Page:Ovid's Metamorphoses (Vol. 1) - tr Garth, Dryden, et. al. (1727).djvu/119

(But first, impatient of the sultry Heat,
Sunk deeper down, and sought a cooler Seat:
"If you, great King of Gods, my Death approve.
"And I deserve it, let medic by Jove;
"If I must perish by the Force of Fire,
"Let me transfix'd with Thunderbolts expire.
"See, whilst I speak, my Breath the Vapours choak,
(For now her Face lay wrapt in Clouds of Smoak)
"See my singe'd Hair, behold my faded Eye,
"And withered Face, where Heaps of Cinders lye!
"And does the Plough for this my Body tear?$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$
"This the Reward for all the Fruits I bear,
"Tortured with Rakes, and harrass'd all the Year?
"That Herbs for Cattle daily I renew,
"And Food for Man, and Frankincense for you?
"But grant me guilty; what has Neptune done?
"Why are his Waters boiling in the Sun?
"The wavy Empire, which by Lot was giv'n,
"Why does it waste, and further shrink from Heav'n?
"If I nor he your Pity can provoke,
"See your own Heav'ns, the Heav'ns begin to smoke!
"Shou'd once the Sparkles catch those bright Abodes,
"Destruction seizes on the Heav'ns and Gods;
"Atlas becomes unequal to his Freight,
"And almost faints beneath the glowing Weight.
"If Heav'n, and Earth, and Sea, together burn,
"All must again into their Chaos turn.
"Apply some speedy Cure, prevent our Fate,
"And succour Nature, e'er it be too late.
She ceas'd, for choak'd with Vapours round her spread,
Down to the deepest Shades she sunk her Head.
Jove call'd to witness ev'ry Pow'r above,
And ev'n the God, whose Son the Chariot drove,
That what he acts he is compell'd to do,
Or universal Ruin must ensue.

Strait