The Story of of Cinyras and Myrrha
10:457 Nor him alone produc'd the fruitful queen;
10:458 But Cinyras, who like his sire
had been
10:459 A happy prince, had he not
been a sire.
10:460 Daughters, and fathers, from
my song retire;
10:461 I sing of horror; and could
I prevail,
10:462 You shou'd not hear, or not
believe my tale.
10:463 Yet if the pleasure of my song
be such,
10:464 That you will hear, and credit
me too much,
10:465 Attentive listen to the last
event,
10:466 And, with the sin, believe
the punishment:
10:467 Since Nature cou'd behold so
dire a crime,
10:468 I gratulate at least my native
clime,
10:469 That such a land, which such
a monster bore,
10:470 So far is distant from our
Thracian shore.
10:471 Let Araby extol her happy coast,
10:472 Her cinamon, and sweet Amomum
boast,
10:473 Her fragrant flow'rs, her trees
with precious tears,
10:474 Her second harvests, and her
double years;
10:475 How can the land be call'd
so bless'd, that Myrrha bears?
10:476 Nor all her od'rous tears can
cleanse her crime;
10:477 Her Plant alone deforms the
happy clime:
10:478 Cupid denies to have inflam'd
thy heart,
10:479 Disowns thy love, and vindicates
his dart:
10:480 Some Fury gave thee those infernal
pains,
10:481 And shot her venom'd vipers
in thy veins.
10:482 To hate thy sire, had merited
a curse;
10:483 But such an impious love deserv'd
a worse.
10:484 The neighb'ring monarchs, by
thy beauty led,
10:485 Contend in crowds, ambitious
of thy bed:
10:486 The world is at thy choice;
except but one,
10:487 Except but him, thou canst
not chuse, alone.
10:488 She knew it too, the miserable
maid,
10:489 Ere impious love her better
thoughts betray'd,
10:490 And thus within her secret
soul she said:
10:491 Ah Myrrha! whither wou'd thy
wishes tend?
10:492 Ye Gods, ye sacred laws, my
soul defend
10:493 From such a crime as all mankind
detest,
10:494 And never lodg'd before in
human breast!
10:495 But is it sin? Or makes my
mind alone
10:496 Th' imagin'd sin? For Nature
makes it none.
10:497 What tyrant then these envious
laws began,
10:498 Made not for any other beast,
but Man!
10:499 The father-bull his daughter
may bestride,
10:500 The horse may make his mother-mare
a bride;
10:501 What piety forbids the lusty
ram,
10:502 Or more salacious goat, to
rut their dam?
10:503 The hen is free to wed the
chick she bore,
10:504 And make a husband, whom she
hatch'd before.
10:505 All creatures else are of a
happier kind,
10:506 Whom nor ill-natur'd laws from
pleasure bind,
10:507 Nor thoughts of sin disturb
their peace of mind.
10:508 But Man a slave of his own
making lives;
10:509 The fool denies himself what
Nature gives:
10:510 Too-busie senates, with an
over-care,
10:511 To make us better than our
kind can bear,
10:512 Have dash'd a spice of envy
in the laws,
10:513 And straining up too high,
have spoil'd the cause.
10:514 Yet some wise nations break
their cruel chains,
10:515 And own no laws, but those
which love ordains;
10:516 Where happy daughters with
their sires are join'd,
10:517 And piety is doubly paid in
kind.
10:518 O that I had been born in such
a clime,
10:519 Not here, where 'tis the country
makes the crime!
10:520 But whither wou'd my impious
fancy stray?
10:521 Hence hopes, and ye forbidden
thoughts away!
10:522 His worth deserves to kindle
my desires,
10:523 But with the love, that daughters
bear to sires.
10:524 Then had not Cinyras my father
been,
10:525 What hinder'd Myrrha's hopes
to be his queen?
10:526 But the perverseness of my
fate is such,
10:527 That he's not mine, because
he's mine too much:
10:528 Our kindred-blood debars a
better tie;
10:529 He might be nearer, were he
not so nigh.
10:530 Eyes, and their objects, never
must unite;
10:531 Some distance is requir'd to
help the sight:
10:532 Fain wou'd I travel to some
foreign shore,
10:533 Never to see my native country
more,
10:534 So might I to my self my self
restore;
10:535 So might my mind these impious
thoughts remove,
10:536 And ceasing to behold, might
cease to love.
