Page:Ovid's Metamorphoses (Vol. 1) - tr Garth, Dryden, et. al. (1727).djvu/102

A Crown of Pine upon his Head he wore;
And thus began her Pity to implore.
But e'er he thus began, she took her Flight
So swift, she was already out of Sight.
Nor stay'd to hear the Courtship of the God;
But bent her Course to Ladon's gentle Flood:
There by the River stopt, and tir'd before;
Relief from Water Nymphs her Pray'rs implore.
Now while the Lustful God, with speedy Pace, $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$
Just thought to strain her in a strict Embrace,
He fill'd his Arms with Reeds, new rising on the Place.
And while he sighs, his ill Success to find,
The tender Canes were shaken by the Wind;
And breath'd a mournful Air, unheard before;
That much surprizing Pan, yet pleas'd him more.
Admiring this new Musick, Thou, he said,
Who canst not be the Partner of my Bed,
At least shalt be the Confort of my Mind:
And often, often to my Lips be joyn'd.
He form'd the Reeds, proportion'd as they are, $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$
Unequal in their Length, and wax'd with Care,
They still retain the Name of his ungrateful Fair.
While Hermes pip'd, and sung, and told his Tale,
The Keeper's winking Eyes began to fail,
And drowsie Slumber on the Lids to creep;
Till all the Watchman was at length asleep.
Then soon the God his Voice, and Song supprest;
And with his pow'rful Rod confirm'd his Rest:
Without delay his crooked Faulchion drew,
And at one fatal Stroke the Keeper slew.
Down from the Rock fell the dissever'd Head,
Opening its Eyes in Death; and falling, bled;
And mark'd the Passage with a Crimson Trail:
Thus Argus lies in Pieces, cold, and pale;
And all his hundred Eyes, with all their Light,
Are clos'd at once, in one perpetual Night.

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