Metamorphoses: Book 02 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDDEEFGHHIIJJKK LMNNOOFGBBPQRRSSTTPU JJVVKKWXXYYZA2PUDDBB B2B2C2C2TTD2D2E2E2DD 2F2F2DDG2G2HHH2VD2D2 I2I2HHJ2J2DDVVK2L2KK D2D2M2M2D2D2N2N2N2HH TTVVTTTKKO2O2HHP2P2K KQ2Q2D2D2D2D2D2R2R2D 2D2HHVVTTVVD2D2D2D2H HD2D2KKS2S2VVD2D2KKD 2D2VVVT2T2D2D2U2U2D2 D2KKD2D2VVTTD2D2D2D2 KKDDT2V2VVVVKVVTTHDH D2D2D2D2D2D2HHD2D2TT D2D2D2D2D2D2D2W2D2KK X2KD2D2KKD2D2KKG2G2V VVVHHKKVVHHTTY2Y2DDV VD2D2D2D2VVTTD2VVTTD 2D2Z2Z2VVVVD2D2KKKKD 2D2TTKKKKKD2D2D2D2D2 D2DDVVVVKKKKA3A3DDVV D2D2D2D2D2D2W2B3D2D2 D2D2G2G2TTZ2Z2DDTTTV VVVVVZ2Z2KKD2D2VVD2D 2TD2D2G2G2VVVVTTD2D2 TTVVD2D2Z2Z2VZ2VTTC3 C3D2D2D2D2VVKKD2D2G2 G2VVVVKKKKKKD2D2KKD2 D2VVVVA3A3D2D2G2G2D2 D2KD3KKKD2D2D2D2VVVK KVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVE3E 3VVZ2Z2VVZ2Z2VVKKVVV VKKVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV KKZ2Z2VVG2G2VVVVVKKV KVF3KF3VVVVVVVVVVZ2Z 2G2G2VVVVVVVVKKZ2Z2Z 2KKVVVVKKKKVVVVG2G2V VKKVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV VVKKVVVVKKVVVVVVVVVG 3G3VVVVG2G2KKVVVVVVK KVVH3H3Y2Y2G2G2F3KVV KKVVVVVVVVVVVVVVKKVV KKKKKVVVVVVVKKI3I3VV VVKKVVKKVVVVVVJ3VVVV VVVVVVVVVVVVVVKKVVG3 G3F3F3VVZ2Z2KKA3A3VV VVVVVVZ2Z2VVVVVVVKKG 2G2VVVVVVVKKVVVVVVVV KKVVVVVVVVKKVVF3F3Z2 Z2Z2VVVVVVVVF3F3VVKK VVVVVVVVZ2Z2K3K3VVL3 L3VVY2Y2KKVVVVW2B3VV VVVVF3F3VVKKVVVVKVKK KVVKKVVVVKKVVVVVVVVZ 2Z2VVG2G2Z2Z2VVVVVVV VVZ2Z2VVVVVVVVVVVVVV VVVVVVVVVVVVVVKKVVVV VG2G2VVG2VZ2Z2G2G2VV VVKKVVKKVVVVVVVVY2Y2 G2G2G2G2VVVVVVVVVVVV VVKKVVVVVVVG2VKKVVG2 G2VVVZ2Z2A3A3L3L3VVV VVVK

The Sun's bright palace on high columns rais'd	A
With burnish'd gold and flaming jewels blaz'd	A
The folding gates diffus'd a silver light	B
And with a milder gleam refresh'd the sight	B
Of polish'd iv'ry was the cov'ring wrought	C
The Story of The matter vied not with the sculptor's thought	C
Phaeton For in the portal was display'd on high	D
The work of Vulcan a fictitious sky	D
A waving sea th' inferiour Earth embrac'd	E
And Gods and Goddesses the waters grac'd	E
Aegeon here a mighty whale bestrode	F
Triton and Proteus the deceiving God	G
With Doris here were carv'd and all her train	H
Some loosely swimming in the figur'd main	H
While some on rocks their dropping hair divide	I
And some on fishes through the waters glide	I
Tho' various features did the sisters grace	J
A sister's likeness was in ev'ry face	J
On Earth a diff'rent landskip courts the eyes	K
Men towns and beasts in distant prospects rise	K
And nymphs and streams and woods and rural	L
deities	M
O'er all the Heav'n's refulgent image shines	N
On either gate were six engraven signs	N
Here Phaeton still gaining on th' ascent	O
To his suspected father's palace went	O
'Till pressing forward through the bright abode	F
He saw at distance the illustrious God	G
He saw at distance or the dazling light	B
Had flash'd too strongly on his aking sight	B
The God sits high exalted on a throne	P
Of blazing gems with purple garments on	Q
The Hours in order rang'd on either hand	R
And Days and Months and Years and Ages stand	R
Here Spring appears with flow'ry chaplets bound	S
Here Summer in her wheaten garland crown'd	S
Here Autumn the rich trodden grapes besmear	T
And hoary Winter shivers in the reer	T
Phoebus beheld the youth from off his throne	P
That eye which looks on all was fix'd in one	U
He saw the boy's confusion in his face	J
Surpriz'd at all the wonders of the place	J
And cries aloud What wants my son for know	V
My son thou art and I must call thee so	V
Light of the world the trembling youth replies	K
Illustrious parent since you don't despise	K
The parent's name some certain token give	W
That I may Clymene's proud boast believe	X
Nor longer under false reproaches grieve	X
The tender sire was touch'd with what he said	Y
And flung the blaze of glories from his head	Y
And bid the youth advance My son said he	Z
Come to thy father's arms for Clymene	A2
Has told thee true a parent's name I own	P
And deem thee worthy to be called my son	U
As a sure proof make some request and I	D
Whate'er it be with that request comply	D
By Styx I swear whose waves are hid in night	B
And roul impervious to my piercing sight	B
The youth transported asks without delay	B2
To guide the sun's bright chariot for a day	B2
The God repented of the oath he took	C2
For anguish thrice his radiant head he shook	C2
My son says he some other proof require	T
Rash was my promise rash is thy desire	T
I'd fain deny this wish which thou hast made	D2
Or what I can't deny wou'd fain disswade	D2
Too vast and hazardous the task appears	E2
Nor suited to thy strength nor to thy years	E2
Thy lot is mortal but thy wishes fly	D
Beyond the province of mortality	D2
There is not one of all the Gods that dares	F2
However skill'd in other great affairs	F2
To mount the burning axle tree but I	D
Not Jove himself the ruler of the sky	D
That hurles the three fork'd thunder from above	G2
Dares try his strength yet who so strong as Jove	G2
The steeds climb up the first ascent with pain	H
And when the middle firmament they gain	H
If downward from the Heav'ns my head I bow	H2
And see the Earth and Ocean hang below	V
Ev'n I am seiz'd with horror and affright	D2
And my own heart misgives me at the sight	D2
A mighty downfal steeps the ev'ning stage	I2
And steddy reins must curb the horses' rage	I2
Tethys herself has fear'd to see me driv'n	H
Down headlong from the precipice of Heav'n	H
Besides consider what impetuous force	J2
Turns stars and planets in a diff'rent course	J2
I steer against their motions nor am I	D
Born back by all the current of the sky	D
But how cou'd you resist the orbs that roul	V
In adverse whirls and stem the rapid pole	V
But you perhaps may hope for pleasing woods	K2