10:537 But stay I must, to feed my
famish'd sight,
10:538 To talk, to kiss, and more,
if more I might:
10:539 More, impious maid! What more
canst thou design?
10:540 To make a monstrous mixture
in thy line,
10:541 And break all statutes human
and divine!
10:542 Can'st thou be call'd (to save
thy wretched life)
10:543 Thy mother's rival, and thy
father's wife?
10:544 Confound so many sacred names
in one,
10:545 Thy brother's mother! Sister
to thy son!
10:546 And fear'st thou not to see
th' infernal bands,
10:547 Their heads with snakes; with
torches arm'd their hands
10:548 Full at thy face th' avenging
brands to bear,
10:549 And shake the serpents from
their hissing hair;
10:550 But thou in time th' increasing
ill controul,
10:551 Nor first debauch the body
by the soul;
10:552 Secure the sacred quiet of
thy mind,
10:553 And keep the sanctions Nature
has design'd.
10:554 Suppose I shou'd attempt, th'
attempt were vain,
10:555 No thoughts like mine, his
sinless soul profane;
10:556 Observant of the right: and
o that he
10:557 Cou'd cure my madness, or be
mad like me!
10:558 Thus she: but Cinyras, who daily sees
10:559 A crowd of noble suitors at
his knees,
10:560 Among so many, knew not whom
to chuse,
10:561 Irresolute to grant, or to
refuse.
10:562 But having told their names,
enquir'd of her
10:563 Who pleas'd her best, and whom
she would prefer.
10:564 The blushing maid stood silent
with surprize,
10:565 And on her father fix'd her
ardent eyes,
10:566 And looking sigh'd, and as
she sigh'd, began
10:567 Round tears to shed, that scalded
as they ran.
10:568 The tender sire, who saw her
blush, and cry,
10:569 Ascrib'd it all to maiden modesty,
10:570 And dry'd the falling drops,
and yet more kind,
10:571 He stroak'd her cheeks, and
holy kisses join'd.
10:572 She felt a secret venom fire
her blood,
10:573 And found more pleasure, than
a daughter shou'd;
10:574 And, ask'd again what lover
of the crew
10:575 She lik'd the best, she answer'd,
One like you.
10:576 Mistaking what she meant, her
pious will
10:577 He prais'd, and bid her so
continue still:
10:578 The word of pious heard, she
blush'd with shame
10:579 Of secret guilt, and cou'd
not bear the name.
10:580 'Twas now the mid of night, when slumbers
close
10:581 Our eyes, and sooth our cares
with soft repose;
10:582 But no repose cou'd wretched
Myrrha find,
10:583 Her body rouling, as she roul'd
her mind:
10:584 Mad with desire, she ruminates
her sin,
10:585 And wishes all her wishes o'er
again:
10:586 Now she despairs, and now resolves
to try;
10:587 Wou'd not, and wou'd again,
she knows not why;
10:588 Stops, and returns; makes,
and retracts the vow;
10:589 Fain wou'd begin, but understands
not how.
10:590 As when a pine is hew'd upon
the plains,
10:591 And the last mortal stroke
alone remains,
10:592 Lab'ring in pangs of death,
and threatning all,
10:593 This way, and that she nods,
consid'ring where to fall:
10:594 So Myrrha's mind, impell'd
on either side,
10:595 Takes ev'ry bent, but cannot
long abide;
10:596 Irresolute on which she shou'd
relie,
10:597 At last, unfix'd in all, is
only fix'd to die.
10:598 On that sad thought she rests,
resolv'd on death,
10:599 She rises, and prepares to
choak her breath:
10:600 Then while about the beam her
zone she ties,
10:601 Dear Cinyras farewell, she
softly cries;
10:602 For thee I die, and only wish
to be
10:603 Not hated, when thou know'st
die I for thee:
10:604 Pardon the crime, in pity to
the cause:
10:605 This said, about her neck the
noose she draws.
10:606 The nurse, who lay without, her faithful
guard,
10:607 Though not the words, the murmurs
over-heard;
10:608 And sighs, and hollow sounds:
surpriz'd with fright,
10:609 She starts, and leaves her
bed, and springs a light;
10:610 Unlocks the door, and entring
out of breath,
10:611 The dying saw, and instruments
of death;
10:612 She shrieks, she cuts the zone
with trembling haste,
10:613 And in her arms her fainting
charge embrac'd:
10:614 Next (for she now had leisure
for her tears),
10:615 She weeping ask'd, in these
her blooming years,
10:616 What unforeseen misfortune
caus'd her care,
10:617 To loath her life, and languish
in despair!
