STRO. 1.

Well may the prosperous harbour virtuous thought;
But when thou wou'dst avenge thee on thy foes,
There is no law of weight to hinder thee.

ANTIS. 1.

STRO. 2.

CHORUS.

Daughter of Ceres, Trivia, hear,
Propitious regent of each public way

Amidst the brightness of the day,

Nor less when night's dark hour engenders fear:
The fullness of this goblet guide

To check with death this stripling's pride,
For whom my queen this fatal draught prepares,
Ting'd with the Gorgon's venom'd gore:
That seat, which 'midst Erectheus' royal heirs
His pride claims, it shall claim no more:
Never may one of alien blood disgrace
Th' imperial honours of that high-born race!
Should not this work of fate succeed,
Nor the just vengeance of my queen prevail,
Should this apt time of daring fail,
And Hope, that flatters now, desert the deed;
Slaughter shall other means afford, !
The strangling cord, the piercing sword;
For rage from disappointed rage shall flow,
And try each various form of death:
For never shall my queen this torment know,
Ne'er, whilst she draws this vital breath,
Brook in her house that foreign lords should shine,
Cloth'd with the splendors of her ancient line.
Thou, whom the various hymn delights,
When thy bright choir of beauteous dames among,
Dancing the stream's soft brink along,

Thou seest the guardian of thy mystic rites,

Thy torch its midnight vigils keep,

1106, &c. The Chorus in this Strophe marks the sacred magnificence of Athens by the celebration of the mysteries of Bacchus, Proserpine, and Ceres, in common on the 20th day of August, implied in the word sixádwv.

ANTIS. 2.

ATT.

CHOR.

ATT.

CHOR.

ATT.

CHOR.

ATT.

Thine eye mean time disdaining sleep;
Whilst with thee dances Jove's star-spangled plain,
And the moon dances up the sky;

Ye nymphs, that lead to grots your frolic train,
Beneath the gulfy founts that lie :

Thougold-crown'd queen through night's dark regions

And thou, her mother, pow'r rever'd, [fear'd,
How should I blush to see this youth unknown,
This Delphic vagrant hope to seize the throne!
You, who, the melting soul to move,
In loose, dishonest airs the Muse employ
To celebrate love's wanton joy,
The joy of unallow'd, unholy love,

See how our pure and modest law
Can lavish man's lewd deeds o'er-awe!
Ye shameless bards, revoke each wanton air,
No more these melting measures frame;
Bid the chaste Muse in Virtue's cause declare,
And mark man's lawless bed with shame!
Ungrateful is this Jove-descended lord,

For, his wife's childless bed abhorr'd,
Lewdly he courts th' embrace of other dames,
And with a spurious son his pride inflames.

ATTENDANT, CHORUS

Athenian dames, where shall I find our queen,
The daughter of Erectheus? Seeking her
This city have I walk'd around in vain.

And for what cause, my fellow slave? What means
Thy hasty foot? What tidings dost thou bring?
We are discover'd: and the rulers here

Seek her, that she may die o'erwhelm'd with stones.
Ah me, what wou'dst thou say? Are our designs
Of secret ruin to this youth disclosed?

They are; and know, the worst of ills await you.
How were our dark devices brought to light?
The god, that justice might receive no stain,
Caus'd it to triumph o'er defeated wrong.

CHOR.

ATT.

How? as a suppliant I conjure thee tell me :
Of this inform'd, if we must die, more freely
Wish we to die, than see the light of heav'n.
Soon as the husband of Creusa left

The god's oracular shrine, this new-found son
He to the feast, and sacrifice prepar'd

dear

To the high gods, led with him. Xuthus then
Went where the hallow'd flame of Bacchus mounts, i
That on each rock's high point the victim's blood
Might flow, a grateful offering for his son
Thus recogniz'd, to whom he gave in charge,
"Stay thou, and with the artist's expert aid
"Erect the sheltering tent; my rites perform'd
"To the kind gods that o'er the genial bed
"Preside, should I be there detain❜d too long,
"Spread the rich table to my present friends."
This said, he led the victims to the rocks.
Meanwhile with reverent heed the son 'gan rear
On firm supporters the wide tent, whose sides
No masonry require, yet framed t'exclude
The mid-day sun's hot beams, or his last rays
When sinking in the west: the lengthened lines
Equally distant comprehend a square
Of twice five thousand feet, the skilful thus
Compute it, space to feast, for so he will'd,
All Delphi: from the treasures of the god
He took the sacred tapestry, and around
Hung the rich shade, on which th' admiring eye
Gazes with fix'd delight: first over head
Like a broad pennon spread th' extended woof,
Which from th' Amazonian spoils the son
Of Jove, Alcides, hallow'd to the god;
In its bright texture interwoven a sky

