To the cool grot by his hard fate betray'd,
The fountains fill'd with naked nymphs survey'd.
The frighted virgins shriek'd at the surprise,
(The forest echo'd with their piercing cries)
Then in a huddle round their goddess prest:
She, proudly eminent above the rest,
With blushes glow'd; such blushes as adorn
The ruddy welkin, or the purple morn;
And though the crowded nymphs her body hide,
Half backward shrunk, and view'd him from aside.
Surpris'd, at first she would have snatch'd her bow,
But sees the circling waters round her flow :
These in the hollow of her hand she took,
And dash'd them in his face, while thus she spoke:
"Tell if thou can'st the wondrous sight disclos'd,
"A goddess naked to thy view expos'd."
This said, the man began to disappear
By slow degrees, and ended in a deer.
A rising horn on either brow he wears,
And stretches out his neck, and pricks his ears;
Rough is his skin, with sudden hairs o'ergrown,
His bosom pants with fears before unknown.
Transform'd at length, he flies away in haste,
And wonders why he flies away so fast.
But as by chance within a neighb'ring brook,
He saw his branching horns and alter'd look,
Wretched Acteon! in a doleful tone
He tried to speak, but only gave a groan;
And as he wept, within the watʼry glass
He saw the big round drops, with silent pace,
Run trickling down a savage hairy face.
What should he do? Or seek his old abodes,
Or herd among the deer, and sculk in woods?
Here shame dissuades him, there his fear prevails,
And each by turns his aching heart assails.
As he thus ponders, he behind him spies
His opening hounds, and now he hears their cries:
A generous pack, or to maintain the chace,
Or snuff the vapour from the scented grass.
He bounded off with fear, and swiftly ran
O'er craggy mountains, and the flow'ry plain;
Through brakes and thickets forc'd his way, and flew
Through many a ring, where once he did pursue.
In vain he oft endeavour'd to proclaim
His new misfortune, and to tell his name;
Nor voice nor words the brutal tongue supplies;
From shouting men, and horns, and dogs he flies,
Deafen'd and stunn'd with their promiscuous cries.
When now the fleetest of the pack, that prest
Close at his heels, and sprung before the rest,
Had fasten'd on him, straight another pair
Hung on his wounded haunch, and held him there
Till all the pack came up, and every hound
Tore the sad huntsman, grov'ling on the ground,
Who now appear'd but one continued wound.
With dropping tears his bitter fate he moans,
And fills the mountain with his dying groans.
His servants with a piteous look he spies,
And turns about his supplicating eyes.
His servants, ignorant of what had chanc'd,
With eager haste and joyful shouts advanc'd,
And call'd their lord Actæon to the game;
He shook his head in answer to the name,
He heard, but wish'd he had indeed been gone,
Or only to have stood a looker on.
But, to his grief, he finds himself too near,
And feels his rav'nous dogs with fury tear
Their wretched master, panting in a deer.
THE BIRTH OF BACCHUS.
ACTEON'S sufferings, and Diana's rage,
Did all the thoughts of men and gods engage;
Some call'd the evils, which Diana wrought,
Too great, and disproportion'd to the fault:
Others again esteem'd Acteon's woes
Fit for a virgin goddess to impose.
The hearers into different parts divide,
And reasons are produc'd on either side.
Juno alone, of all that heard the news,
Nor would condemn the goddess, nor excuse:
She heeded not the justice of the deed,
But joy'd to see the race of Cadmus bleed :
For still she kept Europa in her mind,
And, for her sake, detested all her kind.
Besides, to aggravate her hate, she heard
How Semele, to Jove's embrace preferr'd,
Was now grown big with an immortal load,
And carried in her womb a future god.
Thus terribly incens'd, the goddess broke
To sudden fury, and abruptly spoke:
"Are my reproaches of so small a force?
"'Tis time I then pursue another course:
"It is decreed the guilty wretch shall die,
"If I'm indeed the mistress of the sky
"If rightly styl❜d among the powers above "The wife and sister of the thund'ring Jove, "(And none can sure a sister's right deny) “It is decreed the guilty wretch shall die. "She boasts an honour I can hardly claim; "Pregnant, she rises to a mother's name; "While proud and vain she triumphs in her Jove, "And shows the glorious tokens of his love: "But if I'm still the mistress of the skies, "By her own lover the fond beauty dies." This said, descending in a yellow cloud, Before the gates of Semele she stood.
Old Beroë's decrepit shape she wears, Her wrinkled visage, and her hoary hairs; Whilst in her trembling gait she totters on, And learns to tattle in the nurse's tone. The goddess, thus disguis'd in age, beguil'd With pleasing stories her false foster-child. Much did she talk of love, and when she came To mention to the nymph her lover's name, Fetching a sigh, and holding down her head, “Tis well,” says she, " if all be true that's said; "But trust me, child, I'm much inclin❜d to fear “Some counterfeit in this your Jupiter.
Many an honest well-designing maid,
"Has been by these pretended gods betray'd.
"But if he be indeed the thund'ring Jove,
"Bid him, when next he courts the rites of love, "Descend triumphant from th' etherial sky, "In all the pomp of his divinity;
Encompass'd round by those celestial charms,
"With which he fills th' immortal Juno's arms."
Th' unwary nymph, ensnar'd with what she said, Desir'd of Jove, when next he sought her bed, To grant a certain gift which she would choose; "Fear not," replied the god," that I'll refuse "Whate'er you ask: may Styx confirm my voice, "Choose what you will, and you shall have your choice. "Then," says the nymph, "when next you seek my
"May you descend in those celestial charms,
"With which your Juno's bosom you inflame,
"And fill with transport heaven's immortal dame."
The god, surpris'd, would fain have stopp'd her voice:
But he had sworn, and she had made her choice:
To keep his promise he ascends, and shrouds
His awful brow in whirlwinds and in clouds;
Whilst all around, in terrible array,
His thunders rattle, and his lightnings play.
And yet, the dazzling lustre to abate,
He set not out in all his pomp and state,
Clad in the mildest lightning of the skies,
And arm'd with thunder of the smallest size :
Not those huge bolts, by which the giants slain
Lay overthrown on the Phlegrean plain.
'Twas of a lesser mould, and lighter weight;
They call it thunder of a secondrate.
For the rough Cyclops, who by Jove's command
Temper'd the bolt, and turn'd it to his hand,
Work'd up less flame and fury in its make,
And quench'd it sooner in the standing lake.
Thus dreadfully adorn'd, with horror bright,
Th' illustrious god, descending from his height,
Came rushing on her in a storm of light.
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