The Metamorphoses of Publius Ovidus Naso in English blank verse Part 31

"Near Pitthean Trzen is a lofty hill "By trees unshaded; now indeed an hill "But once a level plain. Wond'rous to tell "The wind's resistless force, in caverns deep "Inclos'd, for exit somewhere as it strain'd, "And struggled long in vain, a freer range "Of air to sweep; when all the prison round "Was found no fissure pervious to the blast, "It swell'd the high-rais'd ground: just so the breath "Puffs out the bladder, or the horn'd goat's skin.

"The tumor still remains, and now appears, "Grown hard by lapse of time, a lofty hill.

"Though numbers to my mind occur, or seen "Or heard, but few beside I will relate.

"Do not streams too receive and lose new powers?

"Thy fountain, horned Ammon, at mid-day "Is icy cold, but hot at morn and eve.

"The waters of Athamanis, are said, "Sprinkled on wood, when Luna's lessening orb "Shines in the heavens, to warm it into flame.

"A river have the Cicones, which turns "To marble what it touches: whoso drinks "Instant his inwards harden into stone.

"Cathis and Sybaris, which border near "Our pastures, make the hair resemble gold.

"More wond'rous still, waters there are, with power "The mind to change as well as change the limbs.

"Who has not heard of Salmacis obscene?

"And Ethiopa's lake, which whoso drinks "Or furious raves, or sinks in sleep profound?

"Whoe'er his thirst at the c.l.i.torian fount "Quenches, he loathes all wine: abstemious, joys "To drink pure water: whether power the waves "Possess to thwart the heating vinous juice, "Or, as the natives tell, with herbs and charms "When the mad Praetides Melampus cur'd, "He in the stream the mental medicine flung; "And hate of wine the fountain still retains.

"Lyncestius' river flows with different power; "Of this who swallows but the smallest draught "Staggers, as charg'd with plenteous cups of wine.

"A dangerous place Arcadia holds (of yore "Call'd Pheneos) for its waters' two-fold force: "Dreaded by night: for drank by night they harm, "But guiltless of all mischief drank by day.

"Thus lakes and rivers now these powers possess; "Now those. Time was Ortygia on the waves "Floated, now firm she rests. Argo, first ship "Dreaded the isles Cyanean scatter'd round "And clashing oft amid the roaring waves; "Which rest unmov'd now, and the winds despise.

"Nor Etna whose sulphureous furnace flames "Will always burn; time was it burn'd not yet: "For let earth be an animated ma.s.s, "Which lives, and breathing holes in various parts "Exhaling flame, possesses, she may change, "Each time she moves, those pa.s.sages of air; "These caverns close, and others open throw.

"Or whether wind, confin'd in those deep caves, "Hurls rocks on rocks, and what the seeds of fire "Contain; and flames from the concussion burst; "The winds appeas'd, cold will the caves be left.

"Or if the flame be by bitumen caught, "Or by pale sulphur, fiercely will it burn "To the last particle; but when the earth "Fuel and oily nutriment no more "The flame shall give; a tedious length of years "Its force exhausting, and its nutriment "By nature's tooth consum'd, the famish'd flames "Will this desert, deserted by their food.

"Fame says, the men who in Pallene live, "A northern clime, when nine times in the lake "Tritonian plung'd, in plumage light are clad.

"This scarce can I believe. They also tell "That Scythia's females, sprinkling on their limbs "Rank poisons, such like transformation gain.

"Yet when well-try'd experience us instructs, "Faith may be given. Do we not bodies see "Decaying slow with moisture and with heat, "To animalcules chang'd? Nay, go, inter "A chosen slaughter'd steer, (well known the fact, "And much in use;) lo! from the putrid paunch "Swarms of the flower-collecting bee will rise, "Which rove the meadows as their parent rov'd: "And urge their toil and labor still in hope.

"The warlike courser, prostrate on the ground, "Becomes the source whence angry hornets rise.

"Cut from the sea-sh.o.r.e crab his crooked claws, "And place the rest in earth, a scorpion thence, "Will come, and threaten with his hooked tail.

