University of Virginia Library

SCENE the FOURTEENTH.

COLCHIANS.
[Iambics.]
Sire of Æetes, god rever'd
By our forefathers on their sands
Bleach'd by the Euxin's restless foam,
Effulgent origin of day;
Who with illimitable view,
As from the amber-portal'd east
Thy coursers fiery-man'd proceed,
See'st the deep-bosom'd woes of men;
[Trochaics.]
Whether plac'd in mildest climes,
Or beneath thy sultry wheels,
Whether freezing near the pole,
All the various race of care.
[Iambics.]
Yet to thy sad paternal eye
Can this diversity of grief
Not one present through all thy course
To match thy own Medea's pain.
Lo! ev'ry flow'r of wisdom fades
Within her large and fertile breast,
A desart now by tempests rang'd,
The seat of wild discordant thoughts.
[Trochaics.]
God of wisdom and of light,
O relume her darken'd soul!
Let her, though begirt with ills,
Still thy progeny be known.