Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Song of the Pierides
5:491 Then rises one of the presumptuous throng,
5:492 Steps rudely forth, and first
begins the song;
5:493 With vain address describes the
giants' wars,
5:494 And to the Gods their fabled
acts prefers.
5:495 She sings, from Earth's dark
womb how Typhon rose,
5:496 And struck with mortal fear his
heav'nly foes.
5:497 How the Gods fled to Egypt's
slimy soil,
5:498 And hid their heads beneath the
banks of Nile:
5:499 How Typhon, from the conquer'd
skies, pursu'd
5:500 Their routed godheads to the
sev'n-mouth'd flood;
5:501 Forc'd every God, his fury to
escape,
5:502 Some beastly form to take, or
earthly shape.
5:503 Jove (so she sung) was chang'd
into a ram,
5:504 From whence the horns of Libyan
Ammon came.
5:505 Bacchus a goat, Apollo was a
crow,
5:506 Phaebe a cat; die wife of Jove
a cow,
5:507 Whose hue was whiter than the
falling snow.
5:508 Mercury to a nasty Ibis turn'd,
5:509 The change obscene, afraid of
Typhon, mourn'd;
5:510 While Venus from a fish protection
craves,
5:511 And once more plunges in her
native waves.
5:512 She sung, and to her harp her voice apply'd;
5:513 Then us again to match her they
defy'd.
5:514 But our poor song, perhaps, for
you to hear,
5:515 Nor leisure serves, nor is it
worth your ear.
5:516 That causeless doubt remove,
O Muse rehearse,
5:517 The Goddess cry'd, your ever-grateful
verse.
5:518 Beneath a chequer'd shade she
takes her seat,
5:519 And bids the sister her whole
song repeat.
5:520 The sister thus: Calliope we
chose
5:521 For the performance. The sweet
virgin rose,
5:522 With ivy crown'd she tunes her
golden strings,
5:523 And to her harp this composition
sings.
Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Song of the Pierides
5:491 Then rises one of the presumptuous throng,
5:492 Steps rudely forth, and first
begins the song;
5:493 With vain address describes the
giants' wars,
5:494 And to the Gods their fabled
acts prefers.
5:495 She sings, from Earth's dark
womb how Typhon rose,
5:496 And struck with mortal fear his
heav'nly foes.
5:497 How the Gods fled to Egypt's
slimy soil,
5:498 And hid their heads beneath the
banks of Nile:
5:499 How Typhon, from the conquer'd
skies, pursu'd
5:500 Their routed godheads to the
sev'n-mouth'd flood;
5:501 Forc'd every God, his fury to
escape,
5:502 Some beastly form to take, or
earthly shape.
5:503 Jove (so she sung) was chang'd
into a ram,
5:504 From whence the horns of Libyan
Ammon came.
5:505 Bacchus a goat, Apollo was a
crow,
5:506 Phaebe a cat; die wife of Jove
a cow,
5:507 Whose hue was whiter than the
falling snow.
5:508 Mercury to a nasty Ibis turn'd,
5:509 The change obscene, afraid of
Typhon, mourn'd;
5:510 While Venus from a fish protection
craves,
5:511 And once more plunges in her
native waves.
5:512 She sung, and to her harp her voice apply'd;
5:513 Then us again to match her they
defy'd.
5:514 But our poor song, perhaps, for
you to hear,
5:515 Nor leisure serves, nor is it
worth your ear.
5:516 That causeless doubt remove,
O Muse rehearse,
5:517 The Goddess cry'd, your ever-grateful
verse.
5:518 Beneath a chequer'd shade she
takes her seat,
5:519 And bids the sister her whole
song repeat.
5:520 The sister thus: Calliope we
chose
5:521 For the performance. The sweet
virgin rose,
5:522 With ivy crown'd she tunes her
golden strings,
5:523 And to her harp this composition
sings.