Now triumphs in his turn the God of light,
Nor deigns to share his power with ancient Night:
Scarce sinks in western wave his burning car,
Ere burst his snorting steeds their eastern bar.
Important task to trace its course aright,
And mark its rising each successive night;
For always held within this zodiac bound,
Running his annual course the Sun is found.
If clouds arise, or mountains intervene,
And Phœbus' rising chariot is not seen; 590
Turn to that part of the horizon's line,
Where uneclips'd the heavenly beacons shine:
Some star there mark, which by its setting ray
Tells of the rising of the God of day.
When Cancer rises from the eastern main,
Not few the gems that deck the azure plain.
The diamond Crown, that amorous Bacchus gave
To Ariadne, in the western wave
One half is plung'd: the southern Fish descends
Headlong, his tail upon his back he bends. 600
Tir'd Serpentarius dips his heaving breast,
With his broad shoulders, and the Serpent's crest.
Arctophylax, insatiable of light,
Unwilling seeks the dreary realms of night—
Above the waves his outstretch'd hand remains,
Through half the night the struggle he maintains.
