Thus when the Ruler of the ftormy Main
Is pleas'd the Tempeft's Fury to restrain,
The Winds, abating, fmooth the Veffel's Course,
And on the lack'ning Sails exhaust their Force.
Here firft the Monarch, fix'd in deep Amaze,
The Drefs and Arms of either Gueft furveys.
A Lion's tawny Hide the Theban wore
(Such grac'd the godlike Hercules of Yore,
Ere Nemea's Boaft refign'd his fhaggy Spoils,
To deck his Shoulders, and reward his Toils)
Th' Ætolian Monster's Pride young Tydeus bears, 675
Horrid with Tufks, and rough with bristling Hairs.
The hoary Chief, aftonifh'd to behold
Th' Events, by Phabus' Oracles foretold,
Acknowledges with Joy the Voice of Heav'n,
And Answers, from the vocal Cavern giv❜n.
Then to the Skies he lifts his grateful Hands,
And thus the future Aid of Night demands,
(While thro' each Vein mysterious Tranfports roll,
And awful Pleasure thrills thro' all his Soul.)
O gloomy Queen of Shades, whose ebon Throne 685
The fparkling Gems of Heav'n in Order crown,
Beneath whose Reign indulgent Sleep repairs
The bufy World, and buries mortal Cares,
Till rifing Sol warms India's fragrant Soil,
And with his Rays renews our daily Toil;
Whose Aid alone cou'd free the doubtful Way,
And the dark Fates difclose to sudden Day;
O fpeed my Caufe, nor let me ftill complain
Of lying Oracles, and Omens vain.
So fhall our Sons renew thefe Rites divine
For Ages hence at this thy honour'd Shrine,
And while the Priests thy facred Name invoke,
Black Sheep cull'd out, fhall fall beneath their Stroke,
In curling Spires the fable Smoke shall rife,
And waft its grateful Odours to the Skies
Hail, antient Tripods, and ye dark Abodes!
Exult we, Fortune, for th' acknowledg'd Gods,
Whose tutelary Pow'r with Joy I own,
And you, O long defired to heir my
He spoke, and with the Princes bent his Way
To th' inner Court, impatient of Delay,
Where yet thin Fumes a fainty Odour yield,
And mould'ring Embers dying Sparks conceal'd.
He then enjoins his Servants to repair
The Fire, and make the genial Feast their Care.
Swift at the Word they run: the Court replies
To ev'ry Voice, and ecchoes back their Cries.
With Tyrion Carpets this adorns the Ground,
That smooths the Beds with Gold and Purple crown'd: While fome the Tables range, count ev'ry Guest, 715 And artfully adjust the future Feaft;
Others with falted Entrails heap the Fire,
And bid the Flames from ev'ry Part afpire.
From gilded Roofs depending, Lamps difplay
Nocturnal Beams, and emulate the Day:
The Canisters are pil'd with Ceres' Spoils,
And the King views with Joy their Rival-Toils.
On Tapestry reclin'd, Adrajlus fhone
Afar confpicuous, from his Iv'ry Throne :
A broider'd Couch fupports the foreign Guests,
Nor Love of Difcord longer fires their Breafts.
The Monarch bids Acefte then appear,
And whispers his Injunctions in her Ear,
Whose bright Example had to Virtue train'd
His Daughters, and preferv'd their Fame unftain'd. 730
The Nymphs the Summons of their Sire attend,
And to the Hall their Steps obfequious bend:
Minerva's Features, and Diana's Grace
Confpir'd to ftamp Perfection on their Face.
But as in Prospect they perus'd the Feaft,
And met the Glances of each unknown Guest,
In Blushes they reveal'd the firft Surprize,
And to their Sire recall'd their wand'ring Eyes,
While gath'ring Shame their conscious Face o'erspread,
Varying their Cheeks by Turns with white and red. 740
But when the Rage of Hunger was reprefs'd,
The Meat remov'd, and fatiate ev'ry Guest,
A Goblet in the midft Adraftus plac'd,
With sculptur'd Gold, and glittʼring Figures grac❜d,
In which his Ancestors were wont to pour
Libations, and indulge the genial Hour.
Here fraught with Gorgon's Spoils, the winged Horse
O'er Heav'n's Expanse was seen to stretch his Courfe,
While the her Eyes in dying Motions roll'd,
Her Palenefs imag'd in th' impaffion'd Gold.
