Page:The Argonautics of Apollonius Rhodius.djvu/42

Of nobler port or valour none could boast;255
He added grace to Jason's godlike host.
From Phocis Iphitus with ardour press'd,
To join the chiefs; great Jason was his guest,
When to the Delphic Oracle he went,
Consulting fate, and anxious for th' event.260
Zetes and Calaïs of royal race,
Whom Orythyïa bore in wintry Thrace
To blustering Boreas in his airy hall,
Heard fame's loud summons, and obey'd the call.
Erectheus, who the Athenian sceptre sway'd,265
Was parent of the violated maid,
Whom dancing with her mates rude Boreas stole,
Where the fam'd waters of Ilissus roll;
And to his rock-fenc'd Sarpedonian cave
Convey'd her, where Erginus pours his wave:270
There, circumfus'd in gloom and grateful shade,
The god of tempest woo'd the gentle maid.
They, when on tip-toe rais'd, in act to fly,
Like the light-pinion'd vagrants of the sky,
Wav'd their dark wings, and, wondrous to behold,275
Display'd each plume distinct with drops of gold;
While down their backs, of bright cerulean hue,
Loose in the winds their wanton tresses flew.

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