DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9260#0196
PHOSEON Lib. V.
PHOSES. Book V. 161
Oppidaque, & magnos evohere corpore mon-
ies. 355
Inde tremit tellus: & Rex paruet ipfe fden-
turn,
2Sfe pate at, latoque folum retegatur hiatu >•
ImmiJJusque dies trepidantes terreat umbras.
Hanc metuens cladem tenebrofa fede tyrannus
Exierat: curruque atrorum vectus equo-
rum g6o
Ambibat Siculae cautus fundamina terrae.
Poftquam exploratum fatis eft loca nulla la-
bare i
Depofttique metus: videt hunc Erjcina *va-
gantem
jMonte fuo refidens, natumque amplexa vo-
lucrem >•
Arma, manusque meae , me a, nate,poten~
tia, dixit, 365
Ilia, quibus juperas omnes, cape tela, Cupido,
Inque Dei pectus celeres molire fagittas,
Cut triplicis cejft for tuna noviffima regni.
Tu Superos, ipfumque Jovem , tu numina
ponti
Vitta domas, ipjumque , regit qui numina,
ponti. 370
Tartar a quid ceffant ? cur non matrisque
tuumque
Imperium profers ? agitur pars tertia munde.
Et tamen in coelo, quaejampatientia nojlra ejl,
Spernimur: ac mecum vires tenuantur Amor is.
Fallada nonne vides , jaculatricemque Dia-
nam 375
Abfcejjiffe mihi ? Cereris quoque filia <virgo,
Si patiemur, erit: nam fpes adfe&at easdem.
At tu, pro focio ft qua eft mea gratia regno,
Junge Deam patruo.dixit Venus, illepharetram
Solvit: & arbitrio matris de mille fagit-
tis 380
Unam fepofuit. fed qua nec acutior ulla,
2Sfec minus incerta ejl, nec quae magis au-
di at arcum.
Oppofitoque genu cur<vavit flexile cornu:
Inque cor hamata percuffit arundme Ditem.
„ His Terrors reach the direful King of Hell ;
„ He fears his Throws will to the Day reveal
The Realms of Night, and fright his trem,,
bling Ghofts.
5, This to prevent, he quits the Stygian Coafts;
„ In his black Carr by footy Horfes drawn,
,, Fair Sicily he fecks, and dreads the Dawn.
,, Around her Plains he cafts his eager Eyes.
,, And ev'ry Mountain to the Bottom tries.
,, But when, in all the careful Search, he fiw
„ No Caufe of Fear , no ill furpected Flaw ;
Secure from Harm, and wand'ring on at Will,
Venus beheld him from her flow'ry Hill:
„ When ftrait the Dame her little Cufid prcft
With fccret Rapture to her fhowy Breaft, >
„ And in thefe Words the flutt ring Boy addreft.
„ O thou, my Arms, my Glory, and my Pow'r.
„ My Son, whom Men, and deathlefs Gods adore;
„ Bend thy fure Bow, whole Arrows never mifs'd.
„ No longer let Hell's King thy Sway refill::
Take him, while abfent from his dark Abodes,
He coafts the Kingdoms of fuperior Gods.
3, If Sovereign Jove, if Gods who rule the Waves,
3) And Neptune, who rules them, have been thy
Slaves ;
„ Shall Hell be free > The Tyrant ftrike, my Son ,
„ Enlarge thy Mother's Empire, and thy own.
„ Let not ourHeav'n be made the Mock of Hell,
But Pluto to confefs thy Pow'r compel.
Our Rule is flighted in our native Skies,
33
33
33
33
3)
3)
3)
3>
See Pallas, lee Diana too defies
ifei
Thy Darts, which Ceres' Daughter wou'd defpi
She too our Empire treats with awkward Scorn;
„ Such Infblence no longer's to be born.
„ Revenge our flighted Reign, and with One Dart
„ Transfix the Virgin's and the Uncle's Heart.
„ She faid and from his Quiver ftrait He drew
A Dart, that furely wou'd the Bufinefs do.
She guides his Hand , me makes her Touch -
the Teft,
„ And of a Thoufand Arrows chofe the beft:
No Feather better pois'd, a (harper Head
None had, and {boner none, and furer fped,
He bends his Bow, he draws it to his Ear.
At Pluto's Heart it drives, and fixes there.
EXPLICATION OF THE SIXTH FABLE.
THe Ancients often explained Natural Hiftory by
fabulous Suppofitions; and a Phamomenon,which
they were puzzled to explain, was immediatiy at-
tributed to a Supernatural Caufe. Mount z_y£tna was
often feen to throw out Fire in a very dreadful man-
ner , and the Earth received violent Shocks from the
Force of the Flames which ftruggled for a Vent: In-
ftead of looking for the Source of thofe Eruptions in
the Sulphur and Bitumen with which the Caverns of
that Mountain flill abound , it was fabled that the
Tom. I.
Gods, having vanquifhed the Giant Typhsus, or,ac-
cording to fome Authors , Enceladus , threw Mount
^yEtna upon him, and that the frequent Attempts he
made, to disengage and free himfclf from the Weight
of fo heavy a Load, were the Caufe of thole Hres and
Earth-quakes.
