My fons their old, unhappy fire despise,
Spoil'd of his kingdom, and depriv'd of eyes;
Guideless I wander, unregarded mourn,
While thefe exalt their fceptres o'er my urn;
Thefe fons, ye Gods! who with flagitious pride,
Infult my darkness, and my groans deride.
Art thou a Father, unregarding Jove!
And fleeps thy thunder in the realms above?
Thou Fury, then, fome lafting curfe entail,
Which o'er their childrens children fhall prevail :
Place on their heads that crown diftain'd with gore,
Which thefe dire hands from my flain father tore;
Go, and a parent's heavy curfes bear;
115
Break all the bonds of nature, and prepare
Their kindred fouls to mutual hate and war.
Give them to dare, what I might wish to fee
Blind as I am, fome glorious villany!
Soon fhalt thou find, if thou but arm their hands, 120
Their ready guilt preventing thy commands:
Couldst thou fome great, proportion'd mischief frame,
They'd prove the father from whofe loins they came.
Non regere, aut dictis moerentem flectere adorti
Quos genui, quocunque toro: quin ecce fuperbi
(Pro dolor) et noftro jamdudum funere reges,
Infultant tenebris, gemitufque odere paternos.
Hifce etiam funeftus ego? et videt ista deorum
Ignavus genitor? tu faltem debita vindex
Huc ades, et totos in poenam ordire nepotes.
Indue quod madidum tabo diadema cruentis
Unguibus arripui, votifque inftincta paternis
I media in fratres, generis confortia ferro
Diffiliant: da Tartarei regina barathri
Quod cupiam vidiffe nefas, nec tarda fequetur
Mens juvenum; modo digna veni, mea pignora nofces,
The Fury heard, while on Cocytus' brink
Her fnakes unty'd, fulphureous waters drink;
But at the fummons, roll'd her eyes around,
And fnatch'd the starting ferpents from the ground.
Not half fo fwiftly shoots along in air,
The gliding light'ning, or defcending star.
Thro' crouds of airy fhades fhe wing'd her flight, 130
And dark dominions of the filent night;
Swift as fhe pafs'd, the flitting ghosts withdrew,
And the pale spectres trembled at her view:
To th' iron gates of Tænarus she flies,
There spreads her dusky pinions to the skies.
The day beheld, and fick ning at the fight,
Veil'd her fair glories in the fhades of night.
Affrighted Atlas, on the distant shore,
140
Trembled, and shook the heav'ns and gods he bore.
Now from beneath Malea's airy height
Aloft she sprung, and steer'd to Thebes her flight;
With eager speed the well-known journey took,
Nor here regrets the hell fhe late forfook.
130
Talia jactanti crudelis Diva feveros Advertit vultus ; inamoenum forte sedebat Cocyton juxta, refolutaque vertice crines, Lambere fulfureas permiferat anguibus undas. Ilicet igne Jovis, lapfifque citatior aftris Triftibus exiliit ripis. difcedit inane Vulgus, et occurfus dominae pavet; illa per umbras Et caligantes, animarum examine campos, Taenariae limen petit irremeabile portae. Senfit adeffe dies; piceo nox obvia nimbo Lucentes turbavit equos. procul arduus Atlas Horruit, et dubia coelum cervice remifit. Arripit extemplo Maleae de valle refurgens Notum iter ad Thebas: neque enim velocior ullas Itque reditque vias, cognataque Tartara mavult,
140
A hundred fnakes her gloomy visage shade,
A hundred serpents guard her horrid head,
In her funk eyeballs dreadful meteors glow :
Such rays from Phoebe's bloody circles flow,
When lab'ring with ftrong charms, fhe fhoots from high
A fiery gleam, and reddens all the sky.
Blood ftain'd her cheeks, and from her mouth there
*
came
150
A dress by Fates and Furies worn alone.
She tofs'd her meagre arms; her better hand
In waving circles whirl'd a fun'ral brand:
A ferpent from her left was seen to rear
His flaming creft, and lafh the yielding air.
But when the Fury took her ftand on high,
Where vaft Citharon's top falutes the sky,
Blue fteaming poifons, and a length of flame.
