Page:Virgil's Pastorals, Georgics and Aeneis - Dryden (1709) - volume 2.djvu/161

False Tears true Pity move: the King commands
To loose his Fetters, and unbind his Hands:
Then adds these friendly Words; Dismiss thy Fears,
Forget the Greeks, be mine as thou wert theirs. 200
But truly tell, was it for Force or Guile,
Or some Religious End, you rais'd the Pile?
Thus said the King. He full of fraudful Arts,
This well invented Tale for Truth imparts.
Ye Lamps of Heav'n! he said, and lifted high 205
His hands now free, thou venerable Sky,
$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$Inviolable Pow'rs, ador'd with dread,
Ye fatal Fillets, that once bound this head,
Ye sacred Altars, from whose flames I fled!
Be all of you abjur'd; and grant I may, 210
Without a Crime, th' ungrateful Greeks betray!
Reveal the Secrets of the guilty State,
And justly punish whom I justly hate!
But you, O King, preserve the Faith you gave,
If I to save my self your Empire save. 215
The Grecian Hopes, and all th' Attempts they made,
Were only founded on Minerva's Aid.
But from the time when impious Diomede,
And false Ulysses, that inventive Head,
Her fatal Image from the Temple drew, 220
The sleeping Guardians of the Castle slew,
Her Virgin Statue with her bloody Hands
Polluted, and prophan'd her holy Bands;