The fulness of this goblet guide
To check with death this stripling's pride, For whom my queen this fatal draught prepares,
Tinged with the Gorgon's venom'd gore:
That seat, which 'midst Erectheus' royal heirs
His pride claims, it shall claim no more:
Never may one of alien blood disgrace
The imperial honors of that high-born race!
Should not this work of fate succeed,
Nor the just vengeance of my queen prevail;
Should this apt time of daring fail,
And Hope, that flatters now, desert the deed;
Slaughter shall other means afford,
The strangling cord, the piercing sword;
For rage from disappointed rage shall flow,
And try each various form of death:
For never shall my queen this torment know;
Ne'er, whilst she draws this vital breath,
Brook in her house that foreign lords should shine,
Clothed with the splendors of her ancient line.
Thou, whom the various hymn delights, When thy bright choir of beauteous dames among, Dancing the stream's soft brink along,
Thou seest the guardian of thy mystic rites,
Thy torch its midnight vigils keep,
Thine eye meantime disdaining sleep;
Whilst with thee dances Jove's star-spangled plain,
And the moon dances up the sky:
1106, &c. The Chorus in this strophe marks the sacred magnificence of Athens by the celebration of the mysteries of Bacchus, Proserpine, and Ceres, in common, on the 20th day of August.
Ye nymphs, that lead to grots your frolic train,
Beneath the gulfy founts that lie :
Thou gold-crown'd queen through night's dark regions fear'd,
And thou, her mother, power revered,
How should I blush, to see this youth unknown,
This Delphic vagrant, hope to seize the throne!
You, who, the melting soul to move,
In loose, dishonest airs the Muse employ
To celebrate love's wanton joy,
The joy of unallow'd, unholy love,
See how our pure and modest law
Can lavish man's lewd deeds o'erawe!
Ye shameless bards, revoke each wanton air;
No more these melting measures frame;
Bid the chaste muse in Virtue's cause declare,
And mark man's lawless bed with shame!
Ungrateful is this Jove-descended lord;
For, his wife's childless bed abhorr'd,
Lewdly he courts the embrace of other dames,
And with a spurious son his pride inflames.
ATT. Athenian dames, where shall I find our queen, The daughter of Erectheus? Seeking her,
This city have I walk'd around in vain.
CHO. And for what cause, my fellow slave? What
Thy hasty foot? What tidings dost thou bring?
ATT. We are discover'd; and the rulers here
Seek her, that she may die o'erwhelm'd with stones.
CHо, Ah me, what wouldst thou say? Are our
designs
Of secret ruin to this youth disclosed?
ATT. They are; and know, the worst of ills await you.
CHO. How were our dark devices brought to light?
ATT. The god, that justice might receive no stain, Caused it to triumph o'er defeated wrong.
1145 CHO. How? as a suppliant, I conjure thee tell me : Of this inform'd, if we must die, more freely Wish we to die, than see the light of heaven. ATT. Soon as the husband of Creusa left The god's oracular shrine, this new-found son He to the feast, and sacrifice prepared
To the high gods, led with him. Xuthus then
Went where the hallow'd flame of Bacchus mounts,
That on each rock's high point the victim's blood 1155
Might flow, a grateful offering for his son
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Thus recognised, to whom he gave in charge,
Stay thou, and with the artist's expert aid
Erect the sheltering tent: my rites perform'd
To the kind gods that o'er the genial bed
Preside, should I be there detain❜d too long,
Spread the rich table to my present friends.'
This said, he led the victims to the rocks.
Meanwhile with reverent heed the son 'gan rear
On firm supporters the wide tent, whose sides
No masonry require, yet framed to exclude
The mid-day sun's hot beams, or his last rays
When sinking in the west: the lengthen'd lines
Equally distant comprehend a square
Of twice five thousand feet, (the skilful thus
Compute it) space to feast (for so he will'd)
All Delphi from the treasures of the god
He took the sacred tapestry, and around
Hung the rich shade, on which the admiring eye
Gazes with fix'd delight: first over head,
Like a broad pennon spread the extended woof,
Which from the Amazonian spoils the son
Of Jove, Alcides, hallow'd to the god ;
In its bright texture interwoven a sky
Gathering the stars in its ethereal round,
Whilst downward to the western wave the sun
His steeds declines, and to his station high
Draws up the radiant flame of Hesperus.
Meanwhile the Night, robed in her sable stole,
Her unreign'd car advances; on her state
The stars attend; the Pleiads mounting high,
And with his glittering sword Orion arm'd:
Above, Arcturus to the golden pole
Inclines; full-orb'd the month-dividing moon
Takes her bright station, and the Hyades
Mark'd by the sailor; distant in the rear,
Aurora, ready to relume the day,
And put the stars to flight. The sides were graced
With various textures of the historic woof,
Barbaric arguments; in gallant trim
Against the fleet of Greece the hostile fleet
Rides proudly on. Here monstrous forms portray'd
Human and brutal mix'd: the Thracian steeds
Are seized, the hinds, and the adventurous chase
Of savage lions: figured nigh the doors,
Cecrops, attended by his daughters, roll'd
His serpent train: in the ample space within
He spread the festal table, richly deck'd
With golden goblets. Now the herald walk'd
His round, each native, that inclined to grace
The feast, inviting: to the crowded tent
They hasten crown'd with garlands, and partake
The exquisite repast. The pleasured sense
1196 This naval expedition probably alludes to the ships which Eetes sent against the Argonauts.
Now satiate, in the midst an old man stood,
Officious in his ministry, which raised
Much mirth among the guests; for from the urns
He fill'd the lavers, and with fragrant myrrh
Incensed the place; the golden bowls he claim'd
His charge. When now the jocund pipes 'gan breathe
Harmonious airs, and the fresh goblet stood
Ready to walk its round, the old man said,
'Away with these penurious cups, and bring
Capacious bowls; so shall you quickly bathe
Your spirits in delight.' With speed were brought
Goblets of gold and silver: one he took
Of choicer frame; and, seemingly intent
To do his young lord honor, the full vase
Gave to his hands, but in the wine infused
A drug of poisonous power, which, it is said,
His queen supplied, that the new son no more
Might view the light of heav'n; but unobserved
He mix'd it. As the youth among the rest
Pour'd the libation, 'midst the attendant slaves
Words of reproach one utter'd: he, as train'd
Within the temple and with expert seers,
Deem'd them of evil omen, and required
Another goblet to be fill'd afresh :
The former, a libation to the god,
He cast upon the ground, instructing all
To pour, like him, the untasted liquor down.
Silence ensued: the sacred bowls we fill
With wine of Byblos; when a troop of doves
Came fluttering in, for undisturb'd they haunt
The dome of Phoebus: in the floating wine
1210 The post of cup-bearer was usually assigned to the most beautiful youths. See Homer, Il. i. where Vulcan, by taking on him the office of Hebe or Ganymede, raises the mirth of the gods.
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