Classic Poem

Sing , Cyprian Venus'! praise, O tuneful Muse!
Who heaven's high host with love's sweet joys imbues,
Spreads o'er mankind her universal reign,
O'er all who wing the air, or tread the plain,
O'er all who cleave the wave; or all obey,
Bless'd Cytherea! thy celestial sway.
Three goddesses alone thy power withstand,
Nor feel thy witching arts, nor own thy influence bland.
The blue-eyed maid, daughter of mighty Jove,
Pallas! ne'er tastes the golden joys of love.
The' ensanguin'd fields of Mars her chief delight,
The meed of glory and the storm of fight,
She first imparted to the rural swain
To guide the ploughshare, and to drive the wain:
She taught the maid, in the secluded room,
To weave the silken web and ply the loom.
Nor could the laughter-loving goddess move
The huntress Dian to the rites of love.
All her delight the woodland walks to trace,
And chase with silver bow the bestial race;
Or, sacred shades and hallow'd domes among,
Weave the light dance or wake the choral song.
Nor have the powers of Venus ever sway'd
Vesta, from Saturn sprung, celestial maid,
Though Neptune, azure ocean's mighty lord,
And Phaebus each the sacred nymph ador'd.
Both she rejected with determin'd breast,
While thus her vows eternal Jove attest:
" O let me ne'er ascend the nuptial bower,
But undefil'd preserve my virgin flower!"
The god approv'd; and gave this splendid dower
Stead of the bridal rite — that first on high
She sit amid the daughters of the sky;
Honour'd above the rest her holy fane
By gods above and man's inferior train.
Of mortal and immortal powers, alone
These scorn the charms of Cytherea's throne.
All else beneath the wide expanse of day
Bow to the goddess, and confess her sway.
Even he, the power who reigns supreme above,
First of the first, the thunder-bearing Jove,
Feels the mild influence of the genial flame,
Struck by the charms of many a mortal dame:
Forgetting for a while the nuptial vows
To Juno pledg'd, his sister and his spouse,
From Saturn and from Rhea sprung, in face
And form superior to the' immortal race,
Jove chose her for his queen, with prudent breast,
By sense, by worth, distinguish'd from the rest,
Jove, in return, bids mortal charms impart
A potent influence to his daughter's heart;
Lest proudly mid the gods' assembled host
The queen of smiles and winning arts should boast,
That while the gods, inspir'd by lawless flame,
Were proud of offspring from a mortal dame,
Her dignity no goddess should disgrace,
Or yield her beauties to a man's embrace.
For young Anchises (who on Ida's brow,
Whence to the main unnumber'd fountains flow,
Tended his herds, whose face and form divine
Of mortal birth, mate heaven's immortal line)
He breath'd in Venus' breast the glowing fire;
She saw perfection, and she felt desire.
To the soft Cyprian shores the goddess moves,
To visit Paphos and her blooming groves,
Where to the power a hundred altars rise,
And breathing odours scent the balmy skies.
Conceal'd she bathes in consecrated bowers,
The Graces unguents shed ambrosial showers;
Unguents that charm the gods! she last assumes
Her wondrous zone; and full the goddess blooms.
Leaving the Cyprian groves, her long-lov'd sway,
Borne through the skies, to Troy she wings her way.
Ascending then irriguous Ida's shades,
Haunted by savage tribes her forest glades:
She sought the neatherd's cote, the ravening crew
Of lions, ounces, pards, her steps pursue,
Charm'd into softness as her eyes they view,
With gentle blandishment the goddess greet,
Bask in her smiles, and fawn before her feet.
She reach'd the cote, and found the lovely swain
Anchises, sole from all the rural train,
The herds who tended; while with heavenly fire
His hands struck rapture from the' enchanting lyre.
Before him Jove's celestial daughter stood,
In show an humble nymph that haunts the wood,
Lest, in the form of heavenly beauty bright,
The glorious image should appal his sight.
Her form, her mien, her garb's resplendent folds
With wondering gaze the' astonish'd swain beholds,
Loose flows her robe with variegated charms,
And shining bracelets clasp her beauteous arms,
While jewels, beaming bright as Luna's ray,
Their lustre on her snowy breast display.
Anchises stands transfix'd with fierce desire,
And thus he utters what his thoughts inspire: —
" Say who thou art, goddess of heavenly race!
Who thus my lowly cottage deign'st to grace?
