This but increas'd Apollo's former hate,
And urg'd him to revenge the monster's fate. 860
From cleft Parnassus' heights he bent his bow,
And hurl'd his vengeance on the realms below.
Around the god unnumber'd mischiefs wait,
And ev'ry shaft contains resistless fate.
While o'er the horizon gath'ring clouds arise,
Fraught with destruction, and infect the skies.
Death cuts the fatal sisters' threads in haste,
And the dispeopled city soon lays waste.
But Phoebus, ask'd, from what mysterious source
Sirius deriv'd such unresisted force,
870
Demands those youths, whose hands in dust had
laid
The monster's pride, to glut her vengeful shade.
Thrice happy warrior! may thy worth be crown'd
With fame, nor length of time thy glory bound;
Who, nobly lavish of thy vital breath,
Disdain'st to shun inevitable death:
And, rushing to the temple, durst provoke
The raging god, and thus demand the stroke.
'Think not desire of life, or public force
Hath to thy fane, O Phoebus, urg'd my course: 880
With conscious virtue arm'd, thy will I wait,
To save my country, and avert its fate.
Behold the man, who durst in fight engage
His country's pest, and bound its wasteful rage:
Whom to revenge, the Sun withheld its light,
And wrapt the skies in pestilential night.
But if such horrid scenes thy thoughts employ,
And death and slaughter are thy savage joy;
If man no more must thy protection claim,
Since the fiend's death has fann'd thy vengeful
flame;
Yet why should Argos for my crimes atone,
And share the vengeance due to me alone?
Let me be deem'd the hateful cause of all,
And suffer, rather than my country fall;
Unless you view with joy our desert town,
And fun'ral flames, unrivall'd by your own.
But why do I the fatal dart arrest,
And torture with suspense each matron's breast?
Then fit the arrow to the well-strung bow,
And send me glorying to the shades below.
But, ere the fates suppress my vital breath,
Grant me to see (some solace in my death).
The plague in unoffending Argos cease,
And exil'd health restor'd again to Greece.'
Fortune consigns the coward to the grave,
But for his country's sake preserves the brave.
Relenting Phoebus quits his angry bow,
And blushing longer to remain a foe,
With rev'rence bids th' unwilling patriot live,
And health and peace in sorrowing Greece revive.
From that auspicious day with rites divine, 911
We worship at Apollo's honour'd shrine:
such annual feasts his temp❜rate rays require,
And thus we shun the god's returning ire.
But say, illustrious youth, from whence you came,
From whence derive your birth, and what's your
Since the brave son of Oeneus stands confest,
A welcome neighbour, and more welcome guest,
And the full bowl, and silent hours invite
With various converse to contract the night." 920
A rising blush o'erspreads the Theban chief,
Yet glowing with the prospect of relief,
Prone to the earth he fix'd his gloomy eyes,
And with a previous sigh at length replies.
"Before these altars how shall I reveal
What conscious shame enjoins me to conceal?
Too happy! was my fortune not more known
To fame than you, or known to you alone.
But since you take such int'rest in my woe,
And the disast'rous tale desire to know,
Learn, that from Cadmus by descent I come,
Jocasta's son, and Thebes my native home."
Adrastus, touch'd with his unhappy fate,
Replies," Forbear the sequel to relate:
Nor think us strangers to the Theban name,
Or deaf to the divulging voice of fame.
Ev'n those who freeze beneath the northern pole,
Or view the swelling waves of Ganges roll,
Who live where ocean bounds th' Hesperian
lands,
Or dread the depth of Lybia's burning sands, 940
All these have known the furies' vengeful ire,
And the rash actions of your wretched sire.
But if the son re-acts the father's crimes,
859. This but increas'd] It will not perhaps be And shares the lineal guilt of former times, displeasing to the reader, if I subjoin the follow-How curst am I, on whose unhappy race ing passage from Homer, to give him an opportu-The feast of Tantalus entail'd disgrace! nity of comparing it with what he has just read.
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Be this thy study then, with inbred worth
T'efface the stains coeval with thy birth.
But see, pale Cynthia quits th' etherial plains,
And of night's empire but a third remains;
With wine then let the sprinkled altars blaze,
And joyful Pæans swell the note of praise.
O Phœbus, author of the rising day,
Whether the Lycian mountains court thy stay,
Or fair Castalia's current claims thy care,
Where oft thou joy'st to bathe thy golden hair:
Whether proud Troy detains thee on her strands,
Rear'd by the labour of celestial hands:
Thy genial presence gilds the Cynthian share; 960
Or, pleas'd to seek thy native isle no more,
Whose graceful hand supports the fatal bow,
And darts destruction on the furious foe:
In vain old age assaults thy beardless face,
Crown'd with fresh beauty, and perennial grace.