10:618 The maid, with down-cast eyes,
and mute with grief
10:619 For death unfinish'd, and ill-tim'd
relief,
10:620 Stood sullen to her suit: the
beldame press'd
10:621 The more to know, and bar'd
her wither'd breast,
10:622 Adjur'd her by the kindly food
she drew
10:623 From those dry founts, her
secret ill to shew.
10:624 Sad Myrrha sigh'd, and turn'd
her eyes aside:
10:625 The nurse still urg'd, and
wou'd not be deny'd:
10:626 Nor only promis'd secresie,
but pray'd
10:627 She might have leave to give
her offer'd aid.
10:628 Good-will, she said, my want
of strength supplies,
10:629 And diligence shall give what
age denies:
10:630 If strong desires thy mind
to fury move,
10:631 With charms and med'cines I
can cure thy love:
10:632 If envious eyes their hurtuful
rays have cast,
10:633 More pow'rful verse shall free
thee from the blast:
10:634 If Heav'n offended sends thee
this disease,
10:635 Offended Heav'n with pray'rs
we can appease.
10:636 What then remains, that can
these cares procure?
10:637 Thy house is flourishing, thy
fortune sure:
10:638 Thy careful mother yet in health
survives,
10:639 And, to thy comfort, thy kind
father lives.
10:640 The virgin started at her father's
name,
10:641 And sigh'd profoundly, conscious
of the shame
10:642 Nor yet the nurse her impious
love divin'd,
10:643 But yet surmis'd that love
disturb'd her mind:
10:644 Thus thinking, she pursu'd
her point, and laid,
10:645 And lull'd within her lap the
mourning maid;
10:646 Then softly sooth'd her thus;
I guess your grief:
10:647 You love, my child; your love
shall find relief.
10:648 My long-experienc'd age shall
be your guide;
10:649 Rely on that, and lay distrust
aside.
10:650 No breath of air shall on the
secret blow,
10:651 Nor shall (what most you fear)
your father know.
10:652 Struck once again, as with
a thunder-clap,
10:653 The guilty virgin bounded from
her lap,
10:654 And threw her body prostrate
on the bed.
10:655 And, to conceal her blushes,
hid her head;
10:656 There silent lay, and warn'd
her with her hand
10:657 To go: but she receiv'd not
the command;
10:658 Remaining still importunate
to know:
10:659 Then Myrrha thus: Or ask no
more, or go;
10:660 I pr'ythee go, or staying spare
my shame;
10:661 What thou would'st hear, is
impious ev'n to name.
10:662 At this, on high the beldame
holds her hands,
10:663 And trembling both with age,
and terror stands;
10:664 Adjures, and falling at her
feet intreats,
10:665 Sooths her with blandishments,
and frights with threats,
10:666 To tell the crime intended,
or disclose
10:667 What part of it she knew, if
she no farther knows.
10:668 And last, if conscious to her
counsel made,
10:669 Confirms anew the promise of
her aid.
10:670 Now Myrrha rais'd her head;
but soon oppress'd
10:671 With shame, reclin'd it on
her nurse's breast;
10:672 Bath'd it with tears, and strove
to have confess'd:
10:673 Twice she began, and stopp'd;
again she try'd;
10:674 The falt'ring tongue its office
still deny'd.
10:675 At last her veil before her
face she spread,
10:676 And drew a long preluding sigh,
and said,
10:677 O happy mother, in thy marriage-bed!
10:678 Then groan'd, and ceas'd. The
good old woman shook,
10:679 Stiff were her eyes, and ghastly
was her look:
10:680 Her hoary hair upright with
horror stood,
10:681 Made (to her grief) more knowing
than she wou'd.
10:682 Much she reproach'd, and many
things she said,
10:683 To cure the madness of th'
unhappy maid,
10:684 In vain: for Myrrha stood convict
of ill;
10:685 Her reason vanquish'd, but
unchang'd her will:
10:686 Perverse of mind, unable to
reply;
10:687 She stood resolv'd, or to possess,
or die.
