The Manfion, rear'd by more than mortal Hands,
On Columns fram'd of polifh'd Iron ftands;
The well-compacted Walls are plated o'er
With the fame Metal: juft without the Door
A thousand Furies frown. The dreadful Gleam,
That iffues from the Sides, reflects the Beam
Of adverse Phæbus, and with chearless Light
Saddens the Day, and starry Hoft of Night.
Well his Attendants fuit the dreary Place:
Firft frantic Paffion, Wrath with redd'ning Face,
And Mischief blind from forth the Threshold ftart;
Within lurks pallid Fear with quiv'ring Heart,
Discord, a two-edg'd Faulchion in her Hand,
And Treach'ry striving to conceal the Brand.
With endless Menaces the Courts refound:
Sad Valour in the Midst maintains her Ground,
Rage with a joyful Heart, tho' fhort of Breath,
And, arm'd with Steel, the gory-vilag'd Death :
Blood, ípilt in War alone, his Altars crowns,
And all his Fire is fnatch'd from burning Towns
The laft Triumvirs, and the Wars they move,
And Anthony, who left the World for love.
Thefe and a thousand more the Fane adorn;
Their Fates were painted ere the Men were born;
All copied from the Heav'ns, and ruling Force
Of the red Star, in his revolving Courfe.
The Form of Mars high on a Chariot stood,
All sheath'd in Arms, and gruffly look'd the God;
Two Geomantic Figures were difplay'd
Above his Head, a Warrior and a Maid,
One when direct, and one when retrogade.
I hope none of my Readers, but fuch as are infenfible of the fine
Traits of Poefy, will be difpleafed at this long Quotation; as fet-
ting them together in this Manner is the best Way to fhew the
Beauties of both Authors; and nothing is more agreeable to Per- ·
fons of Tafte, than comparing the Flowers of Genius and Fancy.
Spoils hung around, and gaudy Trophies torn
From vanquifh'd States the vaulted Roof adorn;
Fragments of Iron-Gates with Art ingrav'd,
Veffels half-burnt, or by the Billows ftav'd,
Sculls crush'd by Wheels, or by keen Faulchions cleft, 85
And Chariots of their Guides and Steeds bereft.
Nor were the Wounds of War alone exprefs'd,
For Groans were almost seen to heave the Breast.
Here grim to View was plac'd the God of Fight,
So well-difpos'd, that still he was in Sight
From ev'ry Path, that to the Center brought :
Such was the Work by skilful Vulcan wrought,
Before, by Sol betray'd, th' Adult'rer ru'd
His treach'rous Love by vengeful Schemes purfu'd.
Scarce had Cyllenius caft his Eyes around.
In Search of the fell Dæmon, when the Ground
'Gan fhake, and Hebrus' horned Flood to roar,
And vex with refluent Waves the Thracian Shore.
Then, as a Sign, of his Approach, the Steeds.
Spring from their Stalls, and beat the trembling Meads;
v. 96. When the Ground] What a dreadful Idea of Mars does the
Poet imprint on the Imagination of the Reader!To ufher
him in with the greater Pomp, the Ground trembles, the River
roars, and the Gates of his Palace fly open to receive him. He is
represented all covered with Blood; his Chariot, driven by Bel-
lona, overturns Trees, Hills of Snow, and every Thing in its Way;
and Mercury, a Brother Deity, is fo daunted at his Appearance, that
his very Blood is chilled, and he does not dare deliver Jove's Mef-
fage; nay, the Poet tells us, that God, great as he is, would have
fome Reverence for him, and recall the Menaces he uttered.
A Painter might form from this Paffage the Portrait of Mars in all
his Terrors, as fuccefsfully as Phidias drew that of Jupiter from Ho-
mer's Defcription of him in the first Book of the Iliad.
upon the whole, this Reprefentation is fo grand and full, that no-
thing can exceed it, but that of the fame Deity in the third Book
of this Author.
The Gates of Adamant, eternal Frame!
Flew open. Soon as the Destroyer came,
High in his Car, and grac'd with hostile Gore :
The Wheels, fwift-rolling, dafh'd the Meadows o'er
With crimson Drops; where'er he pour'd along, 105
The Forefts and deep Snows give Way.-A Throng
Laden with Spoils, fucceeds. Bellona fteers
The Chariot's Courfe, and plies her afhen Spears.
All cold and stiff with Terror Hermes grew,
And turns his Eyes from the terrific View.
