"My counfer's from my felf; my will commands, "And my firft refolution always ftands:
"Let her contend; or does her fear impart,
"That conqueft waits on my fuperior art?
The goddess ftrait throws off her old difguife,
And heav'nly beauty fparkles in her eyes;
A youthful bloom fills up each wrinkled trace,
And Pallas fimiles with ev'ry wonted grace.
The nymphs furpriz'd the deity adore,
And Lydian dames confefs her matchless pow'r;
The rival maid alone unmov'd remains,
Yet a swift blush her guilty features stains;
In her unwilling cheek the crimson glows,
And her check'd pride a fhort confufion knows.
So when Aurora firft unveils her eyes,
A purple dawn invefts the blushing skies,
But foon bright Phoebus gains th' horizon's height,
And guilds the hemifphere with spreading light.
Defire of conqueft fways the giddy maid,
To certain ruin by vain hopes betray'd,
The goddess with her ftubborn will comply'd,
And deign'd by trial to convince her pride.
Both take their ftations, and the piece prepare,
And order ev'ry flender thread with care;
I 5
The web inwraps the beam; the reed divides,
While through the wid'ning space the fhuttle glides, Which their fwift hands receive; then pois'd with lead,
The fwinging weight ftrikes close th' inferted thread.
Each girds her flowing garments round her waste,
And plies her feet and arms with dextrous haste.
Here each inweaves the richest Tyrian dye,
There fainter fhades in beauteous order lye;
Such various mixtures in the texture shine,
Set off the work, and brighten each defign.
As when the fun his piercing rays extends,
When from thin clouds fome drifly fhow'r defcends;
We fee the spacious humid arch appear,
Whofe tranfient colours paint the fplendid air;
By fuch degrees the deep'ning fhadows rife
As pleasingly deceive our dazled eyes;
And though the fame th' adjoining colour feems,
Yet hues of diff'rent natures die th' extremes.
Here height'ning gold they midft the woof difpose,
And in the web this antique ftory rofe.
Pallas the lofty mount of Mars defigns,
Celeftial judgment guides th' unerring lines;
Here, in juft view, the Athenian ftructures ftand,
And there, the Gods contend to name the land;
Twelve deities fhe frames with stately mien,
And in the midft fuperior Jove is feen;
A glowing warmth the blended colours give,
And in the piece each Figure feems to live.
Heav'n's thundring monarch fits with awful grace,
And dread omnipotence imprints his face:
There Neptune ftood, difdainfully he frown'd,
And with his trident fmote the trembling ground,
The parting rocks a fpacious chasm disclose,
From whence a fiery prancing fteed arofe;
And on that useful gift he founds his claim,
To grace the city with his honour'd name:
In her own shape a warlike port appears,
A fhining helmet decks her flowing hairs,
Her thoughtful breast her well pois'd shield defends,
And her bare arm a glitt'ring fpear extends,
With which she wounds the plain; from thence arofe
A fpreading Tree, green olives load the boughs;
The pow'rs her gift behold with wondring eyes,
And to the goddess give the rightful prize.
Such mercy checks her wrath, that to diffuade
By others fate the too prefumptuous maid,
A final defign each corner-space supply'd,
Of the juft downfal of contending pride.
Hamus and Rhodope in this fhe wrought,
And beauteous colours fpoke her lively thought;
With arrogance and fierce ambition fir'd,
They to the facred names of Gods afpir'd;
To mountains chang'd their lofty heads arise,
And lofe their lefs ning fummits in the skies.
In that, in curious miniature was seen
The wretched fate of the Pygmaan queen ;
Juno enrag'd, refents th' audacious aim,
And to a crane transforms the vanquish'd dame;
In that voracious shape she still appears,
And plagues her people with perpetual wars.
In this Antigone, for beauty ftrove-
With the bright confort of imperial Jove::
Juno incens'd; her royal pow'r display'd,
And to a bird converts the haughty maid.
Laomedon his daughter's fate bewails,
Nor his, nor Ilion's earneft pray'r prevails,
But on her lovely skin white feathers rife,
Chang'd to a clam'rous ftork the mount the skies:
In the remaining orb, the heav'nly maid
The tale of childless Cynaras display'd,
A fettled anguish in his look appears,
And from his bloodshot eyes flow ftreams of tears;
On the cold ground, no more a father, thrown;
He, for his daughters, clafp'd the polifh'd stone.
And when he fought t'embrace their wonted charms,
The temple's fteps deceiv'd his eager arms.
Wreaths of green olive round the border twine,
And her own peaceful tree adorns the fair defign.
Arachne paints th" amours of mighty Jove,
How in a bull the God difguis'd his love,
A real bull feems in the piece to roar,
And real billows breaking on the shore:
In fair Europa's face appears furprize,
To the retreating land fhe turns her eyes,
And feems to call her maids, who wond'ring ftood,
And with their tears increas'd the briny flood:
Her trembling feet fhe by contraction faves.
From the rude infults of the rifing waves.
Here am'rous Jove diffolving Leda trod,
And in the vig'rous fwan conceal'd the God.
Love lends him now an eagle's new disguise,.
Beneath his flutt'ring wings Afteria lies.
Here her enliv'ning colours well express'd.
How Jove the fair Antiope carefs'd.
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