Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Story of Glaucus and Scylla
13:1331 Here ceas'd the nymph; the fair assembly broke,
13:1332 The sea-green Nereids to the waves betook:
13:1333 While Scylla, fearful of the wide-spread main,
13:1334 Swift to the safer shore returns again.
13:1335 There o'er the sandy margin, unarray'd,
13:1336 With printless footsteps flies the bounding maid;
13:1337 Or in some winding creek's secure retreat
13:1338 She baths her weary limbs, and shuns the noonday's heat.
13:1339 Her Glaucus saw, as o'er the deep he rode,
13:1340 New to the seas, and late receiv'd a God.
13:1341 He saw, and languish'd for the virgin's love;
13:1342 With many an artful blandishment he strove
13:1343 Her flight to hinder, and her fears remove.
13:1344 The more he sues, the more she wings her flight,
13:1345 And nimbly gains a neighb'ring mountain's height.
13:1346 Steep shelving to the margin of the flood,
13:1347 A neighb'ring mountain bare, and woodless stood;
13:1348 Here, by the place secur'd, her steps she stay'd,
13:1349 And, trembling still, her lover's form survey'd.
13:1350 His shape, his hue, her troubled sense appall,
13:1351 And dropping locks that o'er his shoulders fall;
13:1352 She sees his face divine, and manly brow,
13:1353 End in a fish's wreathy tail below:
13:1354 She sees, and doubts within her anxious mind,
13:1355 Whether he comes of God, or monster kind.
13:1356 This Glaucus soon perceiv'd; and, Oh! forbear
13:1357 (His hand supporting on a rock lay near),
13:1358 Forbear, he cry'd, fond maid, this needless fear.
13:1359 Nor fish am I, nor monster of the main,
13:1360 But equal with the watry Gods I reign;
13:1361 Nor Proteus, nor Palaemon me excell,
13:1362 Nor he whose breath inspires the sounding shell.
13:1363 My birth, 'tis true, I owe to mortal race,
13:1364 And I my self but late a mortal was:
13:1365 Ev'n then in seas, and seas alone, I joy'd;
13:1366 The seas my hours, and all my cares employ'd,
13:1367 In meshes now the twinkling prey I drew;
13:1368 Now skilfully the slender line I threw,
13:1369 And silent sat the moving float to view.
13:1370 Not far from shore, there lies a verdant mead,
13:1371 With herbage half, and half with water spread:
13:1372 There, nor the horned heifers browsing stray,
13:1373 Nor shaggy kids, nor wanton lambkins play;
13:1374 There, nor the sounding bees their nectar cull,
13:1375 Nor rural swains their genial chaplets pull,
13:1376 Nor flocks, nor herds, nor mowers haunt the place,
13:1377 To crop the flow'rs, or cut the bushy grass:
13:1378 Thither, sure first of living race came I,
13:1379 And sat by chance, my dropping nets to dry.
13:1380 My scaly prize, in order all display'd,
13:1381 By number on the greensward there I lay'd,
13:1382 My captives, whom or in my nets I took,
13:1383 Or hung unwary on my wily hook.
13:1384 Strange to behold! yet what avails a lye?
13:1385 I saw 'em bite the grass, as I sate by;
13:1386 Then sudden darting o'er the verdant plain,
13:1387 They spread their finns, as in their native main:
13:1388 I paus'd, with wonder struck, while all my prey
13:1389 Left their new master, and regain'd the sea.
13:1390 Amaz'd, within my secret self I sought,
13:1391 What God, what herb the miracle had wrought:
13:1392 But sure no herbs have pow'r like this, I cry'd;
13:1393 And strait I pluck'd some neighb'ring herbs, and try'd.
13:1394 Scarce had I bit, and prov'd the wond'rous taste,
13:1395 When strong convulsions shook my troubled breast;
13:1396 I felt my heart grow fond of something strange,
13:1397 And my whole Nature lab'ring with a change.
13:1398 Restless I grew, and ev'ry place forsook,
13:1399 And still upon the seas I bent my look.
13:1400 Farewel for ever! farewel, land! I said;
13:1401 And plung'd amidst the waves my sinking head.
13:1402 The gentle Pow'rs, who that low empire keep,
13:1403 Receiv'd me as a brother of the deep;
13:1404 To Tethys, and to Ocean old, they pray
13:1405 To purge my mortal earthy parts away.
13:1406 The watry parents to their suit agreed,
13:1407 And thrice nine times a secret charm they read,
13:1408 Then with lustrations purify my limbs,
13:1409 And bid me bathe beneath a hundred streams:
13:1410 A hundred streams from various fountains run,
13:1411 And on my head at once come rushing down.
13:1412 Thus far each passage I remember well,
13:1413 And faithfully thus far the tale I tell;
13:1414 But then oblivion dark, on all my senses fell.
13:1415 Again at length my thought reviving came,
13:1416 When I no longer found my self the same;
13:1417 Then first this sea-green beard I felt to grow,
13:1418 And these large honours on my spreading brow;
13:1419 My long-descending locks the billows sweep,
13:1420 And my broad shoulders cleave the yielding deep;
13:1421 My fishy tail, my arms of azure hue,
13:1422 And ev'ry part divinely chang'd, I view.
13:1423 But what avail these useless honours now?
13:1424 What joys can immortality bestow?
13:1425 What, tho' our Nereids all my form approve?
13:1426 What boots it, while fair Scylla scorns my love?
13:1427 Thus far the God; and more he wou'd have said;
13:1428 When from his presence flew the ruthless maid.
13:1429 Stung with repulse, in such disdainful sort,
13:1430 He seeks Titanian Circe's horrid court.
