Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Story of Arethusa
5:865 Still were the purling waters, and the maid
5:866 From the smooth surface rais'd
her beauteous head,
5:867 Wipes off the drops that from
her tresses ran,
5:868 And thus to tell Alpheus' loves
began.
5:869 In Elis first I breath'd the living air,
5:870 The chase was all my pleasure,
all my care.
5:871 None lov'd like me the forest
to explore,
5:872 To pitch the toils, and drive
the bristled boar.
5:873 Of fair, tho' masculine, I had
the name,
5:874 But gladly wou'd to that have
quitted claim:
5:875 It less my pride than indignation
rais'd,
5:876 To hear the beauty I neglected,
prais'd;
5:877 Such compliments I loath'd, such
charms as these
5:878 I scorn'd, and thought it infamy
to please.
5:879 Once, I remember, in the summer's heat,
5:880 Tir'd with the chase, I sought
a cool retreat;
5:881 And, walking on, a silent current
found,
5:882 Which gently glided o'er the
grav'ly ground.
5:883 The chrystal water was so smooth,
so clear,
5:884 My eye distinguish'd ev'ry pebble
there.
5:885 So soft its motion, that I scarce
perceiv'd
5:886 The running stream, or what I
saw believ'd.
5:887 The hoary willow, and the poplar,
made
5:888 Along the shelving bank a grateful
shade.
5:889 In the cool rivulet my feet I
dipt,
5:890 Then waded to the knee, and then
I stript;
5:891 My robe I careless on an osier
threw,
5:892 That near the place commodiously
grew;
5:893 Nor long upon the border naked
stood,
5:894 But plung'd with speed into the
silver flood.
5:895 My arms a thousand ways I mov'd,
and try'd
5:896 To quicken, if I cou'd, the lazy
tide;
5:897 Where, while I play'd my swimming
gambols o'er,
5:898 I heard a murm'ring voice, and
frighted sprung to shore.
5:899 Oh! whither, Arethusa, dost thou
fly?
5:900 From the brook's bottom did Alpheus
cry;
5:901 Again, I heard him, in a hollow
tone,
5:902 Oh! whither, Arethusa, dost thou
run?
5:903 Naked I flew, nor cou'd I stay
to hide
5:904 My limbs, my robe was on the
other side;
5:905 Alpheus follow'd fast, th' inflaming
sight
5:906 Quicken'd his speed, and made
his labour light;
5:907 He sees me ready for his eager
arms,
5:908 And with a greedy glance devours
my charms.
5:909 As trembling doves from pressing
danger fly,
5:910 When the fierce hawk comes sousing
from the sky;
5:911 And, as fierce hawks the trembling
doves pursue,
5:912 From him I fled, and after me
he flew.
5:913 First by Orchomenus I took my
flight,
5:914 And soon had Psophis and Cyllene
in sight;
5:915 Behind me then high Maenalus
I lost,
5:916 And craggy Erimanthus scal'd
with frost;
5:917 Elis was next; thus far the ground
I trod
5:918 With nimble feet, before the
distanc'd God.
5:919 But here I lagg'd, unable to
sustain
5:920 The labour longer, and my flight
maintain;
5:921 While he more strong, more patient
of the toil,
5:922 And fir'd with hopes of beauty's
speedy spoil,
5:923 Gain'd my lost ground, and by
redoubled pace,
5:924 Now left between us but a narrow
space.
5:925 Unweary'd I 'till now o'er hills,
and plains,
5:926 O'er rocks, and rivers ran, and
felt no pains:
5:927 The sun behind me, and the God
I kept,
5:928 But, when I fastest shou'd have
run, I stept.
5:929 Before my feet his shadow now
appear'd;
5:930 As what I saw, or rather what
I fear'd.
5:931 Yet there I could not be deceiv'd
by fear,
5:932 Who felt his breath pant on my
braided hair,
5:933 And heard his sounding tread,
and knew him to be near.
5:934 Tir'd, and despairing, O celestial
maid,
5:935 I'm caught, I cry'd, without
thy heav'nly aid.
5:936 Help me, Diana, help a nymph
forlorn,
5:937 Devoted to the woods, who long
has worn
5:938 Thy livery, and long thy quiver
born.
