Sovereign of torments, for our foes alone,
Reserve the furies, by that virgin known.—
O muse, relate what snares Medea spread,
To join her brother, with the silent dead.

The maiden, as by compact was ordain'd,
Within the fane of Artemis remain'd.-

The Colchian veesels part. The Greeks display
Their sails; and homeward seem to shape their way.
Deceitful seeming! Jason and his band,

With mortal purpose, took their ambush'd stand; 710
In arms relentless, working to destroy,
With all his train, that unsuspecting boy'

The fatal promises the boy misled;

In evil hour, th' incautious sail he spread..
His vessel skimm'd the waves, with rapid flight;
And reach'd the sacred isle, in shades of night.
Medea waits alone, with mischief fraught,
Balm on her tongue, but murder in her thought.-
Poor simple youth! He thinks, with childish art,
To wield her dark impracticable heart!
Vain thought! as soon, with feeble hand, the swain
The raging wint'ry torrent might restrain.-

It scorns its banks, it deluges the ground;
It roars, it foams, and spreads destruction round.
Her airy fabric fancy joy'd to build;

And idle hope his witless bosom fill'd..

He dreams of aid his sister may afford;
And sees the Minya fall beneath his sword.
The wily sister these delusions fed;

In fraudful speech, the stealthy moments fled.
While bland compliance smooth'd her oily tongue,
And present kindness pander'd future wrong.
Now, Jason from his ambuscade advanc'd.
Rear'd o'et his head the shining falchion glanc'd.--
Terrific form! abhorrent turn'd the maid,
And o'er her eyes her ample veil display'd,

720

730

With heart presageful of th' impending deed,
Nor fully steel'd, to see a brother bleed.-
As, in the precincts of some awful fane,
The victim ox, by sudden stroke, is slain;
Th' insidious Grecian aim'd a rapid blow,

And, gazing round him, fell'd th' unguarded foe.
Ev'n at the threshold of the sacred door,

He falls expiring on the marble floor,
Ev'n at the fane, the natives of his land,

Had rais'd for Artemis, with pious hand,

Sunk on his knees. As forth the life-blood gush'd,
O'er both his hands the purple torrent rush'd;
As, in the mortal agonies he prest

740

The ghastly wound, that gap'd upon his breast.-750 Ev'n as his sister turn'd her head away,

Her head attire was dash'd with purple spray.
The darted rills, that smok'd along the ground,
Bedew'd her snowy veil that floated round.-
Power all-subduing, ever unsubdued,
With piercing glance, oblique the fury view'd.
Of terrors queen, of ills and crimes the cause,
Ev'n she with horror mingled her applause.

760

The slayer took the first-fruits of the slain, For mystic rites, that conscious fears ordain, Atonements, that, in ancient days decreed, Absolv'd the man of blood's atrocious deed.Then, from the wound the reeking skin he tore, And suck'd, with quivering lips, the streaming gore. Thrice, from the panting breast he draws the blood; Thrice, from his teeth ejects the horrid flood. Then, bath'd in streams yet welling from the wound, He gave the lifeless body to the ground. There, still entomb'd, his bones for ever sleep; And still the stripling's name the natives keep. 770 Soon as the Greeks the glaring torch survey'd, Appointed signal of the treacherous maid,

The reins to joy and martial thoughts they give,
And full against the Colchian vessel drive.
Then, fall impetuous on th' astonish'd crew,
As pouncing hawks the timid doves subdue;
Or ravening lions, that in midnight hour,
To thin the fold with savage fury pour.
Fierce and destructive, the relentless train
Nor art eludes, nor courage can sustain.

780

Now here, now there they dart, with lightning's force, And all existence withers, in their course.

Now, Jason flies to share the warlike deed, And yield that aid, his comrades scarcely need. One care alone the social band possest; Doubts of his safety fill'd each thoughtful breast. And now, th' assembled chiefs in council sate, The future voyage wakes the deep debate, The princess on their consultations broke, As Peleus thus among the leaders spoke. "My counsel is, ere morn resumes the sky, "To man the vessel, and our oars to ply."Mark, where the foes attend in dread array; "And opposite direct your cautious way. "When morn shall come, the past events to show, "Doubt and confusion will possess the foe; "'Reft of their leader 'mid the shades of night, "Nor scheme nor head combines them in the fight. "Dissension thro' their myriads shall prevail; “And unmolested leave our flying sail.".

790

800

His counsel pleas'd.-The warriors spring from land, The benches line, and row with vigorous hand. Their toil with nerves unfailing they sustain'd, And now Electris, hallow'd seat, they gain'd, Last in their progress of that island train, Where Po descends, to meet the briny main. Emotions mingled of dismay and grief, Possest the Colchians, for their ravish'd chief.

810

Yet, o'er the Chronian deep, with vengeful thought,
The Grecian vessel and her crew they sought.-
In vain. The Argonauts were Juno's care;
To thwart their foes, terrific lightnings glare.-
Final discomfiture, disperst they roam,
Imprest with horror, from their native home.
Eetes' cruelty such terror bred,

That wand'ring far to distant climes they fled.
Absyrtus' name some bid those isles retain,
That yielded refuge to the Grecian train;
Some raise the distant tow'rs, with exil'd hand,
Where Panyasis bathes th' Illyrian land;

And where a monument of ancient fame,

*

With Cadmus joins his lov'd Harmonia's name,
As denisons augment th' Enchelian race,

And lose the memory of their native place.
Scar'd by the thunders of almighty Jove,
Some to the high Ceraunian snmmits rove;
And still the name records the dread event,
Deriv'd from glancing fires thro' æther sent.
When now the voyage seem'd from perils freed,
The heroes thro' the watʼry vast proceed.
Hyllean seats th' adventurous band explore;
And bind their cables from the rocky shore.
Along the coast, where clustering islets rise,
Dangerous and difficult the channel lies.
No more the Minya from the natives find
Repulsive welcome, and unfriendly mind.

Bland they receive them, in their counsels share,
And means to prosecute their course prepare.

A fair donation their affections won,

An hallow'd tripod of Latona's son.

820

830

830

* For the story of Cadmus and Harmonia, see notes, vol. 2.

Erewhile, to Jason had the God of light
Two polish'd tripods given, of fabric bright;
When Pythos' shrine oracular he sought,

And the long voyage fill'd his anxious thought.
A mighty privilege the gifts endow'd,

By fate, in that auspicious hour, bestow'd,
To guard the land, where treasur'd they remain,
From wasting inroad of the hostile train.
Deep in the bosom of the peaceful ground,
Where fair Hylleis lifts her tow'rs renown'd,
The treasure lies conceal'd, within the soil,
A depth inscrutable to human toil.

No longer flourishing, in youthful bloom,
The king they found; he slept, within the tomb,
Young Hyllus.-Him, on the Pheeacian shore,
Fair Melita to strong Alcides bore.

For, there a refuge in his youth he found,
When good Nausithous the sceptre own'd.
Prest with a weight of guiltless blood he rang'd,
And soon for Macris this asylum chang'd.
Some expiation there he hop'd to find,
For conscious guilt lay heavy on his mind,
Since by their father's hand his infants bled,
In frantic mood, of melancholy fed.-
Thee, nursing mother of the roseat god,
Thy viny plains th' illustrious wanderer trod.
There, beauteous daughter of the Egean main,
Fair Melita renew'd his amorous pain;
She crown'd his love, and to the hero bore
The gallant Hyllus, on that lonely shore.
High-minded youth, when manhood he attain'd,
The state subordinate his soul disdain'd.—
He scorn'd the region, where Nausithous sway'd,
And all his nod implicitly obey'd.

The native train he led, and wander'd wide,
O'er Chronian waves with freedom for his guide,

850

860

879