SELECTIONS IN ENGLISH POETRY
And he, whose power restores thee, hath decreed
Thou shouldst elude the malice of the grave:
Redundant are thy locks, thy lips as fair
As when their breath enriched Thessalian air. 60
'No spectre greets me,—no vain Shadow this;
Come, blooming Hero, place thee by my side!
Give, on this well-known couch, one nuptial kiss
To me, this day, a second time thy bride!'
Jove frowned in heaven : the conscious Parcae threw 65
Upon those roseate lips a Stygian hue.
'This visage tells thee that my doom is past:
Nor should the change be mourned, even if the joys
Of sense were able to return as fast
'And surely as they vanish. Earth destroys 70
Those raptures duly—Erebus disdains :
Calm pleasures there abide—majestic pains,
'Be taught, O faithful Consort, to control
Rebellious passion : for the Gods approve
The depth, and not the tumult, of the soul; 75
A fervent, not ungovernable, love.
Thytransports moderate; and meekly mourn
When I depart, for brief is my sojourn—'
'Ah whereforej?—Did not Hercules by force
Wrest from the guardian Monster of the tomb &>
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AlcestiSj a jreanimated corse,
GK^en^bacl^to dwell on earttj in vernal bloom?
Media's spells dispersed the weigh't^Sryears,
And Aeson stood a youth 'mid youthful peers.
'The Gods to us are merciful—and they 85
Yet further may relent: for mightier far
78