'Tis thine to warn us with unerring skill
Of Heav'n's decrees, and Jove's resistless will;
To teach, from whence the torch of discord springs,
The change of sceptres, and the fate of kings.
Thy shafts allay'd fierce Tityos' lawless lust,
And humbled haughty Marsyas to the dust,
(Who durst aspire to match thy sacred lays)
And from the Python reap'd immortal praise:
Thy pow'r transform'd proud Niobe to stone,
And to Latona's charms adjudg'd the crown:
Megæra, fiercest fiend, at thy command
For e'er incumbent, shakes her vengeful brand
O'er the devoted head of the rash sire,
Who wrapt the Delphic fane in impious fire:
He views the proffer'd food, yet dares not taste,
And dreads the cavern'd rock above him plac'd. 980
Let then our fields thy constant influence share,
And Argos, sacred to the queen of air;
Whether the name of Titan please thee most,
A name rever'd on th' Achæmenian coast,
Or great Osiris, whom the Pharian swain
Decks with the first-fruits of the ripen'd grain:
Or Mitra more, to whose prolific rays
The grateful Persian adoration pays,
Who grasps the horns of the reluctant steer,
While on his head encircling lights appear."
Black mists surround him, and impervious night
Checks his bold progress, and controls his flight;
No zephyrs waft him o'er the realms below,
But still and noisome gales: on one side, flow
The branching streams of Styx in calm repose,
On t'other, fiery lakes his way oppose.
Propp'd on the wand divine, old Laius' shade
Stalks slow behind him; for the forceful blade 10
Thro' his pierc'd ribs an easy passage found,
Till point and hilt had clos'd the gaping wound.
Amaz'd the dreary grove and pensive glades
Survey his passage from th' inferna! shades,
While flitting spectres eye the king's return
With sullen grief, and their confinement moura:
For, like the soul, pale envy braves the tomb,
Nor with the body shares an equal doom.
But one, who sickens at another's joy,
Prone to insult, and eager to destroy,
With borrow'd smile old Laius thus address'd,
| While rankling malice swell'd his envious breast,
"Thrice happy shade! (whether propitious Jove
Enjoins thy presence in the realms above,
Or madd'ning fury, or prophetic maid
Forbids thy stay in this detested shade)
Couldst thou enjoy the Sun's euliv'ning becam,
The flow'ry mead, clear skies, and crystal stream:
But soon, alas! more sorrowing thou❜lt return,
And with retorted eye those pleasures mourn.” 50
He paus'd: for Cerberus began to rear
His angry snakes, and arm'd his bristling hair;
Sternly be yawn'd: th' advancing ghosts retire,
Nor dare withstand the monster's threat'ned ire.
But Hermes with his wand Lethean clos'd
His watchful eyes, and a short truce impos'd.
A steep there is, fam'd Tænaros by name,
Whose equal summit joins the starry frame.
17. For, like the soul] This opinion of the pas sions inhering after death in the souls of men is confirmed by Virgil.
Quæ gratia currûm, Armorumque fuit vivis, quæ cura uiteutes Pascere equos, eadem sequitur tellure repostos. Eu. Lib. 6. ver. 653.
This book opens with a description of Mercury's return from Hell, pursuant to the commands of Jove, as delivered in the first book. Laius appears to Eteocles, and to make the greater im- the heathen mythology, and the notions they en pression upon his mind, assumes the form of tertained of a future state. Tiresias. The Theban king persists in withholding the crown from his brother. The poet then transports us to Argos, and relates the marriage of the two heroes to Adrastus's daughters, by which a triple alliance is formed be. tween Adrastus, Tydeus, and Polynices. The nuptials are interrupted by an inauspicious omen; the cause of which is attributed to Argia's wearing the necklace of Harmonia. Tydeus is deputed embassador to claim the crown of Eteocles; but meeting with a repulse, denounces war against him. The tyrant hires fifty ruffians to assassinate him in his way to Argos. These are slain all but one, whom he spares to carry the news to Thebes. The hero, flushed with his success, would have ventured himself among bis enemies there, but Minerva interposes; to whom he raises a trophy of the spoils, and prefers a prayer, which concludes the book,
Now Hermes, fraught with the commands of Jove,
With wings expanded seeks the realms above.
