Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Story of Aglauros, transform'd into a Statue
2:875 This done, the God flew up on high, and pass'd
2:876 O'er lofty Athens, by Minerva
grac'd,
2:877 And wide Munichia, whilst his
eyes survey
2:878 All the vast region that beneath
him lay.
2:879 'Twas now the feast, when each Athenian maid
2:880 Her yearly homage to Minerva
paid;
2:881 In canisters, with garlands cover'd
o'er,
2:882 High on their heads, their mystick
gifts they bore:
2:883 And now, returning in a solemn
train,
2:884 The troop of shining virgins
fill'd the plain.
2:885 The God well pleas'd beheld the pompous show,
2:886 And saw the bright procession
pass below;
2:887 Then veer'd about, and took a
wheeling flight,
2:888 And hover'd o'er them: as the
spreading kite,
2:889 That smells the slaughter'd victim
from on high,
2:890 Flies at a distance, if the priests
are nigh,
2:891 And sails around, and keeps it
in her eye:
2:892 So kept the God the virgin quire
in view,
2:893 And in slow winding circles round
them flew.
2:894 As Lucifer excells the meanest star,
2:895 Or, as the full-orb'd Phoebe,
Lucifer;
2:896 So much did Herse all the rest
outvy,
2:897 And gave a grace to the solemnity.
2:898 Hermes was fir'd, as in the clouds
he hung:
2:899 So the cold bullet, that with
fury slung
2:900 From Balearick engines mounts
on high,
2:901 Glows in the whirl, and burns
along the sky.
2:902 At length he pitch'd upon the
ground, and show'd
2:903 The form divine, the features
of a God.
2:904 He knew their vertue o'er a female
heart,
2:905 And yet he strives to better
them by art.
2:906 He hangs his mantle loose, and
sets to show
2:907 The golden edging on the seam
below;
2:908 Adjusts his flowing curls, and
in his hand
2:909 Waves, with an air, the sleep-procuring
wand;
2:910 The glitt'ring sandals to his
feet applies,
2:911 And to each heel the well-trim'd
pinion ties.
2:912 His ornaments with nicest art display'd,
2:913 He seeks th' apartment of the
royal maid.
2:914 The roof was all with polish'd
iv'ry lin'd,
2:915 That richly mix'd, in clouds
of tortoise shin'd.
2:916 Three rooms, contiguous, in a
range were plac'd,
2:917 The midmost by the beauteous
Herse grac'd;
2:918 Her virgin sisters lodg'd on
either side.
2:919 Aglauros first th' approaching
God descry'd,
2:920 And, as he cross'd her chamber,
ask'd his name,
2:921 And what his business was, and
whence he came.
2:922 "I come," reply'd the
God, "from Heav'n, to woo
2:923 Your sister, and to make an aunt
of you;
2:924 I am the son and messenger of
Jove;
2:925 My name is Mercury, my bus'ness
love;
2:926 Do you, kind damsel, take a lover's
part,
2:927 And gain admittance to your sister's
heart."
2:928 She star'd him in the face with looks amaz'd,
2:929 As when she on Minerva's secret
gaz'd,
2:930 And asks a mighty treasure for
her hire;
2:931 And, 'till he brings it, makes
the God retire.
2:932 Minerva griev'd to see the nymph succeed;
2:933 And now remembring the late impious
deed,
2:934 When, disobedient to her strict
command,
2:935 She touch'd the chest with an
unhallow'd hand;
2:936 In big-swoln sighs her inward
rage express'd,
2:937 That heav'd the rising Aegis
on her breast;
2:938 Then sought out Envy in her dark
abode,
2:939 Defil'd with ropy gore and clots
of blood:
2:940 Shut from the winds, and from
the wholesome skies,
2:941 In a deep vale the gloomy dungeon
lies,
2:942 Dismal and cold, where not a
beam of light
2:943 Invades the winter, or disturbs
the night.
2:944 Directly to the cave her course she steer'd;
2:945 Against the gates her martial
lance she rear'd;
2:946 The gates flew open, and the
fiend appear'd.
2:947 A pois'nous morsel in her teeth
she chew'd,
2:948 And gorg'd the flesh of vipers
for her food.
2:949 Minerva loathing turn'd away
her eye;
2:950 The hideous monster, rising heavily,
2:951 Came stalking forward with a
sullen pace,
2:952 And left her mangled offals on
the place.
2:953 Soon as she saw the goddess gay
and bright,
2:954 She fetch'd a groan at such a
chearful sight.
