The Story of Ants chang'd to Men



7:787 A dreadful plague from angry Juno came,
7:788 To scourge the land, that bore her rival's name;
7:789 Before her fatal anger was reveal'd,
7:790 And teeming malice lay as yet conceal'd,
7:791 All remedies we try, all med'cines use,
7:792 Which Nature cou'd supply, or art produce;
7:793 Th' unconquer'd foe derides the vain design,
7:794 And art, and Nature foil'd, declare the cause divine.

7:795 At first we only felt th' oppressive weight
7:796 Of gloomy clouds, then teeming with our fate,
7:797 And lab'ring to discarge unactive heat:
7:798 But ere four moons alternate changes knew,
7:799 With deadly blasts the fatal South-wind blew,
7:800 Infected all the air, and poison'd as it flew.
7:801 Our fountains too a dire infection yield,
7:802 For crowds of vipers creep along the field,
7:803 And with polluted gore, and baneful steams,
7:804 Taint all the lakes, and venom all the streams.

7:805 The young disease with milder force began,
7:806 And rag'd on birds, and beasts, excusing Man.
7:807 The lab'ring oxen fall before the plow,
7:808 Th' unhappy plow-men stare, and wonder how:
7:809 The tabid sheep, with sickly bleatings, pines;
7:810 Its wool decreasing, as its strength declines:
7:811 The warlike steed, by inward foes compell'd,
7:812 Neglects his honours, and deserts the field;
7:813 Unnerv'd, and languid, seeks a base retreat,
7:814 And at the manger groans, but wish'd a nobler fate:
7:815 The stags forget their speed, the boars their rage,
7:816 Nor can the bears the stronger herds engage:
7:817 A gen'ral faintness does invade 'em all,
7:818 And in the woods, and fields, promiscuously they fall.
7:819 The air receives the stench, and (strange to say)
7:820 The rav'nous birds and beasts avoid the prey:
7:821 Th' offensive bodies rot upon the ground,
7:822 And spread the dire contagion all around.

7:823 But now the plague, grown to a larger size,
7:824 Riots on Man, and scorns a meaner prize.
7:825 Intestine heats begin the civil war,
7:826 And flushings first the latent flame declare,
7:827 And breath inspir'd, which seem'd like fiery air.
7:828 Their black dry tongues are swell'd, and scarce can move,
7:829 And short thick sighs from panting lung are drove.
7:830 They gape for air, with flatt'ring hopes t' abate
7:831 Their raging flames, but that augments their heat.
7:832 No bed, no cov'ring can the wretches bear,
7:833 But on the ground, expos'd to open air,
7:834 They lye, and hope to find a pleasing coolness there.
7:835 The suff'ring Earth with that oppression curst,
7:836 Returns the heat which they imparted first.

7:837 In vain physicians would bestow their aid,
7:838 Vain all their art, and useless all their trade;
7:839 And they, ev'n they, who fleeting life recall,
7:840 Feel the same Pow'rs, and undistinguish'd fall.
7:841 If any proves so daring to attend
7:842 His sick companion, or his darling friend,
7:843 Th' officious wretch sucks in contagious breath,
7:844 And with his friend does sympathize in death.

7:845 And now the care and hopes of life are past,
7:846 They please their fancies, and indulge their taste;
7:847 At brooks and streams, regardless of their shame,
7:848 Each sex, promiscuous, strives to quench their flame;
7:849 Nor do they strive in vain to quench it there,
7:850 For thirst, and life at once extinguish'd are.
7:851 Thus in the brooks the dying bodies sink,
7:852 But heedless still the rash survivors drink.

7:853 So much uneasy down the wretches hate,
7:854 They fly their beds, to struggle with their fate;
7:855 But if decaying strength forbids to rise,
7:856 The victim crawls and rouls, 'till on the ground he lies.
7:857 Each shuns his bed, as each wou'd shun his tomb,
7:858 And thinks th' infection only lodg'd at home.

7:859 Here one, with fainting steps, does slowly creep
7:860 O'er heaps of dead, and strait augments the heap;
7:861 Another, while his strength and tongue prevail'd,
7:862 Bewails his friend, and falls himself bewail'd:
7:863 This with imploring looks surveys the skies,
7:864 The last dear office of his closing eyes,
7:865 But finds the Heav'ns implacable, and dies.

7:866 What now, ah! what employ'd my troubled mind?
7:867 But only hopes my subjects' fate to find.
7:868 What place soe'er my weeping eyes survey,
7:869 There in lamented heaps the vulgar lay;
7:870 As acorns scatter when the winds prevail,
7:871 Or mellow fruit from shaken branches fall.

7:872 You see that dome which rears its front so high:
7:873 'Tis sacred to the monarch of the sky:
7:874 How many there, with unregarded tears,
7:875 And fruitless vows, sent up successless pray'rs?
7:876 There fathers for expiring sons implor'd,
7:877 And there the wife bewail'd her gasping lord;
7:878 With pious off'rings they'd appease the skies,
7:879 But they, ere yet th' attoning vapours rise,
7:880 Before the altars fall, themselves a sacrifice:
7:881 They fall, while yet their hands the gums contain,
7:882 The gums surviving, but their off'rers slain.

7:883 The destin'd ox, with holy garlands crown'd,
7:884 Prevents the blow, and feels th' expected wound:
7:885 When I my self invok'd the Pow'rs divine,
7:886 To drive the fatal pest from me and mine;
7:887 When now the priest with hands uplifted stood,
7:888 Prepar'd to strike, and shed the sacred blood,
7:889 The Gods themselves the mortal stroke bestow,
7:890 The victim falls, but they impart the blow:
7:891 Scarce was the knife with the pale purple stain'd,
7:892 And no presages cou'd be then obtain'd,
7:893 From putrid entrails, where th' infection reign'd.

