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 fea or hell,
Flings up the adverse scale, and shuns proportion:
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 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 fav'rite rise
Propitious, ever foaring from the right.
Thou to the leffer gods haft well affign'd
Their proper shares of pow'r, thy own, great Jove,
Boundless and univerfal. Those who labour
The fweaty forge, who edge the crooked scythe,
Bend ftubborn iteel, and harden gleaming armour,
Acknowledge Vulcan's aid. The early hunter
Bleffes Diana's hand, who leads him safe
O'er hanging cliffs, who spreads his net fuccessful,
And guides the arrow thro' the panther's heart.
The foldier, from fuccefsful 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, 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
Proportion'd to the work; thou feeft impartial
How they thofe 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 thofe are giv❜n
Affiftant days to ripen the defign;
To fome whole months; revolving years to some :
Others, ill-fated, are condemn'd to toil
Their tedious life, and mourn their purpose, blafted
With fruitless act and impotence of counsel.
Hail! greateft fon of Saturn, wife disposer
Of ev'ry good; thy praise what man yet born
Has fung or who that may be born fhall 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 less pow`r,
And lefs diffufes good. Then grant us, Gracious,
Virtue and wealth, for both are of thy gift.
THE SECOND HYMN OF CALIMACHUS.
AH! how the laurel, great Apollo's tree, And all the cavern fhakes! Far off, far off, The man that is unhallow'd: for the god,
The god approaches. Hark! he knocks; the gates
Feel the glad impulfe, and the fever'd bars
Submiffive clink against their brazen portals.
Why do the Delian palms incline their boughs,
Self-mov'd, and hov'ring fwans, their throats releas'd
From native filence, carol founds harmonious?
Begin young men the hymn : let all your harps 10
Break their inglorious filence, and the dance,
In mystic numbers trod, explain the mufic.
But first by ardent pray'r and clear lustration
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 hairs, and fair defcent of children;
So lay foundations for afpiring cities,
And bless your fpreading colonies increase.
Pay facred rev'rence 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 lö, lö Pean! nor dares Thetis
Longer bewail her lov'd Achilles' death;
For Phoebus was his foe. Nor muft fad Niobe
In fruitless forrow perfevere, or weep
E'en thro' the Phrygian marble. Hapless mother!
Whofe fondnefs could compare her mortal offspring
To thofe which fair Latona bore to Jove.
lö! again repeat ye, Iö Pean!
Against the Deity 'tis hard to ftrive.
He that refifts the pow'r of Ptolemy
Refifts the pow'r of heav'n; for pow'r from heav'n 35 Derives, and monarchs rule by gods appointed.
Recite Apollo's praise till night draws on,
The ditty ftill 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 Lictian bow, are gold: with golden fandals 45
His feet are fhod; how rich! how beautiful!
Beneath his steps the yellow min'ral rises,
And earth reveals her treasures. Youth and beauty
Eternal deck his cheeks; from his fair head
Perfumes diftil their fweets; and cheerful Health, 50
His duteous handmaid, thro' 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 laurell'd bard,
Infpir'd by thee, composes verse immortal.
Taught by thy art divine, the fage phyfician
Eludes the urn, and chains or exiles Death.
Thee, Nomian, we adore, for that from heav'n Defcending, thou on fair Amphryfus' banks Didt guard Admetus' herds. Sithence the cow Produc'd an ampler store of milk; the she-goat,
Not without pain, dragg'd her diftended udder;
And ewes, that erft brought forth but fingle lambs,
Now dropp'd their twofold burthens. Bleft the cattle
On which Apollo caft his fav'ring eye!
But, Phoebus, thou to man beneficent
Delight'ft in building cities. Bright Diana,
Kind fifter to thy intant-deity,
New-wean'd, and juft arifing from the cradle,
Brought hunted wild goats' heads and branching antlers Of tags, the fruit and honour of her toil:
Thefe with difcerning hand thou knew'ft to range, (Young as thou waft) and in the well-fram'd models, With emblematic skill and myftic order.
74 Thou fhew'dft where tow'rs or battlements should rife, Where gates fhould open, or where walls fhould comWhile from thy childish paftime, man receiv'd The future ftrength and ornament of nations.
Battus, our great progenitor, now touch'd
The Lybian 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,
Whose oath is fure, and promise stands eternal.
Or Boedromian hear'st thou pleas'd, or Clarian 85
Phoebus, great king? for diff'rent 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 the Carnean: the fair colony
Thrice by thy gracious guidance was transported
Ere fettl'd in Cyrene; there we appointed
Thy annual feafts, kind god, and blefs thy altars,
Smoking with hecatombs of flaughter'd bulls,
As Carnus, thy high priest and favour'd friend,
Had erft ordain'd; and with mysterious rites
Our great forefathers taught their fons to worship,
Iö! Carnean Phoebus! Iö Pean!
The yellow crocus there, and fair narciffus,
Referve the honours of their winter-ftore
To deck thy temple, till returning fpring
Diffufes Nature's various pride, and flow'rs
Innumerable, by the foft fouth-weft
Open'd, and gather'd by religious hands,
Rebound their fweets from th' odorif'rous 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 shields they beat
The dreadful meafure: 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 thro' Azilis' horrid foreft
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'ft her
To draw the bow, to flay the fhaggy lion,
And ftop the spreading ruin of the plains.
Happy the nymph who, honour'd by thy paffion,
Was aided by thy pow'r! the monstrous Python
Durft tempt thy wrath in vain; for dead he fell, 125
To thy great ftrength and golden arms unequal.
Iö! while thy unerring hand elanced
Another, and another dart, the people
Joyful repeated Iö! Iö Pean!
Elance the dart, Apollo; for the fafety
And health of man, gracious, thy mother bore thee. Envy, thy lateft foe, fuggefted thus:
Like thee I am a pow'r immortal, therefore
To thee dare fpeak. How canft thou favour partial
Those poets who write little? vaft and great
Is what I love: the far-extended ocean
To a small riv'let I prefer. Apollo
Spurn'd Envy with his foot, and thus the god :
Dæmon, the headlong current of Euphrates,
Affyrian river, copious runs, but muddy,
And carries forward with his ftupid force
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