Now by the fury of the tempeft driven,
He feeks a fhelter from th' inclement heaven,
Till, led by Fate, the Theban's fteps he treads,
And to fair Argos' open court fucceeds.
When thus the chiefs from different lands refort
T' Adraftus' realms, and hofpitable court;
The King furveys his guests with curious eyes,
And views their arms and habit with furprize.
A lion's yellow skin the Theban wears,
Horrid his mane, and rough with curling hairs;
́Such once employ'd Alcides' youthful toils,
Ere yet adorn'd with Nemea's dreadful spoils.
A boar's stiff hide, of Calydonian breed,
Oenides' manly fhoulders overspread.
Oblique his tusks, erect his briftles ftood,
Alive, the pride and terror of the wood.
Struck with the fight, and fix'd in deep amaze, 575 The King th' accomplish'd Oracle furveys,
Ora, comafque gerens, fubit uno tegmine, cujus 560
Fufus humo gelida, partem prior hofpes habebat.-
Hic primum luftrare oculis cultufque virorum
Telaque magna vacat; tergo videt hujus inanem
Impexis utrinque jubis horrere leonem,
Illius in fpeciem, quem per Teumefia Tempe
Amphitryoniades fractum juvenilibus armis
Ante Cleonaei veftitur praelia monstri.
Terribiles contra fetis, ac dente recurvo
Tydea per latos humeros ambire laborant
Exuviae, Calydonis honos. ftupet omine tanto
Reveres Apollo's vocal caves, and owns
The guided Godhead, and his future fons.
O'er all his bofom fecret tranfports reign,
And a glad horror fhoots through every vein.
To heaven he lifts his hands, erects his fight,
And thus invokes the filent Queen of night :
Goddefs of fhades, beneath whofe gloomy reign
Yon' fpangled arch glows with the starry train:
You who the cares of heaven and earth allay,
Till nature, quicken'd by th' inspiring ray,
Wakes to new vigour with the rifing day.
O thou, who freest me from my doubtful state,
Long loft and wilder'd in the maze of Fate!
Be prefent ftill, oh Goddess! in our aid;
Proceed, and firm those omens thou haft made.
We to thy name our annual rites will pay,
And on thy altars facrifices lay;
Defixus fenior, divina oracula Phoebi
Agnofcens, monitufque datos vocalibus antris.
Obtuta gelida ore permit, laetufque per artus
Horror iit. fenfit manifefto numine ductos
Affore, quos nexis ambagibus augur Apollo
Portendi generos, vultu fallente ferarum,
Ediderat. tunc fic tendens ad fidera palmas :
Nox, quae terrarum coelique amplexa labores
Ignea multivago tranfmittis fidera lapsu,
Indulgens reparare animum, dum proximus aegris
Infundat Titan agiles animantibus ortus,
Tu mihi perplexis quaefitam erroribus ultro
The fable flock fhall fall beneath the ftroke,
And fill thy temples with a grateful smoke.
Hail, faithful Tripos! hail, ye dark abodes
Of awful Phoebus: I confefs the Gods!
Thus, feiz'd with facred fear, the monarch pray'd; Then to his inner court the guests convey'd: Where yet thin fumes from dying sparks arise, 600 And duft yet white upon each altar lies,
The relics of a former facrifice.
The king once more the folemn rites requires,
And bids renew the feafts, and wake the fires.
His train obey, while all the courts around
With noify care and various tumult found.
Embroider'd purple clothes the golden beds;
This flave the floor, and that the table spreads;
Advehis alma fidem, veterifque exordia fati
Detegis. affiftas operi, tuaque omina firmes !
Semper honoratam dimensis orbibus anni
Te domus ifta colet: nigri tibi, Diva, litabunt
Electa fervice greges, luftraliaque exta
Lacte nova perfufus edet Vulcanius ignis.
Salve, prifca fides tripodum, obfcurique receffus
Deprendi, Fortuna, deos. fic fatus; et ambos
Innectens manibus, tecta ulterioris ad aulae
Progreditur. canis etiamnum altaribus ignes,
Sopitum cinerem, et tepidi libamina facri
Servabant; adolere focos, epulafque recentes
Inftaurare jubet. dictis parere miniftri
Certatim accelerant. vario ftrepit icta tumultu
A third difpels the darkness of the night,
And fills depending lamps with beams of light;
Here loaves in canisters are pil'd on high,
And there in flames the flaughter'd victims fly.
Sublime in regal state Adraftus fhone,
Stretch'd on rich carpets on his ivory throne;
A lofty couch receives each princely guest;
Around at awful distance wait the rest.
And now the king, his royal feast to grace,
Aceftis calls, the guardian of his race,
Who first their youth in arts of virtue train'd,
And their ripe years in modest grace maintain’d.
Then foftly whisper'd in her faithful ear,
And bade his daughters at the rites appear.
Regia: pars oftro tenues, auroque fonantes
Emunire toros, altofque inferre tapetas ;
Pars teretes levare manu, ac difponere menfas:
Aft alii tenebras et opacam vincere noctem
Aggreffi, tendunt auratis vincula lychnis.
His labor inferto torrere exanguia ferro
Viscera caefarum pecudum; his, cumulare caniftris
Perdomitam faxo Cererem. laetatur Adraftus
Obfequio fervere domum. jamque ipfe fuperbis
Fulgebat ftratis, folioque effultus eburno.
Parte alia juvenes ficcati vulnera lymphis
Difcumbunt: fimul ora notis foedata tuentur,
Inque vicem ignofcunt, tunc rex longaevus Aceften (Natarum haec altrix, eadem et fidiffima custos Lecta facrum juftae Veneri occultare pudorem)
When, from the clofe apartments of the night,
The royal Nymphs approach divinely bright;
Such was Diana's, fuch Minerva's face;
Nor fhine their beauties with fuperior grace,
But that in these a milder charm endears,
And lefs of terror in their looks appears.
As on the heroes first they cast their
O'er their fair cheeks the glowing blushes rise,
Their downcaft looks a decent fhame confefs'd,
Then on their father's reverend features reft.
The banquet done, the monarch gives the sign
To fill the goblet high with sparkling wine,
Which Danaus us'd in facred rites of old,
With fculpture grac'd, and rough with rifing gold.
Imperiat acciri, tacitaque immurmurat aure.
Nec mora praeceptis; cum protinus utraque virgo
Arcano egreffae thalamo (mirabile vifu)
Pallados armifonae, pharetrataeque ora Dianae
Aequa ferunt, terrore minus. nova deinde pudori
Vifa virum facies: pariter, pallorque, ruborque
Purpureas haufere genas: oculique verentes
Ad fanctum rediere patrem. Poftquam ordine menfae
Victa fames, fignis perfectam auroque nitentem
Iafides pateram famulos ex more popofcit,
Qua Danaüs libare deis feniorque Phoroneus
Affueti. tenet haec operum caelata figuras :
Aureus anguicomam praefecto Gorgona collo
Ales habet. jam jamque vagas (ita visus) in auras
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