7:894 Death stalk'd around with such resistless sway,
7:895 The temples of the Gods his force obey,
7:896 And suppliants feel his stroke, while yet they pray.
7:897 Go now, said he, your deities implore
7:898 For fruitless aid, for I defie their pow'r.
7:899 Then with a curst malicious joy survey'd
7:900 The very altars, stain'd with trophies of the dead.

7:901 The rest grown mad, and frantick with despair,
7:902 Urge their own fate, and so prevent the fear.
7:903 Strange madness that, when Death pursu'd so fast,
7:904 T' anticipate the blow with impious haste.

7:905 No decent honours to their urns are paid,
7:906 Nor cou'd the graves receive the num'rous dead;
7:907 For, or they lay unbury'd on the ground,
7:908 Or unadorn'd a needy fun'ral found:
7:909 All rev'rence past, the fainting wretches fight
7:910 For fun'ral piles which were another's right.

7:911 Unmourn'd they fall: for, who surviv'd to mourn?
7:912 And sires, and mothers unlamented burn:
7:913 Parents, and sons sustain an equal fate,
7:914 And wand'ring ghosts their kindred shadows meet.
7:915 The dead a larger space of ground require,
7:916 Nor are the trees sufficient for the fire.

7:917 Despairing under grief's oppressive weight,
7:918 And sunk by these tempestuous blasts of Fate,
7:919 O Jove, said I, if common fame says true,
7:920 If e'er Aegina gave those joys to you,
7:921 If e'er you lay enclos'd in her embrace,
7:922 Fond of her charms, and eager to possess;
7:923 O father, if you do not yet disclaim
7:924 Paternal care, nor yet disown the name;
7:925 Grant my petitions, and with speed restore
7:926 My subjects num'rous as they were before,
7:927 Or make me partner of the fate they bore.
7:928 I spoke, and glorious lightning shone around,
7:929 And ratling thunder gave a prosp'rous sound;
7:930 So let it be, and may these omens prove
7:931 A pledge, said I, of your returning love.

7:932 By chance a rev'rend oak was near the place,
7:933 Sacred to Jove, and of Dodona's race,
7:934 Where frugal ants laid up their winter meat,
7:935 Whose little bodies bear a mighty weight:
7:936 We saw them march along, and hide their store,
7:937 And much admir'd their number, and their pow'r;
7:938 Admir'd at first, but after envy'd more.
7:939 Full of amazement, thus to Jove I pray'd,
7:940 O grant, since thus my subjects are decay'd,
7:941 As many subjects to supply the dead.
7:942 I pray'd, and strange convulsions mov'd the oak,
7:943 Which murmur'd, tho' by ambient winds unshook:
7:944 My trembling hands, and stiff-erected hair,
7:945 Exprest all tokens of uncommon fear;
7:946 Yet both the earth and sacred oak I kist,
7:947 And scarce cou'd hope, yet still I hop'd the best;
7:948 For wretches, whatsoe'er the Fates divine,
7:949 Expound all omens to their own design.

7:950 But now 'twas night, when ev'n distraction wears
7:951 A pleasing look, and dreams beguile our cares,
7:952 Lo! the same oak appears before my eyes,
7:953 Nor alter'd in his shape, nor former size;
7:954 As many ants the num'rous branches bear,
7:955 The same their labour, and their frugal care;
7:956 The branches too a like commotion sound,
7:957 And shook th' industrious creatures on the ground,
7:958 Who, by degrees (what's scarce to be believ'd)
7:959 A nobler form, and larger bulk receiv'd,
7:960 And on the earth walk'd an unusual pace,
7:961 With manly strides, and an erected face-
7:962 Their num'rous legs, and former colour lost,
7:963 The insects cou'd a human figure boast.

7:964 I wake, and waking find my cares again,
7:965 And to the unperforming Gods complain,
7:966 And call their promise, and pretences, vain.
7:967 Yet in my court I heard the murm'ring voice
7:968 Of strangers, and a mixt uncommon noise:
7:969 But I suspected all was still a dream,
7:970 'Till Telamon to my apartment came,
7:971 Op'ning the door with an impetuous haste,
7:972 O come, said he, and see your faith and hopes surpast:
7:973 I follow, and, confus'd with wonder, view
7:974 Those shapes which my presaging slumbers drew:
7:975 I saw, and own'd, and call'd them subjects; they
7:976 Confest my pow'r, submissive to my sway.
7:977 To Jove, restorer of my race decay'd,
7:978 My vows were first with due oblations paid,
7:979 I then divide with an impartial hand
7:980 My empty city, and my ruin'd land,
7:981 To give the new-born youth an equal share,
7:982 And call them Myrmidons, from what they were.
7:983 You saw their persons, and they still retain
7:984 The thrift of ants, tho' now transform'd to men.
7:985 A frugal people, and inur'd to sweat,
7:986 Lab'ring to gain, and keeping what they get.
7:987 These, equal both in strength and years, shall join
7:988 Their willing aid, and follow your design,
7:989 With the first southern gale that shall present
7:990 To fill your sails, and favour your intent.

7:991 With such discourse they entertain the day;
7:992 The ev'ning past in banquets, sport, and play:
7:993 Then, having crown'd the night with sweet repose,
7:994 Aurora (with the wind at east) arose.
7:995 Now Pallas' sons to Cephalus resort,
7:996 And Cephalus with Pallas' sons to court,
7:997 To the king's levee; him sleep's silken chain,
7:998 And pleasing dreams, beyond his hour detain;
7:999 But then the princes of the blood, in state,
7:1000 Expect, and meet 'em at the palace gate.