The Giants' War
1:193 Nor were the Gods themselves more safe above;
1:194 Against beleaguer'd Heav'n the
giants move.
1:195 Hills pil'd on hills, on mountains
mountains lie,
1:196 To make their mad approaches
to the skie.
1:197 'Till Jove, no longer patient,
took his time
1:198 T' avenge with thunder their
audacious crime:
1:199 Red light'ning plaid along the
firmament,
1:200 And their demolish'd works to
pieces rent.
1:201 Sing'd with the flames, and with
the bolts transfixt,
1:202 With native Earth, their blood
the monsters mixt;
1:203 The blood, indu'd with animating
heat,
1:204 Did in th' impregnant Earth new
sons beget:
1:205 They, like the seed from which
they sprung, accurst,
1:206 Against the Gods immortal hatred
nurst,
1:207 An impious, arrogant, and cruel
brood;
1:208 Expressing their original from
blood.
1:209 Which when the king of Gods beheld from high
1:210 (Withal revolving in his memory,
1:211 What he himself had found on
Earth of late,
1:212 Lycaon's guilt, and his inhumane
treat),
1:213 He sigh'd; nor longer with his
pity strove;
1:214 But kindled to a wrath becoming
Jove:
1:215 Then call'd a general council of the Gods;
1:216 Who summon'd, issue from their
blest abodes,
1:217 And fill th' assembly with a
shining train.
1:218 A way there is, in Heav'n's expanded
plain,
1:219 Which, when the skies are clear,
is seen below,
1:220 And mortals, by the name of Milky,
know.
1:221 The ground-work is of stars;
through which the road
1:222 Lyes open to the Thunderer's
abode:
1:223 The Gods of greater nations dwell
around,
1:224 And, on the right and left, the
palace bound;
1:225 The commons where they can: the
nobler sort
1:226 With winding-doors wide open,
front the court.
1:227 This place, as far as Earth with
Heav'n may vie,
1:228 I dare to call the Louvre of
the skie.
1:229 When all were plac'd, in seats
distinctly known,
1:230 And he, their father, had assum'd
the throne,
1:231 Upon his iv'ry sceptre first
he leant,
1:232 Then shook his head, that shook
the firmament:
1:233 Air, Earth, and seas, obey'd
th' almighty nod;
1:234 And, with a gen'ral fear, confess'd
the God.
1:235 At length, with indignation,
thus he broke
1:236 His awful silence, and the Pow'rs
bespoke.
1:237 I was not more concern'd in that debate
1:238 Of empire, when our universal
state
1:239 Was put to hazard, and the giant
race
1:240 Our captive skies were ready
to imbrace:
1:241 For tho' the foe was fierce,
the seeds of all
1:242 Rebellion, sprung from one original;
1:243 Now, wheresoever ambient waters
glide,
1:244 All are corrupt, and all must
be destroy'd.
1:245 Let me this holy protestation
make,
1:246 By Hell, and Hell's inviolable
lake,
1:247 I try'd whatever in the godhead
lay:
1:248 But gangren'd members must be
lopt away,
1:249 Before the nobler parts are tainted
to decay.
1:250 There dwells below, a race of
demi-gods,
1:251 Of nymphs in waters, and of fawns
in woods:
1:252 Who, tho' not worthy yet, in
Heav'n to live,
1:253 Let 'em, at least, enjoy that
Earth we give.
1:254 Can these be thought securely
lodg'd below,
1:255 When I my self, who no superior
know,
1:256 I, who have Heav'n and Earth
at my command,
1:257 Have been attempted by Lycaon's
hand?
1:258 At this a murmur through the synod went,
1:259 And with one voice they vote
his punishment.
1:260 Thus, when conspiring traytors
dar'd to doom
1:261 The fall of Caesar, and in him
of Rome,
1:262 The nations trembled with a pious
fear;
1:263 All anxious for their earthly
Thunderer:
1:264 Nor was their care, o Caesar,
less esteem'd
1:265 By thee, than that of Heav'n
for Jove was deem'd:
1:266 Who with his hand, and voice,
did first restrain
1:267 Their murmurs, then resum'd his
speech again.
1:268 The Gods to silence were compos'd,
and sate
1:269 With reverence, due to his superior
state.
1:270 Cancel your pious cares; already he
1:271 Has paid his debt to justice,
and to me.
1:272 Yet what his crimes, and what
my judgments were,
1:273 Remains for me thus briefly to
declare.
