Chapter VI: Part 6

Now Philomel'
Safely on board the painted vessel plac'd,
The land far left, as with their laboring oars
The surges move;--exulting Tereus, cry'd,
"Victorious,--lo! my utmost wishes borne
Safe with me."--Scarce his burning soul defers
His hop'd-for joys. His eyes are never turn'd
From the lov'd face. Thus Jove's protected bird
Rapacious bears, with his sharp talons pierc'd,
An hare defenceless to his lofty nest:
No flight remains, the spoiler calmly views
His prey. Now ended is their voyage, now
Weary'd they quit their ship, and joyful touch
Their native beach; and now the Thracian king
Pandion's daughter to a lofty stall
Conducts; by ancient trees the spot well screen'd.
There he inclos'd the pale, the trembling maid,
Of all things fearful, as with tears she press'd
Her sister's face to see: his purpose dire
Disclosing,--force the helpless maid o'ercame,
Loudly exclaiming to her sire; and loud
Her sister's help invoking, equal vain:
But chief she begs celestial powers to aid.
Trembling she lies; so seems a shuddering lamb
Wounded, and from the hoary wolf's fierce jaws
Just 'scap'd, not sure his safety yet he deems:
So seems a dove, her plumes in blood deep-drench'd,
With fear still shivering; still the hungry claws
Dreading, that lately pierc'd her. Soon restor'd
Her mental powers, while scatter'd hung the locks
Rent in her anguish, high her arms she rais'd,
Livid with blows, as those that mourn the dead;
Exclaiming,--"O, barbarian! wretch supreme!
"In cruelty and vice; whom not the charge
"Parental, seal'd with pious tears could move;
"A sister's charge entrusted: not her state,
"Virgin defenceless; not the sacred vows,
"Conjugal plighted. In confusion all
"Commixt, by thee, adulteress here I lie,
"Against my sister. Thou a double spouse,
"To both. This scourge is sure to me not due.
"Why, villain, not my hated life destroy?
"Perfect in deeds atrocious; would my breath
"Before the horrid act supprest had been:
"Then had I guiltless sought the shades. But still
"If powers celestial view this act; if sway
"On earth they hold; if all not sinks with me,
"Thy fate hence-forward from me dread; myself
"Shall unabash'd, thy acts proclaim. If power
"Is granted, when in public walks I roam:
"If here in woods imprison'd, all the woods
"Shall with my plaints resound; the conscious rocks
"I'll move. May heaven me hear! and if in heaven
"A god abides, me hear!"--Rous'd by her words,
The fierce king's anger burns; no less his fear
Than anger moves him: strongly spurr'd by each,
His weapon from the pendent sheath he drew:
Dragg'd by the hair, her limbs he forc'd to yield
To fetters; twisting rough her arms behind.
Glad Philomel' to him her throat presents,
Death from the glittering sword expecting. Grasp'd
In pincers, fierce her tongue he tore away;
Griev'd, and indignant, as her father's name
She strove to utter: trembling still appear'd
The bloody root; trembling the tongue itself
Murmur'd as on the gore-stain'd earth it lay:
As leaps the serpent's sever'd tail, the tongue,
Quivering in death, still to her feet advanc'd.
This deed of horror done, 'tis said that oft
(Incredible the fact) repeated force
Upon her mangled form the wretch employ'd.

Now dares he, all those acts atrocious done,
Return to Procne. Eager as he comes,
For Philomel' she asks. False tears and groans
He gives: the hapless nymph he feigns deceas'd:
His tears convince. Now from her shoulders torn,
Her robes with gold bright-glittering, sable vests
Her limbs enfolded. High an empty tomb
She rais'd, and pious obsequies perform'd
To manes pretended: for her sister's fate
She mourn'd, whose fate such mourning ill deserv'd.

Through twice six signs had Phoebus journey'd on,
The year completing. What, alas! remains
For Philomela? Guards prevent her flight.
Of stone erected, high the massive walls
Circle her round. Her lips so mute, refuse
The deed to blazon. Keen the sense of grief
Sharpens the soul:--in misery the mind
Ingenious sparkles. Skillful she extends
The Thracian web, and on the snow-white threads,
In purple letters, weaves the dreadful tale.
Complete, a servant with expressive signs,
The present to the queen she bids to bear.
To Procne was it borne, witless the slave
Of what he carry'd. Savage Tereus' spouse
The web unfolded; read the mournful tale
Her hapless sister told, and wonderous! sate
In silence; grief her rising words repress'd:
Indignant, chok'd, her throat refus'd to breathe,
The angry accents to her plaining tongue.
To weep she waits not, in turmoil confus'd,
Justice and flagrance undistinguished lie;
Her mind sole bent for vengeance on her spouse.

