Still prone to change, tho' ftill the flaves of ftate,
And fure the monarch whom they have, to hate
Madly they make new Lords, then tamely bear,
And foftly curfe the Tyrants whom they fear. A
And one of those who groan beneath the fway f
Of Kings impos'd, and grudgingly obey;
(Whom envy to the great, and vulgar fpight
With scandal arm'd, th' ignoble mind's delight,) |
Exclaim'd-O Thebes! for thee what fates remain,
What woes attend this inaufpicious reign?
Must we, alas! our doubtful necks prepare,
Each haughty master's yoke by turns to bear,
And still to change whom chang'd we still must fear?)
Thefe now controul a wretched people's fate,
These can divide, and these reverse the state;
Ev'n fortune rules no more:----O fervile land, ⠀
Where exil'd tyrants ftill by turns command!
Thou Sire of Gods and men, imperial Jove!
Is this th' eternal doom decreed above?
On thy own offspring haft thou fix'd this fate,
From the first birth of our unhappy state;
When banifh'd Cadmus wand'ring o'er the main,
For loft Europa fearch'd the world in vain,
And fated in Baotian fields to found
A rifing empire on a foreign ground,
Firft rais'd our walls on that ill-omen'd plain,
Where earth-born brothers were by brothers flain?
What lofty looks th' unrival'd monarch bears!
How all the tyrant in his face appears!
What fullen fury clouds his fcornful brow!
Gods! how his eyes with threatning ardour glow!
Can this imperious Lord forget to reign,
Quit all his state, defcend, and ferve again?
Yet who, before, more popularly bow'd,
Who more propitious to the fuppliant crowd,
Patient of right, familiar in the throne?
What wonder then? he was not then alone.
Oh wretched we, a vile, fubmiffive train,
Fortune's tame fools, and flaves in ev'ry reign!
As when two winds with rival force contend,. This way and that, the wav'ring fails they bend, While freezing Boreas and black Eurus blow, Now here, now there, the reeling veffel throw:
Thus on each fide, alas! our tott'ring state
Feels all the fury of refiftless fate,
And doubtful ftill, and still distracted stands,
While that Prince threatens, and while this commands.
And now th' almighty Father of the Gods
Convenes a council in the blefs'd abodes:
Far in the bright receffes of the skies,
High o'er the rowling heav'ns, a mansion lies,
Whence, far below, the Gods at once furvey
The realms of rifing and declining day,
And all th' extended space of earth, and air, and sea.
Full in the midst, and on a starry throne,
The Majefty of heav'n fuperior fhone;
Serene he look'd, and gave an awful * nod,
And all the trembling fpheres confefs'd the God.
At Jove's affent, the deities around
In folemn state the confiftory crown'd:
Next, a long order of inferior pow'rs
Afcend from hills, and plains, and shady bow'rs;
Those from whose urns the rowling rivers flow,
And those that give the wandring winds to blow;
* Placido quatiens tamen omniaVulty, is the common reading; I believe it should be Nutu, with reference to the word quatiens.
Here all their rage, and ev'n their murmurs cease,
And facred filence reigns, and universal peace.
A fhining fynod of majestic Gods
Gilds with new luftre the divine abodes,
Heav'n feems improv'd with a fuperior ray,
And the bright arch reflects a double day.
The monarch then his folemn filence broke, L
The still creation liften'd while he fpoke,
Fach facred accent bears eternal weight,
And each irrevocable word is fate.
How long fhall Man the wrath of heav'n defy,
And force unwilling vengeance from the sky!
Oh race confed'rate into crimes, that prove
Triumphant o'er th' eluded rage of Jove!
This weary'd arm can scarce the bolt fuftain,
And unregarded thunder rolls in vain:
Th' o'erlabour'd Cyclop from his task retires;
Th' Æolian forge exhaufted of its fires.
For this, I fuffer'd Phoebus' steeds to stray,
And the mad ruler to mifguide the day,
When the wide earth to heaps of ashes turn'd,
And heav'n itself the wand'ring chariot burn'd.
For this, my brother of the watry reign
Releas'd th' impetuous fluices of the main,
But flames confum'd, and billows rag'd in vain.
Two races now, ally'd to Jove, offend;
To punish these, fee Jove himself defcend!
The Theban Kings their line from Cadmus trace,
From godlike Perfeus thofe of Argive race.
Unhappy Cadmus' fate who does not know?
And the long feries of fucceeding woe:
How oft' the furies, from the deeps of night,
Arofe, and mix'd with men in mortal fight:
Th' exulting mother ftain'd with filial blood;
The favage hunter, and the haunted wood;
The direful banquet why fhould I proclaim,
And crimes that grieve the trembling Gods to name?
E're I recount the fins of thefe profane,
The fun would fink into the western main,
And rifing gild the radiant caft again.
Have we not feen (the blood of Laius fhed)
The murd'ring fon afcend his parent's bed,
Thro' violated nature force his way,
And ftain the facred womb where once he lay?
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