As one Fi&ion commonly gave Birth to another, it
was alfo fabled that Pluto, fearing left thofe frequent
Shocks might , at laft, open the Earth and let the
Light into his Kingdom, went one day into Sicily to
X examine
PHOSES. Book V. 161
Oppidaque, & magnos evohere corpore mon-
ies. 355
Inde tremit tellus: & Rex paruet ipfe fden-
turn,
2Sfe pate at, latoque folum retegatur hiatu >•
ImmiJJusque dies trepidantes terreat umbras.
Hanc metuens cladem tenebrofa fede tyrannus
Exierat: curruque atrorum vectus equo-
rum g6o
Ambibat Siculae cautus fundamina terrae.
Poftquam exploratum fatis eft loca nulla la-
bare i
Depofttique metus: videt hunc Erjcina *va-
gantem
jMonte fuo refidens, natumque amplexa vo-
lucrem >•
Arma, manusque meae , me a, nate,poten~
tia, dixit, 365
Ilia, quibus juperas omnes, cape tela, Cupido,
Inque Dei pectus celeres molire fagittas,
Cut triplicis cejft for tuna noviffima regni.
Tu Superos, ipfumque Jovem , tu numina
ponti
Vitta domas, ipjumque , regit qui numina,
ponti. 370
Tartar a quid ceffant ? cur non matrisque
tuumque
Imperium profers ? agitur pars tertia munde.
Et tamen in coelo, quaejampatientia nojlra ejl,
Spernimur: ac mecum vires tenuantur Amor is.
Fallada nonne vides , jaculatricemque Dia-
nam 375
Abfcejjiffe mihi ? Cereris quoque filia <virgo,
Si patiemur, erit: nam fpes adfe&at easdem.
At tu, pro focio ft qua eft mea gratia regno,
Junge Deam patruo.dixit Venus, illepharetram
Solvit: & arbitrio matris de mille fagit-
tis 380
Unam fepofuit. fed qua nec acutior ulla,
2Sfec minus incerta ejl, nec quae magis au-
di at arcum.
Oppofitoque genu cur<vavit flexile cornu:
Inque cor hamata percuffit arundme Ditem.
„ His Terrors reach the direful King of Hell ;
„ He fears his Throws will to the Day reveal
The Realms of Night, and fright his trem,,
bling Ghofts.
5, This to prevent, he quits the Stygian Coafts;
„ In his black Carr by footy Horfes drawn,
,, Fair Sicily he fecks, and dreads the Dawn.
,, Around her Plains he cafts his eager Eyes.
,, And ev'ry Mountain to the Bottom tries.
,, But when, in all the careful Search, he fiw
„ No Caufe of Fear , no ill furpected Flaw ;
Secure from Harm, and wand'ring on at Will,
Venus beheld him from her flow'ry Hill:
„ When ftrait the Dame her little Cufid prcft
With fccret Rapture to her fhowy Breaft, >
„ And in thefe Words the flutt ring Boy addreft.
„ O thou, my Arms, my Glory, and my Pow'r.
„ My Son, whom Men, and deathlefs Gods adore;
„ Bend thy fure Bow, whole Arrows never mifs'd.
„ No longer let Hell's King thy Sway refill::
Take him, while abfent from his dark Abodes,
He coafts the Kingdoms of fuperior Gods.
3, If Sovereign Jove, if Gods who rule the Waves,
3) And Neptune, who rules them, have been thy
Slaves ;
„ Shall Hell be free > The Tyrant ftrike, my Son ,
„ Enlarge thy Mother's Empire, and thy own.
„ Let not ourHeav'n be made the Mock of Hell,
But Pluto to confefs thy Pow'r compel.
Our Rule is flighted in our native Skies,
33
33
33
33
3)
3)
3)
3>
See Pallas, lee Diana too defies
ifei
Thy Darts, which Ceres' Daughter wou'd defpi
She too our Empire treats with awkward Scorn;
„ Such Infblence no longer's to be born.
„ Revenge our flighted Reign, and with One Dart
„ Transfix the Virgin's and the Uncle's Heart.
„ She faid and from his Quiver ftrait He drew
A Dart, that furely wou'd the Bufinefs do.
She guides his Hand , me makes her Touch -
the Teft,
„ And of a Thoufand Arrows chofe the beft:
No Feather better pois'd, a (harper Head
None had, and {boner none, and furer fped,
He bends his Bow, he draws it to his Ear.
At Pluto's Heart it drives, and fixes there.
EXPLICATION OF THE SIXTH FABLE.
THe Ancients often explained Natural Hiftory by
fabulous Suppofitions; and a Phamomenon,which
they were puzzled to explain, was immediatiy at-
tributed to a Supernatural Caufe. Mount z_y£tna was
often feen to throw out Fire in a very dreadful man-
ner , and the Earth received violent Shocks from the
Force of the Flames which ftruggled for a Vent: In-
ftead of looking for the Source of thofe Eruptions in
the Sulphur and Bitumen with which the Caverns of
that Mountain flill abound , it was fabled that the
Tom. I.
Gods, having vanquifhed the Giant Typhsus, or,ac-
cording to fome Authors , Enceladus , threw Mount
^yEtna upon him, and that the frequent Attempts he
made, to disengage and free himfclf from the Weight
of fo heavy a Load, were the Caufe of thole Hres and
Earth-quakes.
As one Fi&ion commonly gave Birth to another, it
was alfo fabled that Pluto, fearing left thofe frequent
Shocks might , at laft, open the Earth and let the
Light into his Kingdom, went one day into Sicily to
X examine