What language might deceive the jealous ear? "Or what my purposes to Jason bear?
"In privacy may succour be convey'd?
"What arts, what stealth, the bold attempt shall aid?— "In secret, shall I own my fond alarms;
"And boldly clasp the stranger in these arms?
"Oh were he lost-would that event bestow
66 A pause from love-a remedy for woe?
"Would not the soul, enamour'd of her grief,
"Pursue his image, and disclaim relief.
"Farewel decorum!-farewel every joy!—
"His dear existence all my thoughts employ.
"Whatever destiny for me remains,
"Fair youth, in safety fly; where fate ordains.-
"May'st thou but know, that from Medea's pow'r,
"Protection follow'd, in that fearful hour;
"And I am satisfied.- Pursue thy fate-
"Leave thy deliverer, to misfortune's hate.-
"His conflict over; death shall end my care;
"Whether I perish pendulous in air,
"Or rest from pain th' invenom'd potion give."But shall not, then, the tale of shame survive?— "Scorn and derision shall attend my fall; "And taunts resound, within this peopled wall. "Each Colchian female shall her death deride, "Who, slave of passion, for a stranger died. "A wanton, heedless of her virgin fame, "Who stain'd her parents, and her house, with shame. “—O foul offence, no language can defend!
Disgrace to womanhood, that ne'er shall end! "No-better here resign this hated breath, "And fly reproach, so multiplied, in death. "This very chamber, and this very time "Present a refuge, from the monstrous crime." She ceas'd—and rising for a coffer sought, With potent drugs, of various influence, fraught;
Some genial; some, with operation dark,
Could sense perturb, and quench the vital spark. 1130
Upon her knees the hoarded philtres rest;
While tears, a ceaseless torrent, bath'd her breast:
From grief and love unequall'd, they descend;
While, for those sufferings she prepares an end.-
The friendly bane determin'd now to taste,
She touch'd the bands, that held the coffer fast;
And thought the balm of all her cares to find;
When sudden terrors rush'd upon her mind.—
She paus'd astonish'd.-For, before her eyes
The forms of death, in all their terrors, rise.
And in succession, blandishing appears,
All that allures the wish, and life endears;
Each darling child of hope, and fancy bright,
That bids the senses teem, with young delight;
And every joy, that to th' expanded heart
The mutual wish, and social hours impart.-
Sudden, a fairer face all nature show'd.
In streams more gay, the solar radiance flow'd.-
Again the coffer on her knees she plac'd,
While various objects, in her soul she trac'd.- 1150
For Juno's influence in her bosom wrought;
And gave the final bias to her thought.
No more she doubts, by warring motives drawn.
With settled aim, she wishes for the dawn;
That Jason she might meet, gaze on his charms,
And drugs impart, to guard the youth from harms.—
Oft she unbar'd her portals thro' the night;
And look'd, and look'd, to mark approaching light.
The morn, at length, unveil'd her welcome face;
And thro' the city wak'd the toiling race.
Thy sons, Chalciopè, as Argus bade,
To watch her purpose near Medea stay'd.
The youth himself, ere yet the stars were fled,
His cager footsteps to the vessel sped.—
Soon as the maid descry'd the morning fair,
She deck'd her golden locks, with studious care,
That hung neglected; and th' enlivening red
O'er cheeks, all pale with sorrow's ravage spread.
Ambrosial essences her skin bedew.
O'er her bright frame a splendid robe she threw, 1170 Confin'd with clasps around her slender waist.
A veil upon her radiant head she plac'd,
Her head, that more than mortal beauty show'd.
The snowy veil in waves translucent flow'd,
With spreading flow'rs of broider'd silver crown'd.
Her locks diffus'd ambrosial odours round.
Now, circling thro' the dome, with steps of air,
She trod the floor; and vanish'd every care;
Unseen those evils, that around her lay;
And greater evils of the future day.—
She call'd her maidens-twelve, in youthful bloom,
Stood at the chamber doors that breath'd perfume.
Alike in age, alike in beauteous frame,
Strangers to love, and the maternal name.
