Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
Alcithoe and her Sisters transform'd to Bats
4:565 But Mineus' daughters still their tasks pursue,
4:566 To wickedness most obstinately
true:
4:567 At Bacchus still they laugh,
when all around,
4:568 Unseen, the timbrels hoarse were
heard to sound.
4:569 Saffron and myrrh their fragrant
odours shed,
4:570 And now the present deity they
dread.
4:571 Strange to relate! Here ivy first
was seen,
4:572 Along the distaff crept the wond'rous
green.
4:573 Then sudden-springing vines began
to bloom,
4:574 And the soft tendrils curl'd
around the loom:
4:575 While purple clusters, dangling
from on high,
4:576 Ting'd the wrought purple with
a second die.
4:577 Now from the skies was shot a doubtful light,
4:578 The day declining to the bounds
of night.
4:579 The fabrick's firm foundations
shake all o'er,
4:580 False tigers rage, and figur'd
lions roar.
4:581 Torches, aloft, seem blazing
in the air,
4:582 And angry flashes of red light'nings
glare.
4:583 To dark recesses, the dire sight
to shun,
4:584 Swift the pale sisters in confusion
run.
4:585 Their arms were lost in pinions,
as they fled,
4:586 And subtle films each slender
limb o'er-spread.
4:587 Their alter'd forms their senses
soon reveal'd;
4:588 Their forms, how alter'd, darkness
still conceal'd.
4:589 Close to the roof each, wond'ring,
upwards springs,
4:590 Born on unknown, transparent,
plumeless wings.
4:591 They strove for words; their
little bodies found
4:592 No words, but murmur'd in a fainting
sound.
4:593 In towns, not woods, the sooty
bats delight,
4:594 And, never, 'till the dusk, begin
their flight;
4:595 'Till Vesper rises with his ev'ning
flame;
4:596 From whom the Romans have deriv'd
their name.
Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
Alcithoe and her Sisters transform'd to Bats
4:565 But Mineus' daughters still their tasks pursue,
4:566 To wickedness most obstinately
true:
4:567 At Bacchus still they laugh,
when all around,
4:568 Unseen, the timbrels hoarse were
heard to sound.
4:569 Saffron and myrrh their fragrant
odours shed,
4:570 And now the present deity they
dread.
4:571 Strange to relate! Here ivy first
was seen,
4:572 Along the distaff crept the wond'rous
green.
4:573 Then sudden-springing vines began
to bloom,
4:574 And the soft tendrils curl'd
around the loom:
4:575 While purple clusters, dangling
from on high,
4:576 Ting'd the wrought purple with
a second die.
4:577 Now from the skies was shot a doubtful light,
4:578 The day declining to the bounds
of night.
4:579 The fabrick's firm foundations
shake all o'er,
4:580 False tigers rage, and figur'd
lions roar.
4:581 Torches, aloft, seem blazing
in the air,
4:582 And angry flashes of red light'nings
glare.
4:583 To dark recesses, the dire sight
to shun,
4:584 Swift the pale sisters in confusion
run.
4:585 Their arms were lost in pinions,
as they fled,
4:586 And subtle films each slender
limb o'er-spread.
4:587 Their alter'd forms their senses
soon reveal'd;
4:588 Their forms, how alter'd, darkness
still conceal'd.
4:589 Close to the roof each, wond'ring,
upwards springs,
4:590 Born on unknown, transparent,
plumeless wings.
4:591 They strove for words; their
little bodies found
4:592 No words, but murmur'd in a fainting
sound.
4:593 In towns, not woods, the sooty
bats delight,
4:594 And, never, 'till the dusk, begin
their flight;
4:595 'Till Vesper rises with his ev'ning
flame;
4:596 From whom the Romans have deriv'd
their name.