2:955 Livid and meagre were her looks,
her eye
2:956 In foul distorted glances turn'd
awry;
2:957 A hoard of gall her inward parts
possess'd,
2:958 And spread a greenness o'er her
canker'd breast;
2:959 Her teeth were brown with rust,
and from her tongue,
2:960 In dangling drops, the stringy
poison hung.
2:961 She never smiles but when the
wretched weep,
2:962 Nor lulls her malice with a moment's
sleep,
2:963 Restless in spite: while watchful
to destroy,
2:964 She pines and sickens at another's
joy;
2:965 Foe to her self, distressing
and distrest,
2:966 She bears her own tormentor in
her breast.
2:967 The Goddess gave (for she abhorr'd
her sight)
2:968 A short command: "To Athens
speed thy flight;
2:969 On curst Aglauros try thy utmost
art,
2:970 And fix thy rankest venoms in
her heart."
2:971 This said, her spear she push'd
against the ground,
2:972 And mounting from it with an
active bound,
2:973 Flew off to Heav'n: the hag with eyes askew
2:974 Look'd up, and mutter'd curses
as she flew;
2:975 For sore she fretted, and began
to grieve
2:976 At the success which she her
self must give.
2:977 Then takes her staff, hung round
with wreaths of thorn,
2:978 And sails along, in a black whirlwind
born,
2:979 O'er fields and flow'ry meadows:
where she steers
2:980 Her baneful course, a mighty
blast appears,
2:981 Mildews and blights; the meadows
are defac'd,
2:982 The fields, the flow'rs, and
the whole years laid waste:
2:983 On mortals next, and peopled
towns she falls,
2:984 And breathes a burning plague
among their walls.
2:985 When Athens she beheld, for arts renown'd,
2:986 With peace made happy, and with
plenty crown'd,
2:987 Scarce could the hideous fiend
from tears forbear,
2:988 To find out nothing that deserv'd
a tear.
2:989 Th' apartment now she enter'd,
where at rest
2:990 Aglauros lay, with gentle sleep
opprest.
2:991 To execute Minerva's dire command,
2:992 She stroak'd the virgin with
her canker'd hand,
2:993 Then prickly thorns into her
breast convey'd,
2:994 That stung to madness the devoted
maid:
2:995 Her subtle venom still improves
the smart,
2:996 Frets in the blood, and festers
in the heart.
2:997 To make the work more sure, a scene she drew,
2:998 And plac'd before the dreaming
virgin's view
2:999 Her sister's marriage, and her
glorious fate:
2:1000 Th' imaginary bride appears
in state;
2:1001 The bride-groom with unwonted
beauty glows:
2:1002 For envy magnifies what-e'er
she shows.
2:1003 Full of the dream, Aglauros pin'd away
2:1004 In tears all night, in darkness
all the day;
2:1005 Consum'd like ice, that just
begins to run,
2:1006 When feebly smitten by the
distant sun;
2:1007 Or like unwholsome weeds, that
set on fire
2:1008 Are slowly wasted, and in smoke
expire.
2:1009 Giv'n up to envy (for in ev'ry
thought
2:1010 The thorns, the venom, and
the vision wrought)
2:1011 Oft did she call on death,
as oft decreed,
2:1012 Rather than see her sister's
wish succeed,
2:1013 To tell her awfull father what
had past:
2:1014 At length before the door her
self she cast;
2:1015 And, sitting on the ground
with sullen pride,
2:1016 A passage to the love-sick
God deny'd.
2:1017 The God caress'd, and for admission
pray'd,
2:1018 And sooth'd in softest words
th' envenom'd maid.
2:1019 In vain he sooth'd: "Begone!"
the maid replies,
2:1020 "Or here I keep my seat,
and never rise."
2:1021 "Then keep thy seat for
ever," cries the God,
2:1022 And touch'd the door, wide
op'ning to his rod.
2:1023 Fain would she rise, and stop
him, but she found
2:1024 Her trunk too heavy to forsake
the ground;
2:1025 Her joynts are all benum'd,
her hands are pale,
2:1026 And marble now appears in ev'ry
nail.
2:1027 As when a cancer in the body
feeds,
2:1028 And gradual death from limb
to limb proceeds;
2:1029 So does the chilness to each
vital parte
2:1030 Spread by degrees, and creeps
into her heart;
2:1031 'Till hard'ning ev'ry where,
and speechless grown,
2:1032 She sits unmov'd, and freezes
to a stone.
2:1033 But still her envious hue and
sullen mien
2:1034 Are in the sedentary figure
seen.
Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Story of Aglauros, transform'd into a Statue
2:875 This done, the God flew up on high, and pass'd
2:876 O'er lofty Athens, by Minerva
grac'd,
2:877 And wide Munichia, whilst his
eyes survey
2:878 All the vast region that beneath
him lay.
2:879 'Twas now the feast, when each Athenian maid
2:880 Her yearly homage to Minerva
paid;
2:881 In canisters, with garlands cover'd
o'er,
2:882 High on their heads, their mystick
gifts they bore:
2:883 And now, returning in a solemn
train,
2:884 The troop of shining virgins
fill'd the plain.
2:885 The God well pleas'd beheld the pompous show,
2:886 And saw the bright procession
pass below;
2:887 Then veer'd about, and took a
wheeling flight,
2:888 And hover'd o'er them: as the
spreading kite,
2:889 That smells the slaughter'd victim
from on high,
2:890 Flies at a distance, if the priests
are nigh,
2:891 And sails around, and keeps it
in her eye:
2:892 So kept the God the virgin quire
in view,
2:893 And in slow winding circles round
them flew.
2:894 As Lucifer excells the meanest star,
2:895 Or, as the full-orb'd Phoebe,
Lucifer;
2:896 So much did Herse all the rest
outvy,
2:897 And gave a grace to the solemnity.
2:898 Hermes was fir'd, as in the clouds
he hung:
2:899 So the cold bullet, that with
fury slung
2:900 From Balearick engines mounts
on high,
2:901 Glows in the whirl, and burns
along the sky.
2:902 At length he pitch'd upon the
ground, and show'd
2:903 The form divine, the features
of a God.
2:904 He knew their vertue o'er a female
heart,
2:905 And yet he strives to better
them by art.
2:906 He hangs his mantle loose, and
sets to show
2:907 The golden edging on the seam
below;
2:908 Adjusts his flowing curls, and
in his hand
2:909 Waves, with an air, the sleep-procuring
wand;
2:910 The glitt'ring sandals to his
feet applies,
2:911 And to each heel the well-trim'd
pinion ties.
2:912 His ornaments with nicest art display'd,
2:913 He seeks th' apartment of the
royal maid.
2:914 The roof was all with polish'd
iv'ry lin'd,
2:915 That richly mix'd, in clouds
of tortoise shin'd.
2:916 Three rooms, contiguous, in a
range were plac'd,
2:917 The midmost by the beauteous
Herse grac'd;
2:918 Her virgin sisters lodg'd on
either side.
2:919 Aglauros first th' approaching
God descry'd,
2:920 And, as he cross'd her chamber,
ask'd his name,
2:921 And what his business was, and
whence he came.
2:922 "I come," reply'd the
God, "from Heav'n, to woo
2:923 Your sister, and to make an aunt
of you;
2:924 I am the son and messenger of
Jove;
2:925 My name is Mercury, my bus'ness
love;
2:926 Do you, kind damsel, take a lover's
part,
2:927 And gain admittance to your sister's
heart."
2:928 She star'd him in the face with looks amaz'd,
2:929 As when she on Minerva's secret
gaz'd,
2:930 And asks a mighty treasure for
her hire;
2:931 And, 'till he brings it, makes
the God retire.
2:932 Minerva griev'd to see the nymph succeed;
2:933 And now remembring the late impious
deed,
2:934 When, disobedient to her strict
command,
2:935 She touch'd the chest with an
unhallow'd hand;
2:936 In big-swoln sighs her inward
rage express'd,
2:937 That heav'd the rising Aegis
on her breast;
2:938 Then sought out Envy in her dark
abode,
2:939 Defil'd with ropy gore and clots
of blood:
2:940 Shut from the winds, and from
the wholesome skies,
2:941 In a deep vale the gloomy dungeon
lies,
2:942 Dismal and cold, where not a
beam of light
2:943 Invades the winter, or disturbs
the night.
2:944 Directly to the cave her course she steer'd;
2:945 Against the gates her martial
lance she rear'd;
2:946 The gates flew open, and the
fiend appear'd.
2:947 A pois'nous morsel in her teeth
she chew'd,
2:948 And gorg'd the flesh of vipers
for her food.
2:949 Minerva loathing turn'd away
her eye;
2:950 The hideous monster, rising heavily,
2:951 Came stalking forward with a
sullen pace,
2:952 And left her mangled offals on
the place.
2:953 Soon as she saw the goddess gay
and bright,
2:954 She fetch'd a groan at such a
chearful sight.
