And various thought has trac'd. On Ida's mount, Or Dicte, ftudious of his country's praife,
The Cretan boasts thy natal place: but oft' He meets reproof deferv'd: for he prefump:uous Has built a tomb for thee, who never know'st To die, but liv'ft the fame to-day and ever. Arcadian therefore be thy birth: Great Rhea, Pregnant to high Parrhafia's cliffs retir'd; And wild Lycæus, black with fhading pines : Holy retreat! fithence no female hither, Confcious of focial love and nature's rites, Muft dare approach, from the inferior reptile To woman, form divine. There the best parent Ungirt her fpacious bofom, and discharg'd
The ponderous birth; fhe fought a neighbouring fpring To wash the recent babe; in vain : Arcadia, (However ftreamy) now aduft and dry, Deny'd the Goddess water; where deep Melas And rocky Cratis flow, the chariot smoak'd, Obscure with rising dust: the thirsty traveler In vain requir'd the current, then imprison'd In fubterraneous caverns: forefts grew Upon the barren hollows, high o'ershading The haunts of favage beafts, where now Iaon
And Erimanth incline their friendly urns.
Thou too, O Earth, great Rhea faid, bring forth;
And short shall be thy pangs. She faid; and high She rear'd her arm, and with her sceptre struck The yawning cliff: from its difparted height Adown the mount the gufhing torrent ran,
And chear'd the vallies: there the heavenly mother Bath'd, mighty king, thy tender limbs: she wrapt them In purple bands: she gave the precious pledge To prudent Neda, charging her to guard thee, Careful and fecret; Neda, of the nymphs That tended the great birth, next Philyre And Styx, the ekleft. Smiling, fhe receiv'd thee, And, conscious of the grace, abfolv'd her trust: Not unrewarded; fince the river bore
The favourite virgin's name; fair Neda rolls By Leprion's ancient walls, a fruitful ftream. Fast by her flowery bank the fons of Arcas, Favourites of Heaven, with happy care protect Their fleecy charge; and joyous drink her wave. Thee, God, to Cnoffus Neda brought; the nymphs And Corybantes thee, their facred charge, Receiv'd: Adrafte rock'd thy golden cradle : The goat, now bright amidst her fellow-stars, Kind Amalthea, reach'd her teat diftent With milk, thy early food: the fedulous bee Diftill'd her honey on thy purple lips.
Around, the fierce Curetes (order folemn
To thy fore-knowing mother!) trod tumultuous Their myftic dance, and chang'd their founding arms; Industrious with the warlike din to quell
Thy infant cries, and mock the ear of Saturn: Swift growth and wondrous grace, O heavenly Jove, Waited thy blooming years: inventive wit, And perfect judgement, crown'd thy youthful act.
That Saturn's fons receiv'd the three-fold empire Of Heaven, of Ocean, and deep Hell beneath, As the dark urn and chance of lot determin'd, Old poets mention, fabling. Things of moment, Well-nigh equivalent and neighbouring value, By lot are parted: but high heaven, thy share, In equal balance laid 'gainst fea or hell,
Flings up the adverfe fcale, and fhuns proportion. Wherefore not chance, but power, above thy brethren Exalted thee their king. When thy great will Commands thy chariot forth; impetuous ftrength And fiery fwiftnefs wing the rapid wheels, Inceffant; high the eagle flies before thee. And oh! as I and mine confult thy augur, Grant the glad omen; let thy favourite rise Propitious, ever foaring from the right.
Thou to the leffer Gods hast well affign'd Their proper fhares of power: thy own, great Jove, Boundlefs and univerfal. Those who labour
The fweaty forge, who edge the crooked feythe, Bend ftubborn steel, and harden gleening armour, Acknowledge Vulcan's aid. The early hunter Bleffes Diana's hand, who leads him fafe
O'er hanging cliffs; who fpreads his net fuccefsful, And guides the arrow through the panther's heart. The foldier, from fuccessful camps returning With laurel wreath'd, and rich with hoftile fpoil, Severs the bull to Mars. The skilful bard, Striking the Thracian harp, invokes Apollo,
To make his hero and himself immortal.
Thofe, mighty Jove, mean time, thy glorious care, Who model nations, publifh laws, announce
Or life or death, and found or change the empire. Man owns the power of kings; and kings of Jove. And, as their actions tend fubordinate
To what thy will defigus, thou giv'ft the means Porportion'd to the work; thou fee'st impartial How they those means employ. Each monarch rules His different realm, accountable to thee,
Great ruler of the world: thefe only have To speak and be obey'd; to thofe are given Affiftant days to ripen the defign;
To fome whole months; revolving years to fome : Others, ill-fated, are condemn'd to toil
Their tedious life, and mourn their purpose blasted With fruitless act, and impotence of council.
Hail! greatest son of Saturn, wife disposer Of every good: thy praife what man yet born Has fung? or who that may be born shall fing? Again, and often hail! indulge our prayer, Great father! grant us virtue, grant us wealth: For, without virtue, wealth to man avails not; And virtue without wealth exerts lefs power, And lefs diffufes good. Then grant us, gracious, Virtue and wealth; for both are of thy gift!
The Second HYMN of CALLIMACHUS.
HA! how the laurel, great Apollo's tree,
And all the cavern shakes! far off, far off, The man that is unhallow'd: for the God, The God approaches. Hark! he knocks; the gates Feel the glad impulse: and the fever'd bars Submiffive clink against their brazen portals. Why do the Delian palms incline their boughs, Self-mov'd? and hovering swans, their throats releas'd From native filence, carol founds harmonious? Begin, young men, the hymn: let all your harps Break their inglorious filence; and the dance, In myftic numbers trod, explain the mufic. But first, by ardent prayer, and clear luftration, Purge the contagious fpots of human weakness : Impure no mortal can behold Apollo. So may ye flourish, favour'd by the God, In youth with happy nuptials; and in age With filver hair, and fair defcent of children So lay foundations for afpiring cities, And blefs your fpreading colonies increase! Pay facred reverence to Apollo's fong; Left wrathful the far-fhooting God emit His fatal arrows. Silent Nature ftands; And feas fubfide, obedient to the found Of Iö, Iö Pean! nor dares Thetis
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