On its dark side if thou the profpect take ;
Grant all forgot beyond black Lethe's lake ;
In total death suppose the mortal lie,
No new hereafter, nor a future sky:
Yet bear thy lot content ; yet cease to grieve: .
Why, ere death comes, dost thou forbear to live ?.
The little time thou hast, 'twixt instant now
And Fate's approach, is all the Gods allow :
And of this little haft thou aught to spare
To sad reflection, and corroding care ?
The moments past, if thou art wise, retrieve
With pleafant memory of the bliss they gave.
The present hours in present mirth employ,
And bribe the future with the hopes of joy:
The future (few or more, howe'er they be)
Were destin'd erst ; nor can by Fate's decree
Be now cut off betwixt the grave and thee.

, THE

FIRST HYMN OF CALLIMACHUS.

TO JUPITER.
W HILE we to. Jove select the holy victim,

Whom apter shall we fing, than Jove himself,
The God for ever great, for ever king,
who flew the Earth-born race, and measures right
To heaven’s great habitants ? Dictæan hear'it thou
More joyful, or Lycæan, long dispute

And

And various thought has trac’d. On Ida's mount,
Or Dicte, ftudious of his country's praise,
The Cretan boasts thy natal place : but oft'
He meets reproof deservd: for he presumptuous
Has built a tomb for thee, who never know'lt
To die, but liv'st the fame to-day and ever.
Arcadian therefore be thy birth : Great Rhea,
Pregnant to high Parrhasia's cliffs retird,
And wild Lycæus, black with shading pines :
Holy retreat ! sithence no female hither,
Conscious of social love and nature's rites,
Must dare approach, from the inferior reptile
To woman, form divine. There the bleft parent
Ungirt her spacious bosom, and discharg'd
The ponderous birth; she fought a neighbouring spring
To wash the recent babe ; in vain : Arcadia,
(However streamy) 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 traveller
In vain requir’d the current, then imprison’d
In subterraneous caverns : forests grew
Upon the barren hollows, high o’ershading
The haunts of favage beasts, where now laon
And Erimanth incline their friendly urns.

Thou too, O Earth, great Rhea faid, bring forth ;
And short shall be thy pangs. She said ; and high
She rear'd her arm, and with her fceptre struck
The yawning cliff: from its difparted height
Adown the mount the gushing torrent ran,

And

And cheer'd the vallies : there the heavenly mother
Bath'd, mighty king, they tender limbs : she wrapt them
In purple bands : fhe gave the precious pledge
To prudent Neda, charging her to guard thee,
Careful and secret ; Neda, of the nymphs
That tended the great birth, next Philyre
And Styx, the eldest. Smiling, she 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 stream.
Faft 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 sacred charge,
Receiv'd : Adrafte rock'd thy golden cradle :
The goat, now bright amidst her fellow-stars,
Kind Amalthea, reach'd her teat distent
With milk, thy early food : the fedulous bee
Distill’d her honey on thy purple lips.

Around, the fierce Curetes (order folemn To thy fore-knowing mother!) trod tumultuous Their mystic dance, and clang’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 judgment, crown'd thy youthful act. That Saturn's sons receiv'd the three-fold empire

snowing and clapelain to of Saturenny Joves

of

Of heaven, of ocean, and deep hell beneath,
As the dark urn and chance of lot determin'd,
Old poets mention, fabling. Things of momentą.
Well nigh equivalent and neighbouring value,
By lot are parted : but high heaven, thy share,.
In equal balance laid 'gainst sea or hell,
Flings up the adverse scale, and shuns proportion.
Wherefore not chance, but power above thy brethren;
Exalted thee their king. When thy great will
Commands thy chariot forth, impetuous strength
And fiery swiftness wing the rapid wheels,
Incessant ;, high the eagle flies before thee.
And oh! as I and mine consult thy augur,
Grant the glad omen ; let thy favourite rise
Propitious, ever foaring from the right.

Thou to the lesser Gods hast well affign'd
Their proper shares of power : thy own, great Jove, :
Boundless and universal. Those who labour
The sweaty forge, who edge the crooked scythe,
Bend stubborn steel, and harden gleening armour,
Acknowledge Vulcan’s aid. The early hunter
Blesses Diana's hand, who leads him fafe...
O’er hanging cliffs, who spreads his net successful,
And guides the arrow through the panther's heart.
The soldier, from successful 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.
Those, mighty Jove, mean time, thy glorious care, .

Who

Who model nations, publish 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 subordinate
To what thy will designs, thou giv'st the means
Proportion'd to the work; thou seeft impartial
How they those means employ. Each monarch rules
His different realm, accountable to thee,
Great ruler of the world: these only have
To speak and be obey'd ; to those are given
Affiftant days to ripen the design;
To some whole months, revolving years to some ; .
Others, ill-fated, are condemn’d to toil
Their tedious life, and mourn their purpose blasted
With fruitless act, and impotence of council.

Hail! greateft son of Saturn, wise disposer
Of every good : thy praise what man yet born
Has sung ? 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 no man avails not ;
And virtue without wealth exerts less power,
And less diffuses good. Then grant us, gracious,
Virtue and wealth ; for both are of thy gift!