1:274 The clamours of this vile degenerate
age,
1:275 The cries of orphans, and th'
oppressor's rage,
1:276 Had reach'd the stars: I will
descend, said I,
1:277 In hope to prove this loud complaint
a lye.
1:278 Disguis'd in humane shape, I
travell'd round
1:279 The world, and more than what
I heard, I found.
1:280 O'er Maenalus I took my steepy
way,
1:281 By caverns infamous for beasts
of prey:
1:282 Then cross'd Cyllene, and the
piny shade
1:283 More infamous, by curst Lycaon
made:
1:284 Dark night had cover'd Heaven,
and Earth, before
1:285 I enter'd his unhospitable door.
1:286 Just at my entrance, I display'd
the sign
1:287 That somewhat was approaching
of divine.
1:288 The prostrate people pray; the
tyrant grins;
1:289 And, adding prophanation to his
sins,
1:290 I'll try, said he, and if a God
appear,
1:291 To prove his deity shall cost
him dear.
1:292 'Twas late; the graceless wretch
my death prepares,
1:293 When I shou'd soundly sleep,
opprest with cares:
1:294 This dire experiment he chose,
to prove
1:295 If I were mortal, or undoubted
Jove:
1:296 But first he had resolv'd to
taste my pow'r;
1:297 Not long before, but in a luckless
hour,
1:298 Some legates, sent from the Molossian
state,
1:299 Were on a peaceful errand come
to treat:
1:300 Of these he murders one, he boils
the flesh;
1:301 And lays the mangled morsels
in a dish:
1:302 Some part he roasts; then serves
it up, so drest,
1:303 And bids me welcome to this humane
feast.
1:304 Mov'd with disdain, the table
I o'er-turn'd;
1:305 And with avenging flames, the
palace burn'd.
1:306 The tyrant in a fright, for shelter
gains
1:307 The neighb'ring fields, and scours
along the plains.
1:308 Howling he fled, and fain he
wou'd have spoke;
1:309 But humane voice his brutal tongue
forsook.
1:310 About his lips the gather'd foam
he churns,
1:311 And, breathing slaughters, still
with rage he burns,
1:312 But on the bleating flock his
fury turns.
1:313 His mantle, now his hide, with
rugged hairs
1:314 Cleaves to his back; a famish'd
face he bears;
1:315 His arms descend, his shoulders
sink away
1:316 To multiply his legs for chase
of prey.
1:317 He grows a wolf, his hoariness
remains,
1:318 And the same rage in other members
reigns.
1:319 His eyes still sparkle in a narr'wer
space:
1:320 His jaws retain the grin, and
violence of his face
1:321 This was a single ruin, but not one
1:322 Deserves so just a punishment
alone.
1:323 Mankind's a monster, and th'
ungodly times
1:324 Confed'rate into guilt, are sworn
to crimes.
1:325 All are alike involv'd in ill,
and all
1:326 Must by the same relentless fury
fall.
1:327 Thus ended he; the greater Gods
assent;
1:328 By clamours urging his severe
intent;
1:329 The less fill up the cry for
punishment.
1:330 Yet still with pity they remember
Man;
1:331 And mourn as much as heav'nly
spirits can.
1:332 They ask, when those were lost
of humane birth,
1:333 What he wou'd do with all this
waste of Earth:
1:334 If his dispeopl'd world he would
resign
1:335 To beasts, a mute, and more ignoble
line;
1:336 Neglected altars must no longer
smoke,
1:337 If none were left to worship,
and invoke.
1:338 To whom the Father of the Gods
reply'd,
1:339 Lay that unnecessary fear aside:
1:340 Mine be the care, new people
to provide.
1:341 I will from wondrous principles
ordain
1:342 A race unlike the first, and
try my skill again.
1:343 Already had he toss'd the flaming brand;
1:344 And roll'd the thunder in his
spacious hand;
1:345 Preparing to discharge on seas
and land:
1:346 But stopt, for fear, thus violently
driv'n,
1:347 The sparks should catch his axle-tree
of Heav'n.
1:348 Remembring in the fates, a time
when fire
1:349 Shou'd to the battlements of
Heaven aspire,
1:350 And all his blazing worlds above
shou'd burn;
1:351 And all th' inferior globe to
cinders turn.
1:352 His dire artill'ry thus dismist,
he bent
1:353 His thoughts to some securer
punishment:
1:354 Concludes to pour a watry deluge
down;
1:355 And what he durst not burn, resolves
to drown.
1:356 The northern breath, that freezes floods,
he binds;
1:357 With all the race of cloud-dispelling
winds:
1:358 The south he loos'd, who night
and horror brings;
1:359 And foggs are shaken from his
flaggy wings.
