Medulla Poetarum Romanorum Or, the Most Beautiful and Instructive Passages of the Roman Poets. Being a Collection, (Disposed under proper Heads,) Of such Descriptions, Allusions, Comparisons, Characters, and Sentiments, as may best serve to shew the Religion, Learning, Politicks, Arts, Customs, Opinions, Manners, and Circumstances of the Antients. With Translations of the same in English Verse. By Mr. Henry Baker |
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Gyant. Cyclops.
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 | Medulla Poetarum Romanorum |  |
Gyant. Cyclops.
The Cyclops, who defy'd th' Etherial Throne,And thought no Thunder louder than his own:
The Terror of the Woods, and wilder far,
Than Wolves in Plains, or Bears in Forests are:
Th' inhuman Host, who made his bloody Feasts
On mangled Members of his butcher'd Guests;
Yet felt the Force of Love, and fierce Desire,
And burnt for me with unrelenting Fire:
Forgot his Caverns, and his woolly Care,
Assum'd the Softness of a Lover's Air,
And comb'd, with Teeth of Rakes, his rugged Hair.
Now with a crooked Scythe his Beard he sleeks,
And mows the stubborn Stubble of his Cheeks:
Now, in the Chrystal Stream he looks, to try
His softest Looks, and lay his Fierceness by.
His Cruelty and Thirst of Blood are lost,
And Ships securely come or leave the Coast.—
455
Their Shepherd follow'd, and securely fed.
A Pine so burly, and of Length so vast,
That sailing Ships requir'd it for a Mast,
He weilded for a Staff, his Steps to guide:
But laid it by, his Whistle while he try'd:
A hundred Reeds, of a prodigious Growth,
Scarce made a Pipe proportion'd to his Mouth:
Which, when he gave it Wind, the Rocks around,
And watry Plains, the dreadful Hiss resound.—
—My frighted Friends,
Unmindful, left me in the Cyclop's Cave.
Dark is th' interior Grot, and vast: the Walls
On all Sides furr'd with mouldy Damps, and hung
With Clots of ropy Gore, and human Limbs,
His dire Repast. Himself of mighty Height,
Erects his Head, and stalking strikes the Stars.
Dire to the Sight, by no Address, or Speech
To be accosted. On the Flesh he feeds
Of mortal Men, and swills the vital Blood.
Him did I see snatch up with horrid Grasp,
As in his Den, and stretch'd at Length he lay,
Two of our Number, in each Hand a Man:
I saw him, when with huge tempestuous Sway,
He dash'd, and broke them on the Groundsil Edge:
The Pavement swam in Blood: the Walls around
Were spatter'd o'er with Brains. I saw him chew
The Gobbets, dropping with black ropy Gore,
Still warm with Life, and trembling in his Teeth,
As sensible of Pain.—
Unmindful, left me in the Cyclop's Cave.
Dark is th' interior Grot, and vast: the Walls
On all Sides furr'd with mouldy Damps, and hung
With Clots of ropy Gore, and human Limbs,
His dire Repast. Himself of mighty Height,
Erects his Head, and stalking strikes the Stars.
Dire to the Sight, by no Address, or Speech
To be accosted. On the Flesh he feeds
Of mortal Men, and swills the vital Blood.
