Page:Hero and Leander (Musaeus) translated by Laurence Eusden (1750).djvu/27

Waves rowl on waves; aloft the waters rise,
Swell'd by the tempest, and insult the skies.
Fierce Boreas issues with collected might,
And sullen Auster loud provokes to fight.
The milder Zephyr, with inferior force,
Meets the mad Eurus in his headstrong course:
At once they rush, at once the ocean roars,
And curling billows dash the rocky shores.
Much did Leander toil, and much sustain;
Long strove to brave their rage, but strove in vain:
Oft Neptune's aid with pious vows implor'd,
And oft the sea-born goddess he ador'd.
Thee, Boreas, too he minded of thy flame,
And what thou suffer'dst for th' Athenian dame;
But thee to pity nothing can incline,
Deaf to his pray'rs, as she was once to thine.
Fruitless are all essays; for love's decree,
That rules us here, is rul'd by destiny.