Page:Ovid's Metamorphoses (Vol. 1) - tr Garth, Dryden, et. al. (1727).djvu/156

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Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Book 3.

Th' unwary Nymph, ensnar'd with what she said,
Desir'd of Jove, when next he sought her Bed.
To grant a certain Gift which she would chuse;
"Fear not, reply'd the God, that I'll refuse
"Whate'er you ask : May Styx confirm my Voice,
"Chuse what you will, and you shall have your Choice.
"Then, says the Nymph, when next you seek my Arms,
"May you descend in those Celestial Charms,
"With which your Juno's Bosom you enflame,
"And fill with Transport Heav'n's immortal Dame.
The God surpriz'd would fain have stopp'd her Voice,
But he had sworn, and she had made her Choice.
To keep his Promise he ascends, and shrowds
His awful Brow in Whirl-winds and in Clouds;
Whilst all around, in terrible Array,
His Thunders rattle, and his Light'nings play.
And yet, the dazling Lustre to abate,
He set not out in all his Pomp and State,
Clad in the mildest Lightning of the Skies,
And arm'd with Thunder of the smallest Size:
Not those huge Bolts, by which the Giants slain
Lay overthrown on the Phlegrean Plain.
'Twas of a lesser Mould, and lighter Weight;
They call it Thunder of a Second-Rate.
For the rough Cyclops, who by Jove's Command
Temper'd the Bolt, and turn'd it to his Hand,
Work'd up less Flame and Fury in its Make,
And quench'd it sooner in the standing Lake,
Thus dreadfully adorn'd, with Horror bright,
Th' illustrious God, descending from his Height,
Came rushing on her in a Storm of Light.
The mortal Dame, too feeble to engage
The Lightnings Flashes, and the Thunder's Rage,
Consum'd amidst the Glories she desir'd,
And in the Terrible Embrace expir'd.

But,