And facred thirst of fway; and all the ties
Of nature broke; and royal perjuries;
And impotent defire to reign alone,
Th' unwonted weight, or drag the crooked fhare,
But rend the reins, and bound a diff'rent way,
And all the furrows in confufion lay:
Such was the difcord of the royal pair,
Whom fury drove precipitate to war.
In vain the chiefs contriv'd a fpecious way,
To govern Thebes by their alternate sway;
Unjuft decree! while this enjoys the state,
That mourns in exile his unequal fate,
And the short monarch of a hafty year
Forefees with anguifh his returning heir.
Thus did the league their impious arms restrain,
But fcarce fubfifted to the fecond reign.
Yet then, no proud aspiring piles were rais'd,
No fretted roof with polifh'd metals blaz'd,
No labour'd columns in long order plac'd,.
No Grecian ftone the pompous arches grac'd;
No nightly bands in glitt❜ring armour wait
Before the fleepless tyrant's guarded gate :
No chargers then were wrought in burnish'd gold,
Nor filver vafes took the forming mould,
Nor gems on bowls embofs'd were feen to fhine,
Blaze on the brims, and sparkle in the wine-
Say, wretched rivals! what provokes your rage?
Say to what end your impious arms engage ?
Not all bright Phoebus views in early morn,
Or when his evening beams the west adorn,
When the fouth glows with his meridian ray,
And the cold north receives a fainter day;
*For crimes like thefe, not all thofe realms fuffice, Were all thofe realms the guilty victor's prize!!
But fortune now (the lots of empire thrown)
Decrees to proud Eteocles the crown ;-
What joys, oh tyrant! fwell'd thy foul that day,
When all were flaves thou could'st around furvey,
Pleas'd to behold unbounded pow'r thy own,
And fingly fill a fear'd and envy'd throne !
But the vile vulgar, ever difcontent,
Their growing fears in fecret murmurs vent;
Still prone to change, tho' ftill the flaves of ftate,
And fure the monarch whom they have, to hate;
New lords they madly make, then tamely bear,
And foftly curfe the tyrants whom they fear.
And one of thofe who groan beneath the fway
Of kings impos'd, and grudgingly obey,
(Whom envy to the great, and vulgar spight
With fcandal arm'd, th' ignoble mind's delight,)
Exclaim'd-O. Thebes! for thee what fates remain,
What woes attend this inaufpicious reign?
Muft we, alas! our doubtful necks prepare,
Each haughty mafter's yoke by turns to bear,
And ftill to change whom chang'd we ftill must fear?
These now controul a wretched people's fate,
Thefe can divide, and thefe reverse the state :
Ev'n fortune rules no more :-O fervile land,
Where exil'd tyrants ftill by turns command!
Thou fire of gods and men, imperial Jove!
Is this th' eternal doom decreed above?
On thy own offspring haft thou fix'd this fate,
Firft rais'd our walls on that ill-omen'd plain,
Where earth-born brothers were by brothers flain?
What lofty looks th' unrival'd monarch bears!
How all the tyrant in his face appears!
What fullen fury clouds his fcornful brow?
Gods! how his eyes with threatning ardour glow!
Can this imperious lord forget to reign,
Quit all his ftate, defcend and ferve again?
Yet, who, before, more popularly bow'd,
Who more propitious to the fuppliant croud,
Patient of right, familiar in the throne?
What wonder then? he was not then alone.
Oh wretched we, a vile, fubmiffive train,
Fortune's tame fools, and flaves in ev'ry reign !
As when two winds with rival force contend,
This way
and that, the wav'ring fails they bend,
While freezing Boreas and black Eurus blow,
Now here, now there, the reeling veffel throw:
Thus on each fide, alas! our tott'ring ftate
Feels all the fury of refiftless fate,
And doubtful still, and still distracted stands,
While that prince threatens, and while this commands.
And now th' almighty father of the gods
Convenes a council in the bleft abodes:
Far in the bright receffes of the skies,
High o'er the rolling heav'ns, a manfion lies,
Whence, far below, the gods at once furvey
The realms of rising and declining day,
And all th' extended space of earth, and air, and sea.