1:360 From his divided beard two streams
he pours,
1:361 His head, and rheumy eyes distill
in show'rs,
1:362 With rain his robe, and heavy
mantle flow:
1:363 And lazy mists are lowring on
his brow;
1:364 Still as he swept along, with
his clench'd fist
1:365 He squeez'd the clouds, th' imprison'd
clouds resist:
1:366 The skies, from pole to pole,
with peals resound;
1:367 And show'rs inlarg'd, come pouring
on the ground.
1:368 Then, clad in colours of a various
dye,
1:369 Junonian Iris breeds a new supply
1:370 To feed the clouds: impetuous
rain descends;
1:371 The bearded corn beneath the
burden bends:
1:372 Defrauded clowns deplore their
perish'd grain;
1:373 And the long labours of the year
are vain.
1:374 Nor from his patrimonial Heaven alone
1:375 Is Jove content to pour his vengeance
down;
1:376 Aid from his brother of the seas
he craves,
1:377 To help him with auxiliary waves.
1:378 The watry tyrant calls his brooks
and floods,
1:379 Who rowl from mossie caves (their
moist abodes);
1:380 And with perpetual urns his palace
fill:
1:381 To whom in brief, he thus imparts
his will.
1:382 Small exhortation needs; your pow'rs employ:
1:383 And this bad world, so Jove requires,
destroy.
1:384 Let loose the reins to all your
watry store:
1:385 Bear down the damms, and open
ev'ry door.
1:386 The floods, by Nature enemies to land,
1:387 And proudly swelling with their
new command,
1:388 Remove the living stones, that
stopt their way,
1:389 And gushing from their source,
augment the sea.
1:390 Then, with his mace, their monarch
struck the ground;
1:391 With inward trembling Earth receiv'd
the wound;
1:392 And rising streams a ready passage
found.
1:393 Th' expanded waters gather on
the plain:
1:394 They float the fields, and over-top
the grain;
1:395 Then rushing onwards, with a
sweepy sway,
1:396 Bear flocks, and folds, and lab'ring
hinds away.
1:397 Nor safe their dwellings were,
for, sap'd by floods,
1:398 Their houses fell upon their
houshold Gods.
1:399 The solid piles, too strongly
built to fall,
1:400 High o'er their heads, behold
a watry wall:
1:401 Now seas and Earth were in confusion
lost;
1:402 A world of waters, and without
a coast.
1:403 One climbs a cliff; one in his boat is born:
1:404 And ploughs above, where late
he sow'd his corn.
1:405 Others o'er chimney-tops and
turrets row,
1:406 And drop their anchors on the
meads below:
1:407 Or downward driv'n, they bruise
the tender vine,
1:408 Or tost aloft, are knock'd against
a pine.
1:409 And where of late the kids had
cropt the grass,
1:410 The monsters of the deep now
take their place.
1:411 Insulting Nereids on the cities
ride,
1:412 And wond'ring dolphins o'er the
palace glide.
1:413 On leaves, and masts of mighty
oaks they brouze;
1:414 And their broad fins entangle
in the boughs.
1:415 The frighted wolf now swims amongst
the sheep;
1:416 The yellow lion wanders in the
deep:
1:417 His rapid force no longer helps
the boar:
1:418 The stag swims faster, than he
ran before.
1:419 The fowls, long beating on their
wings in vain,
1:420 Despair of land, and drop into
the main.
1:421 Now hills, and vales no more
distinction know;
1:422 And levell'd Nature lies oppress'd
below.
1:423 The most of mortals perish in
the flood:
1:424 The small remainder dies for
want of food.
1:425 A mountain of stupendous height there stands
1:426 Betwixt th' Athenian and Boeotian
lands,
1:427 The bound of fruitful fields,
while fields they were,
1:428 But then a field of waters did
appear:
1:429 Parnassus is its name; whose
forky rise
1:430 Mounts thro' the clouds, and
mates the lofty skies.
1:431 High on the summit of this dubious
cliff,
1:432 Deucalion wafting, moor'd his
little skiff.
1:433 He with his wife were only left
behind
1:434 Of perish'd Man; they two were
human kind.
1:435 The mountain nymphs, and Themis
they adore,
1:436 And from her oracles relief implore.
1:437 The most upright of mortal men
was he;
1:438 The most sincere, and holy woman,
she.