And stately dooms and cities fill'd with Gods	L2
While through a thousand snares your progress lies	K
Where forms of starry monsters stock the skies	K
For shou'd you hit the doubtful way aright	D2
The bull with stooping horns stands opposite	D2
Next him the bright Haemonian bow is strung	M2
And next the lion's grinning visage hung	M2
The scorpion's claws here clasp a wide extent	D2
And here the crab's in lesser clasps are bent	D2
Nor wou'd you find it easie to compose	N2
The mettled steeds when from their nostrils flows	N2
The scorching fire that in their entrails glows	N2
Ev'n I their head strong fury scarce restrain	H
When they grow warm and restif to the rein	H
Let not my son a fatal gift require	T
But O in time recall your rash desire	T
You ask a gift that may your parent tell	V
Let these my fears your parentage reveal	V
And learn a father from a father's care	T
Look on my face or if my heart lay bare	T
Cou'd you but look you'd read the father there	T
Chuse out a gift from seas or Earth or skies	K
For open to your wish all Nature lies	K
Only decline this one unequal task	O2
For 'tis a mischief not a gift you ask	O2
You ask a real mischief Phaeton	H
Nay hang not thus about my neck my son	H
I grant your wish and Styx has heard my voice	P2
Chuse what you will but make a wiser choice	P2
Thus did the God th' unwary youth advise	K
But he still longs to travel through the skies	K
When the fond father for in vain he pleads	Q2
At length to the Vulcanian Chariot leads	Q2
A golden axle did the work uphold	D2
Gold was the beam the wheels were orb'd with gold	D2
The spokes in rows of silver pleas'd the sight	D2
The seat with party colour'd gems was bright	D2
Apollo shin'd amid the glare of light	D2
The youth with secret joy the work surveys	R2
When now the moon disclos'd her purple rays	R2
The stars were fled for Lucifer had chased	D2
The stars away and fled himself at last	D2
Soon as the father saw the rosy morn	H
And the moon shining with a blunter horn	H
He bid the nimble Hours without delay	V
Bring forth the steeds the nimble Hours obey	V
From their full racks the gen'rous steeds retire	T
Dropping ambrosial foams and snorting fire	T
Still anxious for his son the God of day	V
To make him proof against the burning ray	V
His temples with celestial ointment wet	D2
Of sov'reign virtue to repel the heat	D2
Then fix'd the beamy circle on his head	D2
And fetch'd a deep foreboding sigh and said	D2
Take this at least this last advice my son	H
Keep a stiff rein and move but gently on	H
The coursers of themselves will run too fast	D2
Your art must be to moderate their haste	D2
Drive 'em not on directly through the skies	K
But where the Zodiac's winding circle lies	K
Along the midmost Zone but sally forth	S2
Nor to the distant south nor stormy north	S2
The horses' hoofs a beaten track will show	V
But neither mount too high nor sink too low	V
That no new fires or Heav'n or Earth infest	D2
Keep the mid way the middle way is best	D2
Nor where in radiant folds the serpent twines	K
Direct your course nor where the altar shines	K
Shun both extreams the rest let Fortune guide	D2
And better for thee than thy self provide	D2
See while I speak the shades disperse away	V
Aurora gives the promise of a day	V
I'm call'd nor can I make a longer stay	V
Snatch up the reins or still th' attempt forsake	T2
And not my chariot but my counsel take	T2
While yet securely on the Earth you stand	D2
Nor touch the horses with too rash a hand	D2
Let me alone to light the world while you	U2
Enjoy those beams which you may safely view	U2
He spoke in vain the youth with active heat	D2
And sprightly vigour vaults into the seat	D2
And joys to hold the reins and fondly gives	K
Those thanks his father with remorse receives	K
Mean while the restless horses neigh'd aloud	D2
Breathing out fire and pawing where they stood	D2
Tethys not knowing what had past gave way	V
And all the waste of Heav'n before 'em lay	V
They spring together out and swiftly bear	T
The flying youth thro' clouds and yielding air	T
With wingy speed outstrip the eastern wind	D2
And leave the breezes of the morn behind	D2
The youth was light nor cou'd he fill the seat	D2
Or poise the chariot with its wonted weight	D2
But as at sea th' unballass'd vessel rides	K
Cast to and fro the sport of winds and tides	K
So in the bounding chariot toss'd on high	D
The youth is hurry'd headlong through the sky	D
Soon as the steeds perceive it they forsake	T2
Their stated course and leave the beaten track	V2
The youth was in a maze nor did he know	V
Which way to turn the reins or where to go	V
Nor wou'd the horses had he known obey	V
Then the sev'n stars first felt Apollo's ray	V
And wish'd to dip in the forbidden sea	K
The folded serpent next the frozen pole	V
Stiff and benum'd before began to rowle	V
And raged with inward heat and threaten'd war	T
And shot a redder light from ev'ry star	T
Nay and 'tis said Bootes too that fain	H
Thou woud'st have fled tho' cumber'd with thy	D
wane	H
Th' unhappy youth then bending down his head	D2
Saw Earth and Ocean far beneath him spread	D2
His colour chang'd he startled at the sight	D2
And his eyes darken'd by too great a light	D2
Now cou'd he wish the fiery steeds untry'd	D2
His birth obscure and his request deny'd	D2
Now wou'd he Merops for his father own	H
And quit his boasted kindred to the sun	H
So fares the pilot when his ship is tost	D2
In troubled seas and all its steerage lost	D2
He gives her to the winds and in despair	T
Seeks his last refuge in the Gods and pray'r	T
What cou'd he do his eyes if backward cast	D2
Find a long path he had already past	D2
If forward still a longer path they find	D2