Now was the time Sithonia's matrons wont,
The rites triennial of the jovial god
To tend. Those rites to conscious shade alone
Confided. Rhodope, the brazen sound
Shrill tinkling, hears by night;--by night the queen
The palace quits, attir'd as Bacchus' rites
Demand; and weapon'd with the Bacchant arms.
A vine her forehead girds; the nimble deer
Clothes with his skin her sides; her shoulder bears
A slender spear. Thus maddening, Procne seeks
The woods in ire terrific, crowded round
By all her followers: rack'd by inward pangs,
The furious rant of Bacchus veils her woes.
The lonely stable seen at length, she howls
Aloud,--"Evoe, ho!"--and bursts the door;
Drags thence her sister;--her thence dragg'd, invests I
In Bacchanalian robes; her face inshrouds
In ivy foliage; and astonish'd leads
The trembling damsel o'er the palace steps.
The horrid dome when Philomela saw,
Perforce she enter'd; through her frame she shook;
The blood her face deserted. Procne sought
A spot retir'd, and from her features flung
The sacred trappings, and her sister's face,
Sorrowing and blushing, to the light unveil'd;
Then ran to clasp her. She the sight not bore;
Her eyes she rais'd not; her dejected brows
Bent to the ground; thus by her sister seen,
Encroacher on her bed. Her hands still spoke,
When oaths she wish'd to utter, and to call
Th' attesting gods, her foul disgrace by force
To prove accomplish'd. Furious, Procne burns,
Nor curbs her ire; her sister's streaming tears
Reproving checks, and cries;--"no period now
"For tears, we ask the sword! But if than sword
"Vengeance more keen thou hop'st for, sister dear,
"Behold me for most horrid deeds prepar'd.
"Shall I with flaming torches blaze on high
"His hall imperial, and the villain king
"Heave in the conflagration? Shall I rend
"As thine his tongue? or from his sockets tear,
"His eye-balls? or what other member maim?
"Or this, or instant send his guilty soul
"Thro' thousand wounds to judgment? What thou speak'st
"Be mighty. I for mightiest acts prepare.
"To fix I hesitate." As Procne speaks,
Lo! infant Itys to his mother runs;
His sight her mind determines; cruel turn
Her eyes, exclaiming;--"See, how like his sire's
"Appear his features!"--More she spoke not, fixt
Was straight her dread resolve: now fiercer burn'd
Within her smother'd rage;--yet when the boy
Approach'd, and round her neck his infant arms
Threw, and his kisses printed on her lips,
With bland caresses mingled, even the soul
Of Procne melted. Mollify'd her rage,
Tears hard constrain'd flow'd from unwilling eyes.
Soon as the mother's feelings softening seem
To melt in extreme fondness; Procne quits
The sight, and to her sister's face reverts
Again her visage; then on each in turn
Full bent her view, she cries;--"Must one me melt
"With blandish'd soothings? Must the other mute,
"With tongue dismember'd stand? Must he exclaim
"O, mother!--she, O, sister! never more?
"To what a spouse, Pandion's daughter, see
"Art thou, degenerate wife, conjoin'd! Thy sin
"A spouse like Tereus to have us'd too well."
More she delays not, infant Itys drags,
Swift as the Indian tiger sweeps the fawn
Through shady forests. Then the lofty dome,
For rooms remote well search'd, in one arrives,
Where she the infant pierces; 'twixt the breast
And side the weapon enters, while his hands,
Suppliant, his fate foreseeing, he extends,
And,--"mother! O, my mother!"--loudly cries.
Nor mov'd her countenance fell;--the single wound
Was deadly. Philomela, with her steel
The throat divided, and the quivering limbs
Dissever'd, whilst of animation still
Some glimmering sparks remain'd. Of these, they part
In brazen cauldrons boil: part on the spit
Crackling they turn: with gore the secret rooms
Offensive float. Her unsuspecting spouse
Procne to feast invites; delusive feigns
Her country's customs,--where 'twas given, but one
The husband should be nigh; all menial slaves
Far distant. On his ancestorial seat
High-lifted, Tereus sate, and feasted there:
And in his bowels deep he there entomb'd
Bowels his own. So blind are human souls,--
"Call Itys to the feast,"--he cries. No more
Could Procne veil her savage joy;--full bent
The slaughter to announce, she loud proclaim'd
"Thou seek'st who with thee rests!"--Around he looks.
Wondering where rests he. Philomela rush'd,
Her tresses sprinkled with the ireful blood,
As griev'd he, Itys calling loud, and flung,
With savage fury Itys' gory head
Full in his father's face; nor ever mourn'd
Lost speech so much; her well-earn'd joy to show,
More griev'd lost power. With outcry loud the king
O'er-turn'd the table; from the Stygian vale,
Invok'd the viper'd sisters: hard he strove
To tear his bosom, and from thence disgorge
The dire repast, the half-digested mass
Of Itys' limbs. Now weeping, wild he mourns,
Himself his offspring's tomb. Now fierce pursues
Pandion's daughters with his unsheath'd sword.
From him escaping, on light wings upborne
Th' Athenians seem'd; light wings their limbs upbore!
One sheltering in the woods: protecting roofs
The other seeking; still the murderous deed,
Mark'd on her breast remains; still on her plumes
The teint of blood is seen. Rapid in rage
And hope of vengeance, Tereus too is chang'd,
And flits a bird; a plumy crest he bears,
High on his head: the lengthen'd sword he bore,
A beak enormous grows. A lapwing now
With fierce-arm'd face he flies.

