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.