2:955 Livid and meagre were her looks,
her eye
2:956 In foul distorted glances turn'd
awry;
2:957 A hoard of gall her inward parts
possess'd,
2:958 And spread a greenness o'er her
canker'd breast;
2:959 Her teeth were brown with rust,
and from her tongue,
2:960 In dangling drops, the stringy
poison hung.
2:961 She never smiles but when the
wretched weep,
2:962 Nor lulls her malice with a moment's
sleep,
2:963 Restless in spite: while watchful
to destroy,
2:964 She pines and sickens at another's
joy;
2:965 Foe to her self, distressing
and distrest,
2:966 She bears her own tormentor in
her breast.
2:967 The Goddess gave (for she abhorr'd
her sight)
2:968 A short command: "To Athens
speed thy flight;
2:969 On curst Aglauros try thy utmost
art,
2:970 And fix thy rankest venoms in
her heart."
2:971 This said, her spear she push'd
against the ground,
2:972 And mounting from it with an
active bound,
2:973 Flew off to Heav'n: the hag with eyes askew
2:974 Look'd up, and mutter'd curses
as she flew;
2:975 For sore she fretted, and began
to grieve
2:976 At the success which she her
self must give.
2:977 Then takes her staff, hung round
with wreaths of thorn,
2:978 And sails along, in a black whirlwind
born,
2:979 O'er fields and flow'ry meadows:
where she steers
2:980 Her baneful course, a mighty
blast appears,
2:981 Mildews and blights; the meadows
are defac'd,
2:982 The fields, the flow'rs, and
the whole years laid waste:
2:983 On mortals next, and peopled
towns she falls,
2:984 And breathes a burning plague
among their walls.
2:985 When Athens she beheld, for arts renown'd,
2:986 With peace made happy, and with
plenty crown'd,
2:987 Scarce could the hideous fiend
from tears forbear,
2:988 To find out nothing that deserv'd
a tear.
2:989 Th' apartment now she enter'd,
where at rest
2:990 Aglauros lay, with gentle sleep
opprest.
2:991 To execute Minerva's dire command,
2:992 She stroak'd the virgin with
her canker'd hand,
2:993 Then prickly thorns into her
breast convey'd,
2:994 That stung to madness the devoted
maid:
2:995 Her subtle venom still improves
the smart,
2:996 Frets in the blood, and festers
in the heart.
2:997 To make the work more sure, a scene she drew,
2:998 And plac'd before the dreaming
virgin's view
2:999 Her sister's marriage, and her
glorious fate:
2:1000 Th' imaginary bride appears
in state;
2:1001 The bride-groom with unwonted
beauty glows:
2:1002 For envy magnifies what-e'er
she shows.
2:1003 Full of the dream, Aglauros pin'd away
2:1004 In tears all night, in darkness
all the day;
2:1005 Consum'd like ice, that just
begins to run,
2:1006 When feebly smitten by the
distant sun;
2:1007 Or like unwholsome weeds, that
set on fire
2:1008 Are slowly wasted, and in smoke
expire.
2:1009 Giv'n up to envy (for in ev'ry
thought
2:1010 The thorns, the venom, and
the vision wrought)
2:1011 Oft did she call on death,
as oft decreed,
2:1012 Rather than see her sister's
wish succeed,
2:1013 To tell her awfull father what
had past:
2:1014 At length before the door her
self she cast;
2:1015 And, sitting on the ground
with sullen pride,
2:1016 A passage to the love-sick
God deny'd.
2:1017 The God caress'd, and for admission
pray'd,
2:1018 And sooth'd in softest words
th' envenom'd maid.
2:1019 In vain he sooth'd: "Begone!"
the maid replies,
2:1020 "Or here I keep my seat,
and never rise."
2:1021 "Then keep thy seat for
ever," cries the God,
2:1022 And touch'd the door, wide
op'ning to his rod.
2:1023 Fain would she rise, and stop
him, but she found
2:1024 Her trunk too heavy to forsake
the ground;
2:1025 Her joynts are all benum'd,
her hands are pale,
2:1026 And marble now appears in ev'ry
nail.
2:1027 As when a cancer in the body
feeds,
2:1028 And gradual death from limb
to limb proceeds;
2:1029 So does the chilness to each
vital parte
2:1030 Spread by degrees, and creeps
into her heart;
2:1031 'Till hard'ning ev'ry where,
and speechless grown,
2:1032 She sits unmov'd, and freezes
to a stone.
2:1033 But still her envious hue and
sullen mien
2:1034 Are in the sedentary figure
seen.