Straight her attendants he designs to buy,
And with large bribes her governess would try:
Herself with ample gifts resolves to bend,
And his whole kingdom in the' attempt expend:
Or, snatch'd away by force of arms, to hear,
And justify the rape with open war.

The boundless passion boils within his breast,
And his projecting soul admits no rest.

And now, impatient of the least delay,
By pleading Procnè's cause he speeds his way :
The eloquence of love his tongue inspires,
And in his wife's he speaks his own desires;
Hence all his importunities arise,

And tears unmanly trickle from his eyes.

Ye gods! what thick involving darkness blinds
The stupid faculties of mortal minds!
Tereus the credit of good-nature gains

From these his crimes; so well the villain feigns.
And, unsuspecting of his base designs,
In the request fair Philomela joins ;
Her snowy arms her aged sire embrace,
And clasp his neck with an endearing grace :
Only to see her sister she intreats,

A seeming blessing, which a curse completes.
Tereus surveys her with a luscious eye,
And in his mind forestals the blissful joy:
Her circling arms a scene of lust inspire,
And every kiss foments the raging fire;
Fondly he wishes for the father's place,
To feel, and to return the warm embrace;
Since not the nearest ties of filial blood
Would damp his flame, and force him to be good.

At length, for both their sakes, the king agrees; And Philomela, on her bended knees,

Thanks him for what her fancy calls success,
When cruel Fate intends her nothing less.

Now Phoebus, hastening to ambrosial rest, His fiery steeds drove sloping down the west: The sculptur'd gold with sparkling wines was fill'd, And with rich meats each cheerful table smil'd; Plenty and mirth the royal banquet close, Then all retire to sleep, and sweet repose. But the lewd monarch, though withdrawn apart, Still feels love's poison rankling in his heart: Her face divine is stamp'd within his breast, Fancy imagines, and improves the rest; And thus, kept waking by intense desire, He nourishes his own prevailing fire

Next day the good old king for Tereus sends, And to his charge the virgin recommends; His hand with tears the indulgent father press'd, Then spoke, and thus with tenderness address'd; 'Since the kind instances of pious love

Do all pretence of obstacle remove:

Since Procne's, and her own, with your request,
O'errule the fears of a paternal breast;
With you, dear son, my daughter I intrust,
And by the gods adjure you to be just;
By truth, and every consanguineal tie,
To watch, and guard her with a father's eye;
And, since the least delay will tedious prove,
In keeping from my sight the child I love,
With speed return her, kindly to assuage
The tedious troubles of my ling'ring age;
And you, my Philomel, let it suffice,
To know your sister's banish'd from my eyes;
If any sense of duty sways your mind,
Let me from you the shortest absence find.'

He wept, then kiss'd his child; and while he speaks,
The tears fall gently down his aged cheeks;
Next, as a pledge of fealty, he demands,
And, with a solemn charge, conjoins their hands;
Then to his daughter and his grandson sends,
And by their mouth a blessing recommends;
While, in a voice with dire forebodings broke,
Sobbing and faint, the last farewell was spoke.
Now Philomela, scarce receiv'd on board,
And in the royal gilded bark secur'd,
Belield the dashes of the bending oar,
The ruffled sea, and the receding shore;
When straight (his joy impatient of disguise)
We've gain'd our point,' the rough Barbarian cries;
'Now I possess the dear, the blissful hour,
And ev'ry wish subjected to my pow'r.'
Transports of lust his vicions thoughts employ,
And he forbears, with pain, the' expected joy;
His gloting eyes incessantly survey'd
The virgin beauties of the lovely maid:
As when the bold rapacious bird of Jove,
With crooked talons stooping from above,
Has snatch'd and carried to his lofty nest
A captive hare, with cruel gripes oppress'd;
Secure, with fix'd and unrelenting eyes
He sits, and views the helpless trembling prize.
Their vessels now had made the' intended land,
And all with joy descend upon the strand;
When the false tyrant seiz'd the princely maid,
And to a lodge in distant woods convey'd :
Pale, sinking, and distress'd with jealous fears,
And asking for her sister all in tears;
The letcher, for enjoyment fully bent,
No longer now conceal'd his base intent;

But with rude haste the bloomy girl deflower'd,
Tender, defenceless, and with ease o'erpower'd;
Her piercing accents to her sire complain,
And to her absent sister, but in vain :
In vain she importunes, with doleful cries,
Each unattentive godhead of the skies;
She pants and trembles, like the bleating prey
From some close-hunted wolf just snatch'd away;
That still, with fearful horror, looks around,
And on its flank regards the bleeding wound:
Or, as the timorous dove, the danger o'er,
Beholds her shining plumes besmear'd with gore;
And though deliver'd from the falcon's claw,
Yet shivers, and retains a secret awe.

But when her mind a calm reflection shar'd,
And all her scatter'd spirits were repair'd;
Torn and disorder'd while her tresses hung,
Her livid hands, like one that mourn'd, she wrung;
Then thus, with grief o'erwhelm'd her languid eyes,
'Savage, inhuman, cruel wretch!' she cries,

Whom nor a parent's strict commands could move, Though charg'd and utter'd with the tears of love, Nor virgin innocence, nor all that's due To the strong contract of the nuptial vow : Virtue, by this, in wild confusion's laid, And I compell❜d to wrong my sister's bed; Whilst you, regardless of your marriage oath, With stains of incest have defil'd us both. Though I deserv'd some punishment to find, This was, ye gods! too cruel and unkind. Yet, villain, to complete your horrid guilt, Stab here, and let my tainted blood be spilt. Oh happy! had it come, before I knew The curs'd embrace of vile perfidious you;

Then my pale ghost, pure from incestuous love,
Had wander'd spotless through the' Elysian grove.
But, if the gods above have pow'r to know
And judge those actions that are done below;
Unless the dreaded thunders of the sky
Like me subdu'd and violated lie,

Still my revenge shall take its proper time,
And suit the baseness of your hellish crime.
Myself, abandon'd and devoid of shame,
Through the wide world your actions will proclaim :
Or though I'm prison'd in this lonely den,
Obscur'd and buried from the sight of men,
My mournful voice the pitying rocks shall move,
And my complainings echo through the grove.
Hear me, O heaven! and, if a god be there,
Let him regard me, and accept my pray'r.'
Struck with these words, the tyrant's guilty breast
With fear and anger was by turns possess'd;
Now, with remorse his conscience deeply stung,
He drew the falchion that beside him hung;
And first her tender arms behind her bound,
Then dragg'd her by the hair along the ground.
The princess willingly her throat reclin❜d,
And view'd the steel with a contented mind;
But soon her tongue the girding piucers strain,
With anguish soon she feels the piercing pain:
Oh! father father!" she would fain have spoke,
But the sharp torture her intention broke;
In vain she tries, for now the blade has cut
Her tongue sheer off, close to the trembling root.
The mangled part still quiver'd on the ground,
Murmuring, with a faint imperfect sound:
And as a serpent writhes his wounded train,
Uneasy, panting, and possess'd with pain ;