thrine a fucking pig she drew, Whofe nipples from its birth diftended food: Its neck the ftruck, and bath'd her hands in blood. Next with libations meet and prayer she ply'd Jove, who acquits the fuppliant homicide Without her door a train of naiads stand, Adminiftring whate'er her rites demand; Within, the flames, that round the hearth arife, Wafte, as fhe prays, the kneaded facrifice: That thus the furies' vengeful wrath might cease, And Jove appeas'd, dismiss' them both in peace, Whether they came to expiate the guilt Of friends or ftrangers blood by treachery spilt. Circe arofe, her myftic rites complete, And plac'd the princes on a fplendid seat. Near them the fat and urg'd them to explain Their plan and progrefs o'er the dangerous main : Whence rofe the wish to vifit Circe's ifle, And thus beneath her roof converse a while. For still on every thought the vifion prefs'd, And its remembrance itill disturb'd her rest. Soon as the forcerefs faw Medea raife From earth thofe eyes which shot a beamy blaze, Anxious the wish'd to hear her native tongue, Conjecturing from her features whence the iprung, For all Sel's race are beauteous as their fire; Their radiant eyes emit celeftial fire. The willing maid complied with each demand, And in the language of her native land

841

849

Her flory told; each strange event deslar'd, What countries they had feen, what dangers fhar'd; Her fifter's counfels, how they fway'd her breast, How with the fons of Phrixus fhe tranfgrefs'd, How from her father fled, his threats difdain'd: But ftill untold her brother's fate remain'd. 862 His fate th' enchantrefs knew; no arts could hide

The murderous deed: fhe pitied and reply'd:

869

Ah! wretch, dire mischiefs thy return await. Hope not to fhan thy father's vengeful hate; Refolv'd on right, he to the realms of Greece Will close pursue thee, nor his fury cease, Till he avenge the murder of his fon : • For deeds of blackest darkness haft thou done. But go, at once my kin and fuppliant free, Nor fear additional diftrefs from me. Thy lover hence, far hence thyfelf remove, Who fcorn'dft a father's for a vagrant's love. Here fupplicate no more: my heart disclaims Thy guilty wanderings and finifter aims.'

She fpoke: the maid lamented; o'er her head Her veil fhe caft, and many a tear the shed. Her trembling hand the hero rais'd with speed, And from the cave of Circe both recede.

880

By watchful Iris taught, Saturnia knew What time from Circe's cave they both withdrew. To mark their fteps commiffion'd Iris ftaid, On whom thefe fresh injunctions Juno iaid: Hafte, Iris, now; thy pinions now expand, And bear once more Saturnia's dread command, Go, Thetis roufe from ocean's dark retreat; Her potent aid my projects will complete. Spread then towards Vuican's fhores thy speedy 'wing,

889

Where round his anvils ceafelefs hammers ring. • Bid him no more his boisterous bellows ply Till heaven-built Argo fail fecurely by. Then to the deity, whofe fovereign fway • Controuls the winds, whom raging forms obey, Hafte; and request that every rising gale

Be hush'd, and filence o'er the feas prevail :
That round the waves fereneft zephyrs play,
Till Argo anchors in Phæacia's bay.'

She faid and Iris, pois'd on airy wings,
From the bright fummit of Olympus fprings: 900
Defcends impetuous down the Ægean deeps,
Where in his watery caverns Nereus flceps.
To Thetis first repairs the winged maid;
Solicits and obtains her potent aid.
Vulcan the next in humble prayer addrefs'd;
The god of fire complied with her request :
His bellows heave their windy fides no more,
Nor his thrill anvils fhake the diftant fhore.
Her wants to olus fhe next disclos'd:
And while her wearied limbs the here repos'd,
Thetis from all her naiad train withdrew,
And from her Nereus to Olympus flew.
Juno with tranfport hail'd her fea-born guest,
Whom near her throne the feated, and addrefs'd;
'O, hear my tale, bright goddess of the main :
Thou know'ft my care for Jafon and his train;
• Thou know'ft how Juno's arm alone upheld,
• And through the jutting rocks their ship im-
pell'd:

911

Around whose fides fierce, fiery tempests rave, And the huge crag is whiten'd by the wave. 920 Now muft they fail near Scylla's awful height, And where the rock Charbydis forms a ftreight. Thee yet an infant in my arms I prefs'd,

And more than all thy fister-nymphs carefs'd. Revering me, the wife of fovereign Jove, Thou feorn'dft the tenders of his lawless love. (For him a mortal beauty now inflames, And now he revels with celestial dames), And Jove, in vengeance for his flighted bed, 'Swore not a deity fhould Thetis wed.

