Page:Ovid's Metamorphoses (Vol. 1) - tr Garth, Dryden, et. al. (1727).djvu/265

Argos, with Sparta's, and Mycenæ's Towns,
And Calydon, yet free from fierce Diana's Frowns.
Corinth for finest Brass well fam'd of old,
Orthomenos for Men of Courage bold:
Cleonæ lying in the lowly Dale,
And rich Messenè with its fertile Vale:
Pylos, for Nestor's City after fam'd,
And Trœzen, not as yet from Pittheus nam'd.
And those fair Cities, which are hem'd around
By double Seas within the Isthmian Ground;
And those, which farther from the Sea-coast stand,
Lodg'd in the Bosom of the spacious Land.
⁠Who can believe it? Athens was the last:
Tho' for Politeness fam'd for Ages past.
For a strait Siege, which then their Walls enclos'd,
Such Acts of kind Humanity oppos'd:
And thick with Ships, from foreign Nations bound,
Sea-ward their City lay invested round.
⁠These, with auxiliar Forces led from far,
Tereus of Thrace, brave, and inur'd to War,
Had quite defeated, and obtain'd a Name,
The Warrior's Due, among the Sons of Fame.
This, with his Wealth, and Pow'r, and ancient Line,⁠$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$
From Mars deriv'd, Pandion's Thoughts incline
His Daughter Procnè with the Prince to joyn.
⁠Nor Hymen, nor the Graces here preside,
Nor Juno to befriend the blooming Bride;
But Fiends with fun'ral Brands the Process led,
And Furies waited at the Genial Bed:
And all Night long the scriching Owl aloof,
With baleful Notes, sate brooding o'er the Roof.
With such ill Omens was the Match begun,
That made them Parents of a hopeful Son.
Now Thrace congratulates their seeming Joy,
And they, in thankful Rites, their Minds employ.

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