987. Or Mitra more] The Persians call the Sun Mitra, account him the greatest of their gods, and worship him in a cave. His statue has the head of a lion, on which a turbant, called tiara, is placed. It is clothed with Persian attire, and holds with both hauds a struggling heifer.
1. Now Hermes] The beginning of this book is really valuable, as it throws considerable light on
19. But one, who sickens]
Sed videt ingratos, intabescitque videndo
Successus hominumn. Ovid's Metam. Lib. 2.
It appears from this passage of Statius, that the
souls of the deceased were not so thoroughly
weaned from the pleasures of the world, as to be
averse to a return; but the most probable conjec
the purgation mentioned by Virgil.
ture we can form is, that they had not undergone
Ergo exercentur pœnis, veterumque malorum
Supplicia expendunt. Æn. Lib. 6. v. 739.
31. He paus'd]
Cerberus hæc ingens latratu regna trifauci
Personat, adverso recubans immanis in antro:
Cui vates, horrere videns jam colla colubris,
Melle soporatam et medicatis frugibus offam
Objicit, ille fame rabidâ tria guttura pandens,
Corripit objectam, atque immania terga resolvit
Fusus humi, totoque ingens extenditur antro.
Virg. Æn. b. 5. v. 417.
Calm from its height it hears the tempest blow,
And views, secure, the breaking surge below. 40
Here hoarse winds, lull'd in gentle stumbers, lie,
And hurl'd from hence, the red-wing'd lightnings
fly.
Collected mists its flinty sides surround,
Then th' aged king with fix'd and steady mind
Prepares to execute what Jove enjoin'd;
And lest he should an airy phantom seem,
Or grisly child of some terrific dream,
Assumes the form of the Baotian sage,
Alike in voice, in feature, and in age.
A length of hoary beard he still retains,
And the same paleness o'er his visage reigns.
But a false mitre bound his awful brow,
And in his hand he bore an olive-bough,
On which were fillets wound.-The prince's breast
With this be gently smote, and thus addrest: 110
"Thus sleep you, careless of the glorious strife,
As though secure of empire and of life?
Thus unambitious of the wreaths, which fame
Has woven, and thy better deeds should claim?
Less guilt attends the skilful pilot's sleep,
When gath'ring storms o'erhang the troubled deep,
The helm unmanag'd, and the ship resign'd
To sportive fortune, and th' inconstant wind.
Nor hears its head the distant thunder's sound.
But when the day declines, its length'ning steep
O'erhangs the waves, and shades the middle deep.
The crooked shore too forms an inner bay,
Where inoffensively the billows play.
The steeds of Neptune here securely feed,
Of fish and courser a promiscuous breed.
This winding path (Arcadia's sons report)
Conveys the damn'd to Pluto's gloomy court.
Here oft are heard deep groans, tumultuous cries,
And loud laments, that rend the vaulted skies;
Grim Cerb'rus howls; the furies drag their chai n
And the scar'd hinds retreat to distant plains.
This way, involv'd in shades of sable night,
Great Hermes takes, and steers to Heav'n his Meanwhile the heir of old Adrastus' crown
flight.
He shakes the mists infernal from his face,
And the fresh air renews his ev'ry grace.
Then through the regions of the frozen north-
He sails with steady wings.-Sleep, sallying forth
In night's dim car, extends o'er all his sway:
Both met, but Sleep resign'd the shining way.
Beneath the god the phantom flits, descries
His native country, and long-ravish'd skies,
And now surveys aspiring Cyrrha's brow,
And the stain'd fields of Phocis far below.
But as he glanc'd where his own palace stood,
And chariot still discolour'd with his blood,
He deeply groan'd: recoiling nature strove
With duty, and disputes the will of Jove.
In vain Cyllenius waves his iv'ry wand:
He halts, regardless of the god's command.
'Twas the decline of that revolving ray,
Which first gave Bacchus to the realms of day,
When joyous revels chase the drowsy night,
Nor cease, till Sol restores his absent light.
With glee the Thebans (part in open field,
And part at home) their sparkling goblets wield. 80
Between each draught the pipes, the cymbals
sound,
And music's soft delights the banquet crown'd,
From glad Citharon too the matrons throng,
Inspir'd by milder Bacchus, rush along.
The Thracians thus on Ossa's pine-crown'd height,
Or Rhodope, indulge the festive rite;
In luxury they snatch the lion's food,
And with new milk correct the draught of blood:
But if the strength of wine excite their rage,
Cups clash with cups, and stones with stones en-
90
Nor ends the conflict, till from many a wound
Black streams of social gore distain the ground.