930

Nor could the fervour of his love abate, 'Till Themis thus difclos'd the will of fate; That from thy womb in future times fhould • Spring,

Superior to his fire, an infant king.
Dreading th' event, left in fome future day
This infant king fhould claim celestial (way,
Thee Jove abandon'd to fecure his throne,
And reign unrivall'd ever and alone.
But, lo I gave, thy bridal bed to grace,
A mortal hufband worthy thy embrace;
I made thee mother of a happy line,

940

950

And to thy nuptials call'd the powers divine. Myfelf, in honour to the godlike pair, Deign'd on that day the bridal torch to bear. Soon as thy fon (believe the truths you hear) Shall in Elyfium's blifsful plains appear, 'Whom kindly now the fostering naiads guard In Chiron's manfion, of thy milk debarr'd, In Hymen's filken chains the hero led, Muft fhare the honours of Medea's bed. Oh! be a mother's tenderc care difplay'd, Succour thy Peleus, and thy daughter aid, Hath he tranfgrefs'd? thy rifing wrath fubdue; For Ate's dire effects th' immortals rue. Vulcan, I ween obfequious to my will His fires will ftifle, and his bellows ftill; His boisterous wave will olus reftrain, And zephyrs only fan the curling main, Till Argo anchors in Phæacia's bay.

But fhelves and ftormy feas obftru&t her way; Thefe, thefe I dread; but with my train expert, Be thine the care thefe mifchiefs to avert. 962 Safe from Charybdis' gulf the veffel guide, Safe from loud Scylla's all-abforbing tide; Scylla, the terror of Aufonia's fhore, Whom Phorcuns to infernal Hecat bore, 'Cratæis nam'd. Oh! fummon all thy pow'r, 'Left her voracious jaws my chiefs devour. Hope's cheerly dawn if haply thou difcern, Snatch from the watery grave the finking stern. "If 'tis refolv'd," replies th' affenting queen, Tempefts to curb, and oceans to ferene, "Fear not; but in my proffer'd aid confide: "This arm fhall convoy Argo o'er the tide. "The furge fubfiding shall confefs my fway, "Whilejharmless zephyrs round the canvaís play. "Now must I traverse the wide fields of air, "And to my fifter's crystal grots repair; "Request their aid, and haften to the shores, "Where anchor'd Argo unmolested moors: 982 "That each brave comrade, at the dawn of day, "With heart elate may cleave the liquid way.".

972

She fpoke; and through th' aërial regions fped, Then in the pools of ocean plung'd her head. At Thetis' call the fifter nereids came, And flock'd obedient round their oozy dame. Juno's commands she bade the fifters heed, And to th' Aufonian deep defcend with speed. Swifter than lightning, or than Phœbus' beams, The goddels darted through the yielding ftreams; Till, gliding fmooth befide the Tyrrhene strand, Her speedy footsteps prefs'd th' Ææn land. Along the winding beach the Mynians ftray, And while with quoits and darts their hours away. Here Thetis fingled from the gallant band Peleus her spouse, and prefs'd the hero's hand: Unfeen by all the hoft, his hand the prefs'd; By all, fave Peleus, whom the thus addrefs'd:

992

Loiter not here; but with returning light Unfurl your fails, nor Juno's counfels flight. 1000 'Safe through th' Erratic rocks your fhip to guide, Which frown tremendous o'er the tofling tide. 'For this the fea-green fifters join their force, 'And smooth through dangerous feas your def. 'tin'd course.

