O thou,that wakest on thy seven-string'd lyre Sweet notes,that from the rustic lifeless horn Enchant the ear with heavenly melody,Son of Latona,thee before this light Will I reprove.Thou camest to me,with gold Thy locks all glittering,as the vermeil flowers I gather'd in my vest to deck my bosom With the spring's glowing hues;in my white hand Thy hand enlocking,to the cavern'd rock Thou led'st me;naught avail'd my cries,that call'd My mother;on thou led'st me,wanton god,Immodestly,to Venus paying homage.
A son I bare thee,O my wretched fate!
Him (for I fear'd my mother)in thy cave I placed,where I unhappy was undone By thy unhappy love.Woe,woe is me!
And now my son and thine,ill-fated babe,Is rent by ravenous vultures;thou,meanwhile,Art to thy lyre attuning strains of joy.
Set of Latona,thee I call aloud Who from thy golden seat,thy central throne,Utterest thine oracle:my voice shall reach Thine ear:ungrateful lover,to my husband,No grace requiting,thou hast given a son To bless his house;my son and thine,unown'd,Perish'd a prey to birds;the robes that wrapp'd The infant's limbs,his mother's work,lost with him.
Delos abhors thee,and the laurel boughs With the soft foliage of the palm o'erhung,Grasping whose round trunk with her hands divine,Latona thee,her hallow'd offspring,bore.
LEADER
Ah,what a mighty treasury of ills Is open'd here,a copious source of tears!
TUTOR
Never,my daughter,can I sate my eyes With looking on thy face:astonishment Bears me beyond my senses.I had stemm'd One tide of evils,when another flood High-surging overwhelm'd me from the words Which thou hast utter'd,from the present ills To an ill train of other woes transferr'd.
What say'st thou?Of what charge dost thou implead The god?What son hast thou brought forth?Where placed him A feast for vultures?Tell me all again.
CREUSA
Though I must blush,old man,yet I will speak.
TUTOR
I mourn with generous grief at a friend's woes.
CREUSA
Hear then:the northward-pointing cave thou knowest,And the Cecropian rocks,which we call Macrai.
TUTOR
Where stands a shrine to Pan,and altars nigh.
CREUSA
There in a dreadful conflict I engaged.
TUTOR
What!my tears rise ready to meet thy words.
CREUSA
By Phoebus drawn reluctant to his bed.
TUTOR
Was this,my daughter,such as I suppose?
CREUSA
I know not:but if truth,I will confess it.
TUTOR
Didst thou in silence mourn this secret ill?
CREUSA
This was the grief I now disclose to thee.
TUTOR
This love of Phoebus how didst thou conceal?
CREUSA
I bore a son.Hear me,old man,with patience.
TUTOR
Where?who assisted?or wast thou alone?
CREUSA
Alone,in the same cave where compress'd.
TUTOR
Where is thy son,that childless now no more CREUSADead,good old man,to beasts of prey exposed.
TUTOR
Dead!and the ungrateful Phoebus gives no aid?
CREUSA
None:in the house of Pluto a young guest.
TUTOR
Whose hands exposed him?Surely not thine own.
CREUSA
Mine,in the shades of night,wrapp'd in his vests.
TUTOR
Hadst thou none with thee conscious to this deed?
CREUSA
My misery,and the secret place alone.
TUTOR
How durst thou in a cavern leave thy son?
CREUSA
How?uttering many sad and plaintive words.
TUTOR
Ah,cruel was thy deed,the god more cruel.
CREUSA
Hadst thou but seen him stretch his little hands!
TUTOR
Seeking the breast,or reaching to thine arms?
CREUSA
To this,deprived of which he suffer'd wrong.
TUTOR
And what induced thee to expose thy child?
CREUSA
Hope that the god's kind care would save his son.
TUTOR
How are the glories of thy house destroy'd!
CREUSA
Why,thine head cover'd,dost thou pour these tears?
TUTOR
To see thee and thy father thus unhappy.
CREUSA
This is the state of man:nothing stands firm.
TUTOR
No longer then,my child,let grief oppress us.
CREUSA
What should I do?In misery all is doubt.
TUTOR
First on the god that wrong'd thee be avenged.
CREUSA
How shall a mortal 'gainst a god prevail?
TUTOR
Set this revered oracular shrine on fire.
CREUSA
I fear:ev'n now I have enough of ills.
TUTOR
Attempt what may be done then;kill thy husband.
CREUSA
The nuptial bed I reverence,and his goodness.
TUTOR
This son then,which is now brought forth against thee.
CREUSA
How?Could that be,how warmly should I wish it.
TUTOR
Thy train hath swords:instruct them to the deed.
CREUSA
I go with speed:but where shall it be done?
TUTOR
In the hallow'd tent,where now he feasts his friends.
CREUSA
An open murder,and with coward slaves!
TUTOR
If mine displease,propose thou some design.
CREUSA
I have it,close and easy to achieve.
TUTOR
In both my faithful services are thine.
CREUSA
Hear then:not strange to thee the giants'war.
TUTOR
When they in Phlegra fought against the gods.
CREUSA
There the earth brought forth the Gorgon,horrid monster.
TUTOR
In succour of her sons to annoy the gods?
CREUSA
Ev'n so:her Pallas slew,daughter of Jove.
TUTOR
What fierce and dreadful form did she then wear?
CREUSA
Her breastplate arm'd with vipers wreathed around.
TUTOR
A well-known story;often have I heard it.
CREUSA
Her spoils before her breast Minerva wore.
TUTOR
The aegis;so they call the vest of Pallas.
CREUSA
So named,when in the war she join'd the gods.
TUTOR
But how can this,my child,annoy thy foes?
CREUSA
Thou canst not but remember Erichthonius.
TUTOR
Whom first of thy high race the earth brought forth.
CREUSA
To him while yet an infant Pallas gave-
TUTOR
What?Thy slow preface raises expectation.
CREUSA
Two drops of blood that from the Gorgon fell.
TUTOR
And on the human frame what power have these?
CREUSA
The one works death,the other heals disease.
TUTOR
In what around the infant's body hung?
CREUSA
Enclosed in gold:he gave them to my father.
TUTOR
At his decease then they devolved to thee?
CREUSA
Ay,and I wear it as a bracelet;look.
TUTOR
Their double qualities how temper'd,say.
CREUSA
This drop,which from her hollow vein distill'd,-TUTOR
To what effect applied?What is its power?
CREUSA
Medicinal,of sovereign use to life.
TUTOR
The other drop,what faculties hath that?
CREUSA
