Adraftus, touch'd with his unhappy Fate,
Replies. Forbear the Sequel to relate:
Nor think us Strangers to the Theban Name,
Or deaf to the divulging Voice of Fame.
E'en those who freeze beneath the Northern Pole,
Or view the fwelling Waves of Ganges roll,
Who live, where Ocean bounds th' Hefperian Lands,
Or dread the Depth of Lybia's burning Sands:
All these have known the Fury's vengeful Ire,
And the rash Actions of your wretched Sire.
But if the Son re-acts the Father's Crimes,
And shares the lineal Guilt of former Times,
How curft am I, on whofe unhappy Race
The Feast of Tantalus entail'd Difgrace!
Be this thy Study then, with inbred Worth
T'efface the Stains coeval with thy Birth.
But fee pale Cynthia quits th' etherial Plains,
-And of Night's Empire but a third remains;
With Wine then let the fprinkled Altars blaze,
And joyful Pæans fwell the Note of Praife.
O Phabus, Author of the rifing Day,
Whether thy Lycian Mountains court thy Stay,
Or fair Caftalia's Current claims thy Care,
Where oft thou joy'ft to bathe thy golden Hair:
Whether proud Troy detains thee on her Strands,
Rear'd by the Labour of celeftial Hands;
Or, pleas'd to feek thy native Ifle no more,
Thy genial Prefence gilds the Cynthian Shore;
Whofe graceful Hand fupports the fatal Bow,
And darts Destruction on the furious Foe.
v. 957. Whether proud Troy] Troy was built by the joint Labour of Neptune and Apollo: Hence Horace fays,
Ter fi refurgat murus aheneus
Auctore Phabo &c.
In vain old Age affaults thy beardless Face, Crown'd with fresh Beauty, and perennial Grace. 'Tis thine to warn us with unerring Skill
Of Heav'n's Decrees, and Jove's refiftless Will;
To teach, from whence the Torch of Difcord fprings,
The Change of Sceptres, and the Fate of Kings.
Thy Shafts allay'd fierce Tityos' lawless Luft,
And humbled haughty Marfyas to the Duft,
(Who durst aspire to match thy facred Lays)
And from the Python reap'd immortal Praise:
Thy Pow'r transform'd proud Niobe to Stone,
And to Latona's Charms adjudg'd the Crown:
Megara, fierceft Fiend, at thy Command
For e'er incumbent, fhakes her vengeful Brand
O'er the devoted Head of the rash Sire,
Who wrapt the Delphic Fane in impious Fire,
He views the proffer'd Food, yet dares not taste,
And dreads the cavern'd Rock above him plac'd. 980
Let then our Fields thy constant Influence fhare,
And Argos, facred to the Queen of Air;
Whether the Name of Titan please thee most,
A Name rever'd on th Achæmenian Coast,
Or great Ofiris, whom the Pharian Swain
Decks with the First-Fruits of the ripen'd Grain:
Or Mitra more, to whofe prolific Rays
The grateful Perfian Adoration pays,
Who grafps the Horns of the reluctant Steer,
While on his Head encircling Lights appear.
v. 987. Or Mitra more] The Perfians call the Sun Mitra, account him the greatest of their Gods, and worship him in a Cave. His Statue has the Head of a Lion, on which a Turbant, called Tiara, is placed. It is clothed with Perfian Attire. and holds with both Hands a struggling Heifer,
HIS Book opens with a Defcription of Mercury's
T Return from Hell, pursuant to the Commands of
Jove, as delivered in the first Book. Laius appears to Eteocles, and to make the greater Impreffion upon his Mind, affumes the Form of Tirefias. The Theban King perfifts in witholding the Crown from his Brother. The Poet then transports us to Argos, and relates the Marriage of the two Heroes to Adraftus's Daughters, by which a triple Alliance is formed between Adraftus, Tydeus and Polynices. The Nuptials are interrupted by an inaufpicious Omen; the Caufe of which is attributed to Argia's wearing the Necklace of Harmonia. Tydeus is deputed Embassador to claim the Crown of Eteocles; but meeting with a Repulfe, denounces War against him. The Tyrant bires fifty Ruffians to affaffinate him in his Way to Argos. Thefe are flain all but one, whom he fpares to carry the News to Thebes. The Hero flushed with his Success, would have ventured himself among his Enemies there, but Minerva interpofes; to whom he raises a Trophy of the Spoils, and prefers a Prayer, which concludes the Book.
OW Hermes, fraught with the Commands of Jove,
With Wings expanded feeks the Realms above.
Black Mifts furround him, and impervious Night.
Checks his bold Progrefs, and controuls his Flight;
No Zephyrs waft him o'er the Realms below,
But ftill and noifome Gales on one Side flow
The branching Streams of Styx in calm Repose,
On t'other fiery Lakes his Way oppofe.
Prop'd on the Wand divine, old Laius' Shade
Stalks flow behind him; for the forceful Blade
Thro' his pierc'd Ribs an eafy Paffage found,
Till Point and Hilt had clos'd the gaping Wound,
Amaz'd the dreary Grove and penfive Glades
Survey his Paffage from th' infernal Shades,
While flitting Spectres eye the King's Return
With fullen Grief, and their Confinement mourn :
For, like the Soul, pale Envy braves the Tomb,
Nor with the Body fhares an equal Doom.
Verse 1. Now Hermes] The Beginning of this Book is really valuable, as it throws confiderable Light on the Heathen Mythology, and the Notions they entertained of a future State.
v. For like the Soul] This Opinion of the Paffions inhering after Death in the Souls of Men is confirmed by Virgil.
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