From ev'ry blast of her contagious breath,
Famine and drought proceed, and plagues, and death.
A robe obscene was o'er her shoulders thrown,
Centum illi ftantes umbrabant ora ceraftae,
Turba minor diri capitis: fedet intus abactis
Ferrea lux oculis; qualis per nubila Phoebes
Atracea rubet arte labor: fuffufa veneno
Tenditur, ac fanie glifcit cutis: igneus atro
Ore vapor, quo longa fitis, morbique famefque,
Et populis mors una venit. riget horrida tergo
Palla, et caerulei redeunt in pectore nodi.
Atropos hos, atque ipfa novat Proferpina cultus. 155
Tum geminas quatit illa manus: haec igne rogali
Fulgurat, haec vivo manus aëra verberat hydro.
Ut ftetit, abrupta qua plurimus arce Cithaeron
Occurrit coelo, fera fibila crine virenti
A hifs from all the faaky tire went round;
The dreadful fignal all the rocks rebound,
And thro' th' Achaian cities fend the found.
Oete, with high Parnaffus, heard the voice;
Eurota's banks remurmurd to the noise;
Again Leucothoë fhook at these alarms,
And prefs'd Palæmon closer in her arms.
Headlong from thence the glowing Fury fprings,
And o'er the Theban palace spreads her wings,
Once more invades the guilty dome, and shrouds
Its bright pavilions in a veil of clouds.
Congeminat, fignum terris, unde omnis Achaei
Ora maris late, Pelopeiaque regna resultant.
Audiit et mediis coeli Parnaffus, et afper
Eurotas, dubiamque jugo fragor impulit Ceten
In latus, et geminis vix fluctibus obftitit Ifthmos.
Ipfa fuum genitrix, curvo delphine vagantem
Arripuit frenis, gremioque Palaemona preilit.
Atque ea Cadmaeo praeceps ubi limine primum
Conftitit, affuetaque infecit nube penates,
Protinus attoniti fratrum fub pectore motus,
Gentilefque animos fubiit furor, aegraque laetis.
Invidia, atque parens odii metus: inde regendi
Saevus amor: ruptaeque vices, jurifque fecundi
Straight with the rage of all their race poffefs'd,
Stung to the foul, the brothers ftart from reft,
And all their Furies wake within their breaft. 175
Their tortur'd minds repining Envy tears,
And Hate, engender'd by fufpicious fears;
}
NOTES.
VER. 173. Gentilifque animus fubiit furor, seems a better reading than Gentilejque.
And facred Thirst of sway; and all the ties
Of Nature broke; and royal Perjuries;
And impotent Defire to reign alone,
That fcorns the dull reverfion of a throne;
Each would the sweets of fov'reign rule devour,
While Difcord waits upon divided pow'r.
d.
As ftubborn fteers by brawny plowmen broke,
And join'd reluctant to the galling yoke,
Alike difdain with fervile necks to be r
Th' unwonted weight, or drag the crooked fhare,
But rend the reins, and bound a diff'rent way,
And all the furrows in confufion lay :
Such was the discord of the royal pair,
Whom fury drove precipitate to war.
In vain the chiefs contriv'd a fpecious way,
To govern Thebes by their alternate fway :
Unjuft decree! while this enjoys the state,
That mourns in exile his unequal fate,
And the short monarch of a hafty year
Forefees with anguish his returning heir.
Ambitus impatiens, et fummo dulcius unum
Stare loco, fociifque comes difcordia regnis.
Sic ubi delectos per torva armenta juvencos
Agricola impofito fociare affectat aratro :
Illi indignantes quis nondum vomere multo
Ardua nodofos cervix defcendit in armos,
In diverfa trahunt, atque aequis vincula laxant
Viribus, et vario confundunt limite fulcos :
Haud fecus indomitos praeceps difcordia fratres
Afperat. alterni placuit fub legibus anni
Exilio mutare ducem. fic jure maligno
Fortunam tranfire jubent, ut fceptra tenentem
Foedere praecipiti femper novus angeret haeres.
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