Page:Ovid's Metamorphoses (Vol. 1) - tr Garth, Dryden, et. al. (1727).djvu/267

⁠Tereus beheld the Virgin, and admir'd,
And with the Coals of burning Lust was fir'd:
Like crackling Stubble, or the Summer Hay,
When forked Lightnings o'er the Meadows play.
Such Charms in any Breast might kindle Love,
But him the Heats of inbred Lewdness move;
To which, tho' Thrace is naturally prone,
Yet his is still superior, and his own.
Strait her Attendants he designs to buy,
And with large Bribes her Governess would try:
Herself with ample Gifts resolves to bend,
And his whole Kingdom in th' Attempt expend:
Or, snatch'd away by Force of Arms, to bear,
And justify the Rape with open War.
The boundless Passion boils within his Breast,
And his projecting Soul admits no Rest.
⁠And now, impatient of the least Delay,
By pleading Procnè's Cause, he speeds his Way:
The Eloquence of Love his Tongue inspires,
And, in his Wife's, he speaks his own Desires;
Hence all his Importunities arise,
And Tears unmanly trickle from his Eyes.
⁠Ye Gods! what thick involving Darkness blinds
The stupid Faculties of mortal Minds!
Tereus the Credit of Good-nature gains
From these his Crimes; so well the Villain feigns.
And, unsuspecting of his base Designs,
In the Request fair Philomela joyns;
Her snowy Arms her aged Sire embrace,
And clasp his Neck with an endearing Grace:
Only to see her Sister she entreats,
A seeming Blessing, which a Curse compleats.
Tereus surveys her with a luscious Eye,
And in his Mind forestalls the blissful Joy:
Her circling Arms a Scene of Lust inspire,
And ev'ry Kiss foments the raging Fire.

Fond-