Provok'd to vengeance, three large leaves I tore,' And with one buffet fell'd him on the floor. 416 With that my husband in a fury rose,
And down he settled me with hearty blows.
I groan'd, and lay extended on my side;
Oh! thou hast slain me for my wealth, I cry'd: 420
Yet I forgive thee---take my last embrace---
He wept, kind soul! and stoop'd to kiss my
I took him such a box as turn'd him blue,
Then sigh'd and cry'd, Adieu, my dear, adieu!`,
But after many a hearty struggle past
I condescended to be pleas'd at last.
Soon as he said, My mistress and my
Do what you list the term of all your life,
I took to heart the merits of the cause,
And stood content to rule by wholesome laws; 430
Receiv'd the reins of absolute command,
With all the government of house and land,
And empire o'er his tongue and o'er his hand.
As for the volume that revil'd the dames,
"Twas torn to fragments, and condemn'd to flames.
Now Heav'n on all my husbands gone bestow
Pleasures above for tortures felt below:
That rest they wish'd for grant them in the grave, And bless those souls my conduct help'd to save. 439
[Translated in the year 1703.]
OEDIPUS king of Thebes having, by mistake, slain his father Laius, and
married his mother Jocasta, put out his own eyes, and resigned his reaim
to his sons Eteocles and Polynices. Being neglected by them, he makes
his prayer to the fury Tisiphone to sow debate betwixt the brothers. They
agree at last to reign singly, each a year by turas, and the first lot is obtain
ed by Eteocies. Jupiter, in a council of the gods, declares his resolution of
punishing the Thebans, and Argives also, by means of a marriage betwixt
Polynices and one of the daughters of Adrastus king of Argos. Juno op
poses, but to no effect; and Mercury is sent on a message to the shades, to
the ghost of Laius, who is to appear to Eteocles, and provoke him to break
the agreement. Polynices, in the mean time, departs from Thebes by
night, is overtaken by a storm, and arrives at Argos, where he meets with
Tydeus, who had fled from Calydon, having killed his brother. Adrastus
entertains them, having received an oracle from Apollo that his daughters
should be married to a boar and a lion, which he understands to be meant
of these strangers, by whom the hides of those beasts were worn, and who
arrived at the time when he kept an annual feast in honour of that god.
The rise of this solemnity: he relates to his guests the loves of Phoebus and
Psamathe, and the story of Choroebus: he inquires, and is made acquainted
with their descent and quality: the sacrifice is renewed, and the Book coa..
cludes with a hymn to Apollo..
FRATERNAL rage the guilty Thebes alarms,
Th' alternate reign destroy'd by impious arms
Demand our song; a sacred fury fires
My ravish'd breast, and all the Muse inspires.
FRATERNAS acies, alternaque regna profanis
Decertata odiis, sontesque evolvere Thebas,
O Goddess! say, shall I deduce my rhymes
From the dire nation in its early times,
Europa's rape, Agenor's stern decree,
And Cadmus searching round the spacious sea?
How with the serpent's teeth he sow'd the soil,
And reap'd, an iron harvest of his toil?
Or how from joining stones the city sprung,
While to his harp divine Amphion sung?
Or shall I Juno's hate to Thebes resound,
Whose fatal rage th' unhappy monarch found?
The sire against the son his arrows drew;
O'er the wide fields the furious mother flew,
And while her arms a second hope contain,
Sprung from the rocks, and plung'd into the main.
But wave whate'er to Cadmus may belong,
And fix, O Muse! the barrier of thy song
Pierius menti calor incidit. Unde jubetis
Ire, deæ gentisne canam primordia dire?
Sidonios raptus, et inexorabile pactum
Legis Agenoreæ ? scrutantemque æquora Cadmum?
Longo retro series, trepidum si martis operti
Agricolam infandis condentem prælia sulcis
Expediam, penitusque séquar quo carmine muris
Jusserit Amphion Tyrios accedere montes :
Unde graves iræ cognata in monia Baccho
Quod sævæ Junonis opus; cui sumpserit arcum
Infelix Athamas, cur non expaverit ingens
Ionium, soció casura Palæmone mater.
Atque adeo jam nunc gemitus, et prospera Cadmi
At Oedipus---from his disasters trace
The long confusions of his guilty race:
Nor yet attempt to stretch thy bolder wing,
And mighty Cæsar's conqu'ring Eagles sing; 24
How twice he tam'd proud Ister's rapid flood, [blood;
While Dacian mountains stream'd with barb'rous
Twice taught the Rhine beneath his laws to roll,
And stretch'd his empire to the frozen pole;
Or, long before, with early valour strove
In youthful arms t'assert the cause of Jove.
And thou, great heir of all thy father's fame,
Increase of glory to the Latian name!
Oh bless thy Rome with an eternal reign,
Nor let desiring worlds entreat in vain.
What tho' the stars contract their heav'nly space, 35
And crowd their shining ranks to yield thee place;
Præteriisse sinam: limes mihi carminis esto Oedipodæ confusa domus : quando Itala nondum Signa, nec arctoos ausim sperare triumphos, Bisque jugo Rhenum, bis adactum legibus Istrum, 25 Et conjurato dejectos vertice Dacos:
Aut defensa prius vix pubescentibus annis
Bella Jovis. Tuque, O Latiæ, decus addite famæ, Quem nova maturi subeuntem exorsa parentis Æternum sibi Roma cupit: licet arctior omnes Limes agat stellas, et te plaga lucida cœli Pleiadum, Boreæque, et hiulci fulminis expers 35 Sollicitet, licet ignipedum frenator equorum
Tho' all the skies, ambitious of thy sway,
Conspire to court thee from our world away;
Tho' Phœbus longs to mix his rays with thine,
And in thy glories more serenely shine;
Tho' Jove himself no less content would be
To part his throne and share his heav'n with
thee?
Yet stay, great Cæsar! and vouchsafe to reign
O'er the wide earth, and o'er the wat'ry main;
Resign to Jove his empire of the skies,
And people heav'n with Roman deities.
The time will come when a diviner flame Shall warm my breast to sing of Caesar's fame; Mean-while permit that my preluding Muse In Theban wars an humbler theme may chuse: 50 Of furious hate surviving death she sings, A fatal throne to two contending kings, And fun'ral flames that, parting wide in air, Express the discord of the souls they bear:
Ipse tuis alte radiantem crinibus arcum
Imprimat, aut magni cedat tibi Jupiter æqua.
Parte poli; maneas hominum contentus habenis,
Undarum terræque potens, et sidera dones.
Tempus erit, cum pierio tua fortior œstro
Facta canam nunc tendo chelyn. satis arma referre
Aonia, et geminis sceptrum exitiale tyrannis,
Nec furiis post fata modum, flammasque rebelles
Seditione rogi, tumulisque carentia regum
|