Nor gems on bowls emboss'd were feen to shine,
Blaze on the brims, and sparkle in the wine-
Say, wretched rivals! what provokes your rage? 210
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 south glows with his meridian ray,
And the cold north receives a fainter day;
213 For crimes like thefe, not all thofe realms suffice, Were all those realms the guilty victor's prize!
But fortune now (the lots of empire thrown) Decrees to proud Eteocles the crown: What joys, oh Tyrant ! swell’d thy soul that day, 220 When all were flaves thou couldst around furvey,
Pleas'd
Verteret, aut Tyrii folio non altus ovaret
Exulis, ambigitur; periit jus, fafque, bonumque,
Et vitae, mortisque pudor. Quo tenditis iras,
Ah miseri? quid fi peteretur crimine tanto
Limes uterque poli, quem Sol emiffus Eöo
Cardine, quem porta vergens profpectat Ibera ?
Quasque 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, furtisque 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, cunétofque minores,
Pleas'd to behold unbounded power tlry own,
And singly fill a feard and envy'd throne !
But the vile Vulgar, ever difcontent,
Their growing fears in secret murmurs vent; 225
Still prone to change, though still the flaves of state,
And sure the monarch whom they have, to hate ;
New lords they madly make, then tamely bear,
And softly curse the Tyrants whom they fear.
And one of those who groan beneath the sway
Of Kings impos'd, and grudgingly obey,
(Whom envy to the great and vulgar spight
With scandal arm’d, th' ignoble mind's delight)
Exclaim'd-O Thebes ! for thee what fates remain !
What woes attend this inauspicious reign ! 235
Must we, alas! our doubtful necks prepare,
Each haughty master's yoke by turns to bear,
And still to change whom chang'd we still must fear?
These now control a wretched people's fate,
These can divide, and these reverse the state:
Ev’n Fortune rules no more :- fervile land,
Where exil'd tyrants still by turns command !
Thou
Et nusquam pár stare caput? Jam murmura serpunt
Plebis Echioniae, tacitumque a principe vulgus
Diffidet, et (qui mos populis) venturus amatur.
Atque aliquis, cui mens humili laefiffe veneno
Summa, nec impositos unquam cervice volenti
Ferre duces : Hancne Ogygiis, ait, aspera rebus 235
Fata tulere vicem ? toties mutare timendos,
Alternoque jugo dubitantia fubdere colla!
Thou fire of gods and men, imperial Jove!
Is this th' eternal doom decreed above ?
On thy own offspring haft thou fix'd this fate,
245
From the first birth of our unhappy state ;
When banish'd Cadmus, wandering o'er the main,
For loft Europa search'd the world in vain,
And, fated in Boeotian fields to found,
A rising empire on a foreign ground,
250 First rais'd our walls on that ill-omen'd plain, Where earth-born brothers were by brothers slain ? What lofty looks th' unrivald monarch bears ! How all the tyrant in his face appears ! What sullen fury clouds his scornful brow!
255 Gods! how his eyes with threatening ardour glow ! Can this imperious lord forget to reign, Quit all his state, descend, and serve again?
Partiti versant populorum fata, manuque
Fortunam fecere levem. semperne vicissim
Exulibus servire dabor? tibi, summe deorum,
Terrarumque fator, sociis hanc addere mentem
Sedit ? an inde vetus Thebis extenditur omen,
Ex quo Sidonii nequicquam blanda juvenci
Pondera, Carpathio jussus sale quaerere Cadmus
Exul Hyanteos invenit regna per agros:
Fraternasque acies foetae telluris hiatu,
Augurium, feros dimisit adusque nepotes ?
Cernis ut erectum torva sub fronte minetur
Saevior affurgens dempto conforte potestas?
Quas gerit ore minas ? quanto premit omnia faftu ?
Yet, who, before, more popularly bow'd,
Who more propitious to the suppliant croud ?
260
Patient of right, familiar in the throne ?
What wonder then ? he was not then alone.
O wretched we, a vile submissive train,
Fortune's tame fools, and Naves in every reign!
As when two winds with rival force contend, 265 This way and that, the wavering fails they bend, While freezing Boreas and black Eurus blow, Now here, now there, the reeling vessel throw : Thus, on each side, alas! our tottering state Feels all the fury of resistless fate;
270 And doubtful still, and still distracted stands, While that Prince threatens, and while this com.
mands. And now th' almighty Father of the Gods Convenes a council in the blest abodes : i
Far
Hicne unquam privatus erit? tamen ille precanti
Mitis, et affatu bonus et patientior aequi.
260
Quid mirum ? non solus erat. nos vilis in omnes
Prompta manus cafus domino cuicunque parati.
Qualiter hinc gelidus Boreas, hinc nubifer Eurus. 265
Vela trahunt, nutat mediae fortuna carinae,
Heu dubio suspensa metu, tolerandaque nullis
Aspera sors populis ! hic imperat : ille minatur, 270
At Jovis imperiis rapidi fuper atria coeli Lectus concilio divậm convenerat ordo Interiore poło. fpatiis hinc omnia juxta VOL. I.
U
Far in the bright recesses of the skies,
High o'er the rolling heavens, a mansion lies,
Whence, far below, the Gods at once survey
The realms of rising and declining day,
And all th' extended space of earth, and air, and fea.
Full in the midst, and on a starry throne,
280
The Majesty of heaven superior fhone;
Serene he look'd, and gave an awful nod,
And all the trembling spheres confess’d the God.
At Jove's affent, the deities around
In solemn state the confiftory crown'd.
285 Next a long order of inferior powers Ascend from hills, and plains, and shady bowers; Those from whose urns the rolling rivers flow; And those that give the wandering winds to blow: Here all their rage, and ev'n their murmurs cease, 290 And sacred silence reigns, and universal peace. A fining fynod of majestic Gods Gilds with new luftre the divine abodes;
Heaven
Primaeque occiduaeque domus, effufa fub omni
Terra atque unda die. mediis fefe arduus infert
Ipse deis, 'placido quatiens tamen omnia vultu,
Stellantique locat folio. nec protinus ausi
Coelicolae, 'veniam donec pater ipfe fedendi
Tranquilla jubet esse manu. mox'túrba vagorum
Semideum, et fummis cognati'nubibus Amnes,
Et compressa metu servantes murmura venti.
Aurea tecta replent; mixta convexa deorum
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