"The meadow worms too, which with silky threads "(Well noted is the fact,) are wont to weave "The foliage, change the figures which they wear, "Like the gay b.u.t.terfly of funeral fame.

"The life-producing seeds of gra.s.s-green frogs "Mud holds; and forms them first devoid of feet, "Then gives them legs for swimming well contriv'd; "And, apt that they for lengthen'd leaps may suit, "Behind these far surpa.s.s the first in length.

"The cub the bear brings forth, at its first birth "Is but a lump of barely living flesh: "Licking, the mother forms the limbs, and gives "As much of shape as she herself enjoys.

"See we the young not of the honey'd bee, "Clos'd in the wax hexagonally shap'd, "First form'd a body limbless, gaining late "Their feet and wings? And who could e'er suppose, "Except the fact he knew, that Juno's bird "Which bears the starry tail; that Venus' doves; "The thunder-bearer of almighty Jove; "And all the race of birds, their being owe "To a small egg's still smaller central part?

"There are, who think the human marrow chang'd, "A snake becomes, when putrid turns the spine "In a close sepulchre. These, each and all, "Their origin from other things derive.

"One bird there is, which from herself alone "Springs, and regenerates without foreign aid: "a.s.syrians call her Phnix. Not on grain, "Nor herbs she lives, but on strong frankincense, "And rich amomums' juice: when she has pa.s.s'd "Five ages of her life, with her broad bill "And talons, she upon the ilex' boughs, "Or on the summit of the trembling palm, "A nest constructs: on this she ca.s.sia strews, "Spikes of sweet-smelling nard, the dark brown myrrh, "And cinnamon well bruis'd: then lays herself "Above, and on the odorous pile expires.

"Then, they report, an infant Phnix springs "From the parental corse, to which is given "Five ages too, to live. When years afford "Due strength to lift, and bear the ponderous load, "She lightens of the weighty nest the boughs; "With pious duty her own cradle takes, "And parent's sepulchre; then, having gain'd "Hyperion's city through the yielding air, "Before the sacred portal lays it down.

"If of stupendous wonder aught ye find "In this, hyaenas must your wonder move; "Alternate changing, females now they bear; "And annual alter unto males again: "That reptile too, which feeds on wind and air; "And what it touches, straight its hue a.s.sumes.

"India by cl.u.s.ter-bearing Bacchus gain'd, "Lynxes upon the conquering G.o.d bestow'd: "And, (so they tell) whate'er their bladders void, "Concretes to gems, and hardens in the air.

"Thus too, the coral hardens to a stone; "A plant so flexible beneath the waves.

"Day would desert us; Phbus' panting steeds "Would in the mighty deep be plung'd, ere I "Could finish, should I every substance tell "Chang'd to new form. This we perceive, that time "All turns. These nations mighty strength attain: "Those sink in power. Thus Troy in wealth and strength "Was mighty; and for ten long years could shed "Her blood in torrents. Low she lies, and shews "Her ancient ruins, and her numerous tombs "For all her riches. Sparta once was great; "And fam'd Mycene once in power was strong; "With Athens; and the town Amphion rais'd.

"Now a mean spot is Sparta; low now lies "Lofty Mycene; what of Thebes remains, "The town of dipus, except his tale?

"What of Pandion's Athens, but the name?

"And now begins the fame of Dardan Rome "To rise; the waves of Tiber from the hills "Of Appenine descending, bathe her walls: "Plac'd on a huge foundation shall she fix "Her empire's base. By increase shall she change; "And shall hereafter of the mighty world "Be head. This prophets, they a.s.sert, have said, "And fate-predicting oracles. Myself "Remember Helenus, old Priam's son, "Address'd aeneas, when the Trojan towers "Were tottering, weeping,--and of future fate "Doubtful, in words like these--O G.o.ddess born!

"If the prognostics of my soul I read "Rightly, Troy ne'er, while thou art safe, will fall.

"Flames and the sword shall ope to thee a path "Thou shalt depart, and with thyself convey "An Ilium, till a foreign land thou find'st; "A land more friendly both to thee and Troy.

"Now, to the Phrygians' offspring due, I see "A city rais'd; such former ages ne'er "Beheld; such is not; such will never be.

