HYMNS.

Let chofen Muses yet unborn

Take great Maria for their future theme;
Eternal ftructures let them raise

On William and Maria's praise;
Nor want new fubject for the song,

Nor fear they can exhaust the store,
Till Nature's mufick lies unftrung;

Till thou, great god, fhalt lofe thy double pow'r,
And touch thy lyre,and shoot thy beams no more. 78
THE FIRST HYMN

OF CALLIMACHUS. TO JUPITER.

WHILE we to Jove select the holy victim,
Whom apter fhail we fing than Jove himself,
The god for ever great, for ever king,

Who flew the Earthborn race, and measures right
To heav'n's great 'habitants? Dictæan hear'st thou 5
More joyful, or Lycæan, long dispute

And various thought has trac'd. On Ida's mount,
Or Dictæ, ftudious of his country's praife,

The Cretan boasts thy natal place; but oft'

He meets reproof deferv'd; for he, presumptuous, 10
Has built a tomb for thee who never know'it

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,
Conscious of focial love and Nature's rites,

grew

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Muft dare approach, from the inferiour reptile
To woman, form divine. There the bleft parent
Ungirt her spacious bosom, and discharg'd
The pond'rous birth: fhe fought a neighb'ring fpring
To wash the recent babe: in vain: Arcadia,
(However streamy now) adust and dry,
Deny'd the goddess water; where deep Melas
And rocky Cratis flow, the chariot smok'd
Obfcure with rising duft: the thirsty trav'ller
In vain requir'd the current, then imprison'd
In fubterranean caverns: forefts,
Upon the barren hollows, high o'erfhading
The haunts of favage beasts, where now laon,
And Erimanth incline their friendly urns.
Thou, too, O Earth, great Rhea, said, bring forth,
And fhort fhall be thy pangs. She said, and high
She rear'd her arm, and with her fceptre ftruck
The yawning cliff: from its difparted height
Adown the mount the gushing torrent ran,
And cheer'd the vallies: there the heavenly mother
Bath'd, mighty King,thy tenderlimbs, she wrapt them
In purple bands: fhe 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 eldeft. Smiling, fhe receiv'd thee,
And, conscious of the grace, abfolv'd her truft;
Not unrewarded, fince the river bore

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The fav'rite virgin's name : fair Neda rowls
By Lepricon's ancient walls, a fruitful stream:
Faft by her flow'ry bank the fons of Arcas,
Fav'rites of Heav'n, with happy care protect

Their fleecy charge, and joyous drink her wave. 50
Thee, god, to Gnoffus 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.

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Around, the fierce Curetes (order folemn
To thy foreknowing mother!) trod tumultuous
Their mystick dance, and clang'd their founding arms,
Industrious with the warlike din to quell

Thy infant cries, and mock the ear of Saturn.

61

Swift growth and wondrousgrace, Oheav'nly Jove,
Waited thy blooming years: inventive wit

And perfect judgment crown'd thy youthful act. 65
That Saturn's fons receiv'd the threefold empire

Of heav'n, 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 neighb’ring value,
By lot are parted; but high heav'n, thy share,
In equal balance laid 'gainst sea or hell,
Flings up the adverfe fcale, and fhuns proportion:

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Wherefore not Chance, but pow'r above thy brethren,
Exalted thee their king. When thy great will
Commands thy chariot forth, impetuous strength
And fiery swiftnefs 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 fav'rite rife
Propitious, ever foaring from the right.

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Thou to the leffer gods haft well affign'd Their proper fhares of pow'r, thy own, great Jove, Boundlefs and univerfal. Those who labour

The fweaty forge, who edge the crooked fithe, 85
Bend ftubborn fteel, and harden gleaning 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 thro' the panther's heart. yo
The foldier from fuccefsful camps returning
With laurel wreath'd, and rich with hostile spoil,
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, publish laws, announce
Or life or death, and found or change the empire.
Man owns the pow'r of kings, and kings of Jove:
And as their actions tend fubordinate
To what thy will defigns, thou giv'ft the means

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Proportion'd to the work; thou feest impartial
How they those means employ. Each monarch rules
His diff'rent realm accountable to thee,

Great ruler of the world; thefe only have
To speak and be obey'd; to those are giv'n
Affiftant days to ripen the design;

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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 counsel.

Hail! greatest son of Saturn, wife disposer
Of ev'ry good; thy praise what man yet born
Has fung? or who that may be born shall fing?
Again, and often hail! indulge our pray'r,
Great Father! grant us virtue, grant us wealth;
For without virtue wealth to man avails not,
And virtue without wealth exerts lefs pow'r,
And lefs diffufes good. Then grant us, Gracious,
Virtue and wealth, for both are of thy gift.

THE SECOND HYMN

OF CALLIMACHUS. TO APOLLO.

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HAH! 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 feyer'd bars

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