E'en Jove himself might foften his Demands,
And spare his Threats.-While mute Cyllenius ftands;
The God, preventing his Confufion, cries:
What News from Jove? what Orders from the Skies?
For scarce; unless fome Pow'r thy Will controuls,
For this bleak Clime beneath the northern Poles
Woud'ft thou refign the sweet Lycaan Vales,
And Manalos, refresh'd by Summer Gales.
His Sire's Injunctions known, without Delay
Great Mars impells along the dreary Way
His Horfes, panting yet with recent Toils,
And fires the Greeks with Hopes of promis'd Spoils.
This feen, the Cloud compeller half refign'd
His Wrath, and gentlier now his Face declin'd.
v. 99. The Steeds] The feeing of a Horfe in a foreign Country
before any other Object of the animal Creation was reckoned by
the Antients as an Omen of War. Æneas, in relating his Adven-
tures to Dido, telis her that, in Italy
Quatuor hic, primum omen, equos in gramine vidi
Tondentes campum latè, candore nivali.
Et pater Anchises, bellum, terra hospita, portas.
Bello armantur equi.
Thus, when the weary Blafts of Eurus cease,
And leave the Deeps fubdu'd, at firft the Peace
Is fcarce difcern'd, as ftill the Waves retain
Their Swell, and heave the Surface of the Main,
Whilft, unrefresh'd, the Seamen feek their Oars,
And Cordage, floating to the neighb'ring Shores. 130
The fun'ral Games, and harmless Contests clos'd,
Adraftus Silence on the Crowd impos'd,
And pour'd, to glad the royal Infant's Soul,
A large Libation from the sparkling Bowl:
Then thus the difcontented Shade addrefs'd:
Grieve not, O Babe, in Heav'n fupremely bleft.
If each third Year thefe fun'ral Rites fhall fee,
So may not Pelops feek with greater Glee
Th' Arcadian Altars, nor with Iv'ry Hand
Infult the Temples on th' Elaan Strand;
So may not Corinth, nor the Delphic Coast
Superior Fame, and prouder Honours boast.
We deem thee more than mortal, and deny
That Styx confines a Member of the Sky.
Here end thy Rites: but shou'd our Vows be crown'd,
And haughty Thebes lie level with the Ground;
A fplendid Fane, and Altars fhall be thine,
And white-rob❜d Priests with holy Pomp inshrine
Thy facred Afhes: nor fhall Greece alone
Through all her Cities make thy Godhead known, 150
But Thebes to thy Divinity appeal,
And swear by thy dread Name with awful Zeal.
v. 138. So may not Pelops, &c.] The Senfe of this Paraphrafe is,
May neither the Pythian, Olympic nor Ifthmian, Games excel those
inftituted in Honour of thee, O Babe.'
Thus fpoke the Chief for all his Hoft. The reft
In filent Motions their Affent exprefs'd.
Mean Time the God of Battle urg'd his Car
Down Ephyra's Steep Shores, where feen from far
The well-known Mount with daring Head invades
The Clouds, and either Sea alternate shades.
Then Terror, dearest of his menial Train,
He fends as Harbinger, nor fends in vain ;
Since none can on our Fear so well impose,
And fpecious Lyes with more Succefs difclofe.
His Aspect varies, as the Fiend commands,
Unnumber'd are his Tones of Speech, and Hands.
Whether th' Existence of two Suns he feigns,
Or fubterraneous Motions of the Plains,
Whole Forests shifting Place, and Planets hurl'd
From their own Spheres, to gild the nether World,
Such is his Talent, that he still deceives,
And the gull'd Dotard all alike believes.
He calls forth all his Art to raise a Cloud
Of feeming Duft, and awe the tim'rous Crowd.
The Chiefs, astonish'd, from the Mountain's Brow
Beheld it mounting o'er the Fields below.
To double ev'ry Fear, and spread th' Alarms,
He mimics thund'ring Steeds, and clashing Arms;
v. 157. The well-known Mount] This was a Mountain in the Pe-
loponnefian Ifthmus, called Acrocorinthus, i. e. the highest Part of Co-
rinth. Ephyra is an Island adjoining.
v. 159. Then Terror] Mars is now preparing to obey Jupiter's
Commands by terrifying the Confederates with a falfe Account of
the Theban Army: but all this is told us poetically; and agreeably
to the Spirit of the Epopeia, Terror becomes a Perfon, and speaks
and acts as an Attendant of Mars. This allegorical Perfonification
is the ftrongest Proof of a fertile Imagination, and the very Zon kay
Yux of heroic Poefy.
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