10:688 At length the fondness of a
nurse prevail'd
10:689 Against her better sense, and
virtue fail'd:
10:690 Enjoy, my child, since such
is thy desire,
10:691 Thy love, she said; she durst
not say, thy sire:
10:692 Live, though unhappy, live
on any terms;
10:693 Then with a second oath her
faith confirms.
10:694 The solemn feast of Ceres now was near,
10:695 When long white linnen stoles
the matrons wear;
10:696 Rank'd in procession walk the
pious train,
10:697 Off'ring first-fruits, and
spikes of yellow grain:
10:698 For nine long nights the nuptial-bed
they shun,
10:699 And sanctifying harvest, lie
alone.
10:700 Mix'd with the crowd, the queen forsook
her lord,
10:701 And Ceres' pow'r with secret
rites ador'd:
10:702 The royal couch, now vacant
for a time,
10:703 The crafty crone, officious
in her crime,
10:704 The first occasion took: the
king she found
10:705 Easie with wine, and deep in
pleasures drown'd,
10:706 Prepar'd for love: the beldame
blew the flame,
10:707 Confess'd the passion, but
conceal'd the name.
10:708 Her form she prais'd; the monarch
ask'd her years;
10:709 And she reply'd, The same thy
Myrrha bears.
10:710 Wine, and commended beauty
fir'd his thought;
10:711 Impatient, he commands her
to be brought.
10:712 Pleas'd with her charge perform'd,
she hies her home,
10:713 And gratulates the nymph, the
task was overcome.
10:714 Myrrha was joy'd the welcome
news to hear;
10:715 But clog'd with guilt, the
joy was unsincere:
10:716 So various, so discordant is
the mind,
10:717 That in our will a diff'rent
will we find.
10:718 Ill she presag'd, and yet pursu'd
her lust;
10:719 For guilty pleasures give a
double gust.
10:720 'Twas depth of night: Arctophylax had driv'n
10:721 His lazy wain half round the
northern Heav'n,
10:722 When Myrrha hasten'd to the
crime desir'd:
10:723 The moon beheld her first,
and first retir'd:
10:724 The stars amaz'd, ran backward
from the sight,
10:725 And (shrunk within their sockets)
lost their light.
10:726 Icarius first withdraws his
holy flame:
10:727 The virgin sign, in Heav'n
the second name,
10:728 Slides down the belt, and from
her station flies,
10:729 And night with sable clouds
involves the skies.
10:730 Bold Myrrha still pursues her
black intent;
10:731 She stumbled thrice (an omen
of th' event);
10:732 Thrice shriek'd the fun'ral
owl, yet on she went,
10:733 Secure of shame, because secure
of sight;
10:734 Ev'n bashful sins are impudent
by night.
10:735 Link'd hand in hand, th' accomplice,
and the dame,
10:736 Their way exploring, to the
chamber came:
10:737 The door was ope; they blindly
grope their way,
10:738 Where dark in bed th' expecting
monarch lay.
10:739 Thus far her courage held,
but here forsakes;
10:740 Her faint knees knock at ev'ry
step she makes.
10:741 The nearer to her crime, the
more within
10:742 She feels remorse, and horror
of her sin;
10:743 Repents too late her criminal
desire,
10:744 And wishes, that unknown she
could retire.
10:745 Her lingring thus, the nurse
(who fear'd delay
10:746 The fatal secret might at length
betray)
10:747 Pull'd forward, to compleat
the work begun,
10:748 And said to Cinyras, Receive
thy own.
10:749 Thus saying, she deliver'd
kind to kind,
10:750 Accurs'd, and their devoted
bodies join'd.
10:751 The sire, unknowing of the
crime, admits
10:752 His bowels, and prophanes the
hallow'd sheets;
10:753 He found she trembled, but
believ'd she strove
10:754 With maiden modesty against
her love,
10:755 And sought with flatt'ring
words vain fancies to remove.
10:756 Perhaps he said, My daughter,
cease thy fears
10:757 (Because the title suited with
her years);
10:758 And, Father, she might whisper
him again,
10:759 That names might not be wanting
to the sin.
10:760 Full of her sire, she left th' incestuous
bed,
10:761 And carry'd in her womb the
crime she bred.
10:762 Another, and another night
she came;
10:763 For frequent sin had left no
sense of shame:
10:764 'Till Cinyras desir'd to see
her face,
10:765 Whose body he had held in close
embrace,
10:766 And brought a taper; the revealer,
light,
10:767 Expos'd both crime, and criminal
to sight.
