A hundred fnakes her gloomy vifage fhade,
A hundred ferpents guard her horrid head,
In her funk eyeballs dreadful meteors glow:
Such rays from Phoebe's bloody circles flow,
When, labouring with strong charms, she shoots from high A fiery gleam, and reddens all the sky.
Blood ftain'd her cheeks, and from her mouth there
Blue fteaming poisons, and a length of flame.
From every blast of her contagious breath,
Famine and drought proceed, and plagues, and death.
A robe obfcene was o'er her shoulders thrown,
A drefs by Fates and Furies worn alone.
She tofs'd her meagre arms; her better hand
In waving circles whirl'd a funeral brand:
Itque reditque vias, cognataque Tartara mavult.
Centum illi ftantes umbrabant ora ceraftae,
Turba minor diri capitis: fedet intus abactis
Ferrea lux oculis; qualis per nubila Phoebes
Atracea rubet arte labor: fuffufa veneno
Tenditur, ac fanie glifcit cutis: igneus atro
Ore vapor, quo longa fitis, morbique famefque,
Et populis mors una venit. riget horrida tergo
Palla, et caerulei redeunt in pectore nodi..
Atropos hos, atque ipfa novat Proferpina cultus.
Tum geminas quatit illa manus haec igne rogali
Fulgurat, haec vivo manus aëra verberat hydro.
Ut ftetit, abrupta qua plurimus arce Cithaeron
Occurrit coelo, fera fibila crine virenti
A ferpent from her left was seen to rear
His flaming creft, and lash the yielding air.
But when the Fury took her stand on high,
Where vaft Citharon's top falutes the sky,
A hifs from all the fnaky tire went round;
The dreadful fignal all the rocks rebound,
And through th' Achaian cities fend the found.
Oete, with high Parnaffus, heard the voice;
Eurotas' banks remurmur'd to the noise;
Again Leucothoë shook at these alarms,
And prefs'd Palæmon clofer in her arms.
Headlong from thence the glowing Fury springs,
And o'er the Theban palace spreads her wings,
Once more invades the guilty dome, and shrouds
Its bright pavilions in a veil of clouds.
Straight with the rage of all their race poffefs'd,
Stung to the foul, the brothers start from rest,
And all their Furies wake within their breast.
Congeminat, fignum terris, unde omnis Achaei
Ora maris late, Pelopeiaque regna resultant.
Audiit et mediis coeli Parnaffus, et afper
Eurotas, dubiamque jugo fragor impulit Oeten
In latus, et geminis vix fluctibus obftitit Ifthmos.
Ipfa fuum genitrix, curvo delphine vagantem
Arripuit frenis, gremioque Palaemona preffit.
Atque ea Cadmaeo praeceps ubi limine primum
Conftitit, affuetaque infecit nube penates,
Protinus attoniti fratrum fub pectore motus,
Gentilefque animos fubiit furor, aegraque laetis.
Their tortur'd minds repining Envy tears,
And Hate, engender'd by fufpicious fears;
And facred Thirst of sway; and all the ties
Of Nature broke; and royal Perjuries;
And impotent Defire to reign alone,
That fcorns the dull reverfion of a throne;
Each would the fweets of fovereign rule devour,
While Difcord waits upon divided power,
As ftubborn fteers by brawny plowmen broke,
And join'd reluctant to the galling yoke,
Alike difdain with fervile necks to bear
Th' unwonted weight, or drag the crooked share,
But rend the reins, and bound a different way,
And all the furrows in confusion lay:
Such was the discord of the royal pair,
Whom fury drove precipitate to war.
Invidia, atque parens odii metus: inde regendi
Saevus amor: ruptaeque vices, jurifque fecundi
Ambitus impatiens, et fummo dulcius unum
Stare loco, fociifque comes difcordia regnis.
Sic ubi delectos per torva armenta juvencos
Agricola impofito fociare affectat aratro :
Illi indignantes quis nondum vomere multo
Ardua nodofos cervix defcendit in armos,
In diverfa trahunt, atque aequis vincula laxant
Viribus, et vario confundunt limite fulcos:
Haud fecus indomitos praeceps difcordia fratres
Afperat. alterni placuit fub legibus anni
Exilio mutare ducem. fic jure maligno
In vain, the chiefs contriv'd a specious way,
To govern Thebes by their alternate sway:
Unjuft decree! while this enjoys the state,
That mourns in exile his unequal fate,
And the short monarch of a hafty year
Forefees with anguish his returning heir. -
Thus did the league their impious arms restrain,
But scarce fubfifted to the second reign.
Yet then, no proud aspiring piles were rais'd,
No fretted roofs with polish'd metals blaz'd;
No labour'd columns in long order plac'd,
No Grecian stone the pompous arches grac'd;
No nightly bands in glittering armour wait
Before the fleeplefs Tyrant's guarded gate;
No chargers then were wrought in burnish'd gold,
Nor filver vafes took the forming mold;
Fortunam tranfire jubent, ut fceptra tenentem
Foedere praecipiti semper novus angeret haeres.
Haec inter fratres pietas erat; haec mora pugnae
Sola, nec in regem perduratura fecundum.
Et nondum craffo laquearia fulva metallo,
Montibus aut alte Graiis effulta nitebant
Atria, congeftos fatis explicitura clientes.
Non impacatis regum advigilantia fomnis
Pila, nec alterna ferri ftatione gementes
Excubiae, nec cura mero committere gemmas,
Atque aurum violare cibis. Sed nuda poteftas
Armavit fratres: pugna eft de paupere regno.
Dumque uter anguftae fqualentia jugera Dirces
Nor gems on bowls embofs'd were feen to fhine,
Blaze on the brims, and fparkle in the wine-
Say, wretched rivals! what provokes your rage?
Say, to what end your impious arms engage?
Not all bright Phoebus views in early morn,
Or when his evening beams the west adorn,
When the fouth glows with his meridian ray,
And the cold north receives a fainter day;
For crimes like thefe, not all thofe realms fuffice,
Were all thofe realms the guilty victor's prize!
But fortune now (the lots of empire thrown)
Decrees to proud Eteocles the crown:
What joys, oh Tyrant! fwell'd thy foul that day, 220 When all were flaves thou couldft around furvey,
Verteret, aut Tyrii folio non altus ovaret
Exulis, ambigitur; periit jus, fafque, bonumque,
Et vitae, mortifque pudor. Quo tenditis iras,
Ah miferi? quid fi peteretur crimine tanto
Limes uterque poli, quem Sol emiffus Eöo
Cardine, quem porta vergens profpectat Ibera?
Quafque procul terras obliquo fidere tangit
Avius, aut Borea gelidas, madidive tepentes
Igne Noti? quid fi Tyriae Phrygiaeve sub unum
Convectentur opes? loca dira, arcefque nefandae
Suffecere odio, furtifque immanibus emptum est
Oedipodae fediffe loco. Jam forte carebat
Dilatus Polynicis honos. quis tum tibi, faeve,
Quis fuit ille dies? vacua cum folus in aula
Refpiceres jus omne tuum, cunctofque minores,
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