Poems on several occasions By William Broome ... The second edition, With large Alterations and Additions |
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THE STORY of Talus,
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 | Poems on several occasions |  |
172
THE STORY of Talus,
From the Fourth Book of Apollonius Rhodius. V. 1629.
Ημος δ' ηελιος μεν εδυ, ανα δ' ηλυθεν αστηρ
Αυλιος, &c.
Αυλιος, &c.
The Evening Star now lifts, as Day-light fades,
His golden Circlet in the deepning Shades,
Stretch'd at his Ease, the weary Lab'rer shares
A sweet Forgetfulness of Human Cares;
At once in Silence sink the sleeping Gales,
The Mast they drop, and furl the flagging Sails,
All night, all day, they ply the bending Oars,
Tow'rd Carpathus, and reach the rocky Shores;
Thence Crete they view, emerging from the Main,
The Queen of Isles, but Crete they view in vain,
There Talus, whirling with resistless Sway,
Rocks sheer uprent, repels them from the Bay:
A Giant, sprung from Giant-race, who took
Their Births from Entrails of the stubborn Oak;
Fierce Guard of Crete! by Jove Assistant giv'n
To Legislators, stil'd the Sons of Heav'n:
To Mercy deaf, he thrice each Year explores
The trembling Isle, and strides from Shores to Shores:
A Form of living Brass! one part beneath
Alone he bears, a Path to let in Death,
Where o'er the Ankle swells the turgid Vein,
Soft to the Stroke, and sensible of Pain.
His golden Circlet in the deepning Shades,
Stretch'd at his Ease, the weary Lab'rer shares
A sweet Forgetfulness of Human Cares;
173
The Mast they drop, and furl the flagging Sails,
All night, all day, they ply the bending Oars,
Tow'rd Carpathus, and reach the rocky Shores;
Thence Crete they view, emerging from the Main,
The Queen of Isles, but Crete they view in vain,
There Talus, whirling with resistless Sway,
Rocks sheer uprent, repels them from the Bay:
A Giant, sprung from Giant-race, who took
Their Births from Entrails of the stubborn Oak;
Fierce Guard of Crete! by Jove Assistant giv'n
To Legislators, stil'd the Sons of Heav'n:
To Mercy deaf, he thrice each Year explores
The trembling Isle, and strides from Shores to Shores:
A Form of living Brass! one part beneath
Alone he bears, a Path to let in Death,
174
Soft to the Stroke, and sensible of Pain.
And now her Magic Spells
Medea tries,
Bids the red Fiends, the Dogs of Orcus rise,
That starting dreadful from th'infernal Shade,
Ride Heav'n in Storms, and all that breathes, invade;
Thrice she applies the Pow'r of Magic Pray'r,
Thrice, hellward bending, mutters Charms in Air;
Then turning tow'rd the Foe, bids Mischief fly,
And looks Destruction, as she points her Eye;
Then Spectres, rising from Tartarean Bow'rs,
Howl round in Air, or grin along the Shores;
While tearing up whole Hills, the Giant throws
Outragious, Rocks on Rocks, to crush the Foes:
But frantic as he strides, a sudden Wound
Bursts the Life-Vein, and Blood o'erspreads the Ground,
As from the Furnace, in a burning Flood
Pours molten Lead, so pours in Streams his Blood;
And now he staggers, as the Spirit flies,
He faints, he sinks, he tumbles, and he dies.
As some huge Cedar on a Mountain's Brow,
Pierc'd by the Steel, expects the final Blow,
A while it totters with alternate sway,
Till freshning Breezes thro' the Branches play;
Then tumbling downward with a thundring Sound,
Falls headlong, and o'erspreads a breadth of Ground:
So as the Giant falls, the Ocean roars,
Out-stretch'd he lies, and covers half the Shores.
Bids the red Fiends, the Dogs of Orcus rise,
That starting dreadful from th'infernal Shade,
Ride Heav'n in Storms, and all that breathes, invade;
Thrice she applies the Pow'r of Magic Pray'r,
Thrice, hellward bending, mutters Charms in Air;
Then turning tow'rd the Foe, bids Mischief fly,
And looks Destruction, as she points her Eye;
Then Spectres, rising from Tartarean Bow'rs,
Howl round in Air, or grin along the Shores;
While tearing up whole Hills, the Giant throws
Outragious, Rocks on Rocks, to crush the Foes:
But frantic as he strides, a sudden Wound
Bursts the Life-Vein, and Blood o'erspreads the Ground,
175
Pours molten Lead, so pours in Streams his Blood;
And now he staggers, as the Spirit flies,
He faints, he sinks, he tumbles, and he dies.
As some huge Cedar on a Mountain's Brow,
Pierc'd by the Steel, expects the final Blow,
A while it totters with alternate sway,
Till freshning Breezes thro' the Branches play;
Then tumbling downward with a thundring Sound,
Falls headlong, and o'erspreads a breadth of Ground:
So as the Giant falls, the Ocean roars,
Out-stretch'd he lies, and covers half the Shores.
| Poems on several occasions | |