Was Thule born, uncertain how it is said
Once Venus won Adonis to her bed
And pregnant grew: the birth to chance assign'd
In woods, and foster'd by the feather'd kind,
With flow'rs some strew the helpless orphan round,
With downy moss some spread the carpet ground,
Some ripen'd fruits, some fragrant honey bring,
And some fetch water from the running spring,
While others warble from the boughs, to cheer
Their infant charge, and tune her tender ear.
Soon as the sun forsakes the ev'ning skies,
And hid in shades the gloomy forest lies,
The nightingales their tuneful vigils keep,
And lull her with their gentler strains to sleep.
This the prevailing rumour: as she grew
No dubious tokens spoke the rumour true;
In ev'ry forming feature might be seen
Some bright resemblance of the Cyprian queen;
Nor was it hard the hunter youth to trace
In all her early passion for the chase:
And when on springing flow'rs reclin'd she sung,
The birds upon the bending branches hung,
While warbling she express'd their various strains,
And at a distance charm'd the list'ning swains:
So sweet her voice resounding thro' the wood,
They thought the nymph some Syren from the flood,
Half human thus by lineage, half divine,
In forests did the lonely beauty shine,
Like woodland flow'rs which paint the desert glades,
And waste their sweets in unfrequented shades.
No human face she saw, and rarely seen
By human face: a solitary queer,
She rul'd and rang'd her shady empire round.
No horn the silent huntress bears; no hound
With noisy cry disturbs her solemn chase;
Swift as the bounding stag she wings her pace,
And bend whene'er she will her ebon bow,
A speedy death arrests the flying foe.
The bow the hunting goddess first supply'd,
And iv'ry quiver cross her shoulders ty'd.
Th' imperious queen of Heav'n with jealous eyes
Beholds the blooming virgin from the skies,
At once admires and dreads her growing charms,
And sees the god already in her arms:
In vain she finds her bitter tongue reproves
His broken vows and his clandestine loves:
Jove still continues frail: and all in vain
Does Thule in obscurest shades remain,
While Maia's son, the Thund'rer's winged spy,
Informs him where the lurking beauties lie.
What sure expedient then shal! Juno find
To calm her fears and ease her boding mind?
Delays to fealous minds a torment prove,
And Thule ripens ev'ry day for love.
She mounts her car and shakes the silken reins;
And smooth their glossy necks against the sun;
The wheels along the level azure run:
Eastward the goddess guides her gaudy team,
And perfects as she rides her forming scheme.
The various orbs now pass'd, adown the steep
Of heav'n the chariot whirls, and plunges deep
In fleecy clouds, which o'er the midland main
Hang pois'd in air, to bless the isles with rain.
And here the panting birds repose a while:
Not so their queen; she gains the Cyprian isle,
By speedy Zephyrs borne in thickenid air:
Unseen she seeks, unseen she finds the fair.
Now o'er the mountain tops the rising sun
Shot purple rays; now Thule had begun
Her morning chase, and printed in the dews
Her fleeting steps. The goddess now pursues,
Now overtakes her in the full career,
And flings a jav’lin at the flying deer. Amaz'd the virgin huntress turns her eyes, When Juno, (now Diana in disguise) "Let no vain terrors discompose thy mind; "My second visit like my first is kind. "Thy iv'ry quiver and thy ebon bow "Did not I give ?"---Here sudden blushes glow On Thule's cheeks: her busy eyes survey The dress, the crescent, and her doubts give way. "I own thee, Goddess bright!" the nymph replies,
"Goddess of woods, and lawns, and level plains! "Fresh in my mind thine image still remains." Then Juno," Beauteous ranger of the grove, "My darling care, fair object of my love! "Hither I come, urg'd by no trivial fears, "To guard thy bloom and warn thy tender years."
TO THE HANOVERIAN FAMILY.
WHILE these, the chosen Beauties of our isle,
Propitious on the cause of freedom smile,
The rash Pretender's hopes we may despise,
And trust Britannia's safety to their eyes.
OLYMPIONIQUE OF PINDAR.
TO HIERO OF SYRACUSE,
Victorious in the Horse-race.
THE poet praises Hiero for his justice, his wisdom, and his skill in musicHe likewise celebrates the horse that won the race, and the place where the Olympic Games were performed. From the place (namely Felopon nesus) he takes an occasion of digressing to the known fable of Tantalus and Pelops; whence returning to Hiero, he sets forth the felicity of the Olympian victors. Then he concludes, by praying to the gods to preserve the glory and dignity of Hiero, admonishing him to moderation of mind in his high station; and, lastly, glories in his own excellency in compositions of this kind.
STROPHE 1. Measures 18.
EACH element to water yield,
And gold, like blazing fire by night,
Amidst the stores of wealth that builds
The mind aloft is eminently bright:
But if my Soul with fond desire
To sing of games thou dost aspire,
As thou by day canst not descry
Thro' all the liquid waste of sky
One burnish'd star that like the sun does glow,
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