Reveres Apollo's vocal caves, and owns
The guided Godhead, and his future fons.
O'er all his bofom fecret tranfports reign,
And a glad horror fhoots through every vein.
To heaven he lifts his hands, erects his fight,
And thus invokes the filent Queen of night:
Goddess of fhades, beneath whofe gloomy reign
Yon' fpangled arch glows with the ftarry train:
You who the cares of heaven and earth allay,
Till nature, quicken'd by th' inspiring ray,
Wakes to new vigour with the rifing day.
O thou, who freeft me from my doubtful state,
Long loft and wilder'd in the maze of Fate!
Be prefent ftill, oh Goddefs! in our aid;
Proceed, and firm thofe omens thou haft made.
We to thy name our annual rites will pay,
And on thy altars facrifices lay;
Defixus fenior, divina oracula Phoebi
Agnofcens, monitufque datos vocalibus antris.
Obtutu gelida ore permit, laetufque per artus
Horror iit. fenfit manifefto numine ductos
Affore, quos nexis ambagibus augur Apollo
Portendi generos, vultu fallente ferarum,
Ediderat. tunc fic tendens ad fidera palmas:
Nox, quae terrarum coelique amplexa labores
Ignea multivago tranfmittis fidera lapfu,
Indulgens reparare animum, dum proximus aegris
Infundat Titan agiles animantibus ortus,
Tu mihi perplexis quaefitam erroribus ultro
The fable flock fhall fall beneath the ftroke,
And fill thy temples with a grateful smoke.
Hail, faithful Tripos! hail, ye dark abodes
Of awful Phoebus: I confefs the Gods!
Thus, feiz'd with facred fear, the monarch pray'd; Then to his inner court the guests convey'd: Where yet thin fumes from dying sparks arise, 600 And duft yet white upon each altar lies,
The relics of a former facrifice.
The king once more the folemn rites requires,
And bids renew the feafts, and wake the fires.
His train obey, while all the courts around
With noify care and various tumult found.
Embroider'd purple clothes the golden beds;
This flave the floor, and that the table spreads;
Advehis alma fidem, veterifque exordia fati
Detegis. affiftas operi, tuaque omina firmes !
Semper honoratam dimensis orbibus anni
Te domus ifta colet: nigri tibi, Diva, litabunt
Electa fervice greges, luftraliaque exta
Lacte nova perfusus edet Vulcanius ignis.
Salve, prifca fides tripodum, obfcurique receffus ;
Deprendi, Fortuna, deos. fic fatus; et ambos
Innectens manibus, tecta ulterioris ad aulae
Progreditur. canis etiamnum altaribus ignes,
Sopitum cinerem, et tepidi libamina facri
Servabant; adolere focos, epulafque recentes
Inftaurare jubet. dictis parere ministri
Certatim accelerant. vario ftrepit icta tumultu
A third difpels the darkness of the night,
And fills depending lamps with beams of light 610
Here loaves in canisters are pil'd on high,
And there in flames the flaughter'd victims fly.
Sublime in regal state Adraftus fhone,
Stretch'd on rich carpets on his ivory throne;
A lofty couch receives each princely guest ;
Around at awful distance wait the rest.
And now the king, his royal feast to grace,
Aceftis calls, the guardian of his race,
Who first their youth in arts of virtue train'd,
And their ripe years in modest grace maintain’d.
Then foftly whisper'd in her faithful ear,
And bade his daughters at the rites appear.
Regia: pars oftro tenues, auroque fonantes
Emunire toros, altofque inferre tapetas ;
Pars teretes levare manu, ac difponere mensas :
Aft alii tenebras et opacam vincere noctem
Aggreffi, tendunt auratis vincula lychnis.
His labor inferto torrere exanguia ferro
Vifcera caefarum pecudum; his, cumulare caniftris
Perdomitam faxo Cererem. laetatur Adraftus
Obfequio fervere domum. jamque ipfe fuperbis
Fulgebat ftratis, folioque effultus eburno.
Parte alia juvenes ficcati vulnera lymphis
Difcumbunt: fimul ora notis foedata tuentur,
Inque vicem ignofcunt, tunc rex longaevus Acesten
(Natarum haec altrix, eadem et fidiffima cuftos
Lecta facrum juftae Veneri occultare pudorem)
When, from the clofe apartments of the night,
The royal Nymphs approach divinely bright;
Such was Diana's, fuch Minerva's face;
Nor shine their beauties with fuperior grace,
But that in thefe a milder charm endears,
And lefs of terror in their looks appears.
As on the heroes firft they caft their eyes,
O'er their fair cheeks the glowing blushes rife,
Their downcaft looks a decent fhame confefs'd,
Then on their father's reverend features reft.
The banquet done, the monarch gives the fign
To fill the goblet high with sparkling wine,
Which Danaus us'd in facred rites of old,
With fculpture grac'd, and rough with rifing gold.
Imperiat acciri, tacitaque immurmurat aure.
Nec mora praeceptis; cum protinus utraque virgo
Arcano egreffae thalamo (mirabile vifu)
Pallados armifonae, pharetrataeque ora Dianae
Aequa ferunt, terrore minus. nova deinde pudori
Visa virûm facies: pariter, pallorque, ruborque
Purpureas haufere genas: oculique verentes
Ad fanctum rediere patrem. Poftquam ordine menfae
Victa fames, fignis perfectam auroque nitentem
Iafides pateram famulos ex more popofcit,
Qua Danaüs libare deis feniorque Phoroneus
Affueti. tenet haec operum caelata figuras :
Aureus anguicomam praefecto Gorgona collo
Ales habet. jam jamque vagas (ita vifus) in auras
Here to the clouds victorious Perfeus flies,
Medufa feems to move her languid eyes,
And, ev'n in gold, turns paler as the dies.
There from the chace Jove's towering eagle bears, 640
On golden wings, the Phrygian to the stars :
Still as he rifes in th' etherial height,
His native mountains leffen to his fight;
While all his fad companions upward gaze,
Fix'd on the glorious fcene in wild amaze;
And the swift hounds, affrighted as he flies,
Run to the fhade, and bark against the skies.
This golden bowl with generous juice was crown'd,
The first libation fprinkled on the ground:
By turns on each celeftial power they call;
With Phoebus' name refounds the vaulted hall.
The courtly train, the ftrangers, and the rest,
Crown'd with chafte laurel, and with garlands drefs'd,
Exilit illa graves oculos, languentiaque ora
Pene movet, vivoque etiam pallefcit in auro.
Hinc Phrygius fulvis venator tollitur alis :
Gargara defidunt furgenti, et Troja recedit.
Stant moesti comites, fruftraque fonantia laxant
Ora canes, umbramque petunt, et nubila latrant. 645
Hanc undante mero fundens, vocat ordine cunctos
Coelicolas Phoebum ante alios, Phoebum omnis ad
Laude ciet comitum, famulûmque, evincta pudica
Fronde, manus: cui fefta dies, largoque refecti
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