Where antique Images by Priests were kept,
And wooden Deities securely slept.
Thither the rash Hippomenes retires,
And gives a Loose to all his wild Desires,
And the chaste Cell pollutes with wanton Fires.
The sacred Statues trembled with Surprize,
The tow'ry Goddess, blushing, veil'd her Eyes;
And the lewd Pair to Stygian Sounds had sent,
But unrevengeful seem'd that Punishment.
A heavier Doom such black Prophaneness draws,
Their taper Fingers turn to crooked Paws.
No more their Necks the Smoothness can retain,
Now cover'd sudden with a yellow Mane.
Arms change to Legs: Each finds the hard'ning Breast
Of Rage unknown, and wond'rous Strength possest.
Their alter'd Looks with Fury grim appear,
And on the Ground their brushing Tails they hear.
They haunt the Woods: Their Voices, which before
Were musically sweet, now hoarsly roar.
Hence Lions, dreadful to the lab'ring Swains,
Are tam'd by Cybele, and curb'd with Reins,
And humbly draw her Car along the Plains.
But thou, Adonis, my delightful Care,
Of these, and Beasts, as fierce as these, beware!
The Savage, which not shuns thee, timely shun,
For by rash Prowess should'st thou be undone,
A double Ruin is contained in one.
Thus cautious Venus school'd her fav'rite Boy,
But youthful Heat all Cautions will destroy.
His sprightly Soul beyond grave Counsels flies,
While with yok'd Swans the Goddess cuts the Skies.
His faithful Hounds, led by the tainted Wind,
Lodg'd in thick Coverts chanc'd a Boar to find.
The callow Hero show'd a manly Heart,
And pierc'd the Savage with a side-long Dart.
Page:Ovid's Metamorphoses (Vol. 2) - tr Garth, Dryden, et. al. (1727).djvu/120
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Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Book 10.
The
