Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Trojan War
12:1 Priam, to whom the story was unknown,
12:2 As dead, deplor'd his metamorphos'd son:
12:3 A cenotaph his name, and title kept,
12:4 And Hector round the tomb, with all his brothers, wept.
12:5 This pious office Paris did not share;
12:6 Absent alone; and author of the war,
12:7 Which, for the Spartan queen, the Grecians drew
12:8 T' avenge the rape; and Asia to subdue.
12:9 A thousand ships were mann'd, to sail the sea:
12:10 Nor had their just resentments found delay,
12:11 Had not the winds, and waves oppos'd their way.
12:12 At Aulis, with united pow'rs they meet,
12:13 But there, cross-winds or calms detain'd the fleet.
12:14 Now, while they raise an altar on the shore,
12:15 And Jove with solemn sacrifice adore;
12:16 A boding sign the priests and people see:
12:17 A snake of size immense ascends a tree,
12:18 And, in the leafie summit, spy'd a nest,
12:19 Which o'er her callow young, a sparrow press'd.
12:20 Eight were the birds unfledg'd; their mother flew,
12:21 And hover'd round her care; but still in view:
12:22 'Till the fierce reptile first devour'd the brood,
12:23 Then seiz'd the flutt'ring dam, and drunk her blood.
12:24 This dire ostent, the fearful people view;
12:25 Calchas alone, by Phoebus taught, foreknew
12:26 What Heav'n decreed; and with a smiling glance,
12:27 Thus gratulates to Greece her happy chance:
12:28 O Argives, we shall conquer: Troy is ours,
12:29 But long delays shall first afflict our pow'rs:
12:30 Nine years of labour, the nine birds portend;
12:31 The tenth shall in the town's destruction end.
12:32 The serpent, who his maw obscene had fill'd,
12:33 The branches in his curl'd embraces held:
12:34 But, as in spires he stood, he turn'd to stone:
12:35 The stony snake retain'd the figure still his own.
12:36 Yet, not for this, the wind-bound navy weigh'd;
12:37 Slack were their sails; and Neptune disobey'd.
12:38 Some thought him loth the town should be destroy'd,
12:39 Whose building had his hands divine employ'd:
12:40 Not so the seer; who knew, and known foreshow'd,
12:41 The virgin Phoebe, with a virgin's blood
12:42 Must first be reconcil'd: the common cause
12:43 Prevail'd; and pity yielding to the laws,
12:44 Fair Iphigenia the devoted maid
12:45 Was, by the weeping priests, in linnen-robes array'd;
12:46 All mourn her fate; but no relief appear'd;
12:47 The royal victim bound, the knife already rear'd:
12:48 When that offended Pow'r, who caus'd their woe,
12:49 Relenting ceas'd her wrath; and stop'd the coming blow.
12:50 A mist before the ministers she cast,
12:51 And, in the virgin's room, a hind she plac'd.
12:52 Th' oblation slain, and Phoebe, reconcil'd,
12:53 The storm was hush'd, and dimpled ocean smil'd:
12:54 A favourable gale arose from shore,
12:55 Which to the port desir'd, the Graecian gallies bore.
Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Trojan War
12:1 Priam, to whom the story was unknown,
12:2 As dead, deplor'd his metamorphos'd son:
12:3 A cenotaph his name, and title kept,
12:4 And Hector round the tomb, with all his brothers, wept.
12:5 This pious office Paris did not share;
12:6 Absent alone; and author of the war,
12:7 Which, for the Spartan queen, the Grecians drew
12:8 T' avenge the rape; and Asia to subdue.
12:9 A thousand ships were mann'd, to sail the sea:
12:10 Nor had their just resentments found delay,
12:11 Had not the winds, and waves oppos'd their way.
12:12 At Aulis, with united pow'rs they meet,
12:13 But there, cross-winds or calms detain'd the fleet.
12:14 Now, while they raise an altar on the shore,
12:15 And Jove with solemn sacrifice adore;
12:16 A boding sign the priests and people see:
12:17 A snake of size immense ascends a tree,
12:18 And, in the leafie summit, spy'd a nest,
12:19 Which o'er her callow young, a sparrow press'd.
12:20 Eight were the birds unfledg'd; their mother flew,
12:21 And hover'd round her care; but still in view:
12:22 'Till the fierce reptile first devour'd the brood,
12:23 Then seiz'd the flutt'ring dam, and drunk her blood.
12:24 This dire ostent, the fearful people view;
12:25 Calchas alone, by Phoebus taught, foreknew
12:26 What Heav'n decreed; and with a smiling glance,
12:27 Thus gratulates to Greece her happy chance:
12:28 O Argives, we shall conquer: Troy is ours,
12:29 But long delays shall first afflict our pow'rs:
12:30 Nine years of labour, the nine birds portend;
12:31 The tenth shall in the town's destruction end.
12:32 The serpent, who his maw obscene had fill'd,
12:33 The branches in his curl'd embraces held:
12:34 But, as in spires he stood, he turn'd to stone:
12:35 The stony snake retain'd the figure still his own.
12:36 Yet, not for this, the wind-bound navy weigh'd;
12:37 Slack were their sails; and Neptune disobey'd.
12:38 Some thought him loth the town should be destroy'd,
12:39 Whose building had his hands divine employ'd:
12:40 Not so the seer; who knew, and known foreshow'd,
12:41 The virgin Phoebe, with a virgin's blood
12:42 Must first be reconcil'd: the common cause
12:43 Prevail'd; and pity yielding to the laws,
12:44 Fair Iphigenia the devoted maid
12:45 Was, by the weeping priests, in linnen-robes array'd;
12:46 All mourn her fate; but no relief appear'd;
12:47 The royal victim bound, the knife already rear'd:
12:48 When that offended Pow'r, who caus'd their woe,
12:49 Relenting ceas'd her wrath; and stop'd the coming blow.
12:50 A mist before the ministers she cast,
12:51 And, in the virgin's room, a hind she plac'd.
12:52 Th' oblation slain, and Phoebe, reconcil'd,
12:53 The storm was hush'd, and dimpled ocean smil'd:
12:54 A favourable gale arose from shore,
12:55 Which to the port desir'd, the Graecian gallies bore.