Longer bewail her lov'd Achilles' death :
For Phoebus was his foe. Nor must fad Niobe
In fruitless forrow perfevere, or weep
Ev'n through the Phrygian marble. Haplefs mother! Whofe fondness could compare her mortal offspring To thofe which fair Latona bore to Jove.
Iö! again repeat ye, Iö Pean!
Against the Deity 'tis hard to strive.
He, that refifts the power of Ptolemy,
Refifts the power of heaven: for power from heaven
Derives; and monarchs rule by Gods appointed.
Recite Apollo's praise, till night draws on,
The ditty still unfinish'd; and the day
Unequal to the Godhead's attributes
Various, and matter copious of your fongs..
Sublime at Jove's right-hand Apollo fits,
And thence diftributes honour, gracious king,
And theme of verfe perpetual. From his robe
Flows light ineffable: his harp, his quiver,
And Lician bow, are gold: with golden fandals
His feet are fhod; how rich! how beautiful!
Beneath his steps the yellow mineral rifes ;
And earth reveals her treasures. Youth and beauty
Eternal deck his cheeks: from his fair head
Perfumes diftill their fweets; and chearful Health,
His duteous handmaid, through the air improv'd,
With lavish hand diffufes fcents ambrofial.
The fpearman's arm by thee, great God, directed,
Sends forth a certain wound. The laurel'd bard,
Infpir'd by thee, compofes verfe immortal.
Taught by thy art divine, the fage phyfician
Eludes the urn; and chains or exiles death.
Thee, Nomian, we adore; for that, from Heaven Defcending, thou on fair Amphryfus' banks Didft guard Admetus' herds. Sithence the cow Produc'd an ampler ftore of milk; the the-goat Not without pain dragg'd her diftended udder; And ewes, that erft brought forth but fingle lambs, Now dropp'd their two-fold burthens. Bleft the cattle, On which Apollo caft his favouring eye!
But, Phoebus, thou to man beneficent,
Delight'ft in building cities. Bright Diana,
Kind fifter to thy infant deity
New-wean'd, and just arifing from the cradle,
Brought hunted wild-goats heads, and branching antlers
Of ftags, the fruit and honour of her toil.
These with difcerning hand thou knew'st to range
(Young as thou waft), and in the well-fram'd models,
With emblematic skill, and mystic order,
Thou fhew'ft, where towers or battlements fhould rife; Where gates fhould open; or where walls fhould come pass:
While from thy childish pastime man receiv'd
The future ftrength and ornament of nations.
Battus, our great progenitor, now touch'd
The Libyan ftrand; when the foreboding crow
Flew on the right before the people, marking
The country deftin'd the aufpicious feat
Of future kings, and favour of the God,
Whofe oath is fure, and promife ftands eternal.
Or Boëdromian hear'ft thou pleas'd, or Clarian,
Phoebus, great king? for different are thy names,
As thy kind hand has founded many cities,
Or dealt benign thy various gifts to man.
Carnean let me call thee; for my country
Calls thee Carnean: the fair colony
Thrice by thy gracious guidance was tranfported,
Ere fettled in Cyrene; there w' appointed
Thy annual feafts, kind God, and bless thy altars
Smoaking with hecatombs of flaughter'd bulls;
As Carnus, thy high priest and favour'd friend,
Had erft ordain'd; and with myfterious rites,
Our great forefathers taught their fons to worship.
Iö Carnean Phoebus! Io Pean!
The yellow crocus there and fair narciffus
Referve the honours of their winter-store,
To deck thy temple; till returning fpring
Diffuses Nature's various pride; and flowers
Innumerable, by the foft fouth-weft
Open'd, and gather'd by religious hands,
Rebound their fweets from th' odoriferous pavement.
Perpetual fires fhine hallow'd on thy altars.
When annual the Carnean feaft is held :
The warlike Libyans, clad in armour, lead
The dance; with clanging fwords and fhields they beas
The dreadful measure: in the chorus join
Their women, brown but beautiful: fuch rites
To thee well pleafing. Nor had yet thy votaries,
From Greece tranfplanted, touch'd Cyrene's banks,
And lands determin'd for their last abodes;
But wander'd through Azilis' horrid forest
Difpers'd; when from Myrtufa's craggy brow,
Fond of the maid, aufpicious to the city,
Which must hereafter bear her favour'd name,
Thou gracious deign'ft to let the fair-one view
Her typic people; thou with pleasure taught'st her
To draw the bow, to flay the fhaggy lion,
And stop the spreading ruin of the plains.`
Happy the nymph, who, honour'd by thy paffion,
Was aided by thy power! The monstrous Python
Durft tempt thy wrath in vain: for dead he fell,
To thy great strength and golden arms unequal.
lö! while thy unerring hand elanc'd
Another, and another dart; the people
Joyfully repeated Iö! Iö Pean!
Elance the dart, Apollo: for the fafety
And health of man, gracious thy mother bore thee.
Envy, thy latest foe, fuggefted thus:
Like thee I am a power immortal; therefore
To thee dare speak. How canft thou favour partial
Those poets who write little? Vaft and great
Is what I love: the far-extended ocean
To a small rivulet I prefer. Apollo
Spurn'd Envy with his foot; and thus the God:
Dæmon, the head-long current of Euphrates,
Affyrian river, copious runs, but muddy;
And carries forward with his ftupid force
Polluting dirt; his torrent ftill augmenting,
His wave still more defil'd: mean while the nymphs
Meliffan, facred and reclufe to Cercs,
Studious to have their offerings well receiv'd,
And fit for heavenly use, from little urns
Pour streams felect, and purity of waters.
Iö! Apollo, mighty king, let Envy
Ill-judging and verbose, from Lethe's lake,
Draw tuns unmeafurable; while thy favour
Administers to my ambitious thirst
The wholesome draught from Aganippe's fpring
Genuine, and with foft murmurs gently rilling
Adown the mountains where thy daughters haunt.
CHARITY.
A PARAPHRASE on the Thirteenth Chapter of the First Epiftle to the CORINTHIANS.
ID sweeter founds adorn my flowing tongue,
Than ever man pronounc'd, or angels fung;
Had I all knowledge, human and divine,
That thought can reach, or fcience can define;
And had I power to give that knowledge birth,
In all the fpeeches of the babbling earth;
Did Shadrach's zeal my glowing breast inspire,
To weary tortures, and rejoice in fire;
Or had I faith like that which Ifrael faw
When Mofes gave them miracles and law:
Yet, gracious Charity! indulgent guest,
Were not thy power exerted in my breaft;
|