The Birth of Bacchus



3:313 Actaeon's suff'rings, and Diana's rage,
3:314 Did all the thoughts of men and Gods engage;
3:315 Some call'd the evils which Diana wrought,
3:316 Too great, and disproportion'd to the fault:
3:317 Others again, esteem'd Actaeon's woes
3:318 Fit for a virgin Goddess to impose.
3:319 The hearers into diff'rent parts divide,
3:320 And reasons are produc'd on either side.

3:321 Juno alone, of all that heard the news,
3:322 Nor would condemn the Goddess, nor excuse:
3:323 She heeded not the justice of the deed,
3:324 But joy'd to see the race of Cadmus bleed;
3:325 For still she kept Europa in her mind,
3:326 And, for her sake, detested all her kind.
3:327 Besides, to aggravate her hate, she heard
3:328 How Semele, to Jove's embrace preferr'd,
3:329 Was now grown big with an immortal load,
3:330 And carry'd in her womb a future God.
3:331 Thus terribly incens'd, the Goddess broke
3:332 To sudden fury, and abruptly spoke.

3:333 "Are my reproaches of so small a force?
3:334 'Tis time I then pursue another course:
3:335 It is decreed the guilty wretch shall die,
3:336 If I'm indeed the mistress of the sky,
3:337 If rightly styl'd among the Pow'rs above
3:338 The wife and sister of the thund'ring Jove
3:339 (And none can sure a sister's right deny);
3:340 It is decreed the guilty wretch shall die.
3:341 She boasts an honour I can hardly claim,
3:342 Pregnant she rises to a mother's name;
3:343 While proud and vain she triumphs in her Jove,
3:344 And shows the glorious tokens of his love:
3:345 But if I'm still the mistress of the skies,
3:346 By her own lover the fond beauty dies."
3:347 This said, descending in a yellow cloud,
3:348 Before the gates of Semele she stood.

3:349 Old Beroe's decrepit shape she wears,
3:350 Her wrinkled visage, and her hoary hairs;
3:351 Whilst in her trembling gait she totters on,
3:352 And learns to tattle in the nurse's tone.
3:353 The Goddess, thus disguis'd in age, beguil'd
3:354 With pleasing stories her false foster-child.
3:355 Much did she talk of love, and when she came
3:356 To mention to the nymph her lover's name,
3:357 Fetching a sigh, and holding down her head,
3:358 "'Tis well," says she, "if all be true that's said.
3:359 But trust me, child, I'm much inclin'd to fear
3:360 Some counterfeit in this your Jupiter:
3:361 Many an honest well-designing maid
3:362 Has been by these pretended Gods betray'd,
3:363 But if he be indeed the thund'ring Jove,
3:364 Bid him, when next he courts the rites of love,
3:365 Descend triumphant from th' etherial sky,
3:366 In all the pomp of his divinity,
3:367 Encompass'd round by those celestial charms,
3:368 With which he fills th' immortal Juno's arms."

3:369 Th' unwary nymph, ensnar'd with what she said,
3:370 Desir'd of Jove, when next he sought her bed,
3:371 To grant a certain gift which she would chuse;
3:372 "Fear not," reply'd the God, "that I'll refuse
3:373 Whate'er you ask: may Styx confirm my voice,
3:374 Chuse what you will, and you shall have your choice."
3:375 "Then," says the nymph, "when next you seek my arms,
3:376 May you descend in those celestial charms,
3:377 With which your Juno's bosom you enflame,
3:378 And fill with transport Heav'n's immortal dame."
3:379 The God surpriz'd would fain have stopp'd her voice,
3:380 But he had sworn, and she had made her choice.

3:381 To keep his promise he ascends, and shrowds
3:382 His awful brow in whirl-winds and in clouds;
3:383 Whilst all around, in terrible array,
3:384 His thunders rattle, and his light'nings play.
3:385 And yet, the dazling lustre to abate,
3:386 He set not out in all his pomp and state,
3:387 Clad in the mildest light'ning of the skies,
3:388 And arm'd with thunder of the smallest size:
3:389 Not those huge bolts, by which the giants slain
3:390 Lay overthrown on the Phlegrean plain.
3:391 'Twas of a lesser mould, and lighter weight;
3:392 They call it thunder of a second-rate,
3:393 For the rough Cyclops, who by Jove's command
3:394 Temper'd the bolt, and turn'd it to his hand,
3:395 Work'd up less flame and fury in its make,
3:396 And quench'd it sooner in the standing lake.
3:397 Thus dreadfully adorn'd, with horror bright,
3:398 Th' illustrious God, descending from his height,
3:399 Came rushing on her in a storm of light.

3:400 The mortal dame, too feeble to engage
3:401 The lightning's flashes, and the thunder's rage,
3:402 Consum'd amidst the glories she desir'd,
3:403 And in the terrible embrace expir'd.

3:404 But, to preserve his offspring from the tomb,
3:405 Jove took him smoaking from the blasted womb:
3:406 And, if on ancient tales we may rely,
3:407 Inclos'd th' abortive infant in his thigh.
3:408 Here when the babe had all his time fulfill'd,
3:409 Ino first took him for her foster-child;
3:410 Then the Niseans, in their dark abode,
3:411 Nurs'd secretly with milk the thriving God.