Their age the same, their inclinations too;
And bred together in one school they grew.
Thus, fatally disposed to mutual fires,

They felt, before they knew, the same desires. 80
Equal their flame, unequal was their care:
One loved with hope, one languish'd in despair.
The maid accused the lingering days alone:
For whom she thought a man, she thought her

own.

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90

But Iphis bends beneath a greater grief:
As fiercely burns, but hopes for no relief.
E'en her despair adds fuel to her fire:
A maid with madness does a maid desire.
And, scarce refraining tears, Alas! said she,
What issue of my love remains for me!
How wild a passion works within my breast!
With what prodigious flames am I possess'd!
Could I the care of Providence deserve,
Heaven must destroy me, if it would preserve.
And that's my fate, or sure it would have sent
Some usual evil for my punishment:
Not this unkindly curse; to rage and burn,
Where Nature shows no prospect of return.
Nor cows for cows consume with fruitless fire:
Nor mares, when hot, their fellow-mares desire:
The father of the fold supplies his ewes;
The stag through secret woods his hind pursues;
And birds for mates the males of their own species
choose.

Her females nature guards from female flame.
And joins two sexes to preserve the game:
Would I were nothing, or not what I am!
Crete, famed for monsters, wanted of her store,
Till my new love produced one monster more.
The daughter of the Sun a bull desired,
And yet e'en then a male a female fired:
Her passion was extravagantly new:
But mine is much the madder of the two.
To things impossible she was not bent,
But found the means to compass her intent.
To cheat his eyes she took a different shape;
Yet still she gain'd a lover, and a leap.
Should all the wit of all the world conspire,
Should Dædalus assist my wild desire,
What art can make me able to enjoy,
Or what can change Ianthe to a boy?
Extinguish then thy passion, hopeless maid,
And re-collect thy reason for thy aid;

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101

105

110

115

120

Know what thou art, and love as maidens ought,

And drive these golden wishes from thy thought.
Thou canst not hope thy fond desires to gain; 125
Where hope is wanting, wishes are in vain.
And yet no guards against our joys conspire;
No jealous husband hinders our desire:
My parents are propitious to my wish,
And she herself consenting to the bliss.
All things concur to prosper our design:
All things to prosper any love but mine.
And yet I never can enjoy the fair:
"Tis past the power of Heaven to grant my
prayer.

Heaven has been kind, as far as Heaven can be;
Our parents with our own desires agree;
But Nature, stronger than the gods above,
Refuses her assistance to my love;
She sets the bar that causes all my pain:
One gift refused makes all their bounty vain.
And now the happy day is just at hand,
To bind our hearts in Hymen's holy band:

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Our hearts, but not our bodies: thus accurseu,
In midst of water I complain of thirst.
Why com'st thou, Juno, to these barren rites, 16
To bless a bed defrauded of delights?
And why should Hymen lift his torch on high,
To see two brides in cold embraces lie?

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Thus love-sick Iphis her vain passion mourns: With equal ardour fair Ianthe burns, Invoking Hymen's name, and Juno's power, To speed the work, and haste the happy hour. She hopes, while Telethusa fears the day, And strives to interpose some new delay: Now feigns a sickness, now is in a fright For this bad omen, or that boding sight. But having done whate'er she could devise, And emptied all her magazine of lies, The time approach'd; the next ensuing day The fatal secret must to light betray. Then Telethusa had recourse to prayer, She and her daughter with dishevell'd hair; Trembling with fear, great Isis they adored, Embraced her altar, and her aid implored:

160

Fair queen, who dost on fruitful Egypt smile, 15 Who sway'st the sceptre of the Pharian isle, And sevenfold falls of disemboguing Nile; Relieve, in this our last distress, she said, A suppliant mother, and a mournful maid. Thou, goddess, thou wert present to my sight; Reveal'd I saw thee by thy own fair light: I saw thee in my dream, as now I see, With all thy marks of awful majesty: The glorious train that compass'd thee around; And heard the hollow timbrel's holy sound. Thy words I noted, which I still retain; Let not thy sacred oracles be vain. That Iphis lives, that I myself am free From shame, and punishment, I owe to thee. On thy protection all our hopes depend : Thy counsel saved us, let thy power defend. Her tears pursued her words, and while she

