Unequal to the Godhead's attributes
Various, and matter copious of your songs.
Sublime at Jove's right hand Apollo sits,
And thence distributes honour, gracious King,
And theme of verse perpetual. From his robe
Flows light ineffable: his harp, his quiver,
And Lictian bow, are gold: with golden sandals
His feet are shod; 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 distil their sweets; and cheerful Health,
His duteous handmaid, thro' the air improv'd,
With lavish hand diffuses scents ambrosial.
The spearman's arm by thee, great God, directed, Sends forth a certain wound. The laurell'd bard,
Inspir'd by thee, composes verse immortal.
Taught by thy art divine, the sage physician
Eludes the urn, and chains or exiles Death.
Thee, Nomian! we adore, for that from Heav'n
Descending, thou on fair Amphrysus' banks
Didst guard Admetus' herds. Sithence the cow
Produc'd on ampler store of milk, the she-goat,
Not without pain dragg'd her distended udder;
And ewes, that erst brought forth but single lambs,
Now dropp'd their twofold burdens. Blest the cattle
On which Apollo cast his fav'ring eye!
But Phoebus! thou to man beneficent, Delight'st in building cities. Bright Diana! Kind sister to thy infant-deity,
New-wean'd, and just arising from the cradle, Brought hunted wild goats' heads and branching
Of stags, the fruit and honour of her toil:
These with discerning hand thou knew'st to range,
(Young as thou wast) and in the well-fram'd models,
With emblematic skill and mystic order,
Thou show'st where tow'rs or battlements should rise,
Where gates should open, or where walls should
While from thy childish pastime man receiv'd
The future strength and ornament of nations.
Battus, our great progenitor, now touch'd
The Libyan strand, when the foreboding crow
Flew on the right before the people, marking
The country destin'd the auspicious seat
Of future kings, and favour of the God,
Whose oath is sure, and promise stands eternal.
Or Boëdromian hear'st thou pleas'd, or Clarian
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 thee Carnean: the fair colony
Thrice by thy gracious guidance was transported
Ere settled in Cyrene; there we appointed
Thy annual feasts, kind God! and bless thy altars,
Smoaking with hecatombs of slaughter'd bulls,
As Carnus, thy high priest and favour'd friend,
Had erst ordain'd; and with mysterious rites Our great forefathers taught their sons to worship, Iö! Carnean Phœbus! Iö Pean!
The yellow crocus there, and fair narcissus,
Reserve the honors of their winter store
To deck thy temple, till returning spring
Diffuses Nature's various pride, and flow'rs
Innumerable, by the soft south-west
Open'd, and gather'd by religious hands,
Rebound their sweets from th' odorif'rous pavement.
Perpetual fires shine hallow'd on thy altars,
When annual the Carnean feast is held:
The warlike Libyans, clad in armour, lead
The dance; with clanging swords and shields they
beat
The dreadful measure: in the chorus join
Their women, brown, but beautiful: such rites
To thee well pleasing. Nor had yet thy votaries,
From Greece transplanted, touch'd Cyrene's banks,
And lands determin'd for their last abodes;
But wander'd thro' Azilis' horrid forest
Dispers'd, when from Myrtusa's craggy brow,
Fond of the maid, auspicious to the city,
Which must hereafter bear her favour'd name,
Thou gracious deign'st to let the fair one view
Her typic people: thou with pleasure taught'st her
To draw the bow, to slay the shaggy lion,
And stop the spreading ruin of the plains.
Happy the nymph who, honour'd by thy passion,
Was aided by thy pow'r! the monstrous Python
Durst 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
Joyful repeated lö! lö Pean!
Elance the dart, Apollo! for the safety
And health of man, gracious, thy mother bore thee.
Envy, thy latest foe, suggested thus:
Like thee I am a pow'r immortal, therefore
To thee dare speak. How canst thou favour partial
Those poets who write little? Vast 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,
Assyrian river, copious runs, but muddy,
And carries forward with his stupid force
Polluting dirt, his torrent still augmenting,
His wave still more defil'd; meanwhile the nymphs
Melissan, sacred and recluse to Ceres,
Studious to have their off'rings well receiv'd,
And fit for heav'nly use, from little urns
Pour streams select, and purity of waters.
Iö, Apollo! mighty king, let Envy,
Ill-judging and verbose, from Lethe's lake
Draw tons unmeasurable, while thy favour
Administers to my ambitious thirst
The wholesome draught from Aganippe's spring
Genuine, and with soft murmurs gently rilling
Adown the mountains where thy daughters haunt.
HE Trojan swain had judg'd the great dispute, And beauty's pow'r obtain'd the golden fruit, When Venus, loose in all her naked charms, Met Jove's great daughter, clad in shining arms. The wanton Goddess view'd the warlike maid From head to foot, and tauntingly she said:
Yield, sister; rival, yield: naked, you see,
I vanquish guess how potent I should be,
If to the field I came in armour drest,
Dreadful, like thine, my shield, and terrible my crest!
The warrior Goddess with disdain reply'd:
Thy folly, Child, is equal to thy pride:
Let a brave enemy for once advise,
And Venus (if 'tis possible) be wise:
Thou, to be strong, must put off ev'ry dress:
Thy only armour is thy nakedness;
And more than once (or thou art much bely'd)
By Mars himself that armour has been try'd.
RANK carves very ill, yet will palm all the meats, He eats more than six, and drinks more than he eats,
|