Untimely sought
Pandion, when the mournful tale he heard,
The Stygian shades, ere yet the lengthen'd date
Of years commanded. Next th' Athenian realm
Erechtheus rul'd, the sceptre dubious held
By right or forceful arms. Proud could he boast
Four sons;--and daughters four to him were given.
Beauteous the maids; in beauty equal two:
Of these AEoelian Cephalus was bless'd
With thee as spouse, O, Procris!--Tereus long,
Boreas withstanding, with the power of Thrace,
Long Orithyia, by the god belov'd,
Was lov'd in vain; while soft beseechings more
And prayers, the power to strenuous force preferr'd.
But now those soothings bland so vainly try'd,
Fierce swol'n with rage, his most accustom'd feel
(Too much that passion knows this wind) he cries;--
"Well I deserve it, all my proper arms
"Relinquish'd: savage fierceness, strength, stern rage,
"And threatening force. With humble softening prayers
"Fool have I su'd; in each attempt have fail'd.
"More apt to me is force! by force I drive
"The lowering clouds before me: Ocean's waves
"Forceful I turn; forceful the knotted oak
"Root from its deep foundation; hard the frost
"I bind; and beat the sounding earth with hail:
"I when in open sky, for there our field
"Lies in display, my blustering brethren meet,
"Oppose such might, that midmost sky resounds
"Echoing our forceful conflict; flashing flames
"From the cleft bodies of the hollow clouds,
"Elicited: I too, earth's secret womb
"Fierce entering, in her deepest caverns strain
"My strength, 'till trembling wide through all her frame,
"The ghosts below are troubled. These the aid
"My nuptial wish should seek; no longer pray
"Erechtheus for my sire;--my sire by force,
"The monarch shall be made."--So spoke the god,
Or thus, or more in fury, as he shook
His plumes, whose motion sweep'd through earth's extent,
And made the wide main tremble. Lofty hills
His dusty mantle covers; as the plains
Rapid he brushes; shrouded deep in mist,
In his dark wings the furious lover clasps
His Orithyia, trembling, pale with fear:
Flying his flames were fann'd, and fiercer blaz'd.
Nor check'd the ravisher his lofty flight,
Till seen the town of Cicones, whose walls
Receiv'd him. There th' Athenian nymph became
The freezing monarch's bride: a mother there,
A double birth she brought, whose shoulders bear
The father's pinions; all their semblance else
Their mother's. Not at first, 'tis said, appear'd
The feathers: Calais and Zethes, boys
Were yet unplum'd; when yet with ruddy hair,
Their beards appear'd not. From each shoulder shot
The feathers bird-like, at the self-same time,
Their manly cheeks were thick with yellow down.
Now when their youth matur'd to man appear'd,
Through seas unplough'd before, they sought the fleece
Splendid with glittering wool; with all the train
Of Minyae, in the first-built vessel borne.

*The Seventh Book.*

Expedition of the Argonauts. Jason obtains the golden fleece, by
the assistance of Medea. AEson restored to youth by her magic
powers. Murder of Pelias by his daughters. Medea's flight to
Corinth. Murder of her rival and infants. Marriage with AEgeus.
Adventures of Theseus. War with Minos. Plague in AEgina. Change of
ants into Myrmidons. Cephalus and Procris.

THE *Seventh Book* OF THE METAMORPHOSES OF OVID.

