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My Votary, thy Babe from Death defend,
Nor fear to fave whate'er the Gods will fend.
Delude with Art thy Husband's dire Decree :
When Danger calls, repofe thy Trust on me;
And know thou haft not ferv'd a thanklefs Deity.
This Promife made, with Night the Goddefs fled :
With Joy the Woman wakes, and leaves her Bed;
Devoutly lifts her spotless Hands on high,

And prays the Pow'rs their Gift to ratify.

Now grinding Pains proceed to Bearing Throes,
'Till its own Weight the Burden did disclose.
'Twas of the beauteous Kind, and brought to Light
With Secrecy, to fhun the Father's Sight.
Th' indulgent Mother did her Care employ,
And pass'd it on her Husband for a Boy.
The Nurfe was confcious of the Fact alone;
The Father paid his Vows as for a Son;
And call'd him Iphis, by a common Name,
Which either Sex with equal Right may claim.
Iphis his Grandfire was; the Wife was pleas'd,
Of half the Fraud by Fortune's Favour eas'd:
The doubtful Name was us'd without Deceit,
And Truth was cover'd with a pious Cheat.
The Habit thew'd a Boy, the Beauteous Face
With Manly Fiercenefs mingled Female Grace.

Now thirteen Years of Age were fwiftly run,
When the fond Father thought the Time drew on
Of fettling in the World his only Son.
Iant he was his Choice; fo wondrous fair,
Her Form alone with Iphis cou'd compare ;
A Neighbour's Daughter of his own Degree,
And not more blefs'd with Fortune's Goods than he.
They foon efpous'd; for they with eafe were join'd,
Who were before contracted in the Mind.

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Their Age the fame, their Inclinations too;
And bred together in one School they grew.
Thus, fatally difpos'd to mutual Fires,

They felt, before they knew, the fame Defires.
Equal their Flame, unequal was their Care;
One lov'd with Hope, one languifh'd in Despair.
The Maid accus'd the ling'ring Days alone:
For whom she thought a Man, the thought her own.
But Iphis bends beneath a greater Grief;

As fiercely burns, but hopes for no Relief.
E'en her Despair adds Fuel to her Fire;
A Maid with Madneís does a Maid defire.
And, scarce refraining Tears, Alas, faid she,
What Iffue of my Love remains for me !
How wild a Paffion works within my Breaft!
With what prodigious Flames am I poffeft!
Could I the Care of Providence deferve,

Heav'n must destroy me, if it would preferve.
And that's my Fate, or fure it would have sent
Some ufual Evil for my Punishment:

Not this unkindly Curfe; to rage, and burn,
Where Nature fhews no Profpect of Return.
Nor Cows for Cows confume with fruitless Fire;
Nor Mares, when hot, their Fellow-Mares defire:
The Father of the Fold fupplies his Ewes ;

The Stag through fecret Woods his Hind pursues; And Birds for Mates the Males of their own Species choose.

Her Females Nature guards from Female Flames,
And joins two Sexes to preserve the Game:
Wou'd I were nothing, or not what I am !
Crete, fam'd for Monsters, wanted of her Store,
'Till my new Love produc'd one Monster more.

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The

The Daughter of the Sun a Bull defir'd,. '
And yet e'en then a Male a Female fir'd:
Her Paffion was extravagantly new ;
But mine is much the madder of the two.
To things impoffible fhe was not bent,
But found the Means to compass her Intent.
To cheat his Eyes she took a diff'rent Shape ;,
Yet ftill fhe gain'd a Lover, and a Leap.
Shou'd all the Wit of all the World confpire,
Shou'd Dedalus affift my wild Defire,
What Art can make me able to enjoy,
Or what can change Ianthe to a Boy?
Extinguish then thy Paffion, hopeless Maid,
And recollect thy Reason for thy Aid.
Know what thou art, and love as Maidens ought,
And drive these Golden Wishes from thy Thought,
Thou canst not hope thy fond Defires to gain;
Where Hope is wanting, Wishes are in vain.
And yet no Guards againft our Joys confpire;
No jealous Husband hinders our Defire;
My Parents are propitious to my Wish,
And she her felf confenting to the Bliss.
All things concur to profper our Design:
All things to profper any Love but mine.
And yet I never can enjoy the Fair;

