Page:The Argonautics of Apollonius Rhodius.djvu/44

'But endless toils pursue them as they go,
'And Fate hath mark'd their desperate steps with woe.'
Thus, when he saw the delegated bands,⁠305
Spoke the rude swain with heaven-uplifted hands:
The gentler females thus the Gods implore;
"Safe may they reach again their native shore:"
And thus some matron mild her mind express'd;
(Tears in her eye, and terrors at her breast)⁠310
'Unfortunate Alcimeda, thy fate
'Now frowns malignant, tho' it frowns so late;
'Nor wills the tenor of thy life to run
'Serene and peaceful, as it first begun.
'On Æson too attend unnumber'd woes;⁠315
'Far, better far, a lingering life to close,
'And bury all bis sorrows in the tomb,
'Unconscious of calamities to come.
'Oh! had both Phrixus and the ram been drown'd,
'When Helle perish'd in the gulf profound:⁠320
'But the dire monster was with voice endu'd,
'And human accents from his mouth ensu'd,
'To sad Alcimeda denouncing strife,
'And woes to cloud the evening of her life.'
Thus spoke some matron as the heroes went;⁠325
Around their lords the menial train lament:

Alcimeda