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XLI.
Mean-time, like Pains my throbbing Temples wound,
As Jove sustain'd from me his Daughter born,
Mother and Sire in one; nor rest I found,
Till crowing Cocks proclaim'd the welcom Morn.
405 For neither Army let Immortals fight,
Or needless tempt the Dangers of the Day;
Since Scenes[1] of Death our heav'nly Minds delight,
Reclin'd securely we at distance stay.
I stay, desert that please their best Abode,
410 To meet such Foes in Arms is daring for a God![2]
Mean-time, like Pains my throbbing Temples wound,
As Jove sustain'd from me his Daughter born,
Mother and Sire in one; nor rest I found,
Till crowing Cocks proclaim'd the welcom Morn.
405 For neither Army let Immortals fight,
Or needless tempt the Dangers of the Day;
Since Scenes[1] of Death our heav'nly Minds delight,
Reclin'd securely we at distance stay.
I stay, desert that please their best Abode,
410 To meet such Foes in Arms is daring for a God![2]
- ↑ v. 407. Since Scenes.] The harmony of all things springs from Discord; wherefore Jupiter was diverted at the Disagreement of the Gods themselves, so other Immortals may be suppos'd pleas'd with the Battle of Frogs and Mice.
- ↑ v. 410. Daring for a God.] This is to be understood allegorically. The honest old Archbishop of Thessalonica ingenuously acquaints us in his Comment upon the first Iliad, that Allegory was invented in order to solve the Absurdities which would otherwise appear in the antient Writers. And I must once for all inform my Reader, if he finds any Passage he cannot well account for, he must take it for granted, There is an Allegory in it.
XLII.