spoke,

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190

The goddess nodded, and her altar shook:
The temple doors, as with a blast of wind,
Were heard to clap; the lunar horns, that bind
The brows of Isis, cast a blaze around;
The trembling timbrel made a murmuring sound.
Some hopes these happy omens did impart;
Forth went the mother with a beating heart,
Not much in fear, nor fully satisfied;
But Iphis follow'd with a larger stride:
The whiteness of her skin forsook her face:
Her looks embolden'd with an awful grace:
Her features and her strength together grew,
And her long hair to curling locks withdrew. 156
Her sparkling eyes with manly vigour shone;
Big was her voice, audacious was her tone.
The latent parts, at length reveal'd, began
To shoot, and spread, and burnish into man.
The maid becomes a youth; no more delay
Your vows, but look, and confidently pay.
Their gifts the parents to the temple bear:
The votive tables this inscription wear:
Iphis, the man, has to the goddess paid
The vows that Iphis offer'd when a maid.
Now when the star of day had shown his face,
Venus and Juno with their presence grace
The nuptial rites, and Hymen from above
Descended to complete their happy love;
The gods of marriage lend their mutual aid,
And the warm youth enjoys the lovely maid.

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210

PYGMALION AND THE STATUE.

FROM THE TENTH BOOK OF

OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.

The Propœtides, for their impudent behaviour, being turned into stone by Venus, Pygmalion, prince of Cyprus, detested all women for their sake, and resolved never to marry. He falls in love with a statue of his own making, which is changed into a maid, whom he marries. One of his descendants is Cinyras, the father of Myrrha : the daughter incestuously loves her own father, for which she is changed into a tree which bears her name. These two stories immediately follow each other, and are admirably well connected.

5

PYGMALION loathing their lascivious life,
Abhorr'd all womankind, but most a wife:
So single chose to live, and shunn'd to wed,
Well pleased to want a consort of his bed:
Yet fearing idleness, the nurse of ill,
In sculpture exercised his happy skill;
And carved in ivory such a maid, so fair,
As nature could not with his art compare,
Were she to work; but in her own defence,
Must take her pattern here, and copy hence.
Pleased with his idol, he commends, admires,
Adores; and last, the thing adored desires.
A very virgin in her face was seen,
And, had she moved, a living maid had been:
One would have thought she could have stirr'd ;
but strove

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15

30

And on the lips a burning kiss impress'd.
Tis true, the harden'd breast resists the gripe, 25
And the cold lips return a kiss unripe:
But when, retiring back, he look'd again,
To think it ivory was a thought too mean :
So would believe she kiss'd, and courting more,
Again embraced her naked body o'er;
And straining hard the statue, was afraid
His hands had made a dint, and hurt the maid:
Explored her, limb by limb, and fear'd to find
So rude a gripe had left a livid mark behind:
With flattery now he seeks her mind to move,
And now with gifts, the powerful bribes of love:
He furnishes her closet first; and fills
The crowded shelves with rarities of shells:
Adds orient pearls, which from the conchs he drew,
And all the sparkling stones of various hue:
And parrots, imitating human tongue,

And singing-birds in silver cages hung;

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40

And every fragrant flower, and odorous green, Were sorted well, with lumps of amber laid between:

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Rich, fashionable robes her person deck,
Pendents her ears, and pearls adorn her neck:
Her taper'd fingers too with rings are graced,
And an embroider'd zone surrounds her slender
waist.

Thus like a queen array'd, so richly dress'd,
Beauteous she show'd, but naked show'd the best.50
Then from the floor, he raised a royal bed,
With coverings of Sidonian purple spread :
The solemn rites perform'd, he calls her bride,
With blandishments invites her to his side,
And as she were with vital sense possess'd,
Her head did on a plumy pillow rest.

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64

The feast of Venus came, a solemn day,
To which the Cypriots due devotion pay;
With gilded horns the milk-white heifers led,
Slaughter'd before the sacred altars, bled:
Pygmalion offering, first approach'd the shrine,
And then with prayers implored the powers divine:
Almighty gods, if all we mortals want,

If all we can require, be yours to grant;
Make this fair statue mine, he would have said, 65
But changed his words for shame, and only pray'd,
Give me the likeness of my ivory maid.

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The golden goddess, present at the prayer, Well knew he meant the inanimated fair, And gave the sign of granting his desire; For thrice in cheerful flames ascends the fire. The youth, returning to his mistress, hies, And, impudent in hope, with ardent eyes, And beating breast, by the dear statue lies. He kisses her white lips, renews the bliss, And looks and thinks they redden at the kiss: He thought them warm before; nor longer stays, But next his hand on her hard bosom lays: Hard as it was, beginning to relent,

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It seem'd the breast beneath his fingers bent; 80 He felt again, his fingers made a print,

'Twas flesh, but flesh so firm, it rose against the dint.

