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Now while the temple fmoak'd with hallow'd steam,
They wash the virgin in a living stream;
The fecret ceremonies I conceal,

Uncouth, perhaps unlawful, to reveal:
But fuch they were as pagan ufe requir'd,
Perform'd by women when the men retir'd,
Whofe eyes profane their chaste mysterious rites
Might turn to fcandal, or obscene delights.
Well-meaners think no harm; but for the reft,
Things facred they pervert, and filence is the best.
Her shining hair, uncomb'd, was loosely spread,
A crown of mastlefs oak adorn'd her head:
When to the shrine approach'd, the spotless maid
Had kindling fires on either altar laid

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(The rites were fuch as were obferv'd of old,
By Statius in his Theban ftory told).
Then kneeling with her hands across her breast,
Thus lowly fhe preferr'd her chaste request.

O Goddess, haunter of the woodland green,
To whom both heaven and earth and feas are feen;
Queen of the nether skies, where half the year

Thy filver beams defcend, and light the gloomy fphere ;
Goddefs of maids, and confcious of our hearts,

So keep me from the vengeance of thy darts,
Which Niobe's devoted iffae felt,

When hiffing through the fkies the feather'd deaths were dealt;

As I defire to live a virgin life,

Nor know the name of mother or of wife.

Thy

Thy votress from my tender years I am,

And love, like thee, the woods and sylvan game.
Like death, thou know'ft, I loath the nuptial state,
And man, the tyrant of our fex, I hate,
A lowly fervant, but a lofty mate;
Where love is duty on the female fide;

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On their's mere fenfual gust, and sought with furly pride.
Now by thy triple fhape, as thou art seen

In heaven, earth, hell, and every where a queen,
Grant this my first defire ; let discord cease,
And make betwixt the rivals lafting peace:
Quench their hot fire, or far from me remove
The flame, and turn it on some other love:
Or, if my frowning stars have fo decreed,
That one must be rejected, one succeed,

Make him my lord, within whofe faithful breaft
Is fix'd my image, and who loves me best.
But, oh! ev'n that avert! I chuse it not,
But take it as the leaft unhappy lot.
A maid I am, and of thy virgin train ;
Oh, let me ftill that spotless name retain !”
Frequent the forefts, thy chafte will obey,
And only make the beasts of chace my prey!"
The flames afcend on either altar clear,
While thus the blameless maid address'd-her prayer.
When lo! the burning fire that fhone fo bright,
Flew off, all fudden, with extinguish'd light,
And left one altar dark, a little space;

Which turn'd self-kindled, and renew'd the blaze;

The

The other victor-flame a moment stood,

Then fell, and lifeless left th' extinguish'd wood;
For ever loft, th' irrevocable light

Forfook the blackening coals, and funk to night :
At either end it whistled as it flew,

And as the brands were green, so dropp'd the dew;
Infected as it fell with sweat of fanguine hue.

The maid from that ill omen turn'd her eyes,
And with loud fhrieks and clamours rent the skies,
Nor knew what fignify'd the boding sign,

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But found the powers difpleas'd, and fear'd the wrath divine.

Then shook the facred fhrine, and fudden light Sprung through the vaulted roof, and made the temple bright.

The power, behold! the power in glory shone,
By her bent bow and her keen arrows known;
The reft, a huntress iffuing from the wood,
Reclining on her cornel fpear fhe stood.

Then gracious thus began: Dismiss thy fear,
And Heaven's unchang'd decrees attentive hear:
More powerful Gods have torn thee from my fide,
Unwilling to refign, and doom'd a bride :
The two contending knights are weigh'd above;
One Mars protects, and one the Queen of Love:
But which the man, is in the Thunderer's breaft ;
This he pronounc'd, 'tis he who loves thee best.
The fire that once extinct reviv'd again,
Forefhews the love allotted to remain :

Farewel!

Farewel! fhe faid, and vanish'd from the place;
The fheaf of arrows fhook, and rattled in the cafe.
Aghaft at this, the royal virgin ftood,

Difclaim'd, and now no more a fifter of the wood:
But to the parting Goddess thus she pray'd;
Propitious ftill be prefent to my aid,

Nor quite abandon your once favour'd maid.
Then fighing the return'd; but smil'd betwixt,
With hopes and fears, and joys with forrows mixt.
The next returning planetary hour

Of Mars, who shar'd the heptarchy of

power, His steps bold Arcite to the temple bent, T'adore with pagan rites the power armipotent : Then proftrate, low before his altar lay,

And rais'd his manly voice, and thus began to pray:
Strong God of Arms, whose iron fceptre sways
The freezing North, and Hyperborean seas,
And Scythian colds, and Thracia's, winter coast,
Where ftand thy fteeds, and thou art honour'd most:
There moft; but every-where thy power is known,
The fortune of the fight is all thy own:
Terror is thine, and wild amazement, flung
From out thy chariot, withers ev'n the strong:
And difarray and shameful rout enfue,
And force is added to the fainting crew.
Acknowledg'd as thou art, accept my prayer,
If aught I have atchiev'd deferve thy care :
If to my utmost power with sword and shield
I dar'd the death, unknowing how to yield,
And, falling in my rank, ftill-kept the freld:

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Then

Then let my arms prevail, by thee fuftain'd,
That Emily by conqueft may be gain'd.
Have pity on my pains; nor thofe unknown
To Mars, which, when a lover, were his own.
Venus, the public care of all above,

Thy stubborn heart has foften'd into love :
Now by her blandifhments and powerful charms,
When yielded the lay curling in thy arms,
Ev'n by thy fhame, if shame it may be call'd,
When Vulcan had thee in his net inthrall'd;
O envy'd ignominy, fweet difgrace,

When every God that faw thee wifh'd thy place !
By those dear pleasures, aid my arms in fight,
And make me conquer in my patron's right :
For I am young, a novice in the trade,
The fool of love, unpractis'd to perfuade :
And want the foothing arts that catch the fair,
But, caught myself, lie ftruggling in the snare
And the I love, or laughs at all my pain,

Or knows her worth too well; and pays me with disdain.
For fure I am, unless I win in arms,

To ftand excluded from Emilia's charms :

Nor can my strength avail, unless by thee
Endued by force, I gain the victory ;

Then for the fire which warm'd thy generous heart,
Pity thy fubject's pains, and equal smart.
So be the morrow's fweat and labour mine,

The palm and honour of the conquest thine :
Then fhall the war, and stern debate, and ftrife
Immortal, be the bufinefs of my life

And

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