Next the fair ifle of Helena is feen

Where adverse winds detain'd the Spartan queen;
For whom in arms combin'd the Grecian hoft,
With vengeance fir'd, invaded Phrygia's coaft;
For whom so long they labour'd to destroy,
The facred turrets of imperial Troy.
Here, driven by Juno's rage, the hapless dame,
Forlorn of heart, from ruin'd Ilion came.
The port, an image bears of Parian stone,
Of ancient fabrick, but of date unknown.

Due east from this appears th' immortal shore,
That facred Phoebus and Diana bore.

Delos, thro' all the Ægean feas renown'd!
(Whofe coaft the rocky Cyclades furround)
By Phoebus honour'd, and by Greece rever'd;
Her hallow'd groves e'en diftant Perfia fear'd.
But now, a filent unfrequented land!
No human footstep marks the trackless fand.
Thence to the north, by Afia's western bound,
Fair Lemnos ftands, with rifing marble crown'd.
Where, in her rage, avenging Juno hurl'd
Ill-fated Vulcan from th' ætherial world.
There his eternal anvils first he rear'd;
Then, forg'd by Cyclopean art, appear'd
Thunders, that shook the skies with dire alarms,
And, form'd by skill divine, Vulcanian arms.
There, with this crippled wretch, the foul disgrace,
And living scandal of th' empyreal race,
The beauteous Queen of Love in wedlock dwelt:
In fires prophane, can heavenly bofoms melt!

Eastward of this appears the Dardan fhore,
That once th' imperial towers of Ilium bore.
Illuftrious Troy! renown'd in every clime,
Thro' the long annals of unfolding time!
How oft, thy royal bulwarks to defend,
Thou faw'ft thy tutelar gods in vain descend!

Tho' chiefs, unnumber'd, in her cause were flain,
Tho' nations perifh'd on her bloody plain;
That refuge of perfidious Helen's fhame

Was doom'd at length to fink in Grecian flame:

And now, by Time's deep plough-share harrow'd o'er,
The feat of facred Troy is found no more.
No trace of all her glories now remains ;
But corn and vines enrich her cultur'd plains.
Silver Scamander laves the verdant shore;
Scamander, oft o'erflow'd with hostile gore!

Not far remov'd from Ilion's famous land,
In counter view appears the Thracian ftrand;
Where beauteous Hero, from the turret's height,
Display'd her creffet each revolving night;
Whofe gleam directed lov'd Leander o'er
The rolling Hellefpont, to Afia's shore;
Till, in a fated hour, on Thracia's coaft,
She faw her lover's lifeless body tofs'd.
Then felt her bofom agony fevere;

Her eyes, fad-gazing, pour'd th' inceffant tear:
O'erwhelm'd with anguish, frantick with despair,
She beat her beauteous breaft, and tore her hair.
On dear Leander's name in vain fhe cried;
Then headlong plung'd into the parting tide.
The parting tide receiv'd the lovely weight,
And proudly flow'd, exulting in it's freight!

Far weft of Thrace, beyond the Ægean main,
Remote from ocean, lies the Delphick plain.
The facred oracle of Phoebus there,
High o'er the mount arofe, divinely fair!
Achaian marble form'd the gorgeous pile
Auguft the fabrick! elegant it's ftile!
On brazen hinges turn'd the filver doors,
And chequer'd marble pav'd the polifh'd floors.
The roofs, where ftoried tablatures appear'd,
On columns of Corinthian mould were rear'd:

Of

Of fhining porphyry the fhafts were fram'd,
And round the hollow dome bright jewels flam'd.
Apollo's fuppliant priests, a blameless train!
Fram'd their oblations on the holy fane:
To front the fun's declining ray 'twas plac'd,
With golden harps and living laurels grac'd.
The sciences and arts, around the shrine,
Confpicuous fhone, engrav'd by hands divine!
Here Æfculapius' fnake difplay'd his creft,
And burning glories fparkled on his breast:
While, from his eye's infufferable light,
Difeafe and death recoil'd, in headlong flight.
Of this great temple, thro' all time renown'd,
Sunk in oblivion, no remains are found.