Both he compares and measures in his mind	D2
And sometimes casts an eye upon the east	D2
And sometimes looks on the forbidden west	D2
The horses' names he knew not in the fright	D2
Nor wou'd he loose the reins nor cou'd he hold 'em	W2
right	D2
Now all the horrors of the Heav'ns he spies	K
And monstrous shadows of prodigious size	K
That deck'd with stars lye scatter'd o'er the	X2
skies	K
There is a place above where Scorpio bent	D2
In tail and arms surrounds a vast extent	D2
In a wide circuit of the Heav'ns he shines	K
And fills the space of two coelestial signs	K
Soon as the youth beheld him vex'd with heat	D2
Brandish his sting and in his poison sweat	D2
Half dead with sudden fear he dropt the reins	K
The horses felt 'em loose upon their mains	K
And flying out through all the plains above	G2
Ran uncontroul'd where e're their fury drove	G2
Rush'd on the stars and through a pathless way	V
Of unknown regions hurry'd on the day	V
And now above and now below they flew	V
And near the Earth the burning chariot drew	V
The clouds disperse in fumes the wond'ring Moon	H
Beholds her brother's steeds beneath her own	H
The highlands smoak cleft by the piercing rays	K
Or clad with woods in their own fewel blaze	K
Next o'er the plains where ripen'd harvests grow	V
The running conflagration spreads below	V
But these are trivial ills whole cities burn	H
And peopled kingdoms into ashes turn	H
The mountains kindle as the car draws near	T
Athos and Tmolus red with fires appear	T
Oeagrian Haemus then a single name	Y2
And virgin Helicon increase the flame	Y2
Taurus and Oete glare amid the sky	D
And Ida spight of all her fountains dry	D
Eryx and Othrys and Cithaeron glow	V
And Rhodope no longer cloath'd in snow	V
High Pindus Mimas and Parnassus sweat	D2
And Aetna rages with redoubled heat	D2
Ev'n Scythia through her hoary regions warm'd	D2
In vain with all her native frost was arm'd	D2
Cover'd with flames the tow'ring Appennine	V
And Caucasus and proud Olympus shine	V
And where the long extended Alpes aspire	T
Now stands a huge continu'd range of fire	T
Th' astonisht youth where e'er his eyes cou'd	D2
turn	V
Beheld the universe around him burn	V
The world was in a blaze nor cou'd he bear	T
The sultry vapours and the scorching air	T
Which from below as from a furnace flow'd	D2
And now the axle tree beneath him glow'd	D2
Lost in the whirling clouds that round him broke	Z2
And white with ashes hov'ring in the smoke	Z2
He flew where e'er the horses drove nor knew	V
Whither the horses drove or where he flew	V
'Twas then they say the swarthy Moor begun	V
To change his hue and blacken in the sun	V
Then Libya first of all her moisture drain'd	D2
Became a barren waste a wild of sand	D2
The water nymphs lament their empty urns	K
Boeotia robb's of silve Dirce mourns	K
Corinth Pyrene's wasted spring bewails	K
And Argos grieves whilst Amymone fails	K
The floods are drain'd from ev'ry distant coast	D2
Ev'n Tanais tho' fix'd in ice was lost	D2
Enrag'd Caicus and Lycormas roar	T
And Xanthus fated to be burnt once more	T
The fam'd Maeander that unweary'd strays	K
Through mazy windings smoaks in ev'ry maze	K
From his lov'd Babylon Euphrates flies	K
The big swoln Ganges and the Danube rise	K
In thick'ning fumes and darken half the skies	K
In flames Ismenos and the Phasis roul'd	D2
And Tagus floating in his melted gold	D2
The swans that on Cayster often try'd	D2
Their tuneful songs now sung their last and dy'd	D2
The frighted Nile ran off and under ground	D2
Conceal'd his head nor can it yet be found	D2
His sev'n divided currents all are dry	D
And where they row'ld sev'n gaping trenches lye	D
No more the Rhine or Rhone their course maintain	V
Nor Tiber of his promis'd empire vain	V
The ground deep cleft admits the dazling ray	V
And startles Pluto with the flash of day	V
The seas shrink in and to the sight disclose	K
Wide naked plains where once their billows rose	K
Their rocks are all discover'd and increase	K
The number of the scatter'd Cyclades	K
The fish in sholes about the bottom creep	A3
Nor longer dares the crooked dolphin leap	A3
Gasping for breath th' unshapen Phocae die	D
And on the boiling wave extended lye	D
Nereus and Doris with her virgin train	V
Seek out the last recesses of the main	V
Beneath unfathomable depths they faint	D2
And secret in their gloomy caverns pant	D2
Stern Neptune thrice above the waves upheld	D2
His face and thrice was by the flames repell'd	D2
The Earth at length on ev'ry side embrac'd	D2
With scalding seas that floated round her waste	D2
When now she felt the springs and rivers come	W2
And crowd within the hollow of her womb	B3
Up lifted to the Heav'ns her blasted head	D2
And clapt her hand upon her brows and said	D2
But first impatient of the sultry heat	D2
Sunk deeper down and sought a cooler seat	D2
If you great king of Gods my death approve	G2
And I deserve it let me die by Jove	G2
If I must perish by the force of fire	T
Let me transfix'd with thunder bolts expire	T
See whilst I speak my breath the vapours choak	Z2
For now her face lay wrapt in clouds of smoak	Z2
See my singe'd hair behold my faded eye	D
And wither'd face where heaps of cinders lye	D
And does the plow for this my body tear	T
This the reward for all the fruits I bear	T
Tortur'd with rakes and harrass'd all the year	T
That herbs for cattle daily I renew	V
And food for Man and frankincense for you	V
But grant me guilty what has Neptune done	V
Why are his waters boiling in the sun	V
The wavy empire which by lot was giv'n	V
Why does it waste and further shrink from Heav'n	V
If I nor he your pity can provoke	Z2
See your own Heav'ns the Heav'ns begin to smoke	Z2