85

The pleasing task he fails not to renew:
Soft, and more soft at every touch it grew:
Like pliant wax, when chafing hands reduce
The former mass to form, and frame to use.
He would believe, but yet is still in pain,
And tries his argument of sense again,
Presses the pulse, and feels the leaping vein.
Convinced, o'erjoy'd, his studied thanks and praise,
To her who made the miracle, he pays:
Then lips to lips he join'd; now freed from fear,
He found the favour of the kiss sincere:
At this the waken'd image oped her eyes,
And view'd at once the light and lover, with
surprise.

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The goddess present at the match she made,
So bless'd the bed, such fruitfulness convey'd,
That ere ten moons had sharpen'd either horn,
To crown their bliss, a lovely boy was born;
Paphos his name, who, grown to manhood, wall'd 100
The city Paphos, from the founder call'd.

CINYRAS AND MYRRHA.

OUT OF THE TENTH BOOK OF

OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.

There needs no connection of this story with the former; for the beginning of this immediately follows the end of the last: the reader is only to take notice, that Orpheus, who relates both, was by birth a Thracian; and his country far distant from Cyprus, where Myrrha was born, and from Arabia, whither she fled. You will see the reason of this note, soon after the first lines of this fable.

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10

NOR him alone produced the fruitful queen;
But Cinyras, who like his sire had been
A happy prince, had he not been a sire.
Daughters and fathers from my song retire:
I sing of horror; and, could I prevail,
You should not hear, or not believe my tale.
Yet if the pleasure of my song be such,
That you will hear, and credit me too much,
Attentive listen to the last event,
And with the sin believe the punishment:
Since nature could behold so dire a crime,
I gratulate at least my native clime,
That such a land, which such a monster bore,
So far is distant from our Thracian shore.
Let Araby extol her happy coast,
Her cinnamon and sweet amomum boast,
Her fragrant flowers, her trees with precious tears,
Her second harvest, and her double years;
How can the land be call'd so bless'd that Myrrha
bears?

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25

30

Not all her odorous tears can cleanse her crime,
Her plant alone deforms the happy clime:
Cupid denies to have inflamed thy heart,
Disowns thy love, and vindicates his dart;
Some fury gave thee those infernal pains,
And shot her venom'd vipers in thy veins.
To hate thy sire, had merited a curse:
But such an impious love deserved a worse.
The neighbouring monarchs, by thy beauty led,
Contend in crowds, ambitious of thy bed:
The world is at thy choice, except but one,
Except but him, thou canst not choose, alone.
She knew it too, the miserable maid,
Ere impious love her better thoughts betray'd,
And thus within her secret soul she said:
Ah, Myrrha whither would thy wishes tend? 35
Ye gods, ye sacred laws, my soul defend
From such a crime as all mankind detest,
And never lodged before in human breast!
But is it sin? Or makes my mind alone
The imagined sin? For nature makes it none.
What tyrant then these envious laws began,
Made not for any other beast but man!

The father-bull his daughter may bestride,
The horse may make his mother-mare a bride;
What piety forbids the lusty ram,

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45

Or more salacious goat, to rut their dam?
The hen is free to wed her chick she bore,
And make a husband, whom she hatch'd before.
All creatures else are of a happier kind,
Whom nor ill-natured laws from pleasure bind, 50
Nor thoughts of sin disturb their peace of mind.
But man a slave of his own making lives:
The fool denies himself what nature gives:

Yet some wise nations break their cruel chains, And own no laws, but those which love ordains: Where happy daughters with their sires are join'd, And piety is doubly paid in kind.

Oh that I had been born in such a clime,
Not here, where 'tis the country makes the crime'
But whither would my impious fancy stray?
Hence hopes, and ye forbidden thoughts, away!"
His worth deserves to kindle my desires,
But with the love that daughters bear to sires.
Then had not Cinyras my father been,
What hinder'd Myrrha's hopes to be his queen?
But the perverseness of my fate is such,
That he's not mine, because he's mine too much:
Our kindred-blood debars a better tie:

He might be nearer, were he not so nigh.
Eyes and their objects never must unite,
Some distance is required to help the sight:
Fain would I travel to some foreign shore,
Never to see my native country more,

So might I to myself myself restore;

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So might my mind these impious thoughts remore,
And ceasing to behold, might cease to love.
But stay I must, to feed my famish'd sight,
To talk, to kiss; and more, if more I might:
More, impious maid! What more caust thou
design?

