Volume Ii Part 8 (1/2)
”For Thee the fragrant zephyrs blow, ”For Thee descends the sunny shower; 315 ”The rills in softer murmurs slow, ”And brighter blossoms gem the bower.
III.
”Light Graces dress'd in flowery wreaths ”And tiptoe Joys their hands combine; ”And Love his sweet contagion breathes, 320 ”And laughing dances round thy shrine.
IV.
”Warm with new life the glittering throngs ”On quivering fin and rustling wing ”Delighted join their votive songs, ”And hail thee, G.o.dDESS OF THE SPRING.”
325 O'er the green brinks of Severn's oozy bed, In changeful rings, her sprightly troop She led; PAN tripp'd before, where Eudness shades the mead, And blew with glowing lip his sevenfold reed; Emerging Naiads swell'd the jocund strain, 330 And aped with mimic step the dancing train.--
[_Sevenfold reed._ I. 328. The sevenfold reed, with which Pan is frequently described, seems to indicate, that he was the inventor of the musical gamut.]
”I faint, I fall!”--_at noon_ the Beauty cried, ”Weep o'er my tomb, ye Nymphs!”--and sunk and died.
--Thus, when white Winter o'er the s.h.i.+vering clime Drives the still snow, or showers the silver rime; 335 As the lone shepherd o'er the dazzling rocks Prints his steep step, and guides his vagrant flocks; Views the green holly veil'd in network nice, Her vermil cl.u.s.ters twinkling in the ice; Admires the lucid vales, and slumbering floods, 340 Fantastic cataracts, and crystal woods, Transparent towns, with seas of milk between, And eyes with transport the refulgent scene:-- If breaks the suns.h.i.+ne o'er the spangled trees, Or flits on tepid wing the western breeze, 345 In liquid dews descends the transient glare, And all the glittering pageant melts in air.
Where Andes hides his cloud-wreath'd crest in snow, And roots his base on burning sands below; Cinchona, fairest of Peruvian maids 350 To Health's bright G.o.ddess in the breezy glades On Quito's temperate plain an altar rear'd, Trill'd the loud hymn, the solemn prayer preferr'd: Each balmy bud she cull'd, and honey'd flower, And hung with fragrant wreaths the sacred bower; 355 Each pearly sea she search'd, and sparkling mine, And piled their treasures on the gorgeous shrine; Her suppliant voice for sickening Loxa raised, Sweet breath'd the gale, and bright the censor blazed.
--”Divine HYGEIA! on thy votaries bend 360 Thy angel-looks, oh, hear us, and defend!
While streaming o'er the night with baleful glare The star of Autumn rays his misty hair; Fierce from his fens the Giant AGUE springs, And wrapp'd in fogs descends on vampire wings;
[_Cinchona_. l. 349. Peruvian bark-tree. Five males, and one female. Several of these trees were felled for other purposes into a lake, when an epidemic fever of a very mortal kind prevailed at Loxa in Peru, and the woodmen, accidentally drinking the water, were cured; and thus were discovered the virtues of this famous drug.]
365 ”Before, with shuddering limbs cold Tremor reels, And Fever's burning nostril dogs his heels; Loud claps the grinning Fiend his iron hands, Stamps with his marble feet, and shouts along the lands; Withers the damask cheek, unnerves the strong, 370 And drives with scorpion-lash the shrieking throng.
Oh, G.o.ddess! on thy kneeling votaries bend Thy angel-looks, oh, hear us, and defend!”
--HYGEIA, leaning from the blest abodes, The crystal mansions of the immortal G.o.ds, 375 Saw the sad Nymph uplift her dewy eyes, Spread her white arms, and breathe her fervid sighs; Call'd to her fair a.s.sociates, Youth, and Joy, And shot all-radiant through the glittering sky; Loose waved behind her golden train of hair, 380 Her sapphire mantle swam diffus'd in air.-- O'er the grey matted moss, and pansied sod, With step sublime the glowing G.o.ddess trod, Gilt with her beamy eye the conscious shade, And with her smile celestial bless'd the maid.
385 ”Come to my arms,” with seraph voice she cries, ”Thy vows are heard, benignant Nymph! arise; Where yon aspiring trunks fantastic wreath Their mingled roots, and drink the rill beneath, Yield to the biting axe thy sacred wood, 390 And strew the bitter foliage on the flood.”
In silent homage bow'd the blus.h.i.+ng maid,-- _Five_ youths athletic hasten to her aid, O'er the scar'd hills re-echoing strokes resound, And headlong forests thunder on the ground.
395 Round the dark roots, rent bark, and shatter'd boughs, From ocherous beds the swelling fountain flows; With streams austere its winding margin laves, And pours from vale to vale its dusky waves.
--As the pale squadrons, bending o'er the brink, 400 View with a sigh their alter'd forms, and drink; Slow-ebbing life with refluent crimson breaks O'er their wan lips, and paints their haggard cheeks; Through each fine nerve rekindling transports dart, Light the quick eye, and swell the exulting heart.
405 --Thus ISRAEL's heaven-taught chief o'er trackless lands Led to the sultry rock his murmuring bands.
Bright o'er his brows the forky radiance blazed, And high in air the rod divine He raised.-- Wide yawns the cliff!--amid the thirsty throng 410 Rush the redundant waves, and s.h.i.+ne along; With gourds and sh.e.l.ls and helmets press the bands, Ope their parch'd lips, and spread their eager hands, s.n.a.t.c.h their pale infants to the exuberant shower, Kneel on the shatter'd rock, and bless the Almighty Power.
415 Bolster'd with down, amid a thousand wants, Pale Dropsy rears his bloated form, and pants; ”Quench me, ye cool pellucid rills!” he cries, Wets his parch'd tongue, and rolls his hollow eyes.
So bends tormented TANTALUS to drink, 420 While from his lips the refluent waters shrink; Again the rising stream his bosom laves, And Thirst consumes him 'mid circ.u.mfluent waves.
--Divine HYGEIA, from the bending sky Descending, listens to his piercing cry; 425 a.s.sumes bright DIGITALIS' dress and air, Her ruby cheek, white neck, and raven hair; _Four_ youths protect her from the circling throng, And like the Nymph the G.o.ddess steps along.-- --O'er Him She waves her serpent-wreathed wand, 430 Cheers with her voice, and raises with her hand, Warms with rekindling bloom his visage wan, And charms the shapeless monster into man.
[_Digitalis_. l. 425. Of the cla.s.s Two Powers. Four males, one female, Foxglove. The effect of this plant in that kind of Dropsy, which is termed anasarca, where the legs and thighs are much swelled, attended with great difficulty of breathing, is truly astonis.h.i.+ng. In the ascites accompanied with anasarca of people past the meridian of life it will also sometimes succeed. The method of administering it requires some caution, as it is liable, in greater doses, to induce very violent and debilitating sickness, which continues one or two days, during which time the dropsical collection however disappears. One large spoonful, or half an ounce, of the following decoction, given twice a day, will generally succeed in a few days. But in more robust people, one large spoonful every two hours, till four spoonfuls are taken, or till sickness occurs, will evacuate the dropsical swellings with greater certainty, but is liable to operate more violently. Boil four ounces of the fresh leaves of purple Foxglove (which leaves may be had at all seasons of the year) from two pints of water to twelve ounces; add to the strained liquor, while yet warm, three ounces of rectified spirit of wine. A theory of the effects of this medicine, with many successful cases, may be seen in a pamphlet, called, ”Experiments on Mucilaginous and Purulent Matter,”
published by Dr. Darwin in 1780. Sold by Cadell, London.]