Shou'd once the sparkles catch those bright abodes	K
Destruction seizes on the Heav'ns and Gods	K
Atlas becomes unequal to his freight	D2
And almost faints beneath the glowing weight	D2
If Heav'n and Earth and sea together burn	V
All must again into their chaos turn	V
Apply some speedy cure prevent our fate	D2
And succour Nature ere it be too late	D2
She cea'sd for choak'd with vapours round her	T
spread	D2
Down to the deepest shades she sunk her head	D2
Jove call'd to witness ev'ry Pow'r above	G2
And ev'n the God whose son the chariot drove	G2
That what he acts he is compell'd to do	V
Or universal ruin must ensue	V
Strait he ascends the high aetherial throne	V
From whence he us'd to dart his thunder down	V
From whence his show'rs and storms he us'd to pour	T
But now cou'd meet with neither storm nor show'r	T
Then aiming at the youth with lifted hand	D2
Full at his head he hurl'd the forky brand	D2
In dreadful thund'rings Thus th' almighty sire	T
Suppress'd the raging of the fires with fire	T
At once from life and from the chariot driv'n	V
Th' ambitious boy fell thunder struck from Heav'n	V
The horses started with a sudden bound	D2
And flung the reins and chariot to the ground	D2
The studded harness from their necks they broke	Z2
Here fell a wheel and here a silver spoke	Z2
Here were the beam and axle torn away	V
And scatter'd o'er the Earth the shining	Z2
fragments lay	V
The breathless Phaeton with flaming hair	T
Shot from the chariot like a falling star	T
That in a summer's ev'ning from the top	C3
Of Heav'n drops down or seems at least to drop	C3
'Till on the Po his blasted corps was hurl'd	D2
Far from his country in the western world	D2
Phaeton's The Latian nymphs came round him and amaz'd	D2
Sisters On the dead youth transfix'd with thunder gaz'd	D2
transform'd And whilst yet smoaking from the bolt he lay	V
into Trees His shatter'd body to a tomb convey	V
And o'er the tomb an epitaph devise	K
Here he who drove the sun's bright chariot lies	K
His father's fiery steeds he cou'd not guide	D2
But in the glorious enterprize he dy'd	D2
Apollo hid his face and pin'd for grief	G2
And if the story may deserve belief	G2
The space of one whole day is said to run	V
From morn to wonted ev'n without a sun	V
The burning ruins with a fainter ray	V
Supply the sun and counterfeit a day	V
A day that still did Nature's face disclose	K
This comfort from the mighty mischief rose	K
But Clymene enrag'd with grief laments	K
And as her grief inspires her passion vents	K
Wild for her son and frantick in her woes	K
With hair dishevel'd round the world she goes	K
To seek where e'er his body might be cast	D2
'Till on the borders of the Po at last	D2
The name inscrib'd on the new tomb appears	K
The dear dear name she bathes in flowing tears	K
Hangs o'er the tomb unable to depart	D2
And hugs the marble to her throbbing heart	D2
Her daughters too lament and sigh and mourn	V
A fruitless tribute to their brother's urn	V
And beat their naked bosoms and complain	V
And call aloud for Phaeton in vain	V
All the long night their mournful watch they keep	A3
And all the day stand round the tomb and weep	A3
Four times revolving the full moon return'd	D2
So long the mother and the daughters mourn'd	D2
When now the eldest Phaethusa strove	G2
To rest her weary limbs but could not move	G2
Lampetia wou'd have help'd her but she found	D2
Her self with held and rooted to the ground	D2
A third in wild affliction as she grieves	K
Wou'd rend her hair but fills her hands with	D3
leaves	K
One sees her thighs transform'd another views	K
Her arms shot out and branching into boughs	K
And now their legs and breasts and bodies stood	D2
Crusted with bark and hard'ning into wood	D2
But still above were female heads display'd	D2
And mouths that call'd the mother to their aid	D2
What cou'd alas the weeping mother do	V
From this to that with eager haste she flew	V
And kiss'd her sprouting daughters as they grew	V
She tears the bark that to each body cleaves	K
And from their verdant fingers strips the leaves	K
The blood came trickling where she tore away	V
The leaves and bark the maids were heard to say	V
Forbear mistaken parent oh forbear	V
A wounded daughter in each tree you tear	V
Farewell for ever Here the bark encreas'd	V
Clos'd on their faces and their words suppress'd	V
The new made trees in tears of amber run	V
Which harden'd into value by the sun	V
Distill for ever on the streams below	V
The limpid streams their radiant treasure show	V
Mixt in the sand whence the rich drops convey'd	V
Shine in the dress of the bright Latian maid	V
The Cycnus beheld the nymphs transform'd ally'd	V
Transformation To their dead brother on the mortal side	V
of Cycnus into In friendship and affection nearer bound	V
a Swan He left the cities and the realms he own'd	V
Thro' pathless fields and lonely shores to range	E3
And woods made thicker by the sisters' change	E3
Whilst here within the dismal gloom alone	V
The melancholy monarch made his moan	V
His voice was lessen'd as he try'd to speak	Z2
And issu'd through a long extended neck	Z2
His hair transforms to down his fingers meet	V
In skinny films and shape his oary feet	V
From both his sides the wings and feathers break	Z2
And from his mouth proceeds a blunted beak	Z2
All Cycnus now into a Swan was turn'd	V
Who still remembring how his kinsman burn'd	V
To solitary pools and lakes retires	K
And loves the waters as oppos'd to fires	K
Mean while Apollo in a gloomy shade	V
The native lustre of his brows decay'd	V
Indulging sorrow sickens at the sight	V
Of his own sun shine and abhors the light	V
The hidden griefs that in his bosom rise	K
Sadden his looks and over cast his eyes	K