Now in the Pagasaean vessel borne,
Plough'd the wide sea the Argonauts, and saw
The fate of Phineus; whose old age the curse
Of hunger felt, and felt perpetual night.
The youths from Boreas sprung, quick sped to flight
The virgin-featur'd birds, his hapless face,
Far distant. 'Neath great Jason's rule much toil
They bore ere on the oozy banks they stay'd
Of rapid Phasis. Here the king they seek;
And here demand the golden fleece; and here
An answer big with fearful labors learn
The Grecian crew. Meantime the royal maid
Burns with fierce fires: with reason struggling long,
Still her hot flame to quench unable, cries
Aloud Medea;--"vainly I oppose!
"Some unknown god controls. Perhaps 'tis love!
"If love 'tis not, no sentiment more near
"To love can come. Why else my sire's commands
"So harsh appear? But harsh in truth they are.
"But why his failing dread? Why dread his death,
"But barely seen? What cause such fear can give?
"O, hapless maid! would from my virgin breast
"Those flames to fling were given. If mine the power
"More wisdom would I use. But me this force,
"Before unknown, unwilling drags; this love
"Persuades, oppos'd to reason: plain I see
"The better track,--approve it most, yet swerv'd,
"I tread the worse. Why, royal virgin, burn
"Thus for a stranger guest? Why long'st thou thus,
"A foreign partner in the marriage bed
"To clasp? Thy country well can thee supply
"What e'er thou lovest. In the gods' decree
"His death or safety rests. Yet may he live!
"Pray may'st thou for him sure,--love unconcern'd.
"But what has Jason done? Savage, indeed!
"Were those his youth, his birth, and brilliant deeds
"Not touch'd: how savage too the soul must be
"His beauty touch'd not, were there nought beside;
"My bosom sure it moves. But were my aid
"Deny'd, the furious bulls with flaming breath
"His fate would compass; or the foes that spring
"From earth, his harvest, slay him in the fight;
"Or last, he'd fall the ravenous dragon's prey.
"If this I suffer, from the tiger sprung
"Believe me; steel and marble in my breast,
"Deem me to wear. Why not his death behold?
"Why not mine eyes with the dread sight pollute!
"Why not the bulls, the earth-born foes incite,
"And sleepless dragon, with redoubled ire?
"Heaven wills it better. But let deeds, not prayers
"My time employ. How! shall I then betray
"My parent's realm? an unknown stranger aid
"With all my power? who by my power preserv'd,
"Loos'd to the wind his sails, another's spouse
"Becomes,--me left for punishment behind?
"If this to do,--another nymph to me
"Born to prefer, let him, ingrate! be slain.
"But no! his face denies it; his great soul,
"And graceful form forbid the fear of fraud;
"Or benefits forgot. Yet shall he plight
"His solemn faith first, call th' attesting gods
"To witness what he vows. What fear I more?
"All's safe. Medea, hasten, spurn delay,--
"Jason, remaining life to thee shall owe;
"Join'd to his state, the annual torch shall flame
"To thee, preserver! through the Grecian towns
"By crowds of mothers hail'd. Shall I for this
"My sister leave, my brother, and my sire;
"My gods, and natal land? Yes,--fierce my sire;
"My country barbarous; and my brother young:
"With all my wishes, warm my sister joins;
"And dwells within my breast the mightiest god.
"Much I relinquish not, but much I seek.
"The glorious title of the Grecian youth
"Deliverer! gain'd; the sight of lands and towns
"Whose fame even here has journey'd; manners mild,
"And cultur'd arts; and Jason for my spouse,
"For whom all earth's possessions were too small
"To change. His spouse become, supremely blest,
"Dear to the gods, the loftiest stars I'll reach.
"What are those rocks, they tell, which 'mid the waves
"Meet in encounter? Fell Charybdis what,--
"Hostile to ships, now sucking in the tide,
"Now fierce discharging? What the savage bounds,
"Which compass greedy Scylla 'mid the main
"Sicilian? O'er the wide-spread ocean borne,
"Him whom I love embracing; sheltering close
"In Jason's bosom; clasp'd by him, no fear
"My soul could harbor. Or if fear I felt,
"For him alone I'd tremble; for my spouse.
"Spouse, dost thou say, Medea? hid'st thou thus,
"With specious names thy crime? Behold the load
"Of guilt thou goest to bear! While power remains
"The sin avoid."--She said, and duty, shame,
And rectitude, before her eyes appear'd;
And vanquish'd love address'd his wings to flight.
Now to an ancient altar Hecat' own'd,
By shady trees dark veil'd from day, she came:
Her flames abated, and her eager pulse
Subsided. Here AEsonides she saw,
And bright her love reblaz'd. Warm flush'd her cheeks,
Deep all her visage glow'd. The smallest spark
Thus low in embers hid, its vigor shews;
Help'd by the feeding blast, increasing burns,
And stirr'd in all its wonted fury glows.
Just so the languid passion which but now
All but extinct appear'd, the hero seen
Fresh at his beauteous presence flam'd. By chance
More beauteous Jason on that morn appear'd;
Well might a lover all her love excuse.
She looks, his countenance with her eyes devours
As then first seen; and madly fond, she deems
His features more than mortal: bashful turn'd
Her forehead not from his. But when her guest
Address'd her: when he gently took her hands;
And crav'd assistance in an humble tone,
The nuptial promise giving. Plenteous flow'd
Her tears, exclaiming;--"What I should perform
"Plainly I see: not ignorance me misleads
"But love. My gifts shall aid you, you but keep
"The promise pledg'd."--Sacred the hero swears
By her, the tri-form'd goddess, whom that grove
Acknowledges divine; and by the god,
Whence sprung the sire-in-law he hopes to claim;
The god who all beholds; by all his deeds
Atchiev'd; and by his perils all he swears.
His words believ'd, immediate he receives
The magic plants, their use well taught, and seeks
The roof rejoicing. Now the morn had driven
The glimmering stars far distant, crowding press'd
The people in the sacred field of Mars,
The king himself amidst them, seated high,
In purple clad, with ivory sceptre grac'd.
Lo! come the brazen-footed bulls, who breathe
Through nostrils fenc'd with adamant hot flames:
Parch'd by their breath, the herbage blacken'd burns.
Loud as the blazing forge's chimney roars;
Or loud as lime in earthy furnace laid,
Bursts into heat by watery sprinklings touch'd:
So loud, within their flaming chests contain'd,
The struggling fires loud bellow'd. Scorch'd their throats
The sound transmitted. Boldly AEson's son
March'd onward; fiercely as the youth approach'd,
His foes dark lower'd, and bent their steel-tipt horns,
Paw'd with their clefted hoofs the dusty ground,
And fill'd with smoky bellowings all the air.
Pale grew each Grecian face; advancing on
The fiery blasts he feels not, such the power
The mighty charms possess, but boldly strokes
Their dewlaps pendulous, and to the yoke
Subjected, makes them drag the ponderous plough;
And with the iron cut th' uncustom'd soil.
The Colchians wondering gaze; the Grecians loud
Applaud, and with fresh courage fill his soul.
Then from his brazen helmet pluck'd, he sows
The serpent's teeth, deep in the furrow'd ground:
The ground, the teeth with powerful venom ting'd,
Soften'd and swell'd them, and a novel shape
Imparted. Thus within the parent's womb,
An human shape the infant mass receives,
Completed perfect in the dark recess;
Nor till mature, to air external given.
So when the manly forms were perfect made
Within earth's pregnant bowels, up they sprung
Thick in the fruitful field; more wonderous still
Their arms they clash'd when born. Then when the Greeks
Their keenly-pointed spears preparing saw
To hurl at Jason's head, low sunk their souls,
And pallid grew their cheeks; Medea ev'n,
Whose art insur'd his safety, trembling fear'd,
When single she the youth beheld assail'd
By foes in hosts; bloodless her face became,
And tremor seiz'd her limbs: then lest the herbs
Presented first, should fail in power, she sings
An helping magic song, and all her arts
Latent, calls forth. Amidst the hostile crowd
A mighty rock he flings; their martial rage
From him diverted, on each other turns.
By mutual wounds the earth-born brothers fall;
In civil discord perish. Joy'd again
The Grecians clasp the conqueror in their arms.
Thou too, Medea, wish'd thine arms to fill
With him victorious. (Shame at first repress'd
Thy open fondness, though thou wast embrac'd)
Now reputation awes thee, now prevents
That bliss. What honor gives,--silent to joy,
And pour glad thanks to all thy magic arts,
And gods their authors, those thou dar'st indulge.
Now sole remains by powerful herbs to lull
The wakeful dragon, whose high-crested head
A triple tongue contains, whose crooked fangs
Dreadful the golden fleece protecting guards.
Him when be sprinkled with the juices prest
From plants Lethean; and repeated thrice,
The words which placid sleep inspire; which still
The ruffled ocean; and arrest the course
Of rapid torrents; sleep before unknown
Stole o'er his eyelids, and th' AEsonian youth
Seiz'd on the golden prize. Proud with the spoil,
(A second spoil possessing) she who gave
The power to conquer, as his wife he bears,
And lands triumphant on Thessalia's shores.