Dian, Latona, or of Cyprus' shade
The queen, or Themis, or the blue-eyed maid?
Or of the Graces one, who still remain,
Themselves immortal, with the' immortal train?
Or a bright Oread, or a Dryad fair,
Who make the groves and mountain haunts their care?
Or a young sister of the Naiad throng
Who sport the streams and watry vales among? —
To thee aloft upon the craggy height
The fane I'll rear, and pay the hallow'd rite;
Thy constant votary. — So thy power shall give,
Honour'd mid Troy's proud sons, thy slave to live;
To see a lovely and a virtuous race
My nuptial couch and smiling circle grace;
View many a year bright Sol the skies illume,
Then sink in age and glory to the tomb."
Venus, Jove's beauteous daughter, thus replied:
" Anchises! of man's earth-born race the pride!
No birth of heavenly origin I claim,
But sprung a mortal from a mortal dame.
Otreus, my warlike sire, whose power commands
The wide expanse of Phrygia's fertile lands:
Our common speech the same. — In Ilium's towers
Foster'd with care I pass'd my infant hours.
A nurse receiv'd me from a mother's breast,
And with a mother's love my youth caress'd.
But Hermes, master of the silver rod,
Mid Dian's votaries while the dance I trod,
A train of high-born nymphs in sportive play
Engag'd — he tore me from my friends away.
Borne by the wily God, with furious haste,
O'er many a cultur'd field and barren waste,
With rapid course our active footsteps bound,
Scarce touching as they skim along the ground:
My charms (he said) Anchises' bed should grace,
By him the mother of a numerous race."
The task perform'd, aloft on pinions light
To heaven's imperial seats he wing'd his flight.
Thus urg'd by fate I come; and now implore
By that high power whom men and gods adore;
By those who gave thee birth, an honour'd pair,
For none of humble rank boast such an heir.
If by thy hand my virgin charms are led
To crown with joy thy hymeneal bed,
First bring me to thy parents' fond embrace,
Thy happy kindred and fraternal race;
Neither shall feel abash'd thy bride to claim,
Or by a sister's or a daughter's name. —
Borne by swift steeds, an active herald send
Where fertile Phrygia's ample plains extend;
Given by my parents, we shall soon behold
Gems of high price and vestures rough with gold. —
Then let thy hands the nuptial feast prepare,
Which many a god and god-like mortal share.
Thus Venus spoke: Anchises thus replies;
While mutual passion beams from either's eyes —
" If mortal thou, sprung from a mortal dame,
Otreus thy father, as thy words proclaim,
By Hermes hither brought — O still through life,
Still shall I hail thee as my beauteous wife;
And none of mortal or immortal race
Shall e'er divorce thee from my fond embrace,
Not e'en if Phaebus with his silver bow
Mark me a victim for the shades below,
Till, lovely woman, with thy beauties bless'd:
Then could I meet my fate with placid breast."
He said; and straight the blushing goddess led,
With eye averted, to the nuptial bed,
Spread with the skins of savage beasts; the spoils
In woodland warfare of his manly toils. —
The genial couch of love ascending both;
Anchises from her bosom, nothing loth,
Throws every splendid ornament aside,
Unbinds her zone and clasps the willing bride:
Favour'd by heaven and fate, unconscious press'd
A yielding goddess to his ardent breast. —
But from the flowery meads and pastures fair,
What time the shepherds drive their fleecy care,
O'er her fair form her vesture Venus threw,
While Morpheus steeps the swain in poppied dew;
And by the conscious couch's humble side
Stood deck'd in radiance of celestial pride:
" O'er her warm cheek and swelling breast while move
The bloom of young desire and purple light of love;"
When Venus thus: " Dardanian youth, awake!
The fetters of surprise and slumber break. —
Say, am I now in the same semblance dight
As when my form first struck thy raptur'd sight?"
He burst the bands of sleep: — before him shine
The charms celestial of the power divine.
His awe-struck eye the heavenly form survey'd,
And with averted look he trembling said: —
" Soon, goddess, as I saw thy form and face,
I knew thee not deriv'd of mortal race;
Knew thee some bright descendant of the skies,
Thy heavenly radiance veil'd in mortal guise.
By thundering Jove adjur'd, O goddess, give
Thy suppliant, not despis'd on earth to live:
Few since his years who in his mortal arms
Has rapturous clasp'd a heavenly goddess' charms."