Such was the night, when with descending wing
Fam'd Maia's offspring reach'd the Theban king.
Stretch'd on embroider'd tapestry he lay,
And sought in sleep to doze his cares away.
Ill-fated race, whom fate forbids to know
Their destin'd woes, till she discharge the blow.
85. The Thracians thus] This account of the Thracians is confirmed by the concurring testimony of several historians, and particularly that of Herodotus.
Already deems your diadem his own,
Supports by marriage his declining cause,
And bloody Tydeus to his standard draws.
Hence springs his pride, his hopes of vengeance
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100. What Jove enjoin'd] Jupiter's artifice to punish the Thebans will not appear unjust, if we consider, that the incestuous race of Oedipus were themselves impious, and were therefore justly doomed to destruction: and 2uos Jupiter vult perdere, dementat prius.
103. Assumes the form of the Baotian sage] Mr. Warton has been perhaps a little too severe in his strictures on this passage, in his note on verse 525 of the seventh book of Virgil's Æneid. "Statius," says he, "but with little success, upon the whole, has imitated this passage, where the shade of Laius disguised under the figure of Tiresias appears to Eteocles asleep."
111. Thus sleep you] Our author seems to have copied this speech from Homer's Iliad, book 2, verse 60.
Εὕδεις Ἀτρέπω υἱὲ δαίφρονος ἱπποδάμοιο;
Οὐ χρὴ παννύχιον εὕδειν βυληφόρον αίδρα
Ω λαοί τ' ἐπιτετράφαται, καὶ τόσσα μέμηλε
Νῦν δ' ἐμέθεν ξυνες ώκα. Διὸς δέ τοι άγγελός είμαι
*Ος σεν ανευθὲν ἐων, μέγα κηδεται.
191. The phantom paus'd] Anchises, when he is introduced appearing to his son Æneas, concludes his speech to him in the following lines. Jamque vale: torquet medios nox humida cursu Et me sævus equis oriens afflavit anhelis.
Virgil's Eneid, book 5. verse 738.
Since many a potent king of high renown
Has wish'd them partners of th' imperial throne.
In this they might with Dejanira vie,
Or fam'd Oenomaus' boasted progeny.
But fate forbids they should the bed adorn
140 Of one in Elis, or in Sparta born,
At length he bares his blood-impurpled breast,
And all the murder'd grandsire stands confest.
Eteocles now feels the streaming wound,
And full of horrour, rolls his eyes around
Essays to shun the spectre's hated sight,
And dares his absent brother to the fight.
Thus when a sleeping tiger from afar
Hears the shrill preludes of approaching war,
He starts, calls forth his spots, expands his jaws,
Wakes to the promis'd fight, and points his claws;
Then bounding thro' the thickets of the wood,
Bears to his bloody whelps the reeking food.
Aurora now from Tithon's saffron bed
With dawning streaks of light the skies o'erspread;
She shook the sparkling dew-drops from her hair,
And blush'd to find the peeping Sun so near: 150 |
While breaking through the clouds, the morning
star,
Advancing, tow'rds her guides his rosy car,
Nor e'er withdraws, till Sol's superior ray
Flames in the front of Heav'n, and gives the day.
Now springing from his bed, Adrastus rose,
Nor long behind the sweets of wish'd repose
Detain'd his guests: for sleep had now bedew'd
Their weary limbs, and all their strength renow’d.
But anxious cares Adrastus had opprest;
Sleep fled his eyes, and peace forsook his breast.
Musing he calls to mind the fates' decree,
And his new guests' connected destiny.
In a sequester'd room convea'd they sate,
For business calculated and debate.
Each would begin, but fears and doubts restrain:
At length the monarch rose, and eas'd their pain.
"Ilustrious youths, of Heav'n the constant care,
Whom storms of thunder and inclement air
Have drove beneath my roof, by fate's decree
To fix the base of mutual amity;
Why should I dwell on what's already known
By yulgar fame through every Grecian towa?
How many youths have strove (though strove in
vain)
By high desert my daughters' love to gain.
But (if a parent little credit claim)
Yourselves, the objects of their decent shame,
Saw o'er their cheeks the glowing blush arise,
When first your manly features met their eyes.
Did wealth or sway alone employ their care,
They need not of acquiring them despair:
141. Thus when a sleeping tiger] The grandeur and propriety of this simile are too obvious to be insisted upon; and were I to enlarge on it, and point out the sublimity of the expressions, the harmony of numbers, the beautiful connection of eircumstances, and exact propriety of the whole, I should anticipate the reader's judgment. The greatest proof of what I advance is Mr. Cowley's imitation. He saw its beauties, and endeavoured to copy them. How well he has executed it, is left to the judicious reader to determine.