"Thousands of worthies in a length of years, "Its power shall spread; but lord of all the globe "Shall he, descended of Iulus, reign; "Who, when by earth awhile enjoy'd, shall gain-- "A seat celestial; and the heavens shall be "The bound of his career.--Well does my mind "Retain, that Helenus in such like words "Address'd the chief who bore his country's G.o.ds.

"Joy'd I behold my kindred walls increase; "And Grecia's conquest happy prove for Troy.

"But lest too wide I wander, and my steeds "Forget the goal; know, heaven, and all beneath; "Earth, and all earth's contents their shapes must change.

"Let us then, members of the world (not form'd "Of body only, but with winged souls "Which to the bodies of wild beasts may pa.s.s, "Or dwell within the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of grazing herds) "Permit those forms which may the souls contain "Of parents, brethren, or of those once join'd "To us by other bonds, certain of men, "To rest secure and safe from savage wounds; "Nor load our bowels at Thyestes' board.

"Soon, by ill custom warp'd, does he prepare "To bathe his impious hands in human gore, "Who severs with his knife the lowing throat "Of the young calf, and turns a deafen'd ear "To all its cries: or who the kid can slay, "Moaning in plaintive tone like children's cries: "Or who the fowl he fed before, can eat.

"What more is wanting, that may now complete "The measure of iniquity? From thence "Where the next step? Then let thine oxen plough, "And let their death be due alone to age.

"Let from dread Boreas' piercing cold the sheep "Defend thee with her wool. Let the full goat "Present her udder to thy hand to press.

"Throw far thy nets, thy nooses, and thy snares, "And all thy treacherous skill; nor with lim'd twig "Deceive the bird; nor with strong toils the deer; "Nor hide the barbed hook with treacherous bait.

"If animals annoy ye, them destroy: "But slay them only. From the taste of flesh "Free be your mouths, while food more fit ye eat."

His breast with these, and such like doctrines fill'd, Numa, 'tis said, back to his country came; And held, unsought for, the supreme command O'er Latium's realm. Blest with the nymph his spouse, And by the muses guided, all the rites Of sacrifice he taught: the people train'd, Fond of fierce war, to arts of gentle peace.

When late he finish'd reign at once, and life, The Latian females, n.o.bles, commons, all In streaming tears, bewail'd their Numa dead.

His consort Rome deserted, and lay hid In the deep forests of Aricia's vale; And with her wailings and her mournful sighs, The rites impeded in Diana's fane.

How oft the nymphs who dwelt in lakes and groves, Kind admonitions gave her not to mourn, And sooth'd her with consolatory words!

How oft the son of Theseus weeping, said; "Cease thus to grieve, nor think your fate alone "Is hard. Look round awhile on others' woes; "More mild your own you'll bear. Would that not mine "Were such as might a.s.suage your woe; but mine, "When heard, to calm your grief may something yield.

"Haply report has sounded in your ears "Of one Hippolytus the fate, destroy'd "Through his most impious step-dame's treacherous fraud, "And sire's credulity. With much surprize "You'll hear,--nay scarcely will you trust my words, "But he am I! Pasiphae's daughter me "Accus'd, that I with vain endeavour try'd "To violate my parent's nuptial couch: "Me feigning guilty of the crime she wish'd; "On me th' offence retorting, or through fear "I might accuse, or rage at her repulse.

"My sire, me guiltless from the city drove, "And curs'd me going with most hostile prayers.

"To Pitthean Traezen I my exil'd flight "Directed: and now drove along the sh.o.r.e "Of Corinth's sea; when ocean sudden heav'd; "A mighty heap of waters bent appear'd, "Like an huge hill, and increase seem'd to gain; "Then roaring loud was at its summit cleft.

"Thence, from the bursting waves a horned bull "Rush'd forth, breast-high uprearing in the air; "Spouting the waves through his capacious mouth "And nostrils. Terror seiz'd my comrades' b.r.e.a.s.t.s: "Fill'd with the thoughts of exile, mine alone "Unmov'd remain'd. While my impatient steeds, "Turn'd to the main their heads; with ears erect "Affrighted stood; then by the beast appall'd, "Rush'd rapid with the car o'er lofty rocks.

