Page:Ovid's Metamorphoses (Vol. 1) - tr Garth, Dryden, et. al. (1727).djvu/270

The Letcher, for Enjoyment fully bent,
No longer now conceal'd his base Intent;
But with rude Haste the bloomy Girl deflowr'd,
Tender, defenceless, and with Ease o'erpower'd.
Her piercing Accents to her Sire complain,
And to her absent Sister, but in vain:
In vain she importunes, with doleful Cries,
Each unattentive Godhead of the Skies.
She pants, and trembles, like the bleating Prey,
From some close-hunted Wolf just snatch'd away;
That still, with fearful Horror, looks around,
And on its Flank regards the bleeding Wound.
Or, as the tim'rous Dove, the Danger o'er,
Beholds her shining Plumes besmear'd with Gore,
And, tho' deliver'd from the Faulcon's Claw,
Yet shivers, and retains a secret Awe.
But when her Mind a calm Reflection shar'd,
And all her scatter'd Spirits were repair'd:
Torn, and disorder'd while her Tresses hung,
Her livid Hands, like one that mourn'd, she wrung;
Then thus, with Grief o'erwhelm'd her languid Eyes,
Savage, inhumane, cruel Wretch! she cries;
Whom nor a Parent's srict Commands could move,
Tho' charg'd, and utter'd with the Tears of Love;
Nor Virgin Innocence, nor all that's due
To the strong Contract of the Nuptial Vow:
Virtue, by this, in wild Confusion's laid,
And I compell'd to wrong my Sister's Bed;
Whilst you, regardless of your Marriage Oath,
With Stains of Incest have defil'd us Both.
Tho' I deserv'd some Punishment to find,
This was, ye Gods, too cruel, and unkind.
Yet, Villain, to compleat your horrid Guilt,
Stab here, and let my tainted Blood be spilt.
Oh happy! had it come, before I knew
The curs'd Embrace of vile perfidious you;

Then