BOOK THE FOURTEENTH
Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Story of Glaucus and Scylla
13:1331 Here ceas'd the nymph; the fair assembly broke,
13:1332 The sea-green Nereids to the waves betook:
13:1333 While Scylla, fearful of the wide-spread main,
13:1334 Swift to the safer shore returns again.
13:1335 There o'er the sandy margin, unarray'd,
13:1336 With printless footsteps flies the bounding maid;
13:1337 Or in some winding creek's secure retreat
13:1338 She baths her weary limbs, and shuns the noonday's heat.
13:1339 Her Glaucus saw, as o'er the deep he rode,
13:1340 New to the seas, and late receiv'd a God.
13:1341 He saw, and languish'd for the virgin's love;
13:1342 With many an artful blandishment he strove
13:1343 Her flight to hinder, and her fears remove.
13:1344 The more he sues, the more she wings her flight,
13:1345 And nimbly gains a neighb'ring mountain's height.
13:1346 Steep shelving to the margin of the flood,
13:1347 A neighb'ring mountain bare, and woodless stood;
13:1348 Here, by the place secur'd, her steps she stay'd,
13:1349 And, trembling still, her lover's form survey'd.
13:1350 His shape, his hue, her troubled sense appall,
13:1351 And dropping locks that o'er his shoulders fall;
13:1352 She sees his face divine, and manly brow,
13:1353 End in a fish's wreathy tail below:
13:1354 She sees, and doubts within her anxious mind,
13:1355 Whether he comes of God, or monster kind.
13:1356 This Glaucus soon perceiv'd; and, Oh! forbear
13:1357 (His hand supporting on a rock lay near),
13:1358 Forbear, he cry'd, fond maid, this needless fear.
13:1359 Nor fish am I, nor monster of the main,
13:1360 But equal with the watry Gods I reign;
13:1361 Nor Proteus, nor Palaemon me excell,
13:1362 Nor he whose breath inspires the sounding shell.
13:1363 My birth, 'tis true, I owe to mortal race,
13:1364 And I my self but late a mortal was:
13:1365 Ev'n then in seas, and seas alone, I joy'd;
13:1366 The seas my hours, and all my cares employ'd,
13:1367 In meshes now the twinkling prey I drew;
13:1368 Now skilfully the slender line I threw,
13:1369 And silent sat the moving float to view.
13:1370 Not far from shore, there lies a verdant mead,
13:1371 With herbage half, and half with water spread:
13:1372 There, nor the horned heifers browsing stray,
13:1373 Nor shaggy kids, nor wanton lambkins play;
13:1374 There, nor the sounding bees their nectar cull,
13:1375 Nor rural swains their genial chaplets pull,
13:1376 Nor flocks, nor herds, nor mowers haunt the place,
13:1377 To crop the flow'rs, or cut the bushy grass:
13:1378 Thither, sure first of living race came I,
13:1379 And sat by chance, my dropping nets to dry.
13:1380 My scaly prize, in order all display'd,
13:1381 By number on the greensward there I lay'd,
13:1382 My captives, whom or in my nets I took,
13:1383 Or hung unwary on my wily hook.
13:1384 Strange to behold! yet what avails a lye?
13:1385 I saw 'em bite the grass, as I sate by;
13:1386 Then sudden darting o'er the verdant plain,
13:1387 They spread their finns, as in their native main:
13:1388 I paus'd, with wonder struck, while all my prey
13:1389 Left their new master, and regain'd the sea.
13:1390 Amaz'd, within my secret self I sought,
13:1391 What God, what herb the miracle had wrought:
13:1392 But sure no herbs have pow'r like this, I cry'd;
13:1393 And strait I pluck'd some neighb'ring herbs, and try'd.
13:1394 Scarce had I bit, and prov'd the wond'rous taste,
13:1395 When strong convulsions shook my troubled breast;
13:1396 I felt my heart grow fond of something strange,
13:1397 And my whole Nature lab'ring with a change.
13:1398 Restless I grew, and ev'ry place forsook,
13:1399 And still upon the seas I bent my look.
13:1400 Farewel for ever! farewel, land! I said;
13:1401 And plung'd amidst the waves my sinking head.
13:1402 The gentle Pow'rs, who that low empire keep,
13:1403 Receiv'd me as a brother of the deep;
13:1404 To Tethys, and to Ocean old, they pray
13:1405 To purge my mortal earthy parts away.
13:1406 The watry parents to their suit agreed,
13:1407 And thrice nine times a secret charm they read,
13:1408 Then with lustrations purify my limbs,
13:1409 And bid me bathe beneath a hundred streams:
13:1410 A hundred streams from various fountains run,
13:1411 And on my head at once come rushing down.
13:1412 Thus far each passage I remember well,
13:1413 And faithfully thus far the tale I tell;
13:1414 But then oblivion dark, on all my senses fell.
13:1415 Again at length my thought reviving came,
13:1416 When I no longer found my self the same;
13:1417 Then first this sea-green beard I felt to grow,
13:1418 And these large honours on my spreading brow;
13:1419 My long-descending locks the billows sweep,
13:1420 And my broad shoulders cleave the yielding deep;
13:1421 My fishy tail, my arms of azure hue,
13:1422 And ev'ry part divinely chang'd, I view.
13:1423 But what avail these useless honours now?
13:1424 What joys can immortality bestow?
13:1425 What, tho' our Nereids all my form approve?
13:1426 What boots it, while fair Scylla scorns my love?
13:1427 Thus far the God; and more he wou'd have said;
13:1428 When from his presence flew the ruthless maid.
13:1429 Stung with repulse, in such disdainful sort,
13:1430 He seeks Titanian Circe's horrid court.
BOOK THE FOURTEENTH