Mothers of Thessaly, and aged sires
For sons restor'd, glad offerings bring: bright flames
The high-heap'd incense; votive victims deck'd
With gilded horns are slain: but AEson, far
The grateful crowd avoids, now near his fate,
Bent by a weight of years. Hence Jason spoke;--
"O, spouse! to thee my life and safety ow'd;
"To me, thou all hast given; the high swol'n sum
"Of all thy favors might belief surpass:
"This more attempt, if this thou can'st,--and what
"Thy magic power defies? My years curtail,
"And to my sire's existence add the term."
Fast flow'd his tears while speaking;--while he spoke,
His pious duty mov'd Medea; quick
Her sire AEeta, so deserted, sprung
To thought, and shew'd the two contrasting souls.
But, veil'd her secret thoughts, she thus replies;--
"What impious accents hear I from thy tongue,
"O, spouse religious? Can I then transfer
"Of thy existence part? Not Hecat's power
"Fateful, would sanction this; nor stands thy wish
"In equity. Yet, Jason, will I try
"More than thou seek'st to give. With all my skill
"Thy sire's existence to prolong, thy years
"Unshorten'd; should the tri-form'd goddess aid
"Propitious my designs."--Three nights were now
Deficient, ere the full-form'd horns could meet
The lunar orb to fill. Complete her round;
A solid sphere of light from earth beheld,
Medea wanders forth; loose all her robes;
Naked her feet; bare-headed; while her hair
Wild o'er her shoulders floats; and thus array'd,
Untended, while deep midnight silence reigns
She bends her devious way. Men, beasts, and birds,
In bonds of sleep were chain'd; the hedges still,
No murmur breath'd; nor wav'd the silent trees;
Hush'd was the humid sky; the stars alone
Twinkled: to them her arms extending, thrice
She turn'd around; thrice from the flowing stream
Her tresses sprinkled; thrice with yelling noise
The silence broke; then with her bended knee
The hard earth pressing, cry'd;--"O, night! thou friend
"Of secret deeds; ye glittering stars! whose rays
"With Luna's, Sol's diurnal light succeed;
"And thou, O, Hecat'! tripleform'd, who know'st
"My undertaking, and approaching aid'st
"With incantations, and with magic powers:
"And thou, O, earth! whose bosom witching plants
"Affords: ye winds; ye skies; ye mountains; lakes;
"And flowing streams: O, all ye gods! who dwell
"In shady woods; and all ye gods of night,
"Hither approach! by whose high power, at will,
"Rivers I cause between their wondering banks,
"Back to their springs to flow; the stormy deep
"Hush by my song, or lash it into rage;
"Clouds form, or clouds dispel; raise furious blasts,
"Or furious blasts allay; smite with my song
"The dragon's furious jaws: the living rocks
"I shake;--uproot the oak; the earth upturn;
"Move forests; bid the trembling mountains leap;
"Loud roar the ground; and from the tombs the ghosts
"Affrighted walk. Thee, Luna, too I draw
"From heaven, by all the threatening clash of brass
"Deterr'd not: pale the brighter car becomes,
"My spells once utterr'd: by my poisons charm'd,
"Pallid Aurora seems. You, plants! for me,
"Blunted the ardor of the flaming bulls;
"Press'd with the yoke, their necks impatient bent,
"And dragg'd the crooked plough. You bade the race
"Snake-born, upon themselves their warring rage
"To turn. In sleep the roaring dragon's eyes
"You steep'd; the guard eluded, sent the prize
"To glad the towns of Greece. Now have I need
"Of renovating herbs, to make old age
"Glow once again in all its youthful bloom.
"This will you grant, for sure those stars in vain
"Not sparkle; nor in vain the chariot comes
"Drawn by the dragons wing'd." The chariot comes
Swift sweeping through the air. Active she mounts,
Strokes the rein'd dragons' manes, and shakes the thongs.
On high they soar:--Thessalian Tempe far
Beneath she views; then tow'rd the chalky land
Her snakes directs. On Ossa's top explores
For plants, and seeks what lofty Pelion bears;
Othrys, and Pindus, and Olympus huge.
What please her, part she with their root updrags;
Part with her crooked brazen sickle mows;
Apidanus; Amphrysos, on their banks
Many afforded: nor Enipeus scap'd.
Peneus, and Spercheus, and the rushy shores
Of Baebe some contributed. She pluck'd
In Anthedon the living grass whose power,
Then Glaucus' form unchang'd, was yet unknown.

