There dwells below a race of Demi-gods,

Of nymphs in waters, and of fawns in woods:
Who, though not worthy yet in heaven to live,
Let them at least enjoy that earth we give.
Can these be thought fecurely lodg'd below,
When I myself, who no fuperior know,
I, who have heaven and earth at my command,
Have been attempted by Lycaon's hand?

At this a murmur through the fynod went,
And with one voice they vote his punishment.
Thus, when confpiring traitors dar'd to doom
The fall of Cæfar, and in him of Rome,
The nations trembled with a pious fear;
All anxious for their earthly thunderer:
Nor was their care, O Cæfar, lefs esteem'd

By thee, than that of heaven for Jove was deem'd:
Who with his hand, and voice, did first restrain -
Their murmurs, then refum'd his fpeech again.
The Gods to filence were compos'd, and fate
With reverence due to his fuperior state.
Cancel your pious cares; already he
Has paid his debt to justice, and to me.
Yet what his crimes, and what my judgments were,
Remains for me thus briefly to declare.
The clamours of this vile degenerate age,
The cries of orphans, and th' oppreffor's rage,
Had reach'd the ftars; I will defcend, faid I,
In hope to prove this loud complaint a lie.
Difguis'd in human fhape, I travell'd round

The world, and more than what I heard, I found.

O'er

O'er Mænalus I took my fteepy way,

By caverns infamous for beasts of prey :
Then crofs'd Cyllene, and the piny fhade,
More infamous by curft Lycaon made:

Dark night had covered heaven and earth, before
I enter'd his unhospitable door.

Just at my entrance, I difplay'd the fign
That somewhat was approaching of divine.
The proftrate people pray; the tyrant grins ;
And, adding prophanation to his fins,
I'll try, faid he, and if a God appear,
To prove his deity fhall coft him dear.

'Twas late; the graceless wretch my death prepares,
When I should foundly fleep, oppreft with cares:
This dire experiment he chofe, to prove

If I were mortal, or undoubted Jove :
But firft he had refolv'd to tafte my power:
Not long before, but in a luckless hour,
Some legates fent from the Moloffian state,
Were on a peaceful errand come to treat :
Of these he murders one, he boils the flesh,
And lays the mangled morfels in a dish :
Some part he roafts; then ferves it up so dreft,
And bids me welcome to this human feaft.
Mov'd with difdain, the table I o'erturn'd;
And with avenging flames the palace burn'd.
The tyrant, in a fright, for fhelter gains

The neighbouring fields, and scours along the plains. Howling he fled, and fain he would have spoke,

But human voice his brutal tongue forfook.

X 2

About

About his lips the gather'd foam he churns,
And, breathing flaughter, ftill with rage he burns,
But on the bleating flock his fury turns.

His mantle, now his hide, with rugged hairs
Cleaves to his back; a famish'd face he bears;
His arms defcend, his fhoulders fink away,
To multiply his legs for chace of prey.
He grows a wolf, his hoarinefs remains,
And the fame rage in other members reigns.

His eyes still sparkle in a narrower space,

His jaws retain the grin and violence of his face.
This was a fingle ruin, but not one
Deferves so just a punishment alone.
Mankind's a monster, and th' ungodly times,
`Confederate into guilt, are fworn to crimes.
All are alike involv'd in ill, and all
Muft by the fame relentless fury fall.
Thus ended he; the greater Gods affent,
By clamours urging his severe intent ;
The lefs fill up the cry for punishment.
Yet ftill with pity they remember man ;
And mourn as much as heavenly fpirits can.
They afk, when those were loft of human birth,
What he would do with all his waste of earth?
If his difpeopled world he would refign
To beats, a mute, and more ignoble line?
Neglected altars must no longer smoke,
If none were left to worship and invoke.
To whom the father of the Gods reply'd:
Lay that unnecessary fear afide:
Mine be the care new people to provide.

}

I will from wondrous principles ordain

A race unlike the first, and try my skill again.
Already had he tofs'd the flaming brand,
And roll'd the thunder in his fpacious hand;
Preparing to discharge on feas and land :
But ftopt, for fear, thus violently driven,
The fparks fhould catch his axle-tree of heaven.
Remembering, in the Fates, a time, when fire
Should to the battlements of heaven afpire,
And all his blazing worlds above fhould burn,
And all th' inferior globe to cinders turn.
His dire artillery thus difmifs'd, he bent
His thoughts to fome fecurer punishment :
Concludes to pour a watery deluge down;
And, what he durft not burn, refolves to drown.

}

The northern breath, that freezes floods, he binds With all the race of cloud-difpelling winds : The South he loos'd, who night and horror brings; And fogs are fhaken from his flaggy wings. From his divided beard two streams he pours ; His head and rheumy eyes diftil in showers. With rain his robe and heavy mantle flow : And lazy mifts are lowering on his brow, Still as he fwept along, with his clench'd fift, He squeez'd the clouds; th' imprifon'd clouds refift: The fkies, from pole to pole, with peals refound; And fhowers inlarg'd come pouring on the ground. Then, clad in colours of a various die, Junonian Iris breeds a new fupply,

To feed the clouds impetuous rain defcends;
The bearded corn beneath the burthen bends:
Defrauded clowns deplore their perifh'd grain;
And the long labours of the year are vain.
Nor from his patrimonial heaven alone
Is Jove content to pour his vengeance down :
Aid from his brother of the feas he craves,
To help him with auxiliary waves.

The watery tyrant calls his brooks and floods,
Who roll from moffy caves, their moist abodes;
And with perpetual urns his palace fill :
To whom in brief he thus imparts his will:
Small exhortation needs; your powers employ ;
And this bad world (fo Jove requires) destroy.
Let loofe the reins to all your watery store:
Bear down the dams, and open every door.
The floods, by nature enemies to land,
And proudly fwelling with their new command,
Remove the living ftones that stopp'd their way,
And, gufhing from their fource, augment the sea.
Then, with his mace, their monarch struck the ground:
With inward trembling earth receiv'd the wound;
And rising streams a ready paffage found.
Th' expanded waters gather on the plain,
They float the fields, and overtop the grain :
Then, rushing onwards, with a sweepy sway,
Bear flocks, and folds, and labouring hinds away.
Nor fafe their dwellings were; for, fap'd by floods,
Their houses fell upon their houshold Gods,

}

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