1781 Thus speech alternate wing'd away the hour; The banquet done, they yield to slumber's pow'r. The morn, with rising gales, disperst their sleep. And gentle murmurs call'd them to the deep. They rais'd their sails, the canvas caught the wind, And soon they left that isle of Mars behind. The night succeeding, with propitious blast, Along the shores of Philyra they past. There, Chronus, eldest progeny of Heav'n, To thine embrace fair Philyra was giv'n; When from Olympus thou the Titans sway'd, And Jove was in the Cretan cavern laid! There, the Curetes, fill'd with pious fears, Nurst the young sov'reign of the starry spheres. -Tho' studious to withdraw from Rhea's eye, What arts the glance of jealousy may fly? Th' offended wife surpris'd their guilty loves, Chang'd to a horse, the conscious husband roves. Through shame, the nymph, fair daughter of the main, Forsook she favorite seat, the native plain; The lofty mountains of Pelasgia sought; 1790 And there to birth a monstrous offspring brought.--In origin, part bestial, part divine, He bore resemblance of the mingled line. The region of Macrones they survey; And plains immense, where the Bechiri sway. 1900 These, in their voyage, past, the shores they trace. 1910 Still the dire feast the bird of carnage brings, 1920 Canst thou, O wretch, withdraw th' accustom'd feast? 1930 While night prevail'd, by Argus taught, they found The mouths of Phasis, and the Colchian bound; The sails and yards within their places stor❜d; And laid th' inclining mast along the board. With oars the mighty current they ascend, That gurgles hoarse, and to the stroke they bend. The rocks of Caucasus, that meet the sky, And Scythian Ea, on the left hand lie: The plains of Mars were on the right display'd, And consecrated groves, with horrid shade. The guardian serpent, there, that never slept, The fleece, suspended 'mid the foliage, keptIn Jason's hand the golden goblet flam'd; With awful rev'rence many a pow'r he nam'd. Libations pure were on the stream bestow'd; And next for Earth the racy vintage flow'd; Then, to the deities that haunt the soil; And shades of heroes freed from mortal toil. "Hail native pow'rs! propitious be the strand. "In safety guard us, as ye guard the land.”. -- 1940 1950 Ancaus then.-" Behold the Colchian plains, "And Phasis reach'd: what counsel now remains? "Think, with Eetes, how we may prevail; "How soothe with art, or with success assail." He ceas'd-as Argus bids, th' heroic race In the 'mid stream their ship at anchor place. The trees above wave gloomy o'er their heads; Below, the stream its stagnant water spreads. They court the gifts of slumber, thro' the night; And hail with gladness the returning light. THE END OF THE SECOND BOOK. BOOK THE THIRD. ARGUMENT. Juno and Minerva, having consulted together how they may best aid the Argonauts in their enterprize, resolve to apply to Venus.-They persuade her, to send Cupid to inspire Medea with love for Jason.That hero, with the sons of Phryxus, presenting himself before Eetes, demands of him the golden fleece. The monarch, enraged at this bold application, propounds tremendous, and, as he thought, impracticable tasks, as the means of obtaining the fleece. These were, to yoke the bulls breathing fire. To sow the dragon's teeth; and reap the harvest of armed men.—In the meantime, Venus finds Cupid playing at dice with Ganymede.-She bribes her son, with a couple of golden balls, to co-operate in the design of inflaming Medea with love.-The passion and mental conflicts of that princess are described. She resigns herself wholly to the dominion of love; and, under the influence of that emotion, determines to assist Jason in his enterprize.She has an interview with the young hero, at the temple of Hecate. She furnishes him with a certain medicament, composed of enchanted herbs and drugs; by which he should be enabled to endure the fiery breath of the bulls. And instructs him, how he is to conduct himself, so as to avoid the fury of the earthborn brothers, who were to spring up from the dragon's teeth. The fatal day arrives.-Jason, duly instructed and prepared, enters on his task, with alacrity.Description of his yoking the bulls, compelling them to work, and sowing the dragon's teeth. -The harvest of armed men springs up.-Jason, as he had been previously instructed, throws a stone among them. They begin to fight, and destroy each other.-Jason exterminates, the survivors.--Æetes beholds the scene with rage and despair. COME Erato, sweet parent of the song, That tells the feelings of th' enamour'd throng. Hence are thy songs, and hence th' endearing name. II 20 She ceas'd-and Pallas thus-" Revolving thought "Already with the favourite theme is fraught. *The muse, who presided over love and poetry, so called from the Greek word, erao. |