Page:Ovid's Metamorphoses (Vol. 2) - tr Garth, Dryden, et. al. (1727).djvu/46

The Fiend obey'd the Goddess's Command,
(Tho' their Effects in Opposition stand)
She cut her Way, supported by the Wind,
And reach'd the Mansion by the Nymph assign'd.
'Twas Night, when entring Erisichthon's Room,
Dissolv'd in Sleep, and thoughtless of his Doom,
She clasp'd his Limbs, by impious Labour tir'd,
With battish Wings, but her whole self inspir'd;
Breath'd on his Throat, and Chest a tainting Blast,
And in his Veins infus'd an endless Fast.
The Task dispatch'd, away the Fury flies
From plenteous Regions, and from rip'ning Skies;
To her old barren North she wings her Speed,
And Cottages distress'd with pinching Need.
Still Slumbers Erisichthon's Senses drown,
And sooth his Fancy with their softest Down.
He dreams of Viands delicate to eat,
And revels on imaginary Meat.
Chaws with his working Mouth, but chaws in vain,
And tires his grinding Teeth with fruitless Pain;
Deludes his Throat with visionary Fare,
Feasts on the Wind, and banquets on the Air.
The Morning came, the Night, and Slumbers past,
But still the furious Pangs of Hunger last;
The cank'rous Rage still gnaws with griping Pains,
Stings in his Throat, and in his Bowels reigns.
Strait he requires, impatient in Demand,
Provisions from the Air, the Seas, the Land.
But tho' the Land, Air, Seas Provisions grant,
Starves at full Tables, and complains of Want.
What to a People might in Dole be paid,
Or victual Cities for a long Blockade,
Could not one Wolfish Appetite asswage;
For glutting Nourishment increas'd its Rage.
As Rivers pour'd from ev'ry distant Shore,
The Sea insatiate drinks, and thirsts for more;

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