The reft of animals, from teeming earth Produc'd, in various forms receiv'd their birth. The native moisture, in its close retreat,

Digested by the fun's ætherial heat,

As in a kindly womb, began to breed:

Then fwell'd, and quicken'd by the vital feed. And fome in lefs, and fome in longer space, Were ripen'd into form, and took a fev'ral face. Thus when the Nile from Pharian fields is fled, And seeks with ebbing tides, his ancient bed, The fat manure with heav'nly fire is warm'd; And crufted creatures, as in wombs, are form'd: These, when they turn the glebe, the peasants find: Some rude, and yet unfinish'd in their kind: Short of their limbs, a lame imperfect birth; One half alive, and one of lifelefs earth,

For heat and moisture when in bodies join'd, The temper that refults from either kind Conception makes; and fighting, till they mix, Their mingled atoms in each other fix. Thus nature's hand the genial bed prepares With friendly difcord, and with fruitful wars.

From hence the furface of the ground with mud And flime befmear'd (the fæces of the flood) Receiv'd the rays of heav'n; and fucking in The feeds of heat new creatures did begin:

1

Some were of fev'ral forts produc'd before;
But of new monsters earth created more.
Unwillingly, but yet fhe brought to light
Thee, Python too, the wond'ring world to fright,
And the new nations with fo dire a fight.
So monftrous was his bulk, fo large a space
Did his vast body and long train embrace :
Whom Phœbus basking on a bank espy'd,
Ere now the God his arrows had not try'd,
But on the trembling deer, or mountain-goat;
At this new quarry he prepares to shoot.
Tho ev'ry shaft took place, he spent the ftore
Of his full quiver; and 'twas long before
Th' expiring ferpent wallow'd in his gore.
Then to preserve the fame of fuch a deed,
For Python flain, he Pythian games decreed,
Where noble youths for mastership should strive,
To quoit, to run, and steeds and chariots drive.
The prize was fame, in witness of renown,
An oaken garland did the victor crown.
The laurel was not yet for triumphs born;
But ev'ry green alike by Phoebus worn
Did, with promiscuous grace, his flowing locks
adorn.

The

The TRANSFORMATION of DAPHNE into a LAUREL.

The firft and faireft of his loves was the

Whom not blind fortune, but the dire decree
Of angry Cupid forc'd him to defire :

claim;

Daphne her name, and Peneus was her fire.
Swell'd with the pride that new fuccefs attends,
He fees the ftripling, while his bow he bends,
And thus infults him: thou lascivious boy,
Are arms like these for children to employ ?
Know, fuch atchievements are my proper
Due to my vigor and unerring aim:
Refistless are my fhafts, and Python late,
In fuch a feather'd death, has found his fate.
Take up thy torch, and lay my weapons by ;
With that the feeble fouls of lovers fry.
To whom the fon of Venus thus reply'd:
Phoebus thy fhafts are fure on all befide;
But mine on Phoebus: mine the fame shall be
Of all thy conquefts, when I conquer thee.

He said, and foaring fwiftly wing'd his flight;
Nor stop'd but on Parnaffus' airy height.
Two diff'rent shafts he from his quiver draws;
One to repel defire, and one to caufe.

One shaft is pointed with refulgent gold,
To bribe the love, and make the lover bold :
One blunt, and tipt with lead, whose base allay
Provokes difdain, and drives defire away.

The blunted bolt against the nymph he drest :
But with the sharp transfix'd Apollo's breast.

Th'enamour'd Deity pursues the chace

The fcornful damfel fhuns his loath'd embrace:
In hunting beasts of prey her youth employs ;
And Phœbe rivals in her rural joys.

With naked neck fhe goes, and shoulders bare,
And with a fillet binds her flowing hair.
By many fuitors fought, fhe mocks their pains,
And still her vow'd virginity maintains.
Impatient of a yoke, the name of bride
She fhuns, and hates the joys fhe never try'd.
On wilds and wood fhe fixes her defire:

Nor knows what youth and kindly love infpire.
Her father chides her oft: Thou ow'ft, fays he,
A husband to thyself, a fon to me.

She, like a crime, abhors the nuptial bed :
She glows with blushes, and fhe hangs her head.
Then, cafting round his neck her tender arms,
Soothes him with blandishments, and filial charms:

Give

Give me, my lord, fhe faid, to live, and die,
A fpotlefs maid, without the marriage-tie.
'Tis but a small requeft; I beg no more
Than what Diana's father gave before.
The good old fire was foften'd to confent ;
But faid her wifh would prove her punishment:
For fo much youth, and fo much beauty join'd,
Oppos'd the state, which her defires design'd.
The God of light afpiring to her bed,

Hopes what he seeks, with flatt'ring fancies fed;
And is by his own oracles misled.

And as in empty fields the ftubble burns,
Or nightly travellers, when day returns,
Their useless torches on dry hedges throw,
That catch the flames, and kindle all the row;
So burns the God, confuming in defire,

And feeding in his breaft the fruitless fire:

}

Her well-turn'd neck he view'd (her neck was bare)

And on her fhoulders her difhevel'd hair:

Oh were it comb'd, faid he, with what a grace
Wou'd ev'ry waving curl become her face!
He view'd her eyes, like heav'nly lamps that fhone;
He view'd her lips, too fweet to view alone,