Page:Ovid's Metamorphoses (Vol. 2) - tr Garth, Dryden, et. al. (1727).djvu/146

When yellow Sands are sifted from below,
The glitt'ring Billows give a golden Show:
And when the fouler Bottom spews the Black,
The Stygian Dye the tainted Waters take:
Then frothy White appear the flatted Seas,
And change their Colour, changing their Disease.
Like various Fits the Trachin Vessel finds,
And now sublime, she rides upon the Winds;
As from a lofty Summit looks from high,
And from the Clouds beholds the nether Sky;
Now from the Depth of Hell they lift their Sight,
And at a Distance see superior Light:
The lashing Billows make a loud Report,
And beat her Sides, as batt'ring Rams a Fort:
Or as a Lion bounding in his Way,
With Force augmented, bears against his Prey,
Sidelong to seize; or unapal'd with Fear,
Springs on the Toils, and rushes on the Spear:
So Seas impell'd by Winds, with added Pow'r
Assault the Sides, and o'er the Hatches tow'r.
The Planks (their pitchy Cov'ring wash'd away)
Now yield; and now a yawning Breach display:
The roaring Waters with a hostile Tide
Rush through the Ruins of her gaping Side.
Mean time in Sheets of Rain the Sky descends,
And Ocean swell'd with Waters upwards tends;
One rising, falling one, the Heav'ns and Sea
Meet at their Confines, in the middle Way:
The Sails are drunk with Show'rs, and drop with Rain,
Sweet Waters mingle with the briny Main.
No Star appears to lend his friendly Light;
Darkness, and Tempest make a double Night;
But flashing Fires disclose the Deep by Turns,
And while the Lightnings blaze, the Water burns.
Now all the Waves their scatter'd Force unite,
And as a Soldier foremost in the Fight,

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