"With a vain hand I strive to gird the curb, "Besmear'd with foaming whiteness; bending back "With all my might I pull the pliant reins.

"Nor had my horses' furious madness mock'd "My strength, save that the fast-revolving wheel "A tree opposing struck, and shatter'd: wide "The fragments flew. I from the car was thrown, "Entangled in the harness: plain to view "Were seen my living bowels dragg'd along; "My sinews twisted round the stump; my limbs "Part swept away, and part entangled left: "Loud crash'd my fractur'd bones; my weary'd soul "At length exhal'd; my body nought retain'd "That could be known, one all-continued wound.

"Can you, O nymph! or dare you, now compare "Your woe with mine? Since then I have beheld "The realm of darkness, and my mangled limbs "Bath'd in the waves of Phlegethon. Nor life "Had been restor'd, but through the forceful help, "Of medicine that Apollo's offspring gave.

"From him Paeonian aid when I had gain'd "By plants of power, though much in Pluto's spite, "Cynthia me cover'd with her densest clouds: "And lest my sight their hatred should increase, "That safe I might remain, and without risk "Be seen, she gave to my appearance age, "Nor left me features to be known again: "And long deliberated, whether Crete "Or Delos, for my dwelling she would chuse.

"But, Crete and Delos both abandon'd, here "She plac'd me, and my name she bade renounce "Which still reminded me of my wild steeds; "Saying--O thou, Hippolytus who wast!

"Be Virbius now! Thenceforth within these groves "I dwell,--a minor deity, I tend "My heavenly mistress, and increase her train."

But foreign griefs possess'd not power to chase Egeria's woe; who at a mountain's foot Thrown prostrate, melted in a flood of tears; 'Till Phbus' sister by her sorrow mov'd, Transform'd her body to a cooling fount; And her limbs melted to still-during streams.

The miracle the wondering nymphs beheld; Nor stood the son of Amazonia's queen With less surprize than on the bosom seiz'd Of the Tyrrhenian ploughman, when he view'd The fate-foretelling clod, amidst the fields.

At first spontaneous and untouch'd it mov'd; Then took a human figure; shook off earth, And op'd its new-form'd prophesying mouth: Tages the natives call'd him, who first taught Th' Etruscan race the future to explain: Or Romulus, when he his spear beheld Stuck on Palatium's hill, and sudden sprout: By a new root, not by its steely point, Fixt fast: no more a weapon, but a tree, With pliant branches, which afford a shade Unlook'd for to the wondering people round: Or Cippus, when he in the flowing stream Beheld his new-form'd horns (for them he saw) But thought th' appearance false; and what he view'd, Oft rais'd his fingers to his head to touch: No more his eyes distrusting, then he stood, (As victor from a conquer'd foe he came,) And raising up to heaven his hands and eyes, "Ye G.o.ds!" he said, "whatever this portends, "If happy, to my country, to the state, "Be it;--if ominous of ill, to me."

And then with odorous fires the G.o.ds ador'd, On gra.s.sy altars of the green sward form'd; And from the goblets pour'd the wine; and search'd, The panting entrails of the slaughter'd sheep, For what was meant. Th' Etruscan seer beheld That mighty revolutions they foretold; But yet obscurely: till his piercing eye He from the entrails turn'd to Cippus' horns.

Then cry'd;--"Save thee, O king! for lo! the place "For thee, O Cippus! and thy horns, the towers "Of Latium will obey. Thou only haste; "Delay not, but within the open gates "Enter; so fate commands. In them receiv'd "King wilt thou be; in safety wilt enjoy "An ever-during kingdom." Back he drew His feet, and from the city's walls he turn'd Sternly his looks; exclaiming; "far, ye G.o.ds!

"O, far avert these omens! Better I "An exile roam for life, than monarch rule "The Capitol." Then he a.s.sembled straight The reverend senate, and the people round: But first with peaceful laurel veil'd his horns: Then on a mound, there by the soldiers rais'd, He stood; and pray'd in ancient mode to heaven.

