wo:
Of these AEoelian Cephalus was bless'd
With thee as spouse, O, Procris!--Tereus long,
Boreas withstanding, with the power of Thrace,
Long Orithyia, by the god belov'd,
Was lov'd in vain; while soft beseechings more
And prayers, the power to strenuous force preferr'd.
But now those soothings bland so vainly try'd,
Fierce swol'n with rage, his most accustom'd feel
(Too much that passion knows this wind) he cries;--
"Well I deserve it, all my proper arms
"Relinquish'd: savage fierceness, strength, stern rage,
"And threatening force. With humble softening prayers
"Fool have I su'd; in each attempt have fail'd.
"More apt to me is force! by force I drive
"The lowering clouds before me: Ocean's waves
"Forceful I turn; forceful the knotted oak
"Root from its deep foundation; hard the frost
"I bind; and beat the sounding earth with hail:
"I when in open sky, for there our field
"Lies in display, my blustering brethren meet,
"Oppose such might, that midmost sky resounds
"Echoing our forceful conflict; flashing flames
"From the cleft bodies of the hollow clouds,
"Elicited: I too, earth's secret womb
"Fierce entering, in her deepest caverns strain
"My strength, 'till trembling wide through all her frame,
"The ghosts below are troubled. These the aid
"My nuptial wish should seek; no longer pray
"Erechtheus for my sire;--my sire by force,
"The monarch shall be made."--So spoke the god,
Or thus, or more in fury, as he shook
His plumes, whose motion sweep'd through earth's extent,
And made the wide main tremble. Lofty hills
His dusty mantle covers; as the plains
Rapid he brushes; shrouded deep in mist,
In his dark wings the furious lover clasps
His Orithyia, trembling, pale with fear:
Flying his flames were fann'd, and fiercer blaz'd.
Nor check'd the ravisher his lofty flight,
Till seen the town of Cicones, whose walls
Receiv'd him. There th' Athenian nymph became
The freezing monarch's bride: a mother there,
A double birth she brought, whose shoulders bear
The father's pinions; all their semblance else
Their mother's. Not at first, 'tis said, appear'd
The feathers: Calais and Zethes, boys
Were yet unplum'd; when yet with ruddy hair,
Their beards appear'd not. From each shoulder shot
The feathers bird-like, at the self-same time,
Their manly cheeks were thick with yellow down.
Now when their youth matur'd to man appea