Which, for the Spartan Queen, the Grecians drew
T' avenge the Rape; and Asia to subdue.
A thousand Ships were mann'd, to sail the Sea:
Nor had their just Resentments found Delay,
Had not the Winds, and Waves oppos'd their Way.
At Aulis, with united Pow'rs they meet,
But there, Cross-winds or Calms detain'd the Fleet.
Now, while they raise an Altar on the Shore,
And Jove with solemn Sacrifice adore;
A boding Sign the Priests and People see:
A Snake of Size immense ascends a Tree,
And, in the leafie Summit, spy'd a Nest,
Which o'er her Callow Young, a Sparrow press'd.
Eight were the Birds unfledg'd; their Mother flew,
And hover'd round her Care; but still in view:
Till the fierce Reptile first devour'd the Brood;
Then seiz'd the flutt'ring Dam, and drunk her Blood.
This dire Ostent, the fearful People view;
Calchas alone, by Phœbus taught, foreknew
What Heav'n decreed; and with a smiling Glance,
Thus gratulates to Greece her happy Chance.
O Argives, we shall Conquer: Troy is ours,
But long Delays shall first afflict our Pow'rs:
Nine Years of Labour, the nine Birds portend;
The Tenth shall in the Town's Destruction end.
The Serpent, who his Maw obscene had fill'd,
The Branches in his curl'd Embraces held:
But, as in Spires he stood, he turn'd to Stone:
The stony Snake retained the Figure still his own.
Yet, not for this, the Wind-bound Navy weigh'd;
Slack were their Sails; and Neptune disobey'd.
Some thought him loath the Town shou'd be destroy'd,
Whose Building had his Hands Divine employ'd:
Not so the Seer; who knew, and known foreshow'd,
The Virgin Phœbe, with a Virgin's Blood
Must
