Heaven's thundering monarch fits with aweful grace,
And dread omnipotence imprints his face :
There Neptune ftood, difdainfully he frown'd,
And with his trident fmote the trembling ground;
The parting rocks a fpacious chafm difciofe,
From whence a fiery, prancing fteed arose;
And on that useful gift he founds his claim,
Το grace the city with his honour'd name.
See her own figure next with martial air,
A fhining helmet decks her flowing hair;
Her thoughtful breaft her well-pois'd fhield defends,
And her bare arm a glittering fpear extends,
With which she wounds the plain; from thence arose
A fpreading tree; green olives load the boughs.
The powers her gift behold with wondering eyes,
And to the Goddefs give the rightful prize.
Such mercy checks her wrath, that, to diffuade
By others fate the too prefumptuous maid,
With miniatures fhe fills each corner space,
To curb her pride, and fave her from difgrace.
Hamus and Rhodopé in this the wrought,
The beauteous colours fpoke her lively thought;
With arrogance and fierce ambition fir'd,
They to the facred names of gods afpir'd;
To mountains chang'd, their lofty heads arife,
And lofe their leffening fummits in the skies.
In that, in all the ftrength of art was feen
The wretched fate of the Pygmæan queen;
Juno, enrag'd, refents th' audacious aim,
And to a crane transforms the vanquish'd dame;
In that voracious shape she still appears,
And plagues her people with perpetual wars.
In this, Antigoné for beauty ftrove
With the bright confort of imperial Jove:
Juno, incens'd, her royal power difplay'd,
And to a bird converts the haughty maid.
Laomedon his daughter's fate bewails,
Nor his, nor Ilion's fervent prayer prevails,
But on her lovely skin white feathers rise;
Chang'd to a clamorous stork, the mounts the skies. 145
In the remaining orb, the heavenly maid
The tale of childlefs Cynaras difplay'd,
A fettled anguish in his look appears,
And from his bloodshot eyes flow ftreams of tears;
On the cold ground, no more a father, thrown,
He for his daughters clasp'd the polish'd stone.
And, when he fought to hold their wonted charms,
The temple's fteps deceiv'd his eager arms.
Wreaths of green olive round the border twine,
And her own tree incloses the design.
Arachne paints th' amours of mighty Jove,
How in a bull the God difguis'd his love;
A real bull feems in the piece to roar,
And real billows breaking on the fhore:
In fair Europa's face appears furprize,
To the retreating land the turns her eyes,
And feems to call her maids, who wondering ftood,
And with their tears increas'd the briny flood;
Her trembling fest the by contraction faves
From the rude infult of the rifing waves,
Here amorous Jove diffolving Læda trod,
And in the vigorous fwan conceal'd the god.
Love lends him now an eagle's new disguise,
Beneath his fluttering wings Afteria lies,
Th' enlivening colours here with force exprefs'd
How Jove the fair Antiope carefs'd.
In a strong fatyr's muscled form he came
Inftilling love transports the glowing dame,
And lufty twins reward his nervous flame.
Here how he footh'd the bright Alcmena's love,
Who for Amphitryon took th' impostor Jove,
And how the God in golden fhower allur'd
The guarded nymph, in brazen walls immur'd:
How, in a swain, Mnemofyne he charms;
How lambent flame the fair Ægina warms:
And how with various glittering hues inlaid
In ferpent's form Deöis he betray'd.
Here you, great Neptune, with a short-liv'd flame
In a young bull enjoy th' Æolian dame.
Then in Enipeus' fhape intrigues pursue:
'Tis thus th' Aloids boaft defcent from you.
Here to Bifaltis was thy love convey'd,
When a rough ram deceiv'd the yielding maid.
Ceres, kind mother of the bounteous year,
Whofe golden locks a fheafy garland bear;
And the dread dame, with hifling ferpents hung,
(From whom the Pegasæan courser sprung)
Thee in a fnuffling ftallion's form enjoy,
Exhauft thy ftrength, and every nerve employ ;
Melantho as a dolphin you betray,
And fport in pleasures on the rolling fea;
Such juft proportion graces every part,
Nature herfelf appears improv'd by art.
Here in disguise was mighty Phœbus seen,
With clownish afpect, and a rustic mien;
Again transform'd, he 's drefs'd in falcon's plumes,
And now the lion's noble shape affumes;
Now, in a fhepherd's form, with treacherous fmiles
He Macareian Iffe's heart beguiles.
Here his plump shape enamour'd Bacchus leaves,
And in the grape Erigone deceives.
There Saturn, in a neighing horse, she wove,
And Chiron's double form rewards his love.
Feftoons of flowers, inwove with ivy, fhine,
Border the wondrous piece, and round the texture twine.
Not Pallas, nor ev'n fpleen itself, could blame, 211
The wondrous work of the Mæonian dame;
With grief her vaft fuccefs the Goddess bore,
And of cœleftial crimes the ftory tore.
Her boxen fhuttle now, enrag'd, she took,
And thrice the proud Idmonian artist ftruck:
Th' unhappy maid, to fee her labours vain,
Grew refolute with pride, and fhame, and pain:
Around her neck a fatal noofe fhe ty'd,
And fought by fudden death her guilt to hide.
Pallas with pity faw the defperate deed,
And thus the virgin's milder fate decreed:
"Live, impious rival, mindful of thy crime,
"Suspended thus to wafte thy future time,
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