Now had nine days, now had nine nights elaps'd,
Borne on her dragon wings, and in her car
Wandering the fields among, ere back she turn'd:
Unfed her dragons, save by odorous smells;
Yet had they shed their scales, with youth renew'd.
Arriv'd, without the palace gate she stays,
And there sole shelter'd by the sky, all touch
Of man denying; altars two she rears
Of turf; sacred to Hecate stood the right,
To Youth the left: when these with vervain bound.
And forest boughs, here sacrifice she makes.
Hard by, two trenches scoops from out the ground;
Smites with her weapon in the sable throat,
A sheep presented; in the open ditch
Empties the blood; then bowls of wine she pours,
And bowls of smoking milk; with mystic words
Invokes the powers terrestrial; begs the king
Of shades, and begs his ravish'd spouse to aid,
Nor of his soul the aged king defraud.
These when with lengthen'd prayers, and murmurings long,
Appeas'd; she bids them tow'rd the altars bring
The feeble AEson; his exhausted limbs
Bound in deep slumber, by her magic power,
Corse-like, she lays extended on the grass.
Then Jason bids, and his attendant crew,
Far thence depart, nor with their view prophane
Her acts mysterious. As she bids they go.
Medea then the flaming altars round,
In Bacchanalian guise her flowing locks,
Circles; and in the ditch's blackening gore
Her splinter'd torches dips; with blood imbu'd,
Burns them upon her altars; thrice with fire,
With sulphur thrice, and thrice with flowing streams,
The sire she lustrates. Heated now in brass,
Her powerful medicines bubble, high and white
The swelling froth appears. There boils she all
The roots in vales AEmonian dug; and seeds,
And flowers, and juices dark: gems unto these,
Sought in the distant East, she adds; and adds
What on the sand the refluent ocean leaves:
More still, the night-long moon collected dew
She brings; the dismal screech-owl's flesh and wings;
The entrails of the wolf ambiguous, wont
His savage face in human guise to wear:
Nor wanted there, the scaly skin which clothes
Th' amphibious snake Cyniphian, long and small:
The beak and head a crow nine ages bore,
She adds. Now was the foreign dame prepar'd,
By help of these, and nameless thousands more,
The promis'd boon to give, the whole she stirs
Deep from the bottom, with a bough long rent,
From the mild olive. Lo! the wither'd branch,
The boiling caldron stirring, sudden shoots
In virid freshness! shortly leaves bud forth;
And soon it bends beneath a load of fruit!
Where'er the fire above the hollow brass,
The bubbling foam high-rais'd, and boiling drops
Sprinkled the ground,--the ground with verdure smil'd;
Flowers and soft herbage sprung. Medea sees,
And with her weapon ope's the senior's throat;
His aged blood exhausted sees, and pours
Her juices copious: part his mouth receives;
And part the wound. When AEson these had drank,
Their hoary whiteness lost, his beard and hair,
An ebon tinge receiv'd; his leanness fled;
His pallid ghastly face no more was seen;
His hollow veins with added blood were fill'd;
And all his limbs in lusty plumpness swell'd.
The wondering AEson, such himself beheld,
As the last forty years he ne'er had past.

Bacchus, from heaven survey'd the mighty change
Wonderous, and hence that power was given he found;
His nurses to restore to youthful years:
The boon from Tethys asking, he obtain'd.

Nor cease the frauds yet of the Phasian dame:
Fierce hatred 'gainst her by her spouse she feigns,
And flies to Pelias' court; a suppliant there,
His daughters hail her guest:--the sire bent down
With age. The crafty Colchian these beguiles
Soon, with her well-dissembled friendship's form.
Amid her mighty benefits, she tells
AEson's old age remov'd; relating all,
On this she chiefly dwells. Hope sudden springs
Within their virgin breasts: Pelias their sire,
Such art they trust may yet revivify.
That art they sue for,--highest claim'd reward
To her they promise: mute at first she stands,
And feigning doubt, in hesitation holds,
And anxious poise their eager minds. At last,
She says, when promising,--"That in the deed,
"More faith ye may confide, a leading ram,
"The oldest in your fleecy flocks, a lamb
"My medicine shall transform!"--Instant was dragg'd
The woolly beast, whose wreathing horns around
His hollow temples curl'd; whose wither'd throat
The steel Thessalian stabb'd; the scanty blood
The steel scarce spotting: then th' enchantress steeps
His mangled body in the caldron deep,
With juices powerful: smaller grow his limbs;
Shed are his horns; and vanish'd are his years;
And from the caldron tender bleatings sound:
Instant leaps forth to all the wondering crowd
The bleating lamb, which, frisking, flies and seeks
The swelling teats. With admiration struck,
Now Pelias' daughters faith unshaken give;
More urgent press their wish. Thrice had the sun,
'Merg'd in th' Iberian sea, unyok'd his steeds;
And the fourth night the glittering stars had shone;
When o'er the fire, pure water from the stream,
And powerless plants, the false Medea plac'd.