"Lo! here," he cry'd, "is one, whom save ye drive "Far from your city, will your monarch be; "By marks, but not by name I him describe: "Two horns his forehead bears. He is the man, "Once in the town receiv'd, the augur tells, "With servile laws will rule ye. Nay, he might "Your open gates have enter'd, but myself "Oppos'd him; though more near to me is none.

"Expel him, Romans! from your city far; "Or, if he merit them, with ma.s.sive chains "Load him: or rid yourself at once of fear "By the proud tyrant's death." Such murmurs sound 'Mid lofty pines, when Eurus whistles fierce; Such is the roaring of the ocean waves Rolling far distant, as the crowd sent forth: Till from amidst the all-confounding noise One spoke more loud, and--"which is he?" exclaim'd.

Then all the brows they search'd, the horns to find.

Cippus again address'd them. "What you seek "Behold!" and from his head the garland tore, Spite of their efforts, and his forehead shew'd, With double horns distinguish'd. All their eyes Depress'd, and sighs from every bosom burst: Unwillingly, (incredible!) they view That head so bright with merit. Then, no more Bearing that honors due he should not gain, They bind his temples with a festal crown.

Thee, Cippus! since within the walls forbid To enter, now the senators present A grateful gift; a tract of land so large As with a plough, by two yok'd oxen drawn, Thou canst from morn till close of day surround.

The horns, the type of this stupendous fact, Long shall remain on brazen pillars grav'd.

Ye muses, patrons of the poet's song, Explain (for all complete your knowledge, age Most distant ne'er deceives you) why the isle In Tiber's bosom, by his billows wash'd, The rites of Esculapius introduc'd Into the town of Romulus! A plague Of direst form infected Latium's air, And the pale bloodless bodies wasted thin Squalid in poison. When the numerous deaths Prov'd every effort of mankind was vain, And vain the art of medicine, they beseech Celestial aid, and unto Delphos go, Apollo's oracle, 'mid place of earth; Pray him to help their miserable state With health-affording words; and end at once The dreadful pest which scourg'd their mighty town.

The fane, the laurel, and the quiver, slung Upon his shoulder, shook; and this reply The tripod from its secret depth return'd; Thrilling their fear-struck bosoms: "What you seek, "O Romans! here, you should have nearer sought: "And nearer now ev'n seek it. Phbus' aid "Your woe can lessen not; but Phbus' son "Can help ye: therefore with good omens go, "And call my offspring to afford relief."

Soon as the prudent senators receiv'd The G.o.d's commands, with diligence they seek What city's walls Apollo's son contain; Depute a band, whom favoring breezes waft To Epidaurus' sh.o.r.es. Soon as their keels Touch'd on the strand, they to th' a.s.sembled crowd Of Grecian elders haste; and earnest beg To grant their deity, to check the rage Of death amongst the hapless Latian race, By his mere presence. So unerring fate Had said. Divided is the council's voice: Some would the aid besought, be granted; some, And many, these oppose; refuse to send To foreign lands their patron, and their G.o.d.

While dubious they deliberated, eve Chas'd the remains of light, and the earth's shade Threw darkness round; when, lo! the helping G.o.d Appear'd in sleep before the Roman's bed To stand, in form like what his temples grace.

His left hand bore a rugged staff; his right Strok'd down the hairs of his expanded beard; As thus with words of import mild he spoke; "Fear not, for I will come; my temple leave.

"View but this snake which with his circling folds "My staff entwines; remark him, that again "You well may know him; chang'd to such a form "Will I be; but more huge I will appear; "Mighty in bulk as heavenly beings ought."

The vision ceas'd, and vanish'd with the words: And with the G.o.d fled sleep; and cheerful light Follow'd the flight of Somnus. Now the morn Had chas'd the starry fires; the Grecian chiefs, Still dubious, in the splendid temple meet Of the intreated deity, and pray That some celestial sign he should display, To prove which country for his seat he chose.

Scarce had they ended, when the shining G.o.d Fore-running hisses sent; and as a snake With lofty crest appear'd: at his approach His statue, altars, portals, gilded roofs, And marble pavement shook. He rear'd his chest Sublime amid the temple; and around Darted his eyes, which shone with living fire.