So when a Scythian tiger gazing round,
A herd of kine in some fair plain has found,
Lowing secure; he swells with angry pride,
And calls forth all his spots on ev'ry side.
Then stops, and huils his haughty eyes on all
In choice of some strong neck, on which to fall;
Almost he scorns so weak, so cheap a prey,
And grieves to see them trembling haste away.
To you, brave youths, decrees the beauteous pair,
And of their dotal wealth an equal share.
The god's description tallies with your own,
And Phoebus' choice agrees in you alone.
Their virgin-smiles, I ween, shall well repay
The stormy night, and labours of the fray."
The princes on each other cast an eye,
Expecting each his comrade would reply,
Till bolder Tydeus to the monarch bow'd,
And thus discharg'd the debt his duty ow’d.
"Much you enjoy of fortune and of fame,
Much more your gallant deeds and merit claim.
Of equalling your worth the best despair,
Which adds a jewel to the crown you wear. 900
Fierce Argos, taught by clemency t' obey,
Resigns to you the reins, and owns your sway:
And would propitious Jove consign you more,
And stretch your pow'r to Doria's double shore,
Phoebus no more should fly Mycena's plain,
Nor of their king Elean vales complain.
Nor do the furies only vex our state,
As thou, young warrior, better canst relate;
But I, a voluntary exile, roam,
Nor fore'd by rage fraternal fly from home." 210
He spoke, and thus subjoin'd the Theban chief:
Though damp'd with sorrows, and o'ercome with
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My soul, averse to Venus' mystic rites,
On other objects wastes the sleepless nights;
Yet this alliance should I now refuse,
Fancy would flag, nor furnish an excuse.
Such balmy hope allays my troubled breast,
And lulls the passions of my soul to rest,
As swells the little bark on ocean tost,
When near at hand she spies some friendly coast.
From hence alike the turns of chance we'll share,
And make each other's bliss our only care.
No fate my vow'd affection shall divide,
By marriage as by gratitude ally'd."
The princes rose, while old Adrastus strove
By strength of language to declare his love,
And vows, should fate his just emprizes crown,
His arms should soon replace them on the throne.
Meanwhile the natives, ere a vague report
Had scarce been wafted from the regal court, 230
With loud acclaim receive the king's decree,
And give full reins to mirth and revelry.
185. But fate forbids they should] Adrastne seems to have lain under the same restraints as Latinus.
Me natam nulli veterum sociare procorum Faserat, idque omnes divique hominesque canebant. And again,
Est mihi nata, viro gentis quam jungere nostræ, Non patrio ex adyto sortes, non plurima cœlo Monstra sinant.
197. Much you enjoy] I question whether, upon due consideration, there will not be found too much of the orator in Tydeus, who, according to our author's own words, was rudis faudi. 205. Phœbus no more should fly] As at the feast of Thyestes. See Ovid's Metamorphoses,
From bence Fame flies with unresisted force,
Nor hills or vales retard her airy course:
And now, a tedious length of country past,
On Cadmus' walls she fix'd herself at last.
She scares the wretched king, and brings to light
The mystic visions of the former night;
O'erwhelms his hopes, augments his growing fears,
And whispers wars and slaughter in his ears. 240)
Soon as the wish'd-for dawn appears, to court
The sons of Argos in huge swarms resort, [stand,
Where form'd in brass their great forefathers
And art (so skilful was th' engraver's hand)
With nature vies.-Here first you might discern
Old Inachus, reclining on his urn.
Near bin Iasius bends with feeble age,
And old Acrisius vents on Jove his rage.
Phoroneus, peaceful chief, was next survey'd,
And stern Chorobus, bearing on his blade
A bloody head. In arms great Abas shines,
And Danaus his future guilt designs.
The leaders first the slow procession wait,
While the loud rabble thunder at the gate;
The nobles next advance, a num'rous line,
And in the front, by rank distinguish'd, shine.
The inner court with fire odorous glows,
While on all sides the female tumult grows
A throng of matrons round each bride appear,
Inspire with hope, and soothe each virgin-fear. 260
And now with glowing cheeks and downcast eyes
The princesses attend the sacrifice,
Known by their dignity of dress and face:
The flushing purple heightens ev'ry grace.
