The god of Ocean (to inflame their rage)
Appears a warrior furrow'd o'er with age;
Press'd in his own, the general's hand he took,
And thus the venerable hero spoke :

'Atrides, lo! with what disdainful eye

'Achilles sees his country's forces fly:

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'Blind impious man! whose anger is his guide, Who glories in unutterable pride.

'So may he perish, so may Jove disclaim

The wretch relentless, and o'erwhelm with shame!

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'But heaven forsakes not thee: o'er yonder sands

Soon shalt thou view the scatter'd Trojan bands

Fly diverse; while proud kings, and chiefs renown'd, 'Driv'n heaps on heaps, with clouds involved around 'Of rolling dust, their winged wheels employ To hide their ignominious heads in Troy.'

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He spoke, then rush'd among the warrior crew:
And sent his voice before him as he flew,
Loud, as the shout encountering armies yield,

When twice ten thousand shake the labouring field;

Such was the voice, and such the thundering sound
Of him whose trident rends the solid ground.
Each Argive bosom beats to meet the fight,
And grizly war appears a pleasing sight.

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Meantime Saturnia from Olympus' brow, High-thron'd in gold, beheld the fields below; With joy the glorious conflict she survey'd, Where her great brother gave the Grecians aid. But placed aloft, on Ida's shady height

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She sees her Jove, and trembles at the sight.
Jove to deceive, what methods shall she try,
What arts, to blind his all-beholding eye?

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At length she trusts her power; resolved to prove

The old, yet still successful, cheat of love;
Against his wisdom to oppose her charms,
And lull the lord of thunders in her arms.

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Swift to her bright apartment she repairs, Sacred to dress, and beauty's pleasing cares: With skill divine had Vulcan form'd the bower, Safe from access of each intruding power. Touch'd with her secret key, the doors unfold Self-clos'd, behind her shut the valves of gold. Here first she bathes; and round her body pours Soft oils of fragrance, and ambrosial showers: The winds, perfum'd, the balmy gale convey

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Through heaven, through earth, and all th' aërial way;

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B. XIV.]

WILES OF JUNO.

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Spirit divine! whose exhalation greets

The sense of gods with more than mortal sweets.

Thus while she breath'd of heaven, with decent pride
Her artful hands the radiant tresses tied;

Part on her head in shining ringlets roll'd,

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Part o'er her shoulders wav'd like melted gold.
Around her next a heavenly mantle flow'd,
That rich with Pallas' labour'd colours glow'd;
Large clasps of gold the foldings gather'd round,
A golden zone her swelling bosom bound.
Far-beaming pendants tremble in her ear,
Each gem illumin'd with a triple star.

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Then o'er her head she cast a veil more white
Than new-fall'n snow, and dazzling as the light.
Last her fair feet celestial sandals grace.
Thus issuing radiant, with majestic pace,

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Forth from the dome th' imperial goddess moves,
And calls the mother of the smiles and loves.

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How long' (to Venus thus apart she cried)
Shall human strife celestial minds divide ?
'Ah yet, will Venus aid Saturnia's joy,

'And set aside the cause of Greece and Troy ?'
'Let heaven's dread empress' (Cytherea said)
Speak her request, and deem her will obey'd.'

Then grant me' (said the queen) those conqu❜ring charms, which mortals and immortals warms,

"That
power,
'That love, which melts mankind in fierce desires,
" And burns the sons of heaven with sacred fires!
For lo! I haste to those remote abodes,
'Where the great parents (sacred source of gods!)
'Ocean and Tethys their old empire keep,
'On the last limits of the land and deep.

'In their kind arms my tender years were pass'd;
'What time old Saturn, from Olympus cast,
'Of upper heaven to Jove resign'd the reign,
'Whelm'd under the huge mass of earth and main.
"For strife, I hear, has made the union cease,
'Which held so long that ancient pair in peace.
'What honour, and what love, shall I obtain,
If I compose those fatal feuds again?
Once more their minds in mutual ties engage,
'And what my youth has ow'd, repay their age.'

She said. With awe divine the queen of love
Obey'd the sister and the wife of Jove ;
And from her fragrant breast the zone unbrac'd,
With varicus skill and high embroidery grac'd.

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In this was every art, and every charm,
To win the wisest, and the coldest warm:
Fond love, the gentle vow, the gay desire,
The kind deceit, the still reviving fire;
Persuasive speech, and more persuasive sighs,
Silence that spoke, and eloquence of eyes.
This on her hand the Cyprian goddess laid;

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'Take this, and with it all thy wish,' she said:

With smiles she took the charm; and smiling press'd

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The powerful cestus to her snowy breast.

Then Venus to the courts of Jove withdrew;

Whilst from Olympus pleas'd Saturnia flew.
O'er high Pieria thence her course she bore,
O'er fair Emathia's ever-pleasing shore,
O'er Hæmus' hills with snows eternal crown'd:
Nor once her flying foot approach'd the ground.
Then taking wing from Athos' lofty steep,
She speeds to Lemnos o'er the rolling deep,

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And seeks the cave of Death's half-brother, Sleep.
Sweet pleasing Sleep!' (Saturnia thus began)
'Who spread'st thy empire o'er each god and man ;
'If e'er obsequious to thy Juno's will,

'O Power of Slumbers! hear, and favour still.
'Shed thy soft dews on Jove's immortal eyes,
'While sunk in love's entrancing joys he lies.
'A splendid footstool, and a throne, that shine
'With gold unfading, Somnus, shall be thine;
'The work of Vulcan, to indulge thy ease,

When wine and feasts thy golden humours please.'
'Imperial dame,' (the balmy power replies,)

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'Great Saturn's heir, and empress of the skies! 'O'er other gods I spread my easy chain;

'And his hush'd waves lie silent on the main.

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The sire of all, old Ocean, owns my reign,

'But how, unbidden, shall I dare to steep
'Jove's awful temples in the dew of sleep?
'Long since, too venturous, at thy bold command,
'On those eternal lids I laid my hand;
'What time, deserting Ilion's wasted plain,
'His conquering son, Alcides, plough'd the main:
'When lo! the deeps arise, the tempests roar,
And drive the hero to the Coan shore:
'Great Jove, awaking, shook the bless'd abodes
'With rising wrath, and tumbled gods on gods;
'Me chief he sought, and from the realms on high
'Had hurl'd indignant to the nether sky,

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