As when some dusky orb obstructs his ray	V
And sullies in a dim eclipse the day	V
Now secretly with inward griefs he pin'd	V
Now warm resentments to his griefs he joyn'd	V
And now renounc'd his office to mankind	V
Ere since the birth of time said he I've born	V
A long ungrateful toil without return	V
Let now some other manage if he dare	V
The fiery steeds and mount the burning carr	V
Or if none else let Jove his fortune try	V
And learn to lay his murd'ring thunder by	V
Then will he own perhaps but own too late	V
My son deserv'd not so severe a fate	V
The Gods stand round him as he mourns and pray	V
He would resume the conduct of the day	V
Nor let the world be lost in endless night	V
Jove too himself descending from his height	V
Excuses what had happen'd and intreats	K
Majestically mixing pray'rs and threats	K
Prevail'd upon at length again he took	Z2
The harness'd steeds that still with horror shook	Z2
And plies 'em with the lash and whips 'em on	V
And as he whips upbraids 'em with his son	V
The Story of The day was settled in its course and Jove	G2
Calisto Walk'd the wide circuit of the Heavens above	G2
To search if any cracks or flaws were made	V
But all was safe the Earth he then survey'd	V
And cast an eye on ev'ry diff'rent coast	V
And ev'ry land but on Arcadia most	V
Her fields he cloath'd and chear'd her blasted	V
face	K
With running fountains and with springing grass	K
No tracks of Heav'n's destructive fire remain	V
The fields and woods revive and Nature smiles	K
again	V
But as the God walk'd to and fro the Earth	F3
And rais'd the plants and gave the spring its	K
birth	F3
By chance a fair Arcadian nymph he view'd	V
And felt the lovely charmer in his blood	V
The nymph nor spun nor dress'd with artful pride	V
Her vest was gather'd up her hair was ty'd	V
Now in her hand a slender spear she bore	V
Now a light quiver on her shoulders wore	V
To chaste Diana from her youth inclin'd	V
The sprightly warriors of the wood she joyn'd	V
Diana too the gentle huntress lov'd	V
Nor was there one of all the nymphs that rov'd	V
O'er Maenalus amid the maiden throng	Z2
More favour'd once but favour lasts not long	Z2
The sun now shone in all its strength and drove	G2
The heated virgin panting to a grove	G2
The grove around a grateful shadow cast	V
She dropt her arrows and her bow unbrac'd	V
She flung her self on the cool grassy bed	V
And on the painted quiver rais'd her head	V
Jove saw the charming huntress unprepar'd	V
Stretch'd on the verdant turf without a guard	V
Here I am safe he cries from Juno's eye	V
Or shou'd my jealous queen the theft descry	V
Yet wou'd I venture on a theft like this	K
And stand her rage for such for such a bliss	K
Diana's shape and habit strait he took	Z2
Soften'd his brows and smooth'd his awful look	Z2
And mildly in a female accent spoke	Z2
How fares my girl How went the morning chase	K
To whom the virgin starting from the grass	K
All hail bright deity whom I prefer	V
To Jove himself tho' Jove himself were here	V
The God was nearer than she thought and heard	V
Well pleas'd himself before himself preferr'd	V
He then salutes her with a warm embrace	K
And e're she half had told the morning chase	K
With love enflam'd and eager on his bliss	K
Smother'd her words and stop'd her with a kiss	K
His kisses with unwonted ardour glow'd	V
Nor cou'd Diana's shape conceal the God	V
The virgin did whate'er a virgin cou'd	V
Sure Juno must have pardon'd had she view'd	V
With all her might against his force she strove	G2
But how can mortal maids contend with Jove	G2
Possest at length of what his heart desir'd	V
Back to his Heav'ns th' exulting God retir'd	V
The lovely huntress rising from the grass	K
With down cast eyes and with a blushing face	K
By shame confounded and by fear dismay'd	V
Flew from the covert of the guilty shade	V
And almost in the tumult of her mind	V
Left her forgotten bow and shafts behind	V
But now Diana with a sprightly train	V
Of quiver'd virgins bounding o'er the plain	V
Call'd to the nymph the nymph began to fear	V
A second fraud a Jove disguis'd in her	V
But when she saw the sister nymphs suppress'd	V
Her rising fears and mingled with the rest	V
How in the look does conscious guilt appear	V
Slowly she mov'd and loiter'd in the rear	V
Nor lightly tripp'd nor by the Goddess ran	V
As once she us'd the foremost of the train	V
Her looks were flush'd and sullen was her mien	V
That sure the virgin Goddess had she been	V
Aught but a virgin must the guilt have seen	V
'Tis said the nymphs saw all and guess'd aright	V
And now the moon had nine times lost her light	V
When Dian fainting in the mid day beams	K
Found a cool covert and refreshing streams	K
That in soft murmurs through the forest flow'd	V
And a smooth bed of shining gravel show'd	V
A covert so obscure and streams so clear	V
The Goddess prais'd And now no spies are near	V
Let's strip my gentle maids and wash she cries	K
Pleas'd with the motion every maid complies	K
Only the blushing huntress stood confus'd	V
And form'd delays and her delays excus'd	V
In vain excus'd her fellows round her press'd	V
And the reluctant nymph by force undress'd	V
The naked huntress all her shame reveal'd	V
In vain her hands the pregnant womb conceal'd	V
Begone the Goddess cries with stern disdain	V
Begone nor dare the hallow'd stream to stain	V
She fled for ever banish'd from the train	V
This Juno heard who long had watch'd her time	G3
To punish the detested rival's crime	G3
The time was come for to enrage her more	V
A lovely boy the teeming rival bore	V
The Goddess cast a furious look and cry'd	V
It is enough I'm fully satisfy'd	V
This boy shall stand a living mark to prove	G2