To make a monstrous mixture in thy line,
And break all statutes human and divine?
Canst thou be call'd (to save thy wretched life)
Thy mother's rival, and thy father's wife?
Confound so many sacred names in one,
Thy brother's mother! sister to thy son!
And fear'st thou not to see the infernal bands, *
Their heads with snakes, with torches arm'd their
hands,

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Full at thy face the avenging brands to hear,
And shake the serpents from their hissing hair!
But thou in time the increasing ill control,
Nor first debauch the body by the soul;
Secure the sacred quiet of thy mind,
And keep the sanctions nature has design'd
Suppose I should attempt, the attempt were vain;
No thoughts like mine his sinless soul profane:
Observant of the right; and oh, that he
Could cure my madness, or be mad like me!

Thus she; but Cinyras, who daily sees
A crowd of noble suitors at his knees,
Among so many, knew not whom to choose,
Irresolute to grant, or to refuse.

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But having told their names, inquired of her, Who pleased her best, and whom she would prefer?

The blushing maid stood silent with surprise,
And on her father fix'd her ardent eyes,

And looking sigh'd; and as she sigh'd, began
Round tears to shed, that scalded as they ran.
The tender sire, who saw her blush and cry,
Ascribed it all to maiden modesty;

And dried the falling drops, and yet more kind,
He stroked her cheeks, and holy kisses join'd:
She felt a secret venom fire her blood,
And found more pleasure than a daughter should
And, ask'd again, what lover of the crew
She liked the best; she answer'd, One like you.

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So Myrrha's mind, impell'd on either side,
Takes every bent, but cannot long abide :
Irresolute on which she should rely,
At last unfix'd in all, is only fix'd to die:
On that sad thought she rests; resolved on death,
She rises, and prepares to choke her breath:
Then while about the beam her zone she ties,
Dear Cinyras, farewell, she softly cries;
For thee I die, and only wish to be
Not hated, when thou know'st I die for thee:
Pardon the crime, in pity to the cause:
This said, about her neck the noose she draws.
The nurse, who lay without, her faithful guard, 150
Though not the words,, the murmurs overheard,
And sighs, and hollow sounds: surprised with
fright,

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She starts, and leaves her bed, and springs a light:
Unlocks the door, and entering out of breath,
The dying saw, and instruments of death.
She shrieks, she cuts the zone with trembling
haste,

160

And in her arms her fainting charge embraced :
Next (for she now had leisure for her tears)
She weeping ask'd, in these her blooming years,
What unforeseen misfortune caused her care,
To loathe her life, and languish in despair?
The maid, with downcast eyes, and mute with
grief,

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For death unfinish'd, and ill-timed relief,
Stood sullen to her suit: the beldame press'd
The more to know, and bared her wither'd breast;
Adjured her, by the kindly food she drew
From those dry founts, her secret ill to show.
Sad Myrrha sigh'd, and turn'd her eyes aside:
The nurse still urged, and would not be denied:
Nor only promised secresy; but pray'd
She might have leave to give her offer'd aid.
Good will, she said, my want of strength supplies,
And diligence shall give what age denies :
If strong desires thy mind to fury move,
With charms and med'cines I can cure thy love:
If envious eyes their hurtful rays have cast,
More powerful verse shall free thee from the blast:
If Heaven offended sends thee this disease,
Offended Heaven with prayers we can appease.
What then remains, that can these cares procure?
Thy house is flourishing, thy fortune sure:
Thy careful mother yet in health survives,

And, to thy comfort, thy kind father lives.

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Struck once again, as with a thunder-clap,
The guilty virgin bounded from her lap,
And threw her body prostrate on the bed,
And, to conceal her blushes, hid her head:
There silent lay, and warn'd her with her hand
To go: but she received not the command;
Remaining still importunate to know:
Then Myrrha thus: Or ask no more, or go:
I pr'ythee go, or staying spare my shame;
What thou would'st hear, is impious ev'n to

name.

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At this, on high the beldame holds her hands, And trembling, both with age and terror, stands;

Adjures, and falling at her feet entreats, Soothes her with blandishments, and frights with threats,

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To tell the crime intended, or disclose
What part of it she knew, if she no farther
knows:

And last, if conscious to her counsel made,
Confirms anew the promise of her aid.