1:439 When Jupiter, surveying Earth from high,
1:440 Beheld it in a lake of water
lie,
1:441 That where so many millions lately
liv'd,
1:442 But two, the best of either sex,
surviv'd;
1:443 He loos'd the northern wind;
fierce Boreas flies
1:444 To puff away the clouds, and
purge the skies:
1:445 Serenely, while he blows, the
vapours driv'n,
1:446 Discover Heav'n to Earth, and
Earth to Heav'n.
1:447 The billows fall, while Neptune
lays his mace
1:448 On the rough sea, and smooths
its furrow'd face.
1:449 Already Triton, at his call,
appears
1:450 Above the waves; a Tyrian robe
he wears;
1:451 And in his hand a crooked trumpet
bears.
1:452 The soveraign bids him peaceful
sounds inspire,
1:453 And give the waves the signal
to retire.
1:454 His writhen shell he takes; whose
narrow vent
1:455 Grows by degrees into a large
extent,
1:456 Then gives it breath; the blast
with doubling sound,
1:457 Runs the wide circuit of the
world around:
1:458 The sun first heard it, in his
early east,
1:459 And met the rattling ecchos in
the west.
1:460 The waters, listning to the trumpet's
roar,
1:461 Obey the summons, and forsake
the shore.
1:462 A thin circumference of land appears;
1:463 And Earth, but not at once, her
visage rears,
1:464 And peeps upon the seas from
upper grounds;
1:465 The streams, but just contain'd
within their bounds,
1:466 By slow degrees into their channels
crawl;
1:467 And Earth increases, as the waters
fall.
1:468 In longer time the tops of trees
appear,
1:469 Which mud on their dishonour'd
branches bear.
1:470 At length the world was all restor'd to view;
1:471 But desolate, and of a sickly
hue:
1:472 Nature beheld her self, and stood
aghast,
1:473 A dismal desart, and a silent
waste.
1:474 Which when Deucalion, with a piteous look
1:475 Beheld, he wept, and thus to
Pyrrha spoke:
1:476 Oh wife, oh sister, oh of all
thy kind
1:477 The best, and only creature left
behind,
1:478 By kindred, love, and now by
dangers joyn'd;
1:479 Of multitudes, who breath'd the
common air,
1:480 We two remain; a species in a
pair:
1:481 The rest the seas have swallow'd;
nor have we
1:482 Ev'n of this wretched life a
certainty.
1:483 The clouds are still above; and,
while I speak,
1:484 A second deluge o'er our heads
may break.
1:485 Shou'd I be snatcht from hence,
and thou remain,
1:486 Without relief, or partner of
thy pain,
1:487 How cou'dst thou such a wretched
life sustain?
1:488 Shou'd I be left, and thou be
lost, the sea
1:489 That bury'd her I lov'd, shou'd
bury me.
1:490 Oh cou'd our father his old arts
inspire,
1:491 And make me heir of his informing
fire,
1:492 That so I might abolisht Man
retrieve,
1:493 And perisht people in new souls
might live.
1:494 But Heav'n is pleas'd, nor ought
we to complain,
1:495 That we, th' examples of mankind,
remain.
1:496 He said; the careful couple joyn
their tears:
1:497 And then invoke the Gods, with
pious prayers.
1:498 Thus, in devotion having eas'd
their grief,
1:499 From sacred oracles they seek
relief;
1:500 And to Cephysus' brook their
way pursue:
1:501 The stream was troubled, but
the ford they knew;
1:502 With living waters, in the fountain
bred,
1:503 They sprinkle first their garments,
and their head,
1:504 Then took the way, which to the
temple led.
1:505 The roofs were all defil'd with
moss, and mire,
1:506 The desart altars void of solemn
fire.
1:507 Before the gradual, prostrate
they ador'd;
1:508 The pavement kiss'd; and thus
the saint implor'd.
1:509 O righteous Themis, if the Pow'rs above
1:510 By pray'rs are bent to pity,
and to love;
1:511 If humane miseries can move their
mind;
1:512 If yet they can forgive, and
yet be kind;
1:513 Tell how we may restore, by second
birth,
1:514 Mankind, and people desolated
Earth.
1:515 Then thus the gracious Goddess,
nodding, said;
1:516 Depart, and with your vestments
veil your head:
1:517 And stooping lowly down, with
losen'd zones,
1:518 Throw each behind your backs,
your mighty mother's bones.
1:519 Amaz'd the pair, and mute with
wonder stand,
1:520 'Till Pyrrha first refus'd the
dire command.
1:521 Forbid it Heav'n, said she, that
I shou'd tear
1:522 Those holy reliques from the
sepulcher.