'My form, what time we urge the foaming keel, By you not unobferv'd, to none reveal; Left, as before, your folly I chastise, [rife.' 'And to more defperate heights my vengeance She faid, and vanish'd to the deeps below. The wondering chief was pierc'd with keenest

For fince the dame, with indignation fir'd,
Had from her Peleus' hated bed retir'd,
Unleen till now the lurk'd: the ftrife begun
From this unweeting cause, her infant fon.
For, foon as night diffus'd its darkest shade,
Her young Achilles o'er the flame she laid,
And, at return of day, with ceaseless toil
Apply'd to all bis limbs ambrofial oil,
That youth might triumph o'er th' attacks of
time,
1019

Nor creeping age impair his vigorous prime.
The father faw, as from his bed he rose,
Fierce, ambient flames his infant's limbs enclofe;
And, as he gaz'd, his rueful cries confefs'd
The boding forrows of a parent's breast.
Fool! for his queen, who heard her lord deplore,
Dath'd in a rage her infant on the floor.
Then fleet as air, or like a dream of night,
She vanish'd fudden from his odious fight,
Pung'd in her fury down the whelming main,
Nor e'er emerg'd the from the waves again. 1030
For this he forrow'd: but each fage command
Which Thetis gave, he told his gallant band.
They heard, and from their fports retir'd in hafte;
Then thar'd recumbent, in a fhort repast.
Sated, they catch the comforts of repose,
Till, every toil renewing, morn arofe.

1040

Soon as her radiant light illumin'd heav'n, And to their with were breezy zephyrs giv'n, Quitting the land, they climb with nimble feet The lofty decks, and reaffume their feat. Each to his toil returns alert and bold: They tear the griping anchor from its hold; They hoift the yard, their bracing ropes unbind, And give the flapping canvafs to the wind.

Swift fails the thip: foon to th' expecting crew Anthemoeffa's ifle arofe in view.

The fyrens here, from Acheloüs fprung,
Allure the loitering failors with their tongue,
Who, faftening to the beach the corded stay,
Neglect their voyage, and attend the lay. 1050
What time to Acheloüs' longing arms
The mufe Terpsichore refign'd her charms,
Their mutual love thefe wily fongfters crown'd;
Who lur'd, in times remote, with tempting found,
Ceres' fair daughter, and fallacious show

гобо

A virgin-face, while wing'd like fowls they flew.
On a bright eminence the charmers stand,
And watch the veffels as they tug to land.
Full many a mariner their fongs betray,.
Who lifts and lingers till he pines away.
As Argo fail'd they rais'd their tuneful tongue;
And here their halfers had the heroes hung,
But Thracian Orpheus wak'd his wonted fire,
And fung refponfive to his heavenly lyre,
That each refounding chord might pierce their ear,
And none the music of the fyrens hear.
Yet ftill they fung: ftill brifkly, with the breeze,
The veffel tilted o'er the curling feas.
Butes alone became an ealy prey,
Who all enraptur'd liften'd to their lay.
Erect, above the rowing chiefs, he ftood,
And frantic fprung into the faithless flood.
His helpless hands he rais'd, the fhip to gain,
And, but for Venus' aid, had rais'd in vain :
She Eryx' honour'd queen, the wretch defcry'd,
And fnatch'd him floundering from the foaming

tide,

1070

His kind protectress, as her course she bends
Where Lilyboum's ample cape extends.
This dire mishap difhearten'd all the band, 1079
Who row with vigour from the traiterous ftrand.
But other pefts, more fatal to their freight,
Threaten their progress to that dangerous freight,
Where Scylla's rock projects its wave-worn fide,
And where Charybdis' gulf absorbs the tide.
Dash'd by the driven waves the Planctæ roar'd,
From whofe cleft fummits flames fulphureous
pour'd.

Thick dufky clouds involve the darken'd skies,
And hid are Phœbus" fplendours from their eyes.
Though Vulcan ceas'd from his affiduous toils,
The fires flash thick, and fervid ocean boils. 1090
Here o'er the failing pine the nymphs prefide,
While Thetis' forceful hands the rudder guide.
As oft in fhoals the fportive dolphins throng,
Circling the veffel as fhe fails along,
Whole playful gambols round the prow and ftern
The much delighted mariners discern;
Round Argo thus the toiling nymphs attend,
And, led by Thetis, their affiftance lend.
O'erhanging black the rock's bleak brow they fee,
And gird their azure vestures to their knee. 1100
Now here, now there, as danger warns, they glide,
And ftem mid' crushing crags the troubled tide.
Pendent on mountain waves the vessel hung,
That pierc'd her folid planks, and foam'd the
rocks among.

Above these rocks, here now the nereids rife,
And float on billows hid amidst the skies: