Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

"They ended; and, in mist or cloud conceal'd,
"No more the heav'nly vision shone reveal'd."
His words the crowd with silent wonder hear,
While motives mix'd of joy and grief appear.-
What tongue can paint th' amazement of the band!
A mighty courser sprang from sea to land!
He sought the plain.-The locks redoubled deck,
On either side, his proud and arching neck.-
Golden his mane; he tost his head on high,
And flakes of splendour lighten'd to the sky.
From his sleek sides he dash'd the briny foam;
Then, stretch'd with zephyrs in his limbs to roam.
This Peleus marking with elated breast,

2140

And words of hope, th' assembled train addrest."Now, now, my friends, has Neptune's lovely bride "Unyok'd the car, that whirls him o'er the tide. "Now is the time.-Nor can my thoughtful mind, "In those dark sayings, other parent find,

"Than the fair vessel, in whose womb we past, 2150 "With safety borne, thro' many a watʼry waste. "For, toils and perils she for us endur'd. "Our lives and safety have her groans procur❜d. "Let pious shoulders, then, sustain the weight. "With nerves untir'd, of this maternal freight. "And with the burthen o'er the sands proceed, "Where the swift courser shall direct his speed. "Observe his track along this arid ground; "For sure he will not plunge in earth profound. "If hope mislead not, we shall thus explore "Some welcome harbour, some propitious shore."He ceas'd.The comment pleas'd the gen'ral

throng,

So has the muse recorded in her song.
And I but follow, with submissive tread,
An humble votary, where the muses lead;

[ocr errors]

2160

Their breath alone awakes poetic fire;

Their words alone are suited to my lyre.—
And thus they sang.

"O first of regal line,

2171

"Endow'd with virtues, and with strength divine, "Whose vast exertions could the ship sustain, "With all her loading o'er the desert plain.— "Twelve times did Phebus measure day and night; "While thus ye bare her, with unwearied might."What pangs, what miseries those heroes wrung. "The tale of sufferance mocks the pow'r of tongue. "O truly glorious was that godlike breed! "Their acts declare them of immortal seed."Thus, by the dire necessity compell'd,

Their painful march the band of heroes held.
Onward they mov'd; till, source of glad surprise,
The lake of Pallas open'd to their eyes.

2180

2193

Here first they paus'd, with toil and heat opprest;
Here first they bade their burden'd shoulders rest.
Like famish'd dogs, that prowl abroad for food,
Disperst they flew, to seek some spring or flood.
For burning thirst the fainting train assail'd;
And pain and misery o'er the mind prevail'd;
Nor vainly sought. They found, in flowery prime,
A sacred plain; where, to that instant time,
The serpent Ladon, with unwearied care,
Was wont to guard the golden apples fair.-
The parent stem, where fruits immortal crown'd,
The soil, the garden mighty Atlas own'd;
And there Hesperian maids, with sweetest song,
The gentle monster fed, the fruits and flow'rs among.
Beside that tree, the region's boast and pride,
Slain by Alcides, late the guardian died.
The tail yet seem'd some feeling to betray;
The trunk above all cold and lifeless lay.

2200

The shafts unerring by the hero sent,

In many a wound the gaping skin had rent,
With active venom ting'd of Lerna's brood;
The bane return'd, commix'd with putrid blood.
In swarms the greedy flies assembled round;

And drain'd the bile, and gore from every wound. Near him, those tuneful nymphs, with streaming

eyes,

Their servant mourn'd, with loud and piercing cries,
High o'er their heads they raise the taper hand,
And o'er their faces snowy veils expand,
And o'er their golden locks.-

near,

2210

-The youths drew

Precipitate.-Possest with sudden fear,

The bashful nymphs, dissolving from the view, In dust and earth from mortal sense withdrew.The bard of Thrace that prodigy explor'd; And thus, with prayer, the deities ador'd. "Nymphs, gentle nymphs, benevolent, as fair, "With influence high, who make these fields your

care;

2220

"Whether ye join the radiant throngs above, "Or pow'rs terrestrial, here delight to rove, "Or guardian maids of lawn and meadow wide, "O'er artless shepherds, and their flocks preside, "With forms benignant glad our longing eyes; Nymphs, sacred nymphs, old Ocean's daughters

rise.

"Some rock disclose, where gushing springs have birth,

"Some sacred fountain bubbling cool from earth,
"That, temper'd with the sun's translucent ray,
"May feverish pangs of ardent thirst allay!-
“And, if our bark may gain Achaia's coast,
"The richest gifts that deities can boast,

2230

"The sweetest perfumes, that to Heav'n ascend, "To crown your rites, and glad your shrine attend."

Fervent he pray'd-and unperceiv'd, tho' near,
His fervent pray'r th' Hesperian virgins hear.
The suffering band they view'd, and felt their grief;
And soon compassion sent the wish'd relief.
They bade the teeming soil it's wealth disclose;
And first a spring of tender grass arose;
Then, the long shoots of various herbs appear'd;

And quickly trees their taper forms uprear'd;
A shady elm fair Erytheis spread;

And Hespera sustain'd a poplar's head;
A sacred osier beauteous Ægle stood,

With branches ever bent to taste the flood.

2240

Emergent, then, from trees, a portent strange, The nymphs their forms assum'd, with sudden change.

The fairest Egle, then, in gentlest words,

Replied; and with their pray'r her speech accords.-
"Great is th' advantage, that your weary band
"Derives from him, who first with impious hand,
"Presumptuous daring, and irreverent toil,

[ocr errors]

2251

Depriv'd of life the guardian of this soil; "Then, from the boughs the golden apples tore; "From weeping goddesses their treasure bore."Scarce day preceding his career began, "Ere he appear'd-this rude oppressive man."Well fitted he, to wreak the mental storm, “Vast in his strength, and dreadful in his form.— "His eyes dart fierce intolerable flame;

"A lion's spoils enwrap his giant frame.—

2260

"His hand a ponderous trunk of olive bore;

"Free from the workman's art, and stain'd with

gore;

way;

2270

"And mighty bow, from whence those arrows fled, "Too fatal shafts, that laid yon serpent dead! "His steps had trac❜d a weary length of "And, thirsty from the parching glare of day, "He search'd for water, thro' the plains around; "But none to chear his eager eyes he found. "As rageful and despairing thus he stray'd, "Or he discover'd, or some god display'd "Yon rock; near Pallas' lake it stands alone, "And with his heel he smote the solid stone."Freed by the stroke abundant waters sprung; "With eager transport, to the ground he clung, "With ample chest outspread, and nervous hands; "Incessant draughts his furious thirst demands; "The fountain from its rocky bed he drains, "Prone, like an ox, that grazes on the plains.". She ceas'd. And to the fount that glè told, Most sought, most wish'd, their joyful course they

hold,

2281

Full soon discover'd; with contention loud,
And frantic eagerness around they croud;
As swarming ants, an active, busy band,
Throng round a fissure, in the thirsty land,
The granary, where prudent toil has stor'd,
The plunder of the barn, their winter's hoard;
Heap'd on each other, as the clust'ring flies
A formless mass compose, where honey lies,
With restless murmur urge their greedy flight,
Pursue the sweets, and on each other light.—
When the first draught some thirsty wretch had
chear'd,

How was Alcides to his heart endear'd!-
With moisten'd lips, and with expanding breast,
The soften'd soul these grateful words confest..
"Ev'n absent, godlike chief, the social band
"Feel the protection of that peerless hand!

2290

« AnteriorContinuar »