Now all in sleep relax'd, a death-like sleep,
The monarch's limbs were stretch'd; and with their king,
His guards lay dormant; so her magic words,
And magic tongue had doom'd. Medea leads
Across the steps the daughters; bidd'n by her,
His couch they compass.--"Why, O, feeble souls!
"Thus hesitate?"--she said,--"your swords unsheathe!
"Pour out his far-spent gore, that I may fill
"With youthful, vigorous blood his empty'd veins.
"Your father's life, and years, are in your hands:
"If sways you piety; if empty hopes
"Wavering deceive you not; then well deserve,
"By duty to your sire: quickly expel
"With weapons his old age: let issue forth
"His now congealing blood with brandish'd steel."
Exhorted thus, most pious she who feels,
First impious acts;--a wicked deed performs,
Lest wicked she were call'd: yet on the blow
Not one would bend her sight; with eyes averse
Their savage hands the unseen wounds inflict.
Flowing with gore, he from the bed uprais'd
His limbs; and from his posture strove half-torn
To rise; and stretching forth his pallid arms
'Mid all their threatening swords;--"Daughters!"--he cries,
"What do ye? Why against your parent's life
"Thus arm ye?"--Sink their spirits! drop their hands!
His throat Medea severing, stay'd the words
He more had utter'd,--and the mangled corse,
Deep in the boiling brazen caldron flung.

She now,--but through the air on dragon wings
High borne,--their furious vengeance had not scap'd.
O'er shady Pelion high she flew, and o'er
The cave of Chiron; Othrys; and the spot
For old Cerambus' strange adventure known:
Upborne on wings by kindly-aiding nymphs,
Here, when the solid earth th' incroaching main
Wide delug'd, flying, safe Deucalion's flood
He 'scap'd. AEoelian Pitane to left
She quits; and sees the dragon huge, to stone
An image turn'd. And Ida's grove where chang'd
By Bacchus' power, the steer a stag became,
To screen the theft. And where beneath the sand,
A little sand, Corythus' father lies;
And fields which Maera's new-heard howlings fill.
Euripylus' fam'd town, where Coaen dames,
What time the troops of Hercules them left,
With horns were crown'd: and Phoebus' favor'd Rhodes;
Jalysian Telchines, whose hateful eyes
All vitiating, Jove detesting 'whelm'd
Beneath his brother's waves. She passes next
Carthaeia' walls in ancient Caeae's isle,
Where wondering saw Alcidamas the sire,
A placid dove his daughter's body bear.
And Hyrie's lake she sees, and Tempe's pool
Cycneiaen, which the swan so sudden form'd
Frequented: Phyllius there, a willing slave,
Birds and fierce beasts, to his capricious boy
Oft brought--e'en lions tam'd; a furious bull
He bade him bring, a furious bull he brought;
But now in choler at his craving soul,
The bull refus'd, though as the last gift claim'd:
Indignant, cry'd he,--"soon you'll wish him given!"--
And from the high rock plung'd: all thought he fell:
But form'd a swan, lightly he pois'd in air
On snowy wings. Hyrie, her son thus sav'd,
Knew not, by constant weeping soon dissolv'd;
The lake becoming that still bears her name.
Near this is Pleuron:--Ophian Combe, here
Wafted on wings, her murderous sons escap'd.
Thence she beholds Latona's favorite isle;
Calaurea, where to birds the royal pair
Were chang'd: Cyllene, on the right is plac'd
Where like the savage herd, Menephron sought
His mother's bed. Far hence she spies in tears
Cephisus, for his nephew's fate who mourn'd,
Chang'd by Apollo to a sea-calf huge;
And saw Eumelus' dome, who wept his child,
A bird become. At length on dragon wings,
Pirenian Corinth she regain'd; where tell
The ancient tales, in primal ages, men
From shower-fed mushrooms sprung. Here first was flam'd
In Colchian venoms fierce, the new-made bride;
Then either sea in blazing spires beheld
The royal dome; and with her children's gore
Her impious sword was stain'd. Thus on herself
Reveng'd; from royal Jason's wrath she fled.

Borne hence, her snakes Titanian reach the walls
Of Pallas' city, where most just of men
O, Phineus! thou, and Periphas the old,
With Polyphemon's niece, as birds are seen,
Soaring aloft in air on new-form'd wings.
Here AEgeus' roof receiv'd her, for this deed
Alone to blame: not satisfy'd as host,
In marriage bonds he makes her more his own.
Now Theseus comes, son to his sire unknown,
Whose brave atchievements, all the two-sea'd land
In peace had settled. For his death she mix'd
The baneful aconite, long since from shores
Of Scythia brought; which thus old tales relate,
From Cerberus' venom'd jaws was first produc'd,
Through a dark den, with gloomy opening, lies
A path steep shelving, where Alcides dragg'd
Fierce Cerberus to light, resisting strong,
Glancing askaunce his eyes from day, whose rays
Sparkled too bright, in adamantine chains.
With rabid anger swol'n, a triple yell
Fill'd all the air; he o'er the virid plain
Sprinkled white foam; increasing fast this shoots;
The fruitful soil fresh virulence imparts,
And ranker grows its power: from hardest rocks
It lively springs, and Aconite hence nam'd.
This did old AEgeus, by his crafty spouse
Deceiv'd, to Theseus, as a foe, present.
Unwitting Theseus, in his hand receiv'd
The cup presented; when the sire espy'd
Upon his ivory-hilted sword a mark,
Which prov'd his offspring; from his lips he dash'd
The poison. Wrapp'd in clouds by magic rais'd,
The sorceress from their furious vengeance fled.