Full in the midft, and on a ftarry throne,
The majefty of heav'n fuperior fhone;
Serene he look'd, and gave an awful nod,
And all the trembling spheres confefs'd the god.
At Jove's affent, the deities around.
In folemn ftate the confiftory crown'd:
Next a long order of inferior pow'rs
Afcend from hills, and plains, and shady how'rs;
Those from whofe urns the rolling rivers flow }
And thofe that give the wand'ring winds to blow;
Here all their rage, and ev'n their murmurs cease, 290 And facred filence reigns, and univerfal peace.
A fhining fynod of majestic gods
Gilds with new luftre the divine abodes
Heav'n feems improv'd with a fuperior ray,
And the bright arch reflects a double day.
The monarch then his folemn filence broke,
The still creation liften'd while he spoke,
Each facred accent bears eternal weight,
And each irrevocable word is fate.
How long fhall man the wrath of heav'n defy,
And force unwilling vengeance from the sky!
Oh race confed'rate into crimes, that prove
Triumphant o'er th' eluded rage of Jove!
This weary'd arm can scarce the bolt fuftain,
And unregarded thunder rolls in vain :
Th' o'erlabour'd Cyclops from his task retires;
Th' Æolian forge exhausted of its fires.
For this, I fuffer'd Phoebus' fteeds to ftray,
And the mad ruler to misguide the day,
When the wide earth to heaps of afhes turn'd,
And heav'n itself the wand'ring chariot burn'd.
For this, my brother of the wat❜ry reign
Releas'd th' impetuous fluices of the main :
But flames confum'd, and billows rag'd in vain.
Two races now, ally'd to Jove, offend;
To punish these, see Jove himself descend!
The Theban kings their line from Cadmus trace,
From godlike Perfeus thofe of Argive race.
Unhappy Cadmus' fate who does not know?
And the long feries of fucceeding woe;
How oft' the Furies, from the deeps of night,
Arofe, and mix'd with men in mortal fight :
Th' exulting mother, ftain'd with filial blood;
The favage hunter, and the haunted wood;
The direful banquet why fhould I proclaim,
And crimes that grieve the trembling gods to name?
E'er I recount the fins of these profane,
The fun would fink into the western main,
And rifing gild the radiant eaft again.
Have we not feen (the blood of Laius fhed)
The murd'ring fon afcend his parent's bed,
VOL. I.
Thro' violated nature force his way,
And ftain the facred womb where once he lay ?
Yet now in darkness and defpair he groans,
And for the crimes of guilty fate attones;
His fons with fcorn their eyeless father view,
Infult his wounds, and make them bleed anew.
Thy curfe, Oh Oedipus, juft heav'n alarms,
And sets th' avenging thunderer in arms.
I from the root thy guilty race will tear,
And give the nations to the wafte of war.
Adraftus foon, with gods averfe, fhall join,
In dire alliance with the Theban line;
Hence ftrife fhall rife, and mortal war fucceed;
The guilty realms of Tantalus fhall bleed;
Fix'd is their doom; this all-remembring breast
Yet harbours vengeance for the tyrant's feaft.
He faid; and thus the queen of heav'n return'd;
(With fudden grief her lab'ring bosom burn'd)
Muft I whofe cares Phoroneus' tow'rs defend,
Muft I, Oh Jove, in bloody wars contend ?
Thou know'ft thofe regions my protection claim,
Glorious in arms, in riches, and in fame :
Tho' there the fair Ægyptian heifer fed,
And there deluded Argus flept, and bled;
Tho' there the braz'n tow'r was ftorm'd of old,
When Jove defcended in almighty gold.
Yet I can pardon thofe obfcurer rapes,
Those bafhful crimes difguis'd in borrow'd fhapes;
But Thebes, where fhining in cœleftial charms,
Thou cam'ft triumphant to a mortal's arins,
When all my glories o'er her limbs were fpread,
And blazing light'nings danc'd around her bed;
Curs'd Thebes the vengeance it deferves, may prove--
Ah why fhould Argos feel the rage of Jove?
Yet fince thou wilt thy fifter-queen controul,
Since ftill the luft of difcord fires thy foul,
Go, raise my Samos, let Mycene fall,
And level with the duft the Spartan wall;
|