" O first of human kind! (the goddess cried)
Of waning man the glory and the pride!
Hush all thy fears: — no ill to thee shall rise
From me, or any inmate of the skies.
Dear to the gods art thou, thy son more dear,
Whose line shall last through many a circling year.
On great Æeas falls the Trojan reign,
While sons succeeding sons the lasting line sustain."
Æneas call'd, alas! from my disgrace
A goddess match'd with one of mortal race.
Oft have the immortals, by affection mov'd,
The favour'd sons of Trojan lineage loved:
Hence Ganymede, the thundering sire of yore,
To the celestial mansions fondly bore,
Where to the' applauding circle, graceful round
He pour'd the bowl with rosy nectar crown'd,
While anxious sorrows on his father wait,
Unconscious of his son's uncertain state;
Till pitying Jove his wasting care survey'd,
And with a splendid boon his grief allay'd;
For of celestial steeds a generous breed
He gave, from age and death for ever freed;
Such as among the glorious realms above
O'er heaven's high arch the gods eternal drove.
Pleas'd with the gift, the father's woes subside,
Urging the'immortal steeds with conscious pride, —
Of the same race Tithonus hence was borne
By bright Aurora, goddess of the morn!
Then at the feet of cloud-compelling Jove
She ask'd eternal life to grace her love.
His awful head the god assenting bows;
But vain the grant, and lost in air her vows;
Alas! the further prayer escap'd her mind,
That endless youth with endless years were join'd.
Long as he bloom'd in life's ambrosial May
The blushing goddess of the morning ray,
By ocean's waves and earth's extremest bound
Revell'd in joy, and rapture's smiling round.
But soon as o'er his face and palsied head
The hoary tresses mark'd by age were spread,
No more he shar'd Aurora's genial bed.
Yet in her dome he dwelt, an honour'd guest,
With splendid robes and food ambrosial bless'd.
But when increasing years his nerves unstrung
Useless his torpid limbs and faltering tongue;
Secluded from the gaze of curious eyes
The victim of decaying nature lies.
" Not then for thee I ask of heaven's high train
Unceasing years of wretchedness and pain.
Long as thou rest with youth and beauty stor'd,
Proud will I own thee as my nuptial lord:
But when old age, with slow but certain pace
Advancing, robs thee of each blooming grace,
A source to me of sorrow and of pain,
Thou shalt not rest amid the etherial train,
Prompt to upbraid me, since my potent charms
Have oft allur'd them to a mortal's arms;
For each too well my powerful influence knows,
Which art can ne'er elude or strength oppose.
Say, will they then their keen reproaches spare,
My bosom teeming with a mortal heir?
Him, soon as Sol's bright rays his eyes explore,
The nymphs shall nurture mid the mountains hoar:
The Dryads, who the upland forests trace,
Scarcely of mortal or immortal race:
For long their lives, and mid the' immortal choir
They share the' ambrosial feast and strike the lyre;
While in the shaded grotto's deep recess
Their charms bright Hermes and Silenus bless. —
With these congenial, o'er the upland glade
Impervious forests spread their hallow'd shade
Of gloomy pine or monumental oak,
Where the rude axe ne'er rear'd the fatal stroke.
But when the faded leaf and wither'd bark
The fatal hour of dissolution mark:
Each hamadryad with her kindred tree
Sinks, doom'd no more Sol's cheering beams to see. —
Our offspring these shall foster, till the grace
Of smiling Hebe deck his blooming face:
Then to thy arms with undissembled joy
The woodland nymphs shall bring the lovely boy.
Thence when their course five circling years have run,
Myself will greet thee with thy godlike son.
Proud shalt thou stand exulting in the sight,
A mortal youth with heavenly glories dight. —
Passing, proud Ilium's sacred towers among,
Should any mortal, with inquiring tongue,
Ask, whose prolific womb the stripling bless'd:
Attend! — and careful mark my high behest: —
From Calycopis say, he drew his race,
Whose steps this forest-shaded mountain trace. —
But if in speech vain-glorious, thou proclaim
Thy happy love and Cytherea's shame:
Indignant then against thy prostrate head
Shall the red bolts of angry Jove be sped. —
Let not this strict command in vain be given:
Be silent, and avoid the wrath of heaven!"
She said: — aloft the goddess wing'd her way,
Amid the regions of celestial day.
Farewell, bright queen of Cyprian groves! again,
Soon will I greet thee with another strain.