Intent, great Hecate, to seek thy fane,
Her mules she bade them harness to the wain.
The mules and car obedient they provide.
Meantime, the nymph her mystic coffer tried.
A drug she took, that bears Prometheus› name,
Sov'reign protection 'gainst devouring flame.- 1190
Those, who that drug employ, with midnight care,
Must sooth the pow'r, rever'd with torches' glare,
Persephons, sole offspring, sought in vain,
By weeping Ceres, o'er th' Ennean plain:
That unguent with mysterious rite applied,
No steely weapon shall the skin divide.-
With force innoxious, the devouring flame
Shall spend it's fury, on th' enchanted frame.
No fear of peril shall the man subdue.
In fight, no faintness shall from toil ensue.
Prometheus drench'd Caucasian steeps with gore;
And teeming rocks the potent herbage bore;
When the fierce vulture, delving for his food,
The reeking entrails tore, and swam in blood.
A cubit high the stately flow'r it rears,
Which like the crocus, in its hue, appears.
The stem disparting wide, sublime it shoots.
Like newly sever'd flesh appear the roots.
The juice effus'd descends in sable rills,
Like the dark sap, that from the beech distils.
For magic uses, this her skilful hand
In shells had treasur'd, of the Caspian strand.
Seven times she plung'd in the perennial stream,
Seven times on Brimo call'd, tremendous name,
On Brimo, awful nurse of youthful might,
That, veil'd in clouds, pursues the dogs of night.
Whose pow'r tremendous central earth pervades;
Whose pow'r tremendous sways the Stygian shades;
Ere, rob'd in black, thro' brooding darkness deep,
That herb she cull'd along the rocky steep.
She tore the plant of Titan from the ground;
And earth convuls'd shook from her base profound.—
Then, direful pangs Prometheus' bosom rent;
And screams of torture thro' the air he sent.
This unguent o'er the fragrant zone was laid,
That bound the lovely bosom of the maid.
Medea, hasting from the door, ascends
The car; a virgin on each hand attends.
She caught the reins, and with the sounding thong,
Thro' the wide city lash'd the mules along.
Behind her, the remaining virgin train
Clung to the chariot, as it roll'd amain;
Succinct, as thro' the spacious streets they flee,
They bind their snowy garments, by the knee.
As, where Parthenius' limpid currents gleam,
Or newly bath'd, Amnisus, in thy stream,
Her golden chariot virgin Dian fills,
And swift-pac'd hinds transport her o'er the hills;
Call'd by the scent of hecatombs from far,
A thousand nymphs attend her rapid car;
The Naiads, that in cool Amnisus lave,
With the brown Oreads, from the mountain cave,
The pensive Dryads, that retirement love,
And haunt the mazes of the shady grove;
And, as they pass, the beasts of wood and lawn,
With murmurs bland, and gentle crouchings, fawn;
Such was the train, all-beauteous to behold.-
The crouds receded as the chariot roll'd.
Now, thro' the stately portals, o'er the plain,
With urgent speed Medea reach'd the fane:
There, from the car she sprang, with throbbing breast,
And eager thus, the virgin train addrest.
"O friends, some error strange misleads my thought, "And near those strangers hath our footsteps brought. "Unwelcome visitors they seek this land;
"And fill with terror, all the Colchian band.
Hence, all the female kind, possest with fear, "Their wonted confluence to the shrine forbear."Yet, having ventur'd thus; since none advance, "Our sports to censure, with intrusive glance, "For wreaths collect we, every fairest flow'r, "While tuneful songs deceive the fleeting hour; "Then home return.-Yet, might my counsel sway, "Most useful were th' excursion of this day. "My kinsman Argus-but, my friends, conceal "In trusty silence, what I shall reveal.— "Oh, should my father learn it-woe to all!"What direful vengeance on our heads might fall!"But, Argus wearies me, with urgent pray❜rs;
"And ev❜n my sister in his counsel shares.— 1270 "With mighty gifts they would my purpose bend,
By magic aid, this stranger to defend;
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