Now Myrrha raised her head; but soon oppress'd

With shame, reclined it on her nurse's breast; 215
Bathed it with tears, and strove to have confess'd;
Twice she began, and stopp'd; again she tried;
The faltering tongue its office still denied:
At last her veil before her face she spread,
And drew a long preluding sigh, and said,
O happy mother, in thy marriage-bed!
Then groan'd, and ceased; the good old woman
shook,

Much she reproach'd, and many things she said,
To cure the madness of the unhappy maid:
In vain for Myrrha stood convict of ill;
Her reason vanquish'd, but unchanged her will:
Perverse of mind, unable to reply,
She stood resolved or to possess, or die.
At length the fondness of a nurse prevail'd
Against her better sense, and virtue fail'd:
Enjoy, my child, since such is thy desire,
Thy love, she said; she durst not say, thy sire.
Live, though unhappy, live on any terms:
Then with a second oath her faith confirms.
The solemn feast of Ceres now was near,
When long white linen stoles the matrons
wear;

Rank'd in procession walk the pious train,
Offering first-fruits, and spikes of yellow grain:
For nine long nights the nuptial bed they shun,
And, sanctifying harvest, lie alone.

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Myrrha was joy'd the welcome news to hear;
But, clogg'd with guilt, the joy was insincere:
So various, so discordant is the mind,
That in our will, a different will we find.
Ill she presaged, and yet pursued her lust;
For guilty pleasures give a double gust.
"Twas depth of night: Arctophylax had driven
His lazy wain half round the northern heaven, 265
When Myrrha hasten'd to the crime desired;
The moon beheld her first, and first retired;
The stars amazed ran backward from the sight,
And, shrunk within their sockets, lost their light.
Icarius first withdraws his holy flame:

270

The Virgin sign, in heaven the second name,
Slides down the belt, and from her station flies,
And night with sable clouds involves the skies.
Bold Myrrha still pursues her black intent:
She stumbled thrice, (an omen of the event ;) 275
Thrice shriek'd the funeral owl, yet on she went,
Secure of shame, because secure of sight;
Ev'n bashful sins are impudent by night.
Link'd hand in hand, the accomplice and the
dame,

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Their way exploring, to the chamber came:
The door was ope, they blindly grope their way,
Where dark in bed the expecting monarch lay:
Thus far her courage held, but here forsakes;
Her faint knees knock at every step she makes.
The nearer to her crime, the more within
She feels remorse, and horror of her sin :
Repents too late her criminal desire,
And wishes, that unknown she could retire.
Her lingering thus, the nurse (who fear'd delay
The fatal secret might at length betray)
Pull'd forward, to complete the work begun,
And said to Cinyras, Receive thy own:
Thus saying, she deliver'd kind to kind,
Accursed, and their devoted bodies join'd.
The sire, unknowing of the crime, admits
His bowels, and profanes the hallow'd sheets.
He found she trembled, but believed she strove,
With maiden modesty, against her love;
And sought with flattering words vain fancies to

remove.

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Perhaps he said, My daughter, cease thy fears, 300
(Because the title suited with her years :)
And, Father, she might whisper him again,
That names might not be wanting to the sin.
Full of her sire, she left the incestuous bed,
And carried in her womb the crime she bred: 305
Another, and another night she came;

For frequent sin had left no sense of shame:

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With travel weary, unsupplied with strength,
And with the burden of her womb oppress'd,
Sabæan fields afford her needful rest:
There, loathing life, and yet of death afraid,
In anguish of her spirit, thus she pray'd:
Ye powers, if any so propitious are
To accept my penitence, and hear my prayer,
Your judgments, I confess, are justly sent;
Great sins deserve as great a punishment:
Yet since my life the living will profane,
And since my death the happy dead will stain,
A middle state your mercy may bestow,
Betwixt the realms above, and those below:
Some other form to wretched Myrrha give,
Nor let her wholly die, nor wholly live.
The prayers of penitents are never vain :
At least, she did her last request obtain;
For, while she spoke, the ground began to rise.
And gather'd round her feet, her legs, and thighs:
Her toes in roots descend, and, spreading wide,
A firm foundation for the trunk provide:
Her solid bones convert to solid wood,
To pith her marrow, and to sap her blood:
Her arms are boughs, her fingers change their
kind,

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