Him did I see snatch up with horrid Grasp,
As in his Den, and stretch'd at Length he lay,
Two of our Number, in each Hand a Man:
I saw him, when with huge tempestuous Sway,
He dash'd, and broke them on the Groundsil Edge:
The Pavement swam in Blood: the Walls around
Were spatter'd o'er with Brains. I saw him chew
The Gobbets, dropping with black ropy Gore,
Still warm with Life, and trembling in his Teeth,
As sensible of Pain.—
The Giant gorg'd with Flesh, and Wine, and Blood,
With Neck reclin'd, lay, snoring in his Den:
Belching raw Gobbets from his Maw, o'ercharg'd
With purple Wine, and cruddled Gore confus'd,
We, having first invok'd the mighty Gods,
And taking each his Post allotted, round
Inclose him All: and to the single Eye,
That in his frowning grisly Forehead glar'd,
Wide as a Grecian Shield, or Phœbus' Lamp,
A forky Staff we dextrously apply'd:
Which, in the spacious Socket turning round,
Scoop'd out the big round Jelly from it's Orb:—
With Neck reclin'd, lay, snoring in his Den:
Belching raw Gobbets from his Maw, o'ercharg'd
With purple Wine, and cruddled Gore confus'd,
We, having first invok'd the mighty Gods,
And taking each his Post allotted, round
Inclose him All: and to the single Eye,
457
Wide as a Grecian Shield, or Phœbus' Lamp,
A forky Staff we dextrously apply'd:
Which, in the spacious Socket turning round,
Scoop'd out the big round Jelly from it's Orb:—
—Such, and as huge,
An hundred Cyclops more these winding Coasts
Inhabit round, and o'er the Mountains rove.
An hundred Cyclops more these winding Coasts
Inhabit round, and o'er the Mountains rove.
He scarce had spoke: when on the Mountains Top
Himself we saw, th' enormous Polypheme,
Shepherd among his Flocks, with Bulk immense
Moving along, and seeking the known Shores.
An Eyeless Monster, hideous, vast, deform!
A Pine's huge Trunk directs his Hand, and firms
His Steps: his woolly Sheep attend his Walk.
Soon as he reach'd the Ocean's Waves profound,
He rins'd his empty Socket from the Blood,
Gnashing his Teeth with Groans: then stalk'd along
Thro' the mid Ocean, while the topmost Wave
Scarce reaches his tall Sides.—We trembling speed our Flight
And silent cut the Cords, and sweep the Sea,
With struggling Oars: He heard Us in our Course,
And with his outstretch'd Arms around him grop'd:
But finding Nought within his Reach, He rais'd
Such hideous Yells, that all the Ocean shook.
Ev'n Italy tho' many a League remote
In distant Ecchoes answer'd; Ætna roar'd,
Thro' all it's inmost winding Caverns roar'd.
Rous'd by the Noise, the whole Cyclopean Race
Rush from the Woods, and Mountains, to the Port,
And fill the Shore.—We see th' Ætnean Brood
(Dreadful Assembly!) stand, and sternly roll
Their Eyes in vain, and rear their tow'ring Heads
To Heav'n: as when upon a Mountain's Top
Aërial Oaks, or Cypress Cones stand high,
The Thicket of Diana, or of Jove.—
Himself we saw, th' enormous Polypheme,
Shepherd among his Flocks, with Bulk immense
Moving along, and seeking the known Shores.
An Eyeless Monster, hideous, vast, deform!
A Pine's huge Trunk directs his Hand, and firms
His Steps: his woolly Sheep attend his Walk.
Soon as he reach'd the Ocean's Waves profound,
He rins'd his empty Socket from the Blood,
Gnashing his Teeth with Groans: then stalk'd along
Thro' the mid Ocean, while the topmost Wave
Scarce reaches his tall Sides.—We trembling speed our Flight
And silent cut the Cords, and sweep the Sea,
With struggling Oars: He heard Us in our Course,
And with his outstretch'd Arms around him grop'd:
But finding Nought within his Reach, He rais'd
Such hideous Yells, that all the Ocean shook.
Ev'n Italy tho' many a League remote
In distant Ecchoes answer'd; Ætna roar'd,
Thro' all it's inmost winding Caverns roar'd.
Rous'd by the Noise, the whole Cyclopean Race
Rush from the Woods, and Mountains, to the Port,
And fill the Shore.—We see th' Ætnean Brood
(Dreadful Assembly!) stand, and sternly roll
Their Eyes in vain, and rear their tow'ring Heads
To Heav'n: as when upon a Mountain's Top
Aërial Oaks, or Cypress Cones stand high,
The Thicket of Diana, or of Jove.—
| Medulla Poetarum Romanorum | |