Contiguous here, with hallow'd woods o'erfpread,
Parnaffus lifts to heaven it's honour'd head;

Where, from the deluge fav'd, by Heaven's command,
Deucalion leading Pyrrha hand in hand,
Repeopled all the defolated land.
Around the fcene unfading laurels grow,
And aromatick flowers for ever blow.
'The winged choirs, on every tree above,
Carrol fweet numbers thro' the vocal grove;
While o'er th' eternal spring that fmiles beneath,
Young zephyrs, borne on rofy pinions, breathe.
Fair daughters of the fun! the facred Nine,
Here wake to extafy their fongs divine;

Or, crown'd with myrtle, in fome fweet alcove,
Attune the tender ftrings to bleeding love.
All fadly sweet the balmy currents roll;
Soothing to fofteft peace the tortur'd foul.
While hill and vale with choral voice around,
The mufick of immortal harps refound,
Fair Pleasure leads in dance the happy hours;
Still scattering where the moves Elyfian flowers!

X X 2

}

E'en

E'en now the ftrains, with sweet contagion fraught, Shed a delicious languor o'er the thought.

Adieu, ye vales, that fmiling Peace beftow,
Where Eden's bloffoms ever-vernal blow!
Adieu, ye ftreams, that o'er inchanted ground,
In lucid maze th' Aönian hill furround!
Ye fairy fcenes, where Fancy loves to dwell,
And young Delight, for ever, oh! farewel!
The foul with tender luxury you fill,

And o'er the fenfe Lethean dews diftill!

Awake, O Memory, from th' inglorious dream!
With brazen lungs refume the kindling theme!
• Collect thy powers! arouze thy vital fire!
Ye fpirits of the storm, my verse inspire!
Hoarfe as the whirlwinds that enrage the main,
In torrent pour along the fwelling strain !'
Now, borne impetuous o'er the boiling deeps,
Her courfe to Attick shores the vessel keeps;
The pilots, as the waves behind her swell,
Still with the wheeling ftern their force repel:
For, this affault fhould either quarter feel,
Again to flank the tempeft fhe might reel.
The steersmen every bidden turn apply;
To right and left the spokes alternate fly.
Thus, when fome conquer'd hoft retreats in fear,
The braveft leaders guard the broken rear;
Indignant they retire, and long oppose
Superior armies that around them close;
Still fhield the flanks, the routed fquadrons join,
And guide the flight in one embodied line.

So they direct the flying bark before
Th' impelling floods, that lash her to the shore.
As fome benighted traveller, thro' the shade,
Explores the devious path with heart dismay'd,
While prowling favages behind him roar,
And yawning pits and quagmires lurk before;

High o'er the poop th' audacious feas afpire,
Uproll'd in hills of fluctuating fire,

As fome fell conqueror, frantick with fuccefs,
Sheds o'er the nations ruin and diftrefs;
So, while the watʼry wilderness he roams,
Incens'd to sevenfold rage the tempeft foams,
And o'er the trembling pines, above, below,
Shrill thro' the cordage howls, with notes of woe.
Now thunders, wafted from the burning zone,
Growl from afar, a deaf and hollow groan!
The fhip's high battlements, to either fide.
For ever rocking, drink the briny tide:
Her joints unhing'd, in palfied languors play,
As ice diffolves beneath the noon-tide ray.
The fkies, afunder torn, a deluge pour;
Th' impetuous hail defcends in whirling fhower.
High on the mafts, with pale and livid rays,
Amid the gloom portentous meteors blaze.
Th' ætherial dome, in mournful pomp array'd,
Now lurks behind impenetrable fhade;
Now, flashing round intolerable light,
Redoubles all the terrors of the night.
Such terror Sinai's quaking hill o'erspread,
When Heaven's loud trumpet founded o'er his head.
It seem'd, the wrathful angel of the wind
Had all the horrors of the fkies combin'd;
And here, to one ill-fated ship oppos'd,
At once the dreadful magazine disclos'd.
And, lo! tremendous o'er the deep he springs,
Th' inflaming fulphur flashing from his wings!
Hark! his ftrong voice the dismal filence breaks;
Mad chaos from the chains of death awakes!
Loud and more loud, the rolling peals enlarge,
And blue on deck their blazing fides discharge:
There, all aghaft, the fhivering wretches flood,
While chill fufpenfe and fear congeal'd their blood.

Now