With pain their anxious feelings they suppress'd,
Some small regret still linger'd in their breast,
And strugglings to retain their virgin-state:
While the chaste doubts of innocence create
New blushes, that improve their nat'ral hue,
And artless tears their lovely cheeks bedew.
Decent confusion!-At the moving sight
Their tender parents melt in soft delight.
Thus should Diana, and th' Athenian maid
Descend from Heav'n in all their pomp array'd;
Each in her hands her wonted weapons bears,
And the same sternness in their looks appears.
Should Cynthia for a casque her quiver change,
And Pallas through the lawns and forests range;
The change in either would so well agree,
That safely none the pref'rence could decree: 280
The quiver would Minerva's shoulders grace;
And the plum'd helmet suit fair Delia's face.
Meanwhile the joyful Argives seem to vie
In public proofs of zeal and loyalty.
These waft to Jove in od'rous flames a pray'r,
And call for blessings on the royal pair;
With slaughter'd victims' entrails those appease
The gods; nor will Sabaan smoke displease,
If a pure heart direct the pious rows,
And the strong gate is deckt with flow'ring boughs.
But lo! sad oincus from the gods descend,
And Jove's and Heav'n's impending rage portend;
A sadd'ning horrour ev'ry face o'erspreads,
And on their joys a solemn dulness sheds.
288. Nor will Sabæan] Our author is of Persius's opinion, whose noble lines on this subject breathe more the spirit of Christianity than heathenism. Compositum jus, fasque animi, sanctosque recessus Mentis, et incoctum generoso pectus honesto Hoc cedo, ut admoveam templis, et farre litabo. Sat. 2.
'Twas when great Hymen's sacred rites to crown,
They bent their course to fam'd Larissa's town,
Than which Munichia's hill, nor Athens' grove
Can boast superior proofs of Pailas' love.
Here (so long custom had ordain'd) are led
The nymphs, when ripen'd for the marriage-bed,
And for the frailty of the sex atone
With maiden ringlets on the altars thrown.
Ere they had scal'd the turret's gradual height,
The beam disiniss'd the buckler's sacred weight.
With horrid clangour shook the plantive ground,
The tapers crush'd, and darkness shed around.
Then, ere they durst proceed, as from the shrine
A trumpet loud proclaim'd the wrath divine.
First on the king they wildly turn their eyes;
Then, question'd, each the well-heard sound
denies.
810
Yet all, all feel the dreadful sign of woe,
And their first fears by various converse grow.
Nor wond'rous was it, for Argia bore
The bracelet, which Harmonia whilom wore.
O goddess! say from what mysterious source
The fatal gift deriv'd such noxious force?
Fame tells, that Vulcan wrought it, when he strove
To check the Thracian god's adult'rous love,
(For useless lay the now-neglected chain;
Threats fail'd, and punishments were schem'd in
vain :)
320
With many a gem 'twas fraught and precious stone,
To deck the partner of the Theban throne.
Long did the Cyclops o'er their anvils sweat,
And their swoln sinews echoing blows repeat,
Ere th' artist had attain'd his vast design,
And stamp'd perfection on the work divine.
Of polish'd em'ralds was the curious ground,
And fatal forms of adamant surround:
Sparks of etherial temper flame above,
329
Fil'd remnants of the swift-wing'd bolts of Jove.
A dragon's scaly pride is here impress'd,
And there Medusa rears her snaky crest.
From golden boughs Hesperian apples sprung,
And gay to view the Colchian tree was hung.
Torn from the furies' hair a serpent shines:
To this, foul lust and various plagues he joins,
Then dips the whole in foam of lunar rays,
And hides the venom in a sprightly blaze.
314. The bracelet] Harmonia was the daughter of Mars and Venus. She married Cadmus, and was metamorphosed together with him into a serpent.
319. For useless lay the] The poet alludes to the famous chain, which Vulcan made to entrap his adulterous consort in: for a farther account of which see Homer's Odyssey; and Ovid's Metamorphoses, lib. 4. fab. 5.
This digression seems very material and necessary, since it is founded on the story, where the infectious bracelet is represented as of great importance, and it is also connected with the foregoing and following parts of it as in the case of Jocasta, mentioned by Statius, and of Eriphyle and Amphiaraus, whose fate in the following war was owing to it.
327. Of polish'd em'ralds] The antients were superstitiously exact in describing any particular suit of armour, ornaments, &c. as the shields of Achilles and Eneas, the ægis of Pallas; and here the composition of the materials and sculp ture are highly consistent with the fatal virtue of this ornament.
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