10:768 Grief, rage, amazement, could
no speech afford,
10:769 But from the sheath he drew
th' avenging sword:
10:770 The guilty fled: the benefit
of night,
10:771 That favour'd first the sin,
secur'd the flight.
10:772 Long wand'ring thro' the spacious
fields, she bent
10:773 Her voyage to th' Arabian continent;
10:774 Then pass'd the region which
Panchaea join'd,
10:775 And flying, left the palmy
plains behind.
10:776 Nine times the moon had mew'd
her horns; at length
10:777 With travel weary, unsupply'd
with strength,
10:778 And with the burden of her
womb oppress'd,
10:779 Sabaean fields afford her needful
rest:
10:780 There, loathing life, and yet
of death afraid,
10:781 In anguish of her spirit, thus
she pray'd:
10:782 Ye Pow'rs, if any so propitious
are
10:783 T' accept my penitence, and
hear my pray'r;
10:784 Your judgments, I confess,
are justly sent;
10:785 Great sins deserve as great
a punishment:
10:786 Yet since my life the living
will profane,
10:787 And since my death the happy
dead will stain,
10:788 A middle state your mercy may
bestow,
10:789 Betwixt the realms above, and
those below:
10:790 Some other form to wretched
Myrrha give,
10:791 Nor let her wholly die, nor
wholly live.
10:792 The pray'rs of penitents are never vain;
10:793 At least she did her last request
obtain:
10:794 For while she spoke, the ground
began to rise,
10:795 And gather'd round her feet,
her legs, and thighs;
10:796 Her toes in roots descend,
and spreading wide,
10:797 A firm foundation for the trunk
provide:
10:798 Her solid bones convert to
solid wood,
10:799 To pith her marrow, and to
sap her blood:
10:800 Her arms are boughs, her fingers
change their kind,
10:801 Her tender skin is harden'd
into rind.
10:802 And now the rising tree her
womb invests,
10:803 Now shooting upwards still,
invades her breasts,
10:804 And shades the neck; when weary
with delay,
10:805 She sunk her head within, and
met it half the way.
10:806 And tho' with outward shape
she lost her sense,
10:807 With bitter tears she wept
her last offence;
10:808 And still she weeps, nor sheds
her tears in vain;
10:809 For still the precious drops
her name retain.
10:810 Mean-time the mis-begotten infant grows,
10:811 And ripe for birth, distends
with deadly throes
10:812 The swelling rind, with unavailing
strife,
10:813 To leave the wooden womb, and
pushes into life.
10:814 The mother-tree, as if oppress'd
with pain,
10:815 Writhes here, and there, to
break the bark, in vain;
10:816 And, like a lab'ring woman,
wou'd have pray'd,
10:817 But wants a voice to call Lucina's
aid:
10:818 The bending bole sends out
a hollow sound,
10:819 And trickling tears fall thicker
on the ground.
10:820 The mild Lucina came uncall'd,
and stood
10:821 Beside the struggling boughs,
and heard the groaning wood;
10:822 Then reach'd her midwife-hand
to speed the throes,
10:823 And spoke the pow'rful spells,
that babes to birth disclose.
10:824 The bark divides, the living
load to free,
10:825 And safe delivers the convulsive
tree.
10:826 The ready nymphs receive the
crying child,
10:827 And wash him in the tears the
parent plant distill'd.
10:828 They swath'd him with their
scarfs; beneath him spread
10:829 The ground with herbs; with
roses rais'd his head.
10:830 The lovely babe was born with
ev'ry grace,
10:831 Ev'n envy must have prais'd
so fair a face:
10:832 Such was his form, as painters
when they show
10:833 Their utmost art, on naked
loves bestow:
10:834 And that their arms no diff'rence
might betray,
10:835 Give him a bow, or his from
Cupid take away.
10:836 Time glides along with undiscover'd haste,
10:837 The future but a length behind
the past;
10:838 So swift are years. The babe,
whom just before
10:839 His grandsire got, and whom
his sister bore;
10:840 The drop, the thing, which
late the tree inclos'd,
10:841 And late the yawning bark to
life expos'd;
10:842 A babe, a boy, a beauteous
youth appears,
10:843 And lovelier than himself at
riper years.
10:844 Now to the queen of love he
gave desires,
10:845 And, with her pains, reveng'd
his mother's fires.