136
Translations, &c.
"To groan oppress'd: ev'n I, the feed of Jove,
"Combated various ills, and was adjudg'd
"By an inferior wretch (what could he more?)
"To drag to light the triple-crested dog
"That guards hell's massy portal: I achiev'd 715
"The task enjoin'd thro' the propitious aid
"Of Mercury and Pallas, who vouchsaf'd
"Their friendly guidance;" then without reply
To Pluto's court majestic he retir'd.
Mean-time for others of heroic note 720
I waited, in the lifts of ancient fame
Enroll'd illustrious; and had haply seen
Great Theseus, and Perithous his compeer,
The race of gods; but at the hideous scream
Of spectres issuing from the dark profound 725
I wax'd infirm of purpose, sore dismay'd
Left Proserpine should send Medusa, curl'd
With snaky locks, to fix me in her realm
Stiff with Gorgonian horror. To the ship
Retreating speedy thence, I bade my mates 730
To shove from more: joyous they straight began
To stem the tide, and brush'd the whitening seas
Till the fresh gales reliev'd the labʼring oar. 733
"Combated various ills, and was adjudg'd
"By an inferior wretch (what could he more?)
"To drag to light the triple-crested dog
"That guards hell's massy portal: I achiev'd 715
"The task enjoin'd thro' the propitious aid
"Of Mercury and Pallas, who vouchsaf'd
"Their friendly guidance;" then without reply
To Pluto's court majestic he retir'd.
Mean-time for others of heroic note 720
I waited, in the lifts of ancient fame
Enroll'd illustrious; and had haply seen
Great Theseus, and Perithous his compeer,
The race of gods; but at the hideous scream
Of spectres issuing from the dark profound 725
I wax'd infirm of purpose, sore dismay'd
Left Proserpine should send Medusa, curl'd
With snaky locks, to fix me in her realm
Stiff with Gorgonian horror. To the ship
Retreating speedy thence, I bade my mates 730
To shove from more: joyous they straight began
To stem the tide, and brush'd the whitening seas
Till the fresh gales reliev'd the labʼring oar. 733
