."--
Thus did the bard a wood collect around;
And in the midst he sate of thronging beasts,
And crowding birds. The chords he amply try'd
With his impulsive thumb, and vary'd much
In sound, he found their notes concordant still;
Then to this song rais'd his melodious voice.--

"O parent muse! from Jove derive my song:
"All yield to Jove's dominion. Oft my verse
"Before the mightiness of Jove has sung.
"I sung the giants, in a strain sublime,
"And vengeful thunders, o'er Phlegraea's plain
"Scatter'd; a tender theme now claims my lyre:
"I sing of youths by deities belov'd;
"And nymphs who with forbidden wishes burn'd,
"And met the doom their sensual lusts deserv'd.
"The king of gods made Phrygian Ganymede
"His favorite, but some other form possess'd.
"Jove must in shape be something else than Jove.
"He deems no form becomes him, save the bird
"That bears his thunder. Instant all is done;
"The Phrygian borne away: the air he beats
"With his feign'd wing. And now this youth the cup
"Of nectar hands, in Juno's spite, to Jove.

"Son of Amycla, thee had Phoebus plac'd
"Also the skies amidst, had fate allow'd
"For such position place; yet still thou hold'st
"Eternal, what fate grants: oft as the spring
"Winter repulses, and the ram succeeds
"The watery fishes, thou spring'st forth in flower
"'Mid the green sward. Beyond all else my sire
"Thee lov'd, and Delphos, plac'd in midmost earth,
"Wanted its ruling power, whilst now the god
"Eurotas lov'd, and Sparta un-intrench'd.
"Nor lyre, nor darts attention claim'd as wont;
"Of dignity unmindful, he not spurns
"To bear the nets; to curb the hounds; to climb
"With the full train the steepest mountain's ridge:
"And every toil augments his pleasure more.
"Now had the sun the midmost point near gain'd
"'Twixt flying night, and night approaching, each
"Distant in equal space; when from their limbs
"They flung their robes; with the fat olive's juice
"Their bodies shone; they enter'd in the lists
"Of the broad disk, which Phoebus first well pois'd,
"Then flung through lofty air; opposing clouds
"Flying it cleft; at length on solid earth
"It pitch'd, displaying skill with strength combin'd.
"Instant the rash Taenarian boy, impell'd
"By love of sport, sprung on to snatch the orb,
"But the hard ground repulsive in thy face,
"O, Hyacinth! it flung. Pale as the boy
"The g