The Story of Pygmalion and the Statue
10:356 Pygmalion loathing their lascivious life,
10:357 Abhorr'd all womankind, but
most a wife:
10:358 So single chose to live, and
shunn'd to wed,
10:359 Well pleas'd to want a consort
of his bed.
10:360 Yet fearing idleness, the nurse
of ill,
10:361 In sculpture exercis'd his
happy skill;
10:362 And carv'd in iv'ry such a
maid, so fair,
10:363 As Nature could not with his
art compare,
10:364 Were she to work; but in her
own defence
10:365 Must take her pattern here,
and copy hence.
10:366 Pleas'd with his idol, he commends,
admires,
10:367 Adores; and last, the thing
ador'd, desires.
10:368 A very virgin in her face was
seen,
10:369 And had she mov'd, a living
maid had been:
10:370 One wou'd have thought she
cou'd have stirr'd, but strove
10:371 With modesty, and was asham'd
to move.
10:372 Art hid with art, so well perform'd
the cheat,
10:373 It caught the carver with his
own deceit:
10:374 He knows 'tis madness, yet
he must adore,
10:375 And still the more he knows
it, loves the more:
10:376 The flesh, or what so seems,
he touches oft,
10:377 Which feels so smooth, that
he believes it soft.
10:378 Fir'd with this thought, at
once he strain'd the breast,
10:379 And on the lips a burning kiss
impress'd.
10:380 'Tis true, the harden'd breast
resists the gripe,
10:381 And the cold lips return a
kiss unripe:
10:382 But when, retiring back, he
look'd again,
10:383 To think it iv'ry, was a thought
too mean:
10:384 So wou'd believe she kiss'd,
and courting more,
10:385 Again embrac'd her naked body
o'er;
10:386 And straining hard the statue,
was afraid
10:387 His hands had made a dint,
and hurt his maid:
10:388 Explor'd her limb by limb,
and fear'd to find
10:389 So rude a gripe had left a
livid mark behind:
10:390 With flatt'ry now he seeks
her mind to move,
10:391 And now with gifts (the pow'rful
bribes of love),
10:392 He furnishes her closet first;
and fills
10:393 The crowded shelves with rarities
of shells;
10:394 Adds orient pearls, which from
the conchs he drew,
10:395 And all the sparkling stones
of various hue:
10:396 And parrots, imitating human
tongue,
10:397 And singing-birds in silver
cages hung:
10:398 And ev'ry fragrant flow'r,
and od'rous green,
10:399 Were sorted well, with lumps
of amber laid between:
10:400 Rich fashionable robes her
person deck,
10:401 Pendants her ears, and pearls
adorn her neck:
10:402 Her taper'd fingers too with
rings are grac'd,
10:403 And an embroider'd zone surrounds
her slender waste.
10:404 Thus like a queen array'd,
so richly dress'd,
10:405 Beauteous she shew'd, but naked
shew'd the best.
10:406 Then, from the floor, he rais'd
a royal bed,
10:407 With cov'rings of Sydonian
purple spread:
10:408 The solemn rites perform'd,
he calls her bride,
10:409 With blandishments invites
her to his side;
10:410 And as she were with vital
sense possess'd,
10:411 Her head did on a plumy pillow
rest.
10:412 The feast of Venus came, a solemn day,
10:413 To which the Cypriots due devotion
pay;
10:414 With gilded horns the milk-white
heifers led,
10:415 Slaughter'd before the sacred
altars, bled.
10:416 Pygmalion off'ring, first approach'd the
shrine,
10:417 And then with pray'rs implor'd
the Pow'rs divine:
10:418 Almighty Gods, if all we mortals
want,
10:419 If all we can require, be yours
to grant;
10:420 Make this fair statue mine,
he wou'd have said,
10:421 But chang'd his words for shame;
and only pray'd,
10:422 Give me the likeness of my
iv'ry maid.
10:423 The golden Goddess, present
at the pray'r,
10:424 Well knew he meant th' inanimated
fair,
10:425 And gave the sign of granting
his desire;
10:426 For thrice in chearful flames
ascends the fire.
10:427 The youth, returning to his
mistress, hies,
10:428 And impudent in hope, with
ardent eyes,
10:429 And beating breast, by the
dear statue lies.
10:430 He kisses her white lips, renews
the bliss,
10:431 And looks, and thinks they
redden at the kiss;
10:432 He thought them warm before:
nor longer stays,
10:433 But next his hand on her hard
bosom lays:
10:434 Hard as it was, beginning to
relent,
10:435 It seem'd, the breast beneath
his fingers bent;
10:436 He felt again, his fingers
made a print;
10:437 'Twas flesh, but flesh so firm,
it rose against the dint:
10:438 The pleasing task he fails
not to renew;
10:439 Soft, and more soft at ev'ry
touch it grew;
10:440 Like pliant wax, when chasing
hands reduce
10:441 The former mass to form, and
frame for use.
10:442 He would believe, but yet is
still in pain,
10:443 And tries his argument of sense
again,
10:444 Presses the pulse, and feels
the leaping vein.
10:445 Convinc'd, o'erjoy'd, his studied
thanks, and praise,
10:446 To her, who made the miracle,
he pays:
10:447 Then lips to lips he join'd;
now freed from fear,
10:448 He found the savour of the
kiss sincere:
10:449 At this the waken'd image op'd
her eyes,
10:450 And view'd at once the light,
and lover with surprize.
10:451 The Goddess, present at the
match she made,
10:452 So bless'd the bed, such fruitfulness
convey'd,
10:453 That ere ten months had sharpen'd
either horn,
10:454 To crown their bliss, a lovely
boy was born;
10:455 Paphos his name, who grown
to manhood, wall'd
10:456 The city Paphos, from the founder
call'd.