Fir'd with Resentment thus the Fair one pray'd,
And ample Curses for her Grief repay'd,
Just Jove above with Pity saw her Ill,
And bowing ratify'd her cruel Will;
At which Convulsions seiz'd the trembling Ground,
And all the Frame of Nature shook around.
Now Theseus homeward as he wings his Way,
Forgets those fatal Orders to obey,
Which when he first from Athens did depart,
Were vainly treasur'd in his faithless Heart:
Nor once bethought his anxious Sire to greet
With the glad Signal of his safe Retreat.
Fame sings that Ægeus , when his Son with Hast
Urg'd his Departure o'er the wat'ry wast,
Thus taught the Youth, and as he spoke embrac'd,
My Son than Life more dear, since envious Fate
Divides so early what it join'd so late,
And your too forward Courage from me force,
Consent unwilling for your dang'rous Course,
No Happiness I'll suffer, no Delight,
When your lov'd Image leaves my longing Sight.
But ev'ry Face a Shew of Grief shall wear,
And you yourself no joyous Token bear.
I chief in Sorrow will lament a-while,
And in the Dust my hoary Hairs defile;
Then on the Mast a sable Sail I'll rear,
To represent my Grief and black Despair:
But if our Guardian Goddess shall ordain,
That by your Hand the Cretan Bull be slain,
Then cautious heed, and let no length of Days
These weighty Precepts from your Breast erase;
When first you see again your native Shore,
Change the Black Signal which your Vessel wore,
And in its Room let peaceful White arise,
A distant Omen to my joyful Eyes.
To keep the Words the Youth in vain design'd,
They fled insensibly and left his Mind,
So fleecy Clouds, that on some Mount appear,
Melt by degrees and vanish into Air.
From a high Rock that beetles o'er the Flood,
With daily Care the pensive Father stood;
And when he saw impatient from afar
The fatal Signal floating in the Air,
Thinking his Theseus was untimely slain,
He rashly plung'd himself beneath the Main.
The Son now suffers in the Father's Fate,
And feels those Sorrows which he gave so late,
When on the Shore he left the Nymph to mourn
Her Love rejected, and her Hopes forlorn.
To her Relief the blooming Bacchus ran,
And with him brought his ever jovial Train,
Satyrs and Fawns in wanton Dances strove,
While the God sought his Ariadne 's Love.
Around in wild distorted Airs they fly,
And make the Mountains echo to their Cry.
Some brandish high an Ivy-woven Spear,
The Limbs some scatter of a Victim Steer.
Others in slipp'ry Folds of Serpents shine,
Others apart perform the Rites divine
To wicked Men deny'd. These Tabors take,
These in their Hands the tinkling Cymbal shake,
While many swell the Horn in hoarser Strain,
And make the shrill discordant Pipe complain.
Thus the whole Isle in rural Pleasure smil'd,
Their Dances artless, and their Musick wild;
Yet did it all in happy Consort meet,
Gay the Confusion, and the Discord sweet.
But Bacchus now enamour'd with his Prize,
Resolv'd to make her Partner of the Skies,
She sweetly blushing yeilded to the God,
His Car he mounted, and sublimely rode,
And while with eager Arms he grasp'd the Fair,
Lash'd his fleet Tygers through the buxom Air.
And ample Curses for her Grief repay'd,
Just Jove above with Pity saw her Ill,
And bowing ratify'd her cruel Will;
At which Convulsions seiz'd the trembling Ground,
And all the Frame of Nature shook around.
Now Theseus homeward as he wings his Way,
Forgets those fatal Orders to obey,
Which when he first from Athens did depart,
Were vainly treasur'd in his faithless Heart:
Nor once bethought his anxious Sire to greet
With the glad Signal of his safe Retreat.
Fame sings that Ægeus , when his Son with Hast
Urg'd his Departure o'er the wat'ry wast,
Thus taught the Youth, and as he spoke embrac'd,
My Son than Life more dear, since envious Fate
Divides so early what it join'd so late,
And your too forward Courage from me force,
Consent unwilling for your dang'rous Course,
No Happiness I'll suffer, no Delight,
When your lov'd Image leaves my longing Sight.
But ev'ry Face a Shew of Grief shall wear,
And you yourself no joyous Token bear.
I chief in Sorrow will lament a-while,
And in the Dust my hoary Hairs defile;
Then on the Mast a sable Sail I'll rear,
To represent my Grief and black Despair:
But if our Guardian Goddess shall ordain,
That by your Hand the Cretan Bull be slain,
Then cautious heed, and let no length of Days
These weighty Precepts from your Breast erase;
When first you see again your native Shore,
Change the Black Signal which your Vessel wore,
And in its Room let peaceful White arise,
A distant Omen to my joyful Eyes.
To keep the Words the Youth in vain design'd,
They fled insensibly and left his Mind,
So fleecy Clouds, that on some Mount appear,
Melt by degrees and vanish into Air.
From a high Rock that beetles o'er the Flood,
With daily Care the pensive Father stood;
And when he saw impatient from afar
The fatal Signal floating in the Air,
Thinking his Theseus was untimely slain,
He rashly plung'd himself beneath the Main.
The Son now suffers in the Father's Fate,
And feels those Sorrows which he gave so late,
When on the Shore he left the Nymph to mourn
Her Love rejected, and her Hopes forlorn.
To her Relief the blooming Bacchus ran,
And with him brought his ever jovial Train,
Satyrs and Fawns in wanton Dances strove,
While the God sought his Ariadne 's Love.
Around in wild distorted Airs they fly,
And make the Mountains echo to their Cry.
Some brandish high an Ivy-woven Spear,
The Limbs some scatter of a Victim Steer.
Others in slipp'ry Folds of Serpents shine,
Others apart perform the Rites divine
To wicked Men deny'd. These Tabors take,
These in their Hands the tinkling Cymbal shake,
While many swell the Horn in hoarser Strain,
And make the shrill discordant Pipe complain.
Thus the whole Isle in rural Pleasure smil'd,
Their Dances artless, and their Musick wild;
Yet did it all in happy Consort meet,
Gay the Confusion, and the Discord sweet.
But Bacchus now enamour'd with his Prize,
Resolv'd to make her Partner of the Skies,
She sweetly blushing yeilded to the God,
His Car he mounted, and sublimely rode,
And while with eager Arms he grasp'd the Fair,
Lash'd his fleet Tygers through the buxom Air.