5:939 The Goddess heard; my pious pray'r
prevail'd;
5:940 In muffling clouds my virgin
head was veil'd,
5:941 The am'rous God, deluded of his
hopes,
5:942 Searches the gloom, and thro'
the darkness gropes;
5:943 Twice, where Diana did her servant
hide
5:944 He came, and twice, O Arethusa!
cry'd.
5:945 How shaken was my soul, how sunk
my heart!
5:946 The terror seiz'd on ev'ry trembling
part.
5:947 Thus when the wolf about the
mountain prowls
5:948 For prey, the lambkin hears his
horrid howls:
5:949 The tim'rous hare, the pack approaching
nigh,
5:950 Thus hearkens to the hounds,
and trembles at the cry;
5:951 Nor dares she stir, for fear
her scented breath
5:952 Direct the dogs, and guide the
threaten'd death.
5:953 Alpheus in the cloud no traces
found
5:954 To mark my way, yet stays to
guard the ground,
5:955 The God so near, a chilly sweat
possest
5:956 My fainting limbs, at ev'ry pore
exprest;
5:957 My strength distill'd in drops,
my hair in dew,
5:958 My form was chang'd, and all
my substance new.
5:959 Each motion was a stream, and
my whole frame
5:960 Turn'd to a fount, which still
preserves my name.
5:961 Resolv'd I shou'd not his embrace
escape,
5:962 Again the God resumes his fluid
shape;
5:963 To mix his streams with mine
he fondly tries,
5:964 But still Diana his attempt denies.
5:965 She cleaves the ground; thro'
caverns dark I run
5:966 A diff'rent current, while he
keeps his own.
5:967 To dear Ortygia she conducts
my way,
5:968 And here I first review the welcome
day.
5:969 Here Arethusa stopt; then Ceres takes
5:970 Her golden carr, and yokes her
fiery snakes;
5:971 With a just rein, along mid-heaven
she flies
5:972 O'er Earth, and seas, and cuts
the yielding skies.
5:973 She halts at Athens, dropping
like a star,
5:974 And to Triptolemus resigns her
carr.
5:975 Parent of seed, she gave him
fruitful grain,
5:976 And bad him teach to till and
plough the plain;
5:977 The seed to sow, as well in fallow
fields,
5:978 As where the soil manur'd a richer
harvest yields.
Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Story of Arethusa
5:865 Still were the purling waters, and the maid
5:866 From the smooth surface rais'd
her beauteous head,
5:867 Wipes off the drops that from
her tresses ran,
5:868 And thus to tell Alpheus' loves
began.
5:869 In Elis first I breath'd the living air,
5:870 The chase was all my pleasure,
all my care.
5:871 None lov'd like me the forest
to explore,
5:872 To pitch the toils, and drive
the bristled boar.
5:873 Of fair, tho' masculine, I had
the name,
5:874 But gladly wou'd to that have
quitted claim:
5:875 It less my pride than indignation
rais'd,
5:876 To hear the beauty I neglected,
prais'd;
5:877 Such compliments I loath'd, such
charms as these
5:878 I scorn'd, and thought it infamy
to please.
5:879 Once, I remember, in the summer's heat,
5:880 Tir'd with the chase, I sought
a cool retreat;
5:881 And, walking on, a silent current
found,
5:882 Which gently glided o'er the
grav'ly ground.
5:883 The chrystal water was so smooth,
so clear,
5:884 My eye distinguish'd ev'ry pebble
there.
5:885 So soft its motion, that I scarce
perceiv'd
5:886 The running stream, or what I
saw believ'd.
5:887 The hoary willow, and the poplar,
made
5:888 Along the shelving bank a grateful
shade.
5:889 In the cool rivulet my feet I
dipt,
5:890 Then waded to the knee, and then
I stript;
5:891 My robe I careless on an osier
threw,
5:892 That near the place commodiously
grew;
5:893 Nor long upon the border naked
stood,
5:894 But plung'd with speed into the
silver flood.
5:895 My arms a thousand ways I mov'd,
and try'd
5:896 To quicken, if I cou'd, the lazy
tide;
5:897 Where, while I play'd my swimming
gambols o'er,
5:898 I heard a murm'ring voice, and
frighted sprung to shore.
5:899 Oh! whither, Arethusa, dost thou
fly?
5:900 From the brook's bottom did Alpheus
cry;
5:901 Again, I heard him, in a hollow
tone,
5:902 Oh! whither, Arethusa, dost thou
run?