Trembled the fear-struck crowd. The sacred priest, His hair encircled with a snowy band, Straight knew him; and, "the G.o.d! the G.o.d!" exclaim'd: "All present, him with hearts and tongues adore!

"O glorious deity! may thou, thus seen, "Propitious be; thy worshippers protect, "Who keep thy rites." All present to the G.o.d Adoring bend, and all his words repeat; And Rome's emba.s.sadors with fervor join In mind and voice. To these the G.o.d consents, And his crest moving, certain signs affords: Thrice hissing, thrice he shakes his forked tongue, Then down the shining steps he glides, his head Retorted; as he thence departs he views His ancient altars, and a last salute, His wonted seat, his long-own'd temple, gives.

Thence rolls he huge along the ground bestrew'd With scatter'd flowers, in curving folds entwin'd; And through the city's centre takes his way, To where the bending mole the port defends.

Here rested he; and to dismiss appear'd His followers, and the kind attending crowd, With gracious looks; then in th' Ausonian ship He plac'd his length. A deity's huge weight The ship confess'd; the keel beneath the load Bent. Glad aeneas' offspring felt, and loos'd (A bull first sacrific'd upon the sh.o.r.e,) The cables which their crowded galley bound.

Light airs impell'd the vessel. High aloft The G.o.d appear'd; upon the curving p.o.o.p Rested his neck, and view'd the azure waves.

By zephyrs wafted o'er th' Ionian sea, They reach'd Italia when the sixth time rose Aurora. Pa.s.s'd Scylacea, and the fane Of Juno, on Lacinia's noted sh.o.r.e; j.a.pygia left, and shunn'd Amphissia's rocks With larboard oars; and, coasting on the right, Ceraunia, and Romechium pa.s.s'd, and pa.s.s'd Narycia and Caulonia; they, (the risks Of sea, and of Pelorus' narrow straits Surmounted) pa.s.s th' aeolian monarch's isles; Metallic Themesis; Leucasia's land; And warm and rosy Paestus. Thence they coast Along Capraea; and Minerva's cape; And pa.s.s Surrentum, rich in generous wine, The town of Hercules; Parthenope, Built for soft ease; with Stabia; and from thence Pa.s.s the c.u.maean Sybil's sacred dome.

Hence by Linternum, with the mastich rich; And boiling fountains are they borne; and past Vulturnus sucking sand within the gulf; And Sinuessa, fill'd with milk-white doves: Marshy Minturnae; with Cajeta, rais'd By him she nurs'd; Antiphates' abode; Trachas, by fens encompa.s.s'd; Circe's land; And Antium's solid sh.o.r.e. Here when the crew Had with toe flying vessel reach'd, (for now Rough was the main) the G.o.d his folds untwines, Glides on in frequent coils, and spires immense; Entering a temple of his sire that stood Close by the yellow beach. The ocean calm'd, The Epidaurian G.o.d his father's fane Now leaves; a deity to him close join'd Thus hospitable found: the sandy sh.o.r.e Ploughs in a furrow with his rattling scales: Then, in the steersman confident, he rests On the high p.o.o.p his head, till they approach Lavinium's city, and her sacred seat, And Tiber's mouth. The people rush in heaps, And crowds of matrons and of fathers rush, Confus'dly hither; even the vestal maids Who guard the sacred fire: and all salute The G.o.d with joyful clamor. Then where'er The rapid vessel cleaves th' opposing stream, The incense crackles on the banks, and rais'd Are lines of altars, thick on either sh.o.r.e; The smoke perfumes the air; the victims bleed In heaps, and warm the sacrificial knife.

The Roman city now, the world's great head, They enter'd, up erect the serpent rose; From the mast's loftiest summit tower'd his neck, And round he look'd to chuse a fit abode.

The waves circ.u.mfluent in two equal streams Divide; the isle has thence its name, the arms On either side are stretch'd, land in the midst.

Hither the aesculapian snake himself Betook, departing from the Latian ship; Resum'd his form celestial, and their griefs Dispersing, came health-bearer to the land.