My husband's baseness and the strumpet's love	G2
But vengeance shall awake those guilty charms	K
That drew the Thunderer from Juno's arms	K
No longer shall their wonted force retain	V
Nor please the God nor make the mortal vain	V
This said her hand within her hair she wound	V
Swung her to Earth and drag'd her on the ground	V
The prostrate wretch lifts up her arms in pray'r	V
Her arms grow shaggy and deform'd with hair	V
Her nails are sharpen'd into pointed claws	K
Her hands bear half her weight and turn to paws	K
Her lips that once cou'd tempt a God begin	V
To grow distorted in an ugly grin	V
And lest the supplicating brute might reach	H3
The ears of Jove she was depriv'd of speech	H3
Her surly voice thro' a hoarse passage came	Y2
In savage sounds her mind was still the same	Y2
The furry monster fix'd her eyes above	G2
And heav'd her new unwieldy paws to Jove	G2
And beg'd his aid with inward groans and tho'	F3
She could not call him false she thought him so	K
How did she fear to lodge in woods alone	V
And haunt the fields and meadows once her own	V
How often wou'd the deep mouth'd dogs pursue	K
Whilst from her hounds the frighted huntress flew	K
How did she fear her fellow brutes and shun	V
The shaggy bear tho' now her self was one	V
How from the sight of rugged wolves retire	V
Although the grim Lycaon was her sire	V
But now her son had fifteen summers told	V
Fierce at the chase and in the forest bold	V
When as he beat the woods in quest of prey	V
He chanc'd to rouze his mother where she lay	V
She knew her son and kept him in her sight	V
And fondly gaz'd the boy was in a fright	V
And aim'd a pointed arrow at her breast	V
And would have slain his mother in the beast	V
But Jove forbad and snatch'd 'em through the air	V
In whirlwinds up to Heav'n and fix'd 'em there	V
Where the new constellations nightly rise	K
And add a lustre to the northern skies	K
When Juno saw the rival in her height	V
Spangled with stars and circled round with light	V
She sought old Ocean in his deep abodes	K
And Tethys both rever'd among the Gods	K
They ask what brings her there Ne'er ask says	K
she	K
What brings me here Heav'n is no place for me	K
You'll see when night has cover'd all things o'er	V
Jove's starry bastard and triumphant whore	V
Usurp the Heav'ns you'll see 'em proudly rowle	V
And who shall now on Juno's altars wait	V
When those she hates grow greater by her hate	V
I on the nymph a brutal form impress'd	V
Jove to a goddess has transform'd the beast	V
This this was all my weak revenge could do	K
But let the God his chaste amours pursue	K
And as he acted after Io's rape	I3
Restore th' adultress to her former shape	I3
Then may he cast his Juno off and lead	V
The great Lycaon's offspring to his bed	V
But you ye venerable Pow'rs be kind	V
And if my wrongs a due resentment find	V
Receive not in your waves their setting beams	K
Nor let the glaring strumpet taint your streams	K
The Goddess ended and her wish was giv'n	V
Back she return'd in triumph up to Heav'n	V
Her gawdy peacocks drew her through the skies	K
Their tails were spotted with a thousand eyes	K
The eyes of Argus on their tails were rang'd	V
At the same time the raven's colour chang'd	V
The Story of The raven once in snowy plumes was drest	V
Coronis and White as the whitest dove's unsully'd breast	V
Birth of Fair as the guardian of the Capitol	V
Aesculapius Soft as the swan a large and lovely fowl	V
His tongue his prating tongue had chang'd him	J3
quite	V
To sooty blackness from the purest white	V
The story of his change shall here be told	V
In Thessaly there liv'd a nymph of old	V
Coronis nam'd a peerless maid she shin'd	V
Confest the fairest of the fairer kind	V
Apollo lov'd her 'till her guilt he knew	V
While true she was or whilst he thought her true	V
But his own bird the raven chanc'd to find	V
The false one with a secret rival joyn'd	V
Coronis begg'd him to suppress the tale	V
But could not with repeated pray'rs prevail	V
His milk white pinions to the God he ply'd	V
The busy daw flew with him side by side	V
And by a thousand teizing questions drew	V
Th' important secret from him as they flew	V
The daw gave honest counsel tho' despis'd	V
And tedious in her tattle thus advis'd	V
Stay silly bird th' ill natur'd task refuse	K
Nor be the bearer of unwelcome news	K
Be warn'd by my example you discern	V
What now I am and what I was shall learn	V
My foolish honesty was all my crime	G3
Then hear my story Once upon a time	G3
The two shap'd Ericthonius had his birth	F3
Without a mother from the teeming Earth	F3
Minerva nurs'd him and the infant laid	V
Within a chest of twining osiers made	V
The daughters of king Cecrops undertook	Z2
To guard the chest commanded not to look	Z2
On what was hid within I stood to see	K
The charge obey'd perch'd on a neighb'ring tree	K
The sisters Pandrosos and Herse keep	A3
The strict command Aglauros needs would peep	A3
And saw the monstrous infant in a fright	V
And call'd her sisters to the hideous sight	V
A boy's soft shape did to the waste prevail	V
But the boy ended in a dragon's tail	V
I told the stern Minerva all that pass'd	V
But for my pains discarded and disgrac'd	V
The frowning Goddess drove me from her sight	V
And for her fav'rite chose the bird of night	V
Be then no tell tale for I think my wrong	Z2
Enough to teach a bird to hold her tongue	Z2
But you perhaps may think I was remov'd	V
As never by the heav'nly maid belov'd	V
But I was lov'd ask Pallas if I lye	V
Tho' Pallas hate me now she won't deny	V
For I whom in a feather'd shape you view	V
Was once a maid by Heav'n the story's true	V
A blooming maid and a king's daughter too	V
A crowd of lovers own'd my beauty's charms	K