1169. Μυρίων ποδῶν ἀριθμὸν is a definite number, ὡς λέγουσιν οἱ σοφοὶ would other wise be impertinent; a square, whose sides are an hundred feet each, gives an area of ten thousand feet. Dr. Musgrave observes, that the capacity of this tent is thus accurately described, because the temple of Minerva on the Acropolis of Athens was of the same form and dimensions.

Gathering the stars in its ethereal round,
Whilst downward to the western wave the sun
His steeds declines, and to his station high
Draws up the radiant flame of Hesperus.
Meanwhile the Night, robed in her sable stole,
Her unrein'd car advances; on her state
The stars attend; the Pleiads mounting high,
And with his glittering sword Orion arm'd;
Above, Arcturus to the golden pole
Inclines; full-orb'd the month-dividing moon
Takes her bright station, and the Hyades
Mark'd by the sailor; distant in the rear
Aurora, ready to relume the day.

And put the stars to flight. The sides were grac'd
With various textures of th' historic woof,

Barbaric arguments; in gallant trim

Against the fleet of Greece the hostile fleet

Rides proudly on: Here monstrous forms portray'd
Human and brutal mix'd: the Thracian steeds
Are seiz'd, the hinds, and the adventurous chace
Of savage lions: figur'd nigh the doors
Cecrops, attended by his daughters, roll'd
His serpent train: in th' ample space within
He spread the festal table, richly deck'd
With golden goblets. Now the herald walk'd
His round, each native, that inclined to grace
The feast, inviting; to the crowded tent
They hasten crown'd with garlands, and partake
The exquisite repast; the pleasured sense
Now satiate, in the midst an old man stood,

1196. Barnes, and after him Dr. Musgrave, understands this as designing the sea-fight against the Persians, off Salamis, per prolepsim. We cannot imagine the poet guilty of such an Anachronism as in the time of Xuthus to mention this recent event, and among the labours of Hercules. What would his audience have thought of Shakespeare, had he made one of Henry the Fifth's Captains speak of the defeat of the Spanish Armada before the battle of Agincourt? This naval expedition must relate to Hercules, and probably alludes to the ships which Eetes sent against the Argonauts.

Officious in his ministry, which rais'd

Much mirth among the guests; for from the urns
He fill'd the lavers, and with fragrant myrrh
Incens'd the place; the golden bowls he claim'd
His charge: when now the jocund pipes 'gan breathe
Harmonious airs, and the fresh goblet stood
Ready to walk its round, the old man said,
Away with these penurious cups, and bring
Capacious bowls, so shall you quickly bathe
Your spirits in delight: with speed were brought
Goblets of gold and silver; one he took
Of choicer frame, and seemingly intent
To do his young lord honour, the full vase
Gave to his hands, but in the wine infused
A drug of poisonous pow'r, which, it is said,
His queen supplied, that the new son no more
Might view the light of heav'n; but unobserv'd
He mix'd it: as the youth among the rest
Pour'd the libation, 'midst th' attendant slaves
Words of reproach one utter'd; he, as train'd
Within the temple and with expert seers,
Deem'd them of evil omen, and requir'd
Another goblet to be fill'd afresh :
The former, a libation to the god,
He cast upon the ground, instructing all
To pour, like him, th' untasted liquor down.
Silence ensued: the sacred bowls we fill
With wine of Byblos; when a troop of doves
Came fluttering in, for undisturb'd they haunt
The dome of Phoebus; in the floating wine
They dipp'd their bills to drink, then rais'd their heads
Gurgling it down their beauteous-plumed throats:
Harmless to all the spilt wine, save to her

That lighted where the youth had pour'd his bowl;
She drank, and straight convulsive shiverings seiz'd

1210. Which rais'd much mirth. This was usually assigned to the most beautiful youths. See Homer Il. i. where Vulcan, by taking upon him the office of Hebe or Ganymede, raises the mirth of the gods.