5:903 Naked I flew, nor cou'd I stay
to hide
5:904 My limbs, my robe was on the
other side;
5:905 Alpheus follow'd fast, th' inflaming
sight
5:906 Quicken'd his speed, and made
his labour light;
5:907 He sees me ready for his eager
arms,
5:908 And with a greedy glance devours
my charms.
5:909 As trembling doves from pressing
danger fly,
5:910 When the fierce hawk comes sousing
from the sky;
5:911 And, as fierce hawks the trembling
doves pursue,
5:912 From him I fled, and after me
he flew.
5:913 First by Orchomenus I took my
flight,
5:914 And soon had Psophis and Cyllene
in sight;
5:915 Behind me then high Maenalus
I lost,
5:916 And craggy Erimanthus scal'd
with frost;
5:917 Elis was next; thus far the ground
I trod
5:918 With nimble feet, before the
distanc'd God.
5:919 But here I lagg'd, unable to
sustain
5:920 The labour longer, and my flight
maintain;
5:921 While he more strong, more patient
of the toil,
5:922 And fir'd with hopes of beauty's
speedy spoil,
5:923 Gain'd my lost ground, and by
redoubled pace,
5:924 Now left between us but a narrow
space.
5:925 Unweary'd I 'till now o'er hills,
and plains,
5:926 O'er rocks, and rivers ran, and
felt no pains:
5:927 The sun behind me, and the God
I kept,
5:928 But, when I fastest shou'd have
run, I stept.
5:929 Before my feet his shadow now
appear'd;
5:930 As what I saw, or rather what
I fear'd.
5:931 Yet there I could not be deceiv'd
by fear,
5:932 Who felt his breath pant on my
braided hair,
5:933 And heard his sounding tread,
and knew him to be near.
5:934 Tir'd, and despairing, O celestial
maid,
5:935 I'm caught, I cry'd, without
thy heav'nly aid.
5:936 Help me, Diana, help a nymph
forlorn,
5:937 Devoted to the woods, who long
has worn
5:938 Thy livery, and long thy quiver
born.
5:939 The Goddess heard; my pious pray'r
prevail'd;
5:940 In muffling clouds my virgin
head was veil'd,
5:941 The am'rous God, deluded of his
hopes,
5:942 Searches the gloom, and thro'
the darkness gropes;
5:943 Twice, where Diana did her servant
hide
5:944 He came, and twice, O Arethusa!
cry'd.
5:945 How shaken was my soul, how sunk
my heart!
5:946 The terror seiz'd on ev'ry trembling
part.
5:947 Thus when the wolf about the
mountain prowls
5:948 For prey, the lambkin hears his
horrid howls:
5:949 The tim'rous hare, the pack approaching
nigh,
5:950 Thus hearkens to the hounds,
and trembles at the cry;
5:951 Nor dares she stir, for fear
her scented breath
5:952 Direct the dogs, and guide the
threaten'd death.
5:953 Alpheus in the cloud no traces
found
5:954 To mark my way, yet stays to
guard the ground,
5:955 The God so near, a chilly sweat
possest
5:956 My fainting limbs, at ev'ry pore
exprest;
5:957 My strength distill'd in drops,
my hair in dew,
5:958 My form was chang'd, and all
my substance new.
5:959 Each motion was a stream, and
my whole frame
5:960 Turn'd to a fount, which still
preserves my name.
5:961 Resolv'd I shou'd not his embrace
escape,
5:962 Again the God resumes his fluid
shape;
5:963 To mix his streams with mine
he fondly tries,
5:964 But still Diana his attempt denies.
5:965 She cleaves the ground; thro'
caverns dark I run
5:966 A diff'rent current, while he
keeps his own.
5:967 To dear Ortygia she conducts
my way,
5:968 And here I first review the welcome
day.
5:969 Here Arethusa stopt; then Ceres takes
5:970 Her golden carr, and yokes her
fiery snakes;
5:971 With a just rein, along mid-heaven
she flies
5:972 O'er Earth, and seas, and cuts
the yielding skies.
5:973 She halts at Athens, dropping
like a star,
5:974 And to Triptolemus resigns her
carr.
5:975 Parent of seed, she gave him
fruitful grain,
5:976 And bad him teach to till and
plough the plain;
5:977 The seed to sow, as well in fallow
fields,
5:978 As where the soil manur'd a richer
harvest yields.