o had they swallow'd. Oh! for power
"To form mankind, as once my father did,
"And in the shapen earth true souls infuse!
"In us rests human race, so will the gods,
"A sample only of mankind we live."
He spoke and Pyrrha's tears join'd his. To heaven
They raise their hands in prayer, and straight resolve
To ask through oracles divine its aid.
Nor long delay. Quick to Cephisus' streams
They hasten; muddy still Cephisus flows,
Yet not beyond its wonted boundaries swol'n.
Libations thence they lift, and o'er their heads
And garments cast the sprinklings;--then their steps
To Themis' temple bend. The roof they found
With filthy moss o'ergrown;--the altars cold.
Prone on the steps they fell, and trembling kiss'd
The gelid stones, and thus preferr'd their words:
"If righteous prayers can move the heavenly mind,
"And soften harsh resolves, and soothe the rage
"Of great immortals, say, O Themis, say,
"How to the world mankind shall be restor'd;
"And grant, most merciful, in our distress
"Thy potent aid." The goddess heard their words,
And instant gave reply. "The temple leave,
"Ungird your garments, veil your heads, and throw
"Behind your backs your mighty mother's bones."
Astonish'd long they stood! and Pyrrha first
The silence broke; the oracle's behest
Refusing to obey; and earnest pray'd,
With trembling tongue for pardon for her sin:
Her mother's shade to violate she dreads,
Her bones thus rudely flinging. But meantime
Deep in their minds, in dark mysterious veil
Obscurely hid, the sentence they revolve.
At length Deucalion sooths his wife with words
Of cheering import: "Right, if I divine,
"No impious deed the deity desires:
"Earth is our mighty mother, and her bones
"The stony rocks within her;--these behind
"Our backs to cast, the oracle commands."
With joy th' auspicious augury she hears,
But joy with doubt commingled, both so much
The heavenly words distrust; yet still they hope
The essay cannot harm. The temple left,
Their heads they cover, and their vests unbind;
And o'er their heads as order'd heave the stones.
The stones--(incredible! unless the fact
Tradition sanction'd doubtless) straight began
To lose their rugged firmness,--and anon,
To soften,--and when soft a form assume.
Next as they grew in size, they felt infus'd
A nature mild,--their form resembled man!
But incorrectly: marble so appears,