The fire fuperior leans, and points to show
What wondrous combats mortals wage below:
How ftrong, how large, the num'rous heroes ftride,
What length of lance they fhake with warlike pride!
What eager fire, their rapid march reveals!
So the fierce Centaurs ravag'd o'er the dales;
And fo confirm'd, the daring Titans rose,
Heap'd hills on hills, and bid the Gods be foes.
This feen, the Pow'r his facred vifage rears,
He cafts a pitying fmile on worldly cares,
And asks what heav'nly guardians take the lift,
Or who the Mice, or who the Frogs áffift?
Then thus to Pallas. If my daughter's mind
Have join'd the Mice, why stays she still behind;
Drawn forth by fav'ry fteams they wind their way,
And fure attendance round thine altar pay,
Where while the victims gratify their taste,
They sport to please the Goddess of the feaft.
Thus fpake the Ruler of the fpacious skies, But thus, refolv'd, the blue-ey'd maid replies.
In vain, my father! all their dangers plead,
To fuch thy Pallas never grants her aid.
My flow'ry wreaths they petulantly spoil,
And rob my chrystal lamps of feeding oil.
(Ills following ills!) but what afflicts me more,
My veil, that idle race profanely tore.
The web was curious, wrought with art divine;
Relentless wretches! all the work was mine!
Along the loom the purple warp I fpread,
Caft the light fhoot, and croft the filver thread;
In this their teeth a thoufand breaches tear,
The thousand breaches fkilful hands repair,
For which vile earthly dunns thy daughter grieve,
(The Gods, that ufe no coin, have none to give.
And learning's Goddess never lefs can owe,
Neglected learning gains no wealth below.)
Nor let the Frogs to win my fuccour fue,
Those clam'rous fools have loft my favour too.
For late, when all the conflict ceast at night,
When my ftretch'd finews work'd with eager fight,
When spent with glorious toil, I left the field,
And sunk for flumber on my fwelling shield ;
Lo from the deep, repelling fweet repose,
With noify croakings half the nation rose :
Devoid of reft, with aking brows I lay,
'Till cocks proclaim'd the crimson dawn of day.
Let all, like me, from either hoft forbear,
Nor tempt the flying furies of the spear,
Let heav'nly blood (or what for blood may flow)
Adorn the conqueft of a meaner foe.
Some daring Mouse may meet the wond'rous odds,
Tho' Gods oppose, and brave the wounded Gods.
O'er gilded clouds reclin'd, the danger view,
And be the wars of mortals fcenes for you.
So mov'd the blue-ey'd queen; her words perfuade, Great Jove affented, and the reft obey'd.
W front to front the marching armies
Halt ere they meet, and form the length'ning line: The chiefs confpicuous feen and heard afar, Give the loud fignal to the rushing war; [found, - Their dreadful trumpets deep-mouth'd hornets The founded charge remurmurs o'er the ground, E'n Jove proclaims a field of horror nigh, And rolls low thunder thro' the troubled sky. Firft to the fight the large Hypfiboas flew, And brave Lychenor with a javelin slew. The luckless warrior fill'd with gen'rous flame, Stood foremoft glitt'ring in the poft of fame; When in his liver ftruck, the Javelin hung; The Mouse fell thund'ring, and the target rung; Prone to the ground, he finks his closing eye,
And foil'd in duft his lovely treffes lie.
A fpear at Pelion Troglodites caft,
The miffive spear within the bofom past ;
Death's fable fhades the fainting Frog furround,
And life's red tide runs ebbing from the wound.
Embafichytros felt Scutlæus' dart
Transfix, and quiver in his panting heart;
But great Artophagus aveng'd the flain,
And big Scutlæus tumbling loads the plain,
And Polyphonus dies, a Frog renown'd,
For boaftful speech and turbulence of found,
Deep thro' the belly pierc'd, fupine he lay ;
And breath'd his foul against the face of day.
The strong Lymnocharis, who view'd with ire,
A victor triumph, and a friend expire;
And fiercely flung where Troglodites fought;
With heaving arms a rocky fragment caught,
(A warrior vers'd in arts, of fure retreat,
But arts in vain elude impending fate ;)
Full on his finewy neck the fragment fell,
And o'er his eye-lids clouds eternal dwell.
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