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THE THEOGONY.
75
Was nourished in their midst. The wafting waves
First bore her to Cythera the divine:
To wave-encircled Cyprus came she then,
And forth emerged a goddess in the charms
Of awful beauty. Where her delicate feet
Had pressed the sands, green herbage flowering sprang.
Her Aphrodite gods and mortals name,
The foam-born goddess: and her name is known
As Cytherea with the blooming wreath,
For that she touched Cythera's flowery coast;
And Cypris, for that on the Cyprian shore
She rose amid the multitude of waves.
Love tracked her steps, and beautiful Desire
Pursued; while soon as born she bent her way
Towards heaven's assembled gods: her honours these
From the beginning: whether gods or men
Her presence bless, to her the portion falls
Of virgin whisperings and alluring smiles,
And smooth deceits, and gentle ecstasy,
And dalliance and the blandishments of love."
—F. 258-283.
First bore her to Cythera the divine:
To wave-encircled Cyprus came she then,
And forth emerged a goddess in the charms
Of awful beauty. Where her delicate feet
Had pressed the sands, green herbage flowering sprang.
Her Aphrodite gods and mortals name,
The foam-born goddess: and her name is known
As Cytherea with the blooming wreath,
For that she touched Cythera's flowery coast;
And Cypris, for that on the Cyprian shore
She rose amid the multitude of waves.
Love tracked her steps, and beautiful Desire
Pursued; while soon as born she bent her way
Towards heaven's assembled gods: her honours these
From the beginning: whether gods or men
Her presence bless, to her the portion falls
Of virgin whisperings and alluring smiles,
And smooth deceits, and gentle ecstasy,
And dalliance and the blandishments of love."
—F. 258-283.
The concluding verses of this passage are notable as enumerating the fabled assessors of Venus; and the italicised lines, which find modern parallels in Milton, Scott, and Tennyson,[1] may have suggested the invo-
- ↑ "Now when as sacred light began to dawn
In Eden on the humid flowers that breathed
Their morning incense, when all things that breathe
From the earth's great altar send up silent praise
To the Creator;" &c.
—Paradise Lost, ix."A foot more light, a step more true,
Ne'er from the heath-flower dash'd the dew;
E'en the slight harebell raised its head
Elastic from her airy tread."
—Lady of the Lake, i. 18.
