He fled abhorrent, and contemn'd her tears,
And to the dire suggestion clos'd his ears.
But nought, alas! his purity avail'd-
Fate in his flight the hapless youth assail'd,
By interdicted LOVE to Vengeance fir'd;
And by his father's curse the son expir'd.
The stepdame shar'd his fate, and dearly paid
A spouse, a sister, and a son betray'd*:

Her conscience, by the false impeachment, stung,
Upon herself return'd the deadly wrong;

And he, that broke before his plighted vows †,
Met his deserts in an adult'rous spouse.

See! where he droops between the sister dames,

And fondly melts the other scorns his flames.

The mighty slave of Omphale behind

Is seen, and he whom Love and Fraud combin'd ||

* Ariadne, first betrothed to Theseus, but supplanted by her sister.---See the fine play of T. Corneille on this subject.

+ Theseus.

+ Hercules.

|| Achilles, inveigled to the temple under pretext of a marriage with Polyxena, the daughter of Priam, and there killed by Paris.

Sent to the shades of everlasting night;

And still he seems to weep his wretched plight.
There, Phillis mourns Demophion's broken vows,
And fell Medea there pursues her spouse :
With impious boast, and shrill upbraiding cries,
She tells him how she broke the holy ties

Of kindred for his sake; the guilty shore
That from her poniard drank a brother's gore;
The deep affliction of her royal sire,

Who heard her flight with imprecations dire.-
See! beauteous Helen, with her Trojan swain
The royal youth that fed his amorous pain,
With ardent gaze, on those destructive charms
That waken'd half the warring world to arms.-
Yonder, behold Oënone's despair +,

Who mourns the triumphs of the Spartan fair!
The injur'd husband answers groan for groan,
young Hermione with piteous moan

And

* Jason.---See Findar, Euripides, Apollonius, and Ovid. Metam. and Epistles.

↑ Forsaken by Paris.---See Ovid's Epistles.

Orestes calls; while Laodamia near 4
Bewails her valiant consort's fate severe.-

Adrastus' daughter there laments his spouse'
Sincere and constant to her nuptial vows;
Yet, lur'd by her, with gold's seductive aid,
Her lord, Eriphile, to death betray'd."

7

AND NOW, the baleful anthem, loud and long,

Rose in full chorus from the passing throng;

And LovE's sad name, the cause of all their woes,

In execrations seem'd the dirge to close.—
But who the number and the names can tell

Of those that seem'd the deadly strain to swell!
Not men alone, but gods my dream display'd—
Celestial wailings fill'd the myrtle shade :
Soft Venus, with her Lover, mourn'd the snare,
The King of Shades †, and Proserpine the Fair;

180

* Laodamia, whose husband Protesilaus was the first who fell when the Greeks landed at Troy.

+ Pluto.

Juno, whose frown disclos'd her jealous spite;
Nor, less enthrall'd by Love, the god of Light,
Who held in scorn the winged warrior's dart
Till in his breast he felt the fatal smart.

Each god, whose name the learned Roman told,
In Cupid's numerous levy seem'd enroll'd;
And, bound before his car in fetters strong,
In sullen state the Thund'rer march'd along.

END OF THE FIRST PART.

THE

TRIUMPH OF LOVE.

PART THE SECOND.

THUS, as I view'd th' interminable host,

The prospect seem'd at last in dimness lost:
But still the wish remain'd, their doom to know,

As, watchful, I survey'd the passing show.
As each majestic form emerg'd to light,

Thither, intent, I turn'd my sharpen'd sight;

And soon a noble pair my notice drew,

That, hand in hand approaching, met my view.
In gentle parley, and communion sweet -

With looks of love, they seem'd mine eyes to meet; 10