My beauty was the cause of all my harms	K
Neptune as on his shores I wont to rove	G2
Observ'd me in my walks and fell in love	G2
He made his courtship he confess'd his pain	V
And offer'd force when all his arts were vain	V
Swift he pursu'd I ran along the strand	V
'Till spent and weary'd on the sinking sand	V
I shriek'd aloud with cries I fill'd the air	V
To Gods and men nor God nor man was there	V
A virgin Goddess heard a virgin's pray'r	V
For as my arms I lifted to the skies	K
I saw black feathers from my fingers rise	K
I strove to fling my garment on the ground	V
My garment turn'd to plumes and girt me round	V
My hands to beat my naked bosom try	V
Nor naked bosom now nor hands had I	V
Lightly I tript nor weary as before	V
Sunk in the sand but skim'd along the shore	V
'Till rising on my wings I was preferr'd	V
To be the chaste Minerva's virgin bird	V
Preferr'd in vain I am now in disgrace	K
Nyctimene the owl enjoys my place	K
On her incestuous life I need not dwell	V
In Lesbos still the horrid tale they tell	V
And of her dire amours you must have heard	V
For which she now does penance in a bird	V
That conscious of her shame avoids the light	V
And loves the gloomy cov'ring of the night	V
The birds where e'er she flutters scare away	V
The hooting wretch and drive her from the day	V
The raven urg'd by such impertinence	K
Grew passionate it seems and took offence	K
And curst the harmless daw the daw withdrew	V
The raven to her injur'd patron flew	V
And found him out and told the fatal truth	F3
Of false Coronis and the favour'd youth	F3
The God was wroth the colour left his look	Z2
The wreath his head the harp his hand forsook	Z2
His silver bow and feather'd shafts he took	Z2
And lodg'd an arrow in the tender breast	V
That had so often to his own been prest	V
Down fell the wounded nymph and sadly groan'd	V
And pull'd his arrow reeking from the wound	V
And weltring in her blood thus faintly cry'd	V
Ah cruel God tho' I have justly dy'd	V
What has alas my unborn infant done	V
That he should fall and two expire in one	V
This said in agonies she fetch'd her breath	F3
The God dissolves in pity at her death	F3
He hates the bird that made her falshood known	V
And hates himself for what himself had done	V
The feather'd shaft that sent her to the Fates	K
And his own hand that sent the shaft he hates	K
Fain would he heal the wound and ease her pain	V
And tries the compass of his art in vain	V
Soon as he saw the lovely nymph expire	V
The pile made ready and the kindling fire	V
With sighs and groans her obsequies he kept	V
And if a God could weep the God had wept	V
Her corps he kiss'd and heav'nly incense brought	V
And solemniz'd the death himself had wrought	V
But lest his offspring should her fate partake	Z2
Spight of th' immortal mixture in his make	Z2
He ript her womb and set the child at large	K3
And gave him to the centaur Chiron's charge	K3
Then in his fury black'd the raven o'er	V
And bid him prate in his white plumes no more	V
Ocyrrhoe Old Chiron took the babe with secret joy	L3
transform'd Proud of the charge of the celestial boy	L3
into a Mare His daughter too whom on the sandy shore	V
The nymph Charicle to the centaur bore	V
With hair dishevel'd on her shoulders came	Y2
To see the child Ocyrrhoe was her name	Y2
She knew her father's arts and could rehearse	K
The depths of prophecy in sounding verse	K
Once as the sacred infant she survey'd	V
The God was kindled in the raving maid	V
And thus she utter'd her prophetick tale	V
Hail great physician of the world all hail	V
Hail mighty infant who in years to come	W2
Shalt heal the nations and defraud the tomb	B3
Swift be thy growth thy triumphs unconfin'd	V
Make kingdoms thicker and increase mankind	V
Thy daring art shall animate the dead	V
And draw the thunder on thy guilty head	V
Then shalt thou dye but from the dark abode	V
Rise up victorious and be twice a God	V
And thou my sire not destin'd by thy birth	F3
To turn to dust and mix with common earth	F3
How wilt thou toss and rave and long to dye	V
And quit thy claim to immortality	V
When thou shalt feel enrag'd with inward pains	K
The Hydra's venom rankling in thy veins	K
The Gods in pity shall contract thy date	V
And give thee over to the pow'r of Fate	V
Thus entring into destiny the maid	V
The secrets of offended Jove betray'd	V
More had she still to say but now appears	K
Oppress'd with sobs and sighs and drown'd in	V
tears	K
My voice says she is gone my language fails	K
Through ev'ry limb my kindred shape prevails	K
Why did the God this fatal gift impart	V
And with prophetick raptures swell my heart	V
What new desires are these I long to pace	K
O'er flow'ry meadows and to feed on grass	K
I hasten to a brute a maid no more	V
But why alas am I transform'd all o'er	V
My sire does half a human shape retain	V
And in his upper parts preserve the man	V
Her tongue no more distinct complaints affords	K
But in shrill accents and mis shapen words	K
Pours forth such hideous wailings as declare	V
The human form confounded in the mare	V
'Till by degrees accomplish'd in the beast	V
She neigh'd outright and all the steed exprest	V
Her stooping body on her hands is born	V
Her hands are turn'd to hoofs and shod in horn	V
Her yellow tresses ruffle in a mane	V
And in a flowing tail she frisks her train	V
The mare was finish'd in her voice and look	Z2
And a new name from the new figure took	Z2
The Sore wept the centuar and to Phoebus pray'd	V
Transformation But how could Phoebus give the centaur aid	V
of Battus to a Degraded of his pow'r by angry Jove	G2
Touch stone In Elis then a herd of beeves he drove	G2
And wielded in his hand a staff of oak	Z2
And o'er his shoulders threw the shepherd's cloak	Z2
