BeyondWeird  Classics  Ovid  Index  Latin  Previous 

BOOK THE FOURTEENTH

                     NOW Glaucus, with a lover's haste, bounds o'er
                   The swelling waves, and seeks the Latian shore.
                   Messena, Rhegium, and the barren coast
                   Of flaming Aetna, to his sight are lost:
                   At length he gains the Tyrrhene seas, and views
                   The hills where baneful philters Circe brews;
                   Monsters, in various forms, around her press;
                   As thus the God salutes the sorceress.
        The        O Circe, be indulgent to my grief,
  Transformation   And give a love-sick deity relief.
     of Scylla     Too well the mighty pow'r of plants I know,
                   To those my figure, and new Fate I owe.
                   Against Messena, on th' Ausonian coast,
                   I Scylla view'd, and from that hour was lost.
                   In tend'rest sounds I su'd; but still the fair
                   Was deaf to vows, and pityless to pray'r.
                   If numbers can avail, exert their pow'r;
                   Or energy of plants, if plants have more.
                   I ask no cure; let but the virgin pine
                   With dying pangs, or agonies, like mine.
                     No longer Circe could her flame disguise,
                   But to the suppliant God marine, replies:
                     When maids are coy, have manlier aims in view;
                   Leave those that fly, but those that like, pursue.
                   If love can be by kind compliance won;
                   See, at your feet, the daughter of the Sun.
                     Sooner, said Glaucus, shall the ash remove
                   From mountains, and the swelling surges love;
                   Or humble sea-weed to the hills repair;
                   E'er I think any but my Scylla fair.
                     Strait Circe reddens with a guilty shame,
                   And vows revenge for her rejected flame.
                   Fierce liking oft a spight as fierce creates;
                   For love refus'd, without aversion, hates.
                   To hurt her hapless rival she proceeds;
                   And, by the fall of Scylla, Glaucus bleeds.
                     Some fascinating bev'rage now she brews;
                   Compos'd of deadly drugs, and baneful juice.
                   At Rhegium she arrives; the ocean braves,
                   And treads with unwet feet the boiling waves.
                   Upon the beach a winding bay there lies,
                   Shelter'd from seas, and shaded from the skies:
                   This station Scylla chose: a soft retreat
                   From chilling winds, and raging Cancer's heat.
                   The vengeful sorc'ress visits this recess;
                   Her charm infuses, and infects the place.
                   Soon as the nymph wades in, her nether parts
                   Turn into dogs; then at her self she starts.
                   A ghastly horror in her eyes appears;
                   But yet she knows not, who it is she fears;
                   In vain she offers from her self to run,
                   And drags about her what she strives to shun.