Where he fell smitten. Broad earth glow'd intense From that unbounded vapour, and dissolved :As fusile tin by art of youths above

-

The wide-brimm'd vase up bubbling foams with
Or iron, hardest of the mine, subdued [heat;
By burning flame, amid the mountain dells
Melts in the sacred caves beneath the hands

-

Of Vulcan, so earth melted in the glare
Of blazing fire. He down hell's wide abyss
His victim hurl'd in bitterness of soul.

ELTON.

THE LOVE OF MEDEA.

FROM THE GREEK OF APOLLONIUS RHODIUS.

MID the crowd alone,

In form and grace distinguish'd, Jason shone. The' enraptured maiden held her veil askance, And caught, beneath the shade, a sidelong glance. She gazed, and gazed; while grief her soul sub

dued;

And thought in vain the lovely guest pursued;
As when we catch at objects in a dream,
That still beyond, yet ever near us seem.
While, sorrowing, from the palace they retire,
Chalciopé, to shun her father's ire,

Her inmost chamber with her children sought;
Medea follow'd, with distracted thought.
The cares of love within her bosom rise,
And absent Jason stands before her eyes,

His looks, his gestures, graved within her breast: 'Such his deportment-thus he wore his vest

Such words he utter'd-thus, and there he sate-
Thus from the portal rush'd, unhappy fate!'
Possess'd, bewilder'd, her enamour'd mind
Finds not his parallel in humankind.

Still, still, in thought, his honey'd words she hears;
His tuneful accents vibrate on her ears.
Much for the youth her boding fears arise:
A ghastly corse he sinks before her eyes.
She sees him with the fiery bulls engage,
She sees him bleed beneath her father's rage.
She wept the victim, as already dead,
And piteous tears of soft compassion shed.
And mournful words to solitude she spoke;
While from her breast the smother'd anguish broke.
'What means the strange disorder of my heart?
Such tumult can a stranger's look impart?
In questionable shape, from distant climes,
Comes he a prince, or slave distain'd with crimes?
No matter. Let a chief or miscreant fall,
Why should the' event for wild emotions call?
Me it concerns not. Yet, renown'd or base,
In safety let him fly this fatal place.
Daughter of Perseus, venerable power *,
O guard the youth in that tremendous hour.
Protect him, guide him, to his native land;
Let him not perish on this Colchian strand!
But if the fates have destined him to fail,
And perish by the bulls that flames exhale;
Let him perceive there is a feeling heart,
That in his sufferings claims an equal part.'

While on her couch she sunk, in trance proMedea's sorrows soft oblivion drown'd; [found, • Hecate was daughter of Perseus, or Perses and Asteria.

Yet, fearful visions hover`d round her head,
Illusive forms, of mournful fancy bred.

The stranger seem'd, that trial to sustain,
Moved by no wish the wondrous fleece to gain;
But love and she the daring aim supplied;
He sought Medea for his virgin bride.
Greece he had left, at Beauty's powerful call,
And love allured him to her father's hall.
The fiery bulls she then appear'd to tame,
And yoke, uninjured by their breath of flame.
Her parents, then, their promises denied,
The labour finish'd, they withheld the bride.
Between her father and the strangers rose
A fierce debate. The warfare to compose,
The maid was call'd, as umpire of the strife;
And soon the daughter yielded to the wife.
Her kindred for that stranger thus resign'd,'
What indignation fill'd each parent's mind!
Vast was their anguish,loud and shrill their cries-
Scared at the din, the virgin's slumber flies.
Pale from the couch she sprang, in wild amaze,
And round the chamber cast a vacant gaze.
She pants. Her bosom palpitates with dread.
Thought is absorb'd, and recollection fled.

'What forms of terror, miserable maid
(With feeble voice she cried), thy sleep invade?
Some dire misfortunes have these heroes brought.
With anxious doubts this stranger fills my thought.
Far let them fly, and wed some Grecian fair;
My parents and my virtue claim my care.
But why with cruelty my bosom steel?
A sister's anguish why refuse to feel?
Maternal terrors for her sons arise,

Wilt thou, relentless, mark her tears and cries?

Think, savage as thou art, 'tis thine to save, Or doom her children to the untimely grave. Oh nature! no, thy sacred ties shall bind; In grief thine energies support the mind.' In wild disorder from the couch she flew, Unfolded wide the chamber door she threw. Unshod and disarray'd, in eager haste To seek her sister, she the threshold pass'd. By conscious shame and timid awe restrain'd, Long time before the portal she remain❜d. Fearful of entering, to and fro she paced; Now forward rush'd, and now her steps retraced; Her trembling steps, uncertain where they stray'd. Her gait the conflict in her soul betray'd. Impetuous love, with wild desire impell'd, And bashful fear and modesty withheld. Impassion'd now her sister's door she sought; Her chamber now with deep despondence fraught. Thrice she proceeds, and thrice her foot recalls; Then prone upon her couch distracted falls.

As the young bride laments her blooming spouse, Lord of her bosom, object of her vows; In love united, and the hallow'd bands, Knit by fraternal and parental hands; She flies the soothings of the' attendant train, She hides the fond expressions of her pain. With grief, at once, and virgin shame oppress'd, Her tears fall lonely on the' enamour'd breast; When fates relentless the dear youth remove; Untried the joys, the tender thefts of love; From every tongue, that might impart relief, She dreads a censure on her amorous grief; In avarice of anguish hoards her care, And eyes the widow'd couch in mute despair;

VOL. VI.

1

Thus mourn'd Medea; thus the cause suppress'd, That bathed her eyes and heaved her throbbing breast.

*

Now Night o'er earth her ample veil display'd; And sailors, from the deep, the stars survey'd, Orion, and the greater Bear; that guide The nightly path of vessels through the tide. Sleep on the weary traveller's senses crept, E'en in the tower the careful warder slept. Subdued by rest, the mother ceased to mourn Her darling infants closed within their urn. The busy hum of crowded streets was still; And still the watchdog's larum loud and shrill. The queen of darkness trod her awful round, Her ears untroubled by a vagrant sound. Medea's couch refused the soft control, For love and Jason agonized her soul. The bulls that breathe intolerable fire, Forebodings mortal to her love inspire; The plain of Mars in dismal prospect lies, In fancy there the youthful hero dies. Distracting thought! she feels the fluttering heart With feverish throbbings in her bosom dart. As when, from caldron or capacious vase, The trembling lymph reflects the solar face; Uncertain glancing round some chamber walls, Now here, now there, the darted radiance falls The dazzling species plays incessant round, Strikes on the roof, or dances o'er the ground; With pulse irregular, that knew no rest, Medea's heart leap'd fluttering in her breast. The streams of pity from her eyes distill'd. Corroding pangs her inmost bosom fill'd,