The mariner with dread beholds from far
The gathering storms and elemental war;
His bark the furious blast and billows rend;
The surges rise, and cataracts descend;
Above, beneath, he hears the tempest roar;
Now sinks the vessel, and he fears no more: 1210
And remedy to this they none can find,
Who are resolved to trade by sea and wind.
On land, in whirlwinds or unkindly showers,
They blast the lovely fruits and blooming flowers;
O'er sea and land the blustering tyrants reign,
And make of earth-born men the labours vain.
And now the gods, who fought for endless fame,
The god of gods almighty Jove proclaim,
As Earth advised: nor reigns Olympian Jove
Ingrate to them who with the Titans strove; 1220
On those who warr'd beneath his wide command,
He honours heaps with an impartial hand.
And now the king of gods, Jove, Metis led,
The wisest fair one, to the genial bed;
Who with the blue-eyed virgin fruitful proves,
Minerva, pledge of their celestial loves:
The sire, from what kind earth and heaven reveal'd,
Artful the matron in himself conceal'd;
From her it was decreed a race should rise
That would usurp the kingdom of the skies: 1230
And first the virgin with her azure eyes,
Equal in strength, and as her father wise,
Is born, the offspring of the' almighty's brain:
And Metis by the god conceived again;
A son decreed to reign o'er heaven and earth,
Had not the sire destroy'd the mighty birth:
He made the goddess in himself reside,
To be in every act the' eternal guide.
The hours to Jove did lovely Themis bear, Eunomia, Dice, and Irene fair;
O'er human labours they the power possess,
With seasons kind the fruits of earth to bless:
She by the thundering god conceived again,
And suffer'd for the Fates the rending pain,
Clotho and Lachesis, to whom we owe,
With Atropos, our shares of joy or woe;
This honour they received from Jove the wise,
The mighty sire, the ruler of the skies.
Eurynome, from Ocean sprung, to Jove
The beauteous Graces bore, inspiring love, 1250
Aglaia, and Euphrosyne the fair,
And thou, Thalia, of a graceful air;
From the bright eyes of these such charms proceed,
As make the hearts of all beholders bleed.
He Ceres next, a bounteous goddess, led
To taste the pleasures of the genial bed;
To him fair-arm'd Persephone she bore,
Whom Pluto ravish'd from her native shore:
The mournful dame he of her child bereft,
But the wise sire assented to the theft.
Mnemosyne his breast with love inspires, The fair tress'd object of the god's desires; Of whom the Muses, tuneful nine, are born, Whose brows rich diadems of gold adorn: To them uninterrupted joys belong, Them the gay feast delights, and sacred song. Latona bore, the fruits of Jove's embrace, The loveliest offsprings of the' etherial race; She for Apollo felt the childbed throe; And Artemis for thee who twang the bow. 1270 Last Juno fills the' almighty monarch's arms, A blooming consort, and replete with charms;
From her Lucina, Mars, and Hebe spring;
Their sire of gods the god, of kings the king.
Minerva, goddess of the martial train,
Whom wars delight, sprung from the' almighty's brain;
The reverend dame, unconquerable maid,
The battle rouses, of no power afraid.
Juno, proud goddess, with her consort strove, And soon conceived, without the joys of love: Thee she produced without the aid of Jove, 1281 Vulcan, who far in every art excel
The gods who in celestial mansions dwell.
To Neptune beauteous Amphitrite bore
Triton, dread god, who makes the surges roar;
Who dwells in seats of gold beneath the main,
Where Neptune and fair Amphitrite reign.
To Mars, who pierces with his spear the shield,
Terror and Fear did Cytherea yield;
Dire brothers, who in war disorder spread, 1290
Break the thick phalanx, and increase the dead;
They wait in every act their father's call,
By whose strong hand the proudest cities fall:
Harmonia, sprung from that immortal bed,
Was to the scene of love by Cadmus led.
Maia, of Atlas born, and mighty Jove,
Join in the sacred bands of mutual love :
From whom behold the glorious Hermes rise,
A god renown'd, the herald of the skies.
Cadmean Semele, a mortal dame, Gave to the' almighty's love a child of fame, Bacchus, from whom our cheerful spirits flow, Mother and son alike immortal now.
The mighty Hercules Alcmena bore
To the great god who makes the thunder roar.
Lame Vulcan made Aglaia fair his bride, The youngest grace, and in her blooming pride. Bacchus, conspicuous with his golden hair, Thee Ariadne weds, a beauteous fair,
From Minos sprung, whom mighty Jove the sage
Allows to charm her lord exempt from age. 1311
Great Hercules, who with misfortunes strove
Long, is rewarded with a virtuous love,
Hebe, the daughter of the thundering god,
By his fair consort Juno golden-shod:
Thrice happy he safe from his toils to rise,
And ever young, a god to grace the skies!
From the bright son, and thee, Perseïs, spring
Famed offsprings, Circe, and Eetes king.
Æetes thee, beauteous Idya, led,
Daughter of Ocean, to the genial bed;
And with the' applause of heaven your loves were crown'd;
From whom Medea sprung, a fair renown'd.
All hail, Olympian maids, harmonious Nine, Daughters of ægis-bearing Jove divine, Forsake the land, forsake the briny main, The god and goddesses, celestial train; Ye Muses, each immortal fair record Who deign'd to revel with a mortal lord, In whose illustrious offsprings all might trace The glorious likeness of a godlike race.
Jason, a hero through the world renown'd, Was with the joyous love of Ceres crown'd; Their joys they acted in a fertile soil
Of Crete, which thrice had bore the ploughman's
Of them was Plutus born, who spreads his hand,
Dispersing wealth o'er all the sea and land;
Happy the man who in his favour lives,
Riches to him, and all their joys, he gives. 1339
Cadmus Harmonia loved, the fair and young,
A fruitful dame, from golden Venus sprung;
Ino and Semele, Agave fair,
And thee, Autonoë, thy lover's care
(Young Aristaus with his comely hair),
She bore; and Polydore completes the race
Born in the walls of Thebes, a stately place.
The brave Chrysaor thee, Calliroe, led,
Daughter of Ocean, to the genial bed;
Whence Geryon sprung, fierce with his triple
head;
Whom Hercules laid breathless on the ground,
In Erythia which the waves surround;
By his strong arm the mighty giant slain,
The hero drove his oxen cross the main.
Two royal sons were to Tithonus born,
Of thee, Aurora, goddess of the morn;
Hemathion from whom and Memnon spring,
Known by his brazen helm was Ethiop's king.
Pregnant by Cephalus the goddess proves,
A son of high renown rewards their loves;
In form like the possessors of the skies,
Great Phaethon, whom with desiring eyes
Fair Aphrodite views: in blooming days
She to her sacred fane the youth conveys;
Inhabitant divine he there remain'd,
His task nocturnal by the fair ordain'd.
When Peleis, haughty prince of wide command, Of much the' achiever with an impious hand, Success attending his injurious mind,
Gave the swell'd sails to fly before the wind, Æsonides, such, gods, were thy decrees! 1370 The daughter of Eetes cross the seas
Raped from her sire; the hero much endured Ere in his vessel he the fair secured;
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