A robe obscene was o'er her fhoulders thrown,
A dress by Fates and Furies worn alone.
155
She tofs'd her meagre arms; her better hand
In waving circles whirl'd a fun'ral brand:
A ferpent from her left was seen to rear
His flaming crest, and lash the yielding air.
But when the Fury took her stand on high, 160
Where vast Citharon's top falutes the sky,
A hifs from all the fnaky tire went round:
The dreadful fignal all the rocks rebound,
And thro' th' Achaian cities fend the found.
Oete, with high Parnaffus, heard the voice; 165
Eurota's banks remurmur'd to the noife;
Again Leucothoë shook at these alarms,
And prefs'd Palæmon clofer in her arms.
Headlong from thence the glowing Fury fprings,
And o'er the Theban palace spreads her wings, 170
Once more invades the guilty dome, and shrouds
Its bright pavilions in a veil of clouds.
Strait with the rage of all their race poffefs'd,
Stung to the foul, the brothers start from rest,
And all their Furies wake within their breast.
Their tortur'd minds repining Envy tears, 176
And Hate, engender'd by fufpicious fears;
Ambitus impatiens, et fummo dulcius unum
Stare loco, fociifque comes difcordia regnis. 180
Sic ubi delectos per torva armenta juvencos
Agricola impofito fociare affectat aratro :
Illi indignantes quîs nondum vomere multo
Ardua nodofos cervix defcendit in armos,
In diverfa trahunt, atque aequis vincula laxant
Viribus, et vario confundunt limite fulcos :
Haud fecus indomitos praeceps discordia fratres
Afperat. alterni placuit fub legibus anni
Exilio mutare ducem. fic jure maligno
Fortunam tranfire jubent, ut fceptra tenentem
Foedere praecipiti femper novus angeret heres.
Haec inter fratres pietas erat: haec mora pugnae
Sola, nec in regem perduratura fecundum.
Et nondum craffo laquearia fulva metallo, 200 Montibus aut alte Graiis effulta nitebant
And facred Thirft of fway; and all the ties
Of Nature broke; and royal Perjuries;
And impotent Defire to reign alone,
That fcorns the dull reverfion of a throne
Each would the fweets of fov'reign rule devour, While Difcord waits upon divided pow'r.
As stubborn steers by brawny plowmen broke, And join'd reluctant to the galling yoke, 185 Alike difdain with fervile necks to bear
Th' unwonted weight, or drag the crooked share,
But rend the reins, and bound a diff'rent way,
And all the furrows in confufion lay:
Such was the discord of the royal pair,
Whom fury drove precipitate to war.
In vain the chiefs contriv'd a specious way,
To
govern Thebes by their alternate sway:
Unjuft decree! while this enjoys the state,
That mourns in exile his unequal fate,
And the short monarch of a hafty year
Forefees with anguish his returning heir.
Thus did the league their impious arms restrain, But scarce fubfifted to the second reign.
Yet then, no proud afpiring piles were rais'd, No fretted roofs with polish'd metals blaz’d;
Atria, congeftos fatis explicitura clientes.
Non impacatis regum ad vigilantia fomnis
Pila, nec alterna ferri ftatione gementes
Excubiæ, nec cura mero committere gemmas,
Atque aurum violare cibis, fed nuda poteftas
Armavit fratres: pugna eft de paupere regno.
Dumque uter anguftae fquallentia jugera Dirces
Verteret, aut Tyrii folio non altus ovaret
Exulis, ambigitur; periit jus, fasque, bonumque,
Et vitae, mortifque pudor. Quo tenditis iras, 2 ro
Ah miferi? quid fi peteretur crimine tanto
Limes uterque poli, quem Sol emiffus Eöo
Cardine, quem porta vergens profpectat Ibera ?
Quafque procul terras obliquo fidere tangit
Avius, aut Borea gelidas, madidive tepentes 215
Igne Noti? quid fi Tyriae Phrygiaeve fub unum
Convectentur opes ? loca dira, arcefque nefandae
Suffecere odio, furtifque immanibus emptum eft
Oedipodae fediffe loco. Jam forte carebat
Dilatus Polynicis honos, quis tum tibi, faeve, 220
Quis fuit ille dies? vacua cum folus in aula
Refpiceres jus omne tuum, cunctofque minores,
Et nufquam par ftare caput? Jam murmura ferpunt
No labour'd columns in long order plac'd,
No Grecian stone the pompous arches grac'd;
No nightly bands in glitt'ring armour wait
Before the fleepless Tyrant's guarded gate ; 205
No chargers then were wrought in burnifh'd gold,
Nor filver vafes took the forming mold;
Nor gems on bowls embofs'd were feen to shine,
Blaze on the brims, and fparkle in the wine-
Say, wretched rivals! what provokes your rage ?
Say, to what end your impious arms engage? 211
Not all bright Phoebus views in early morn,
Or when his ev'ning beams the weft adorn,
When the fouth glows with his meridian ray,
And the cold north receives a fainter day; 215
For crimes like these, not all those realms fuffice,
Were all those realms the guilty victor's prize!
But fortune now (the lots of empire thrown) Decrees to proud Eteocles the crown : What joys, oh Tyrant! fwell'd thy foul that day, When all were flaves thou could'st around survey, Pleas'd to behold unbounded pow'r thy own, And fingly fill a fear'd and envy'd throne!
But the vile Vulgar, ever discontent,
Their growing fears in fecret murmurs vent; 225
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