1:523 They ponder'd the mysterious
words again,
1:524 For some new sense; and long
they sought in vain:
1:525 At length Deucalion clear'd his
cloudy brow,
1:526 And said, the dark Aenigma will
allow
1:527 A meaning, which, if well I understand,
1:528 From sacrilege will free the
God's command:
1:529 This Earth our mighty mother
is, the stones
1:530 In her capacious body, are her
bones:
1:531 These we must cast behind. With
hope, and fear,
1:532 The woman did the new solution
hear:
1:533 The man diffides in his own augury,
1:534 And doubts the Gods; yet both
resolve to try.
1:535 Descending from the mount, they
first unbind
1:536 Their vests, and veil'd, they
cast the stones behind:
1:537 The stones (a miracle to mortal
view,
1:538 But long tradition makes it pass
for true)
1:539 Did first the rigour of their
kind expel,
1:540 And suppled into softness, as
they fell;
1:541 Then swell'd, and swelling, by
degrees grew warm;
1:542 And took the rudiments of human
form.
1:543 Imperfect shapes: in marble such
are seen,
1:544 When the rude chizzel does the
man begin;
1:545 While yet the roughness of the
stone remains,
1:546 Without the rising muscles, and
the veins.
1:547 The sappy parts, and next resembling
juice,
1:548 Were turn'd to moisture, for
the body's use:
1:549 Supplying humours, blood, and
nourishment;
1:550 The rest, too solid to receive
a bent,
1:551 Converts to bones; and what was
once a vein,
1:552 Its former name and Nature did
retain.
1:553 By help of pow'r divine, in little
space,
1:554 What the man threw, assum'd a
manly face;
1:555 And what the wife, renew'd the
female race.
1:556 Hence we derive our nature; born
to bear
1:557 Laborious life; and harden'd
into care.
1:558 The rest of animals, from teeming Earth
1:559 Produc'd, in various forms receiv'd
their birth.
1:560 The native moisture, in its close
retreat,
1:561 Digested by the sun's aetherial
heat,
1:562 As in a kindly womb, began to
breed:
1:563 Then swell'd, and quicken'd by
the vital seed.
1:564 And some in less, and some in
longer space,
1:565 Were ripen'd into form, and took
a sev'ral face.
1:566 Thus when the Nile from Pharian
fields is fled,
1:567 And seeks, with ebbing tides,
his ancient bed,
1:568 The fat manure with heav'nly
fire is warm'd;
1:569 And crusted creatures, as in
wombs, are form'd;
1:570 These, when they turn the glebe,
the peasants find;
1:571 Some rude, and yet unfinish'd
in their kind:
1:572 Short of their limbs, a lame
imperfect birth:
1:573 One half alive; and one of lifeless
earth.
1:574 For heat, and moisture, when in bodies join'd,
1:575 The temper that results from
either kind
1:576 Conception makes; and fighting
'till they mix,
1:577 Their mingled atoms in each other
fix.
1:578 Thus Nature's hand the genial
bed prepares
1:579 With friendly discord, and with
fruitful wars.
1:580 From hence the surface of the ground, with
mud
1:581 And slime besmear'd (the faeces
of the flood),
1:582 Receiv'd the rays of Heav'n:
and sucking in
1:583 The seeds of heat, new creatures
did begin:
1:584 Some were of sev'ral sorts produc'd
before,
1:585 But of new monsters, Earth created
more.
1:586 Unwillingly, but yet she brought
to light
1:587 Thee, Python too, the wondring
world to fright,
1:588 And the new nations, with so
dire a sight:
1:589 So monstrous was his bulk, so
large a space
1:590 Did his vast body, and long train
embrace.
1:591 Whom Phoebus basking on a bank
espy'd;
1:592 E're now the God his arrows had
not try'd
1:593 But on the trembling deer, or
mountain goat;
1:594 At this new quarry he prepares
to shoot.
1:595 Though ev'ry shaft took place,
he spent the store
1:596 Of his full quiver; and 'twas
long before
1:597 Th' expiring serpent wallow'd
in his gore.
1:598 Then, to preserve the fame of
such a deed,
1:599 For Python slain, he Pythian
games decred.
1:600 Where noble youths for mastership
shou'd strive,
1:601 To quoit, to run, and steeds,
and chariots drive.
1:602 The prize was fame: in witness
of renown
1:603 An oaken garland did the victor
crown.
1:604 The laurel was not yet for triumphs
born;
1:605 But every green alike by Phoebus
worn,
1:606 Did, with promiscuous grace,
his flowing locks adorn.