The sire, though joy'd, his son in safety found,
Trembles astonish'd at the narrow 'scape;
And horrid crime premeditated: burns
On every altar fires;--to every god
Piles costly gifts: full on the brawny neck
Of oxen falls, their horns with garlands bound,
The sacrificing axe. Ne'er till that day
Had Athens' town, such joyous feasting seen;
Nobles and commons crowd around the board,
And thus, by wine inspir'd, sublime they sing.

"Thee, mighty Theseus! Marathon admires,
"Stain'd by the vanquish'd Cretan bull's black gore.
"Thy aid the swains of Cromyon own; thou gav'st
"That now secure they till their fields. The land
"Of Epidaurus saw the club-arm'd son
"Of Vulcan slain by thee. By thee, beheld
"Cephisus' shores, the fierce Procrustes die,
"Ceres' Eleusis hail'd Cercyon's fall.
"Sinis thou slew'st, gifted with strength ill-us'd;
"His strength high trees could bend, and oft he dragg'd
"Close down to earth the loftiest tops of pines,
"Thus rent the bodies of his victims wide.
"Safe now extends the road to Lelex' walls,
"Scyron low laid: earth to the robber's limbs,
"Wide scatter'd, rest refuses; to his bones
"Ocean a tomb denies; long widely tost,
"Age hardens into rock his last remains;
"His name the rock still bears. Should we thy age
"And actions count, thy famous deeds by far
"Thy years outnumber. O, most brave of men!
"For thee the public vows ascend; to thee,
"In Bacchus' bowl we drink. The royal hall
"Resounds with all the grateful people's praise;
"Nor through the city glooms one sorrowing spot."

And yet (so seldom pleasure comes unmix'd,
But still some cares with joy will intervene)
While AEgeus, gladden'd that his son secure
Arriv'd; Minos, for furious war prepares.
Strong though his troops, and though his navy strong
His utmost strength was in paternal rage;
And with just arms Androgeus' death t' avenge
He wars: yet first auxiliar strength he gains;
And powerful sweeps the seas with flying ships.
First Anaphe joins him, and Astypalaea; urg'd
By promise this, and that by threats constrain'd,
Low Mycone; Cymolus' chalky fields;
Bright Cythnos; Scyros; flat Seriphus' isle;
The marble Paros; and the fort betray'd
For gold, demanded by the impious nymph
Sithonian: still for gold she anxious seeks
Though chang'd a bird; on sable pinions borne,
With sable feet, she flutters as a daw.

But Oliaros, and Didymae, unite;
And Gyaros, Andros, Tenos, all refuse,
With Peparethos, in bright olives rich,
To aid the Gnossian fleet. Thence to the left
Steering, OEnopia's regions Minos sought;
OEnopia call'd of old, AEgina now,
By AEaecus, his mother's honor'd name.
In crowds the people rush, and pant to view
So highly fam'd a prince: to meet him go
First Telamon, then Peleus next in age,
And Phocas third and last, Ev'n AEaecus
With years opprest, steps tardy forth, and asks
The visit's cause. The hundred-city'd king
Deep sighs, his grief paternal all renew'd,
And thus replies;--"My arms, O, king! assist
"Assum'd, just vengeance for a son to claim.
"Partake this pious war. Peace to his manes
"I seek."--But Asopiades replies;--
"In vain you ask;--my city cannot aid:
"No lands by neighbouring scite more closely bound,
"Than ours and Athens'; hence our league."--The king
Angry departs, exclaiming.--"Much your league
"May cost you!"--But to threaten war more safe
He deems, than wage it there, and waste his force.
Still from OEnopia's walls the fleet was seen,
Not distant far; when sped by swelling sail,
An Attic ship arriv'd; the friendly port
Enter'd. On board was Cephalus who bore
His country's message. Well the royal youths
The hero knew, though long time past beheld;
And gave the friendly hand, and welcome led
To their paternal dome. The graceful chief
Enters, retaining still evincing marks
Of pristine beauty; in his hand he bears
A branch of native olive: in the midst
Senior he stands; and younger on each side,
Clytus, and Butes, Pallas' sons. Complete
Their friendly salutations; next the words
Th' Athenians bade him, Cephalus reports:
Their aid demands; their ancient league recounts;
The oaths their fathers swore; and adds, all Greece
Might perish in their ruin. When their cause
With eloquence the messenger thus urg'd;
On his bright sceptre as his left hand lean'd,
"Take, O Athenians,"--AEaecus exclaim'd,--
"Not ask, our aid! Unhesitating draw
"What force this isle possesses, and with yours
"Employ it: with you shall my strongest power
"March forth: strength want we not; our numerous troops
"Abundant, for ourselves and friends suffice:
"Prais'd be the gods! such is our happy state
"Your wish defies evasion."--"Still may grow,"
Said Cephalus,--"your prosperous city's state,
"And yours!--What transport seiz'd me as I walk'd,
"To see each youth so fair, so equal ag'd,
"Of all who met me. Yet in vain I look'd
"For many features, known when last your walls
"Receiv'd me."--AEaecus, with deep-drawn sighs,
And sorrowing voice, thus answers.--"Better fate
"Completed, what a mournful sight began.
"Would I in full could all the facts relate!
"Now unconnected must I speak, or tire
"Your ear with words superfluous. Whom you seek,
"Whom you remember, bones and ashes rest.
"But small their numbers:--Heavens! how small to those,
"My people, who have sunk in death beside.