On sev'n compacted reeds he us'd to play	V
And on his rural pipe to waste the day	V
As once attentive to his pipe he play'd	V
The crafty Hermes from the God convey'd	V
A drove that sep'rate from their fellows stray'd	V
The theft an old insidious peasant view'd	V
They call'd him Battus in the neighbourhood	V
Hir'd by a vealthy Pylian prince to feed	V
His fav'rite mares and watch the gen'rous breed	V
The thievish God suspected him and took	Z2
The hind aside and thus in whispers spoke	Z2
Discover not the theft whoe'er thou be	V
And take that milk white heifer for thy fee	V
Go stranger cries the clown securely on	V
That stone shall sooner tell and show'd a stone	V
The God withdrew but strait return'd again	V
In speech and habit like a country swain	V
And cries out Neighbour hast thou seen a stray	V
Of bullocks and of heifers pass this way	V
In the recov'ry of my cattle join	V
A bullock and a heifer shall be thine	V
The peasant quick replies You'll find 'em there	V
In yon dark vale and in the vale they were	V
The double bribe had his false heart beguil'd	V
The God successful in the tryal smil'd	V
And dost thou thus betray my self to me	V
Me to my self dost thou betray says he	V
Then to a Touch stone turns the faithless spy	V
And in his name records his infamy	V
The Story of This done the God flew up on high and pass'd	V
Aglauros O'er lofty Athens by Minerva grac'd	V
transform'd And wide Munichia whilst his eyes survey	V
into a Statue All the vast region that beneath him lay	V
'Twas now the feast when each Athenian maid	V
Her yearly homage to Minerva paid	V
In canisters with garlands cover'd o'er	V
High on their heads their mystick gifts they bore	V
And now returning in a solemn train	V
The troop of shining virgins fill'd the plain	V
The God well pleas'd beheld the pompous show	K
And saw the bright procession pass below	K
Then veer'd about and took a wheeling flight	V
And hover'd o'er them as the spreading kite	V
That smells the slaughter'd victim from on high	V
Flies at a distance if the priests are nigh	V
And sails around and keeps it in her eye	V
So kept the God the virgin quire in view	G2
And in slow winding circles round them flew	G2
As Lucifer excells the meanest star	V
Or as the full orb'd Phoebe Lucifer	V
So much did Herse all the rest outvy	G2
And gave a grace to the solemnity	V
Hermes was fir'd as in the clouds he hung	Z2
So the cold bullet that with fury slung	Z2
From Balearick engines mounts on high	G2
Glows in the whirl and burns along the sky	G2
At length he pitch'd upon the ground and show'd	V
The form divine the features of a God	V
He knew their vertue o'er a female heart	V
And yet he strives to better them by art	V
He hangs his mantle loose and sets to show	K
The golden edging on the seam below	K
Adjusts his flowing curls and in his hand	V
Waves with an air the sleep procuring wand	V
The glitt'ring sandals to his feet applies	K
And to each heel the well trim'd pinion ties	K
His ornaments with nicest art display'd	V
He seeks th' apartment of the royal maid	V
The roof was all with polish'd iv'ry lin'd	V
That richly mix'd in clouds of tortoise shin'd	V
Three rooms contiguous in a range were plac'd	V
The midmost by the beauteous Herse grac'd	V
Her virgin sisters lodg'd on either side	V
Aglauros first th' approaching God descry'd	V
And as he cross'd her chamber ask'd his name	Y2
And what his business was and whence he came	Y2
I come reply'd the God from Heav'n to woo	G2
Your sister and to make an aunt of you	G2
I am the son and messenger of Jove	G2
My name is Mercury my bus'ness love	G2
Do you kind damsel take a lover's part	V
And gain admittance to your sister's heart	V
She star'd him in the face with looks amaz'd	V
As when she on Minerva's secret gaz'd	V
And asks a mighty treasure for her hire	V
And 'till he brings it makes the God retire	V
Minerva griev'd to see the nymph succeed	V
And now remembring the late impious deed	V
When disobedient to her strict command	V
She touch'd the chest with an unhallow'd hand	V
In big swoln sighs her inward rage express'd	V
That heav'd the rising Aegis on her breast	V
Then sought out Envy in her dark abode	V
Defil'd with ropy gore and clots of blood	V
Shut from the winds and from the wholesome skies	K
In a deep vale the gloomy dungeon lies	K
Dismal and cold where not a beam of light	V
Invades the winter or disturbs the night	V
Directly to the cave her course she steer'd	V
Against the gates her martial lance she rear'd	V
The gates flew open and the fiend appear'd	V
A pois'nous morsel in her teeth she chew'd	V
And gorg'd the flesh of vipers for her food	V
Minerva loathing turn'd away her eye	G2
The hideous monster rising heavily	V
Came stalking forward with a sullen pace	K
And left her mangled offals on the place	K
Soon as she saw the goddess gay and bright	V
She fetch'd a groan at such a chearful sight	V
Livid and meagre were her looks her eye	G2
In foul distorted glances turn'd awry	G2
A hoard of gall her inward parts possess'd	V
And spread a greenness o'er her canker'd breast	V
Her teeth were brown with rust and from her	V
tongue	Z2
In dangling drops the stringy poison hung	Z2
She never smiles but when the wretched weep	A3
Nor lulls her malice with a moment's sleep	A3
Restless in spite while watchful to destroy	L3
She pines and sickens at another's joy	L3
Foe to her self distressing and distrest	V
She bears her own tormentor in her breast	V
The Goddess gave for she abhorr'd her sight	V
A short command To Athens speed thy flight	V
On curst Aglauros try thy utmost art	V
And fix thy rankest venoms in her heart	V
This	K

Ovid

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