There the commiffion'd Eagle feems to bear
The Phrygian Youth thro' Tracts of yielding Air.
v. 751. There the commiffion'd] Virgil relates the fame Story, with fimilar Circumftances, as defcribed in a Piece of Embroidery.
Intextusque puer frondofâ regius Idâ
Veloces jaculo cervos curfuque fatigat,
Acer, anhelanti fimilis; quem præpes ab Idâ
Sublimem pedibus rapuit Jovis armiger uncis.
Longævi palmas nequicquam ad fidera tendunt
Cuftodes, fævitque canum latratus ad auras.
Proud Ida's Summit leffens to his Sight,
And Troy rolls back beneath his rifing Flight;
While his fad Comrades on the crowded Coaft
View both in Clouds of ambient Æther loft,
And each lov'd Hound, in deeper Notes of Woe,
Demands his Mafter of th'unheeding Foe.
This old Adraftus fills with facred Wine,
And then in Pray'r invokes the Pow'rs divine:
But Phæbus, first of the celestial Train,
Receives the myftic Off'rings of the Fane;
Him with united Shouts the Crowd demands,
And waves the flowr'ing Branches in their Hands ;'
For him this annual Sacrifice prepares,
While which inceffant Flames each Altar glares.
Then thus the King.-Perhaps thefe Youths wou'd know,
What claims this ftrict Obfervance of our Vow;
And why the pious Sons of Argos pay
Such special Honours to the God of Day.
No fuperftitious Zeal our Sires impell'd
To conftitute thefe Rites, which you've beheld.
But when and whence thefe folemn Customs rose,
(So ye but lend Attention,) I'll difclofe.
When now the Python had by Phebus bled,
And with his Bulk the Delphic Plain o'erfpread,
v. 771. No fuperftitious] So Evander in the eighth Book of the Eneid, Verfe 185.
Non hæc folennia nobis
Has ex more dapes, hanc tanti numinis aram,
Vana fuperftitio, veterumque ignara Deorum
v. 775. When now the Python] The Python was a huge Serpent, fo called from Пav, to rot; because he was reported to arife from the Rottennefs of the Earth after the Deluge. Juno fent him to vex Latona, who was then with Child by Jupiter: but the Goddess
(As hanging o'er the fair Caftalian Flood)
He fills his turgid Maw with noxious Food.
To th' Argive Court repair'd the Victor-God,
And with his Prefence honour'd our Abode.
The King Crotopus (as the Fates decreed)
Was bleft with no Male-Iffue to fucceed:
A Nymph, unmatch'd in Manners as in Face,
Was the fole Product of his firft Embrace:
Thrice happy Maid! had Phabus fail'd to move
Her tender Breast, nor kindled mutual Love:
For by th' enamour'd God, comprefs'd, the bore
A godlike Son on Nemea's winding Shore,
Ere the tenth Moon had with her borrow'd Light
Supply'd the Want of Day, and rul'd the Night. 790
For this constrain'd to quit her native Place,
And fhun approaching Vengeance and Difgrace,
Among the ruftic Swains fhe feeks a Friend,
To whom she might her precious Charge commend.
The wretched Babe, beneath an homely Shed
With bleating Lambkins fhares a common Bed;
While with the Pipe his Fofter-Father tries
To footh his Plaints, and close his Infant-Eyes.
flying to Afteria, her Sifter, was protected till Apollo grew up; who killed the Monster; for which the Macedonians inftituted the Pythian Games.
V. 775. When now] This is a very fine Epifode, and in my Opinion, fuperior to that of Cacus in the eighth Book of the Æneid. When I fay fuperior, I would not be understood to mean, that this of Statius is better executed: but that it abounds with a greater Variety of Matter, and confequently requires lefs Art of the Poet to render it compleat. The Defcription of Pfamathe and her Child's unhappy Fate, and the patriotic Behaviour of Chorabus are Mafterpieces in their Kind, and cannot fail of affording the Reader the highest Satisfaction. Give me Leave to add, that when the Subject is fo circumftanced as in the pref nt Cafe, though the Poets Art should be equal: yet that Epifode, which contains the greatest Variety of Incidents, will always have the Preference.
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