21
From Gela, whence the city took its name,
From Camarina's reedy marsh they came;
They came, who sport on Arethusa's brink;
And the strange waters of Alpheus drink.
Above them all is Cyane supreme:
So brightly gay the mooned targets gleam,
As leads in triumph her fair squadrons on
Hippolyte, that noble Amazon,
Home from the vanquished North, the glorious battle won:
What time the Getæ rued their fierce attacks,
And frozen Tanais felt Thermodon's axe.
Such forms the Bacchic Nymphs in Hermus lave,
And rise resplendent from the golden wave:
Their parent River hails the sacred rite,
And pours his richest streams, in prodigal delight.
Pleased Henna saw them from her verdant seat,
And 'gan the nimble Zephyrus entreat,
Who down the valley couched with folded wing—
"Arise, and mark, O genial Sire of spring,
That rulest o'er my meads, with frolic sway,
The year bedewing as thy breezes play;
Mark the bright Nymphs, the Jove-born Maids, who deign
To sport rejoicing on my grassy plain.