'Tis past the Pow'r of Heav'n to grant my Pray'r..
Heav'n has been kind, as far as Heav'n can be';
Our Parents with our own Defires agree;
But Nature, ftronger than the Gods above,
Refufes her Affiftance to my Love;
She fets the Bar that caufes all my Pain;
One Gift refus'd makes all their Bounty vain.
And now the happy Day is juft at hand,
To bind our Hearts in Hymen's holy Band :

Our

Our Hearts, but not our Bodies: Thus accurs'd,
In midft of Water I complain of Thirst.
Why com'ft thou, Juno, to these barren Rites,
To blefs a Bed defrauded of Delights?
And why fhou'd Hymen lift his Torch on high,
To fee two Brides in cold Embraces lie?

Thus Love-fick Iphis her vain Paffion mourns ;
With equal Ardour fair Ianthe burns,
Invoking Hymen's Name, and Juno's Pow'r,
To speed the Work, and hafte the happy Hour.
She hopes, while Teletbufa fears the Day,
And strives to interpofe fome new Delay:
Now feigns a Sickness, now is in a Fright
For this bad Omen, or that boding Sight.
But having done whate'er fhe could devife,
And empty'd all her Magazine of Lies,
The Time approach'd; the next ensuing Day
The fatal Secret muft to Light betray.
Then Telethufa had recourse to Pray'r,
She and her Daughter with dishevell❜d Hair;
Trembling with Fear, great Ifis they ador'd,
Embrac'd her Altar, and her Aid implor'd.

Fair Queen, who doft on fruitful Eygpt fmile,
Who fway'ft the Sceptre of the Pharian Isle,
And fev'n-fold Falls of difemboguing Nile;
Relieve, in this our laft Diftrefs, fhe faid,
A fuppliant Mother, and a mournful Maid.
Thou, Goddess, thou wert present to my Sight;
Reveal'd I faw thee by thy own fair Light:
I faw thee in my Dream, as now I fee,
With all thy Marks of awful Majesty :

The glorious Train that compafs'd thee around;
And heard the hollow Timbrel's holy Sound.

Thy

Thy Words I noted, which I ftill retain ;
Let not thy facred Oracies be vain.

That Iphis lives, that I my self am free
From Shame, and Punishment, I owe to thee.
On thy Protection all our Hopes depend:

Thy Counsel fav'd us, let thy Pow'r defend.

Her Tears purfu'd her Words, and while fhe fpoke The Goddess nodded, and her Altar fhook:

The Temple Doors, as with a Blast of Wind,
Were heard to clap; the Lunar Horns that bind
The Brows of Ifis caft a Blaze around;

The trembling Timbrel made a murm'ring Sound.
Some Hopes thefe happy Omens did impart ;
Forth went the Mother with a beating Heart,
Not much in Fear, nor fully fatisfy'd;
But Iphis follow'd with a larger Stride:
The Whiteness of her Skin forfook her Face;
Her Looks embolden'd with an awful Grace;
Her Features and her Strength together grew,
And her long Hair to curling Locks withdrew.
Her fparkling Eyes with manly Vigour fhone;
Big was her Voice, audacious was her Tone.
The latent Parts, at length reveal'd, began
To fhoot, and spread, and burnish into Man.
The Maid becomes a Youth; no more delay
Your Vows, but look, and confidently pay.
Their Gifts the Parents to the Temple bear:
The Votive Tables this Infcription wear;
Iphis, the Man, has to the Goddess paid
The Vows, that Iphis offer'd when a Maid.
Now when the Star of Day had fhewn his Face,
Venus and Juno with their Prefence grace
The Nuptial Rites, and Hymen from above
Defcended to compleat their happy Love;

The

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