Shipping myself from the Sygean fhore,
Whence unto thefe confines my course I bore.
She made the furges gentle, the winds fair;
Nor marvel whence thefe calms proceeded are :
Need must she power upon the salt seas have,
That was fea-born, created from a wave.
Still may fhe ftand in her ability,

And as the made the feas with much facility,
To be thro'-fail'd; fo may fhe calm my heat,
And bear my thoughts to their defired feat,
My flames I found not here; no, I proteft,
1 brought them with me clofed in my breaft;
Myfelf transported them without attorney,
Love was the motive to my tedious journey.
Not bluft'ring winter, when he triumph'd moft,
Nor any error drove me to this coaft:

Not led by fortune where the rough winds please,
Nor merchant-like, for gain crofs'd I the feas.
Fulness of wealth in all my fleet I fee,
I'm rich in all things, fave in wanting thee.
No fpoil of petty nations my fhip feeks,
Nor land I as a fpy among the Greeks.

What need we? See, of all things we have ftore !
Compar'd with Troy, alas! your Greece is poor.
For thee I come, thy fame hath thus far driven me,
Whom golden Venus hath by promise given me.
I wifh'd thee ere I knew thee, long ago,
Before thefe eyes dwelt on this glorious fhow.
I faw thee in my thoughts; know, beauteous dame,
I first beheld you with the eyes of fame.
Nor marvel, lady, I was ftroke fo far.

Thus darts or arrows fent from bows of war,
Wound a great distance off: so was I hit
With a deep fmarting wound, that rankles yet.

For fo it pleas'd the fates, whom left you blame, I'll tell a true tale to confirm the fame.

When in my mother's womb full ripe I lay, Ready the first hour to behold the day, And the at point to be deliver'd strait, And to unlade her of her royal freight, My birth-hour was delay'd, and that fad night A fearful vifion did the queen affright. In a fon's ftead, to please the aged fire, She dreamt fhe had brought forth a brand of fire. Frighted, fhe rifes, and to Priam goes; To the old king this ominous dream she shows He to the priest; the priest doth this return, That the child born shall stately Ilium burn. Better than he was 'ware, the prophet guefs'd, For lo! a kindled brand flames in my breaft. To prevent fate, a peafant I was held, Till my fair fhape all other fwains excell'd; And gave the doubtful world affurance good, Your Paris was deriv'd from royal blood.

;

Amid the Idean fields, there is a place Remote, full of high trees, which hide the face Of the green mantled earth, where in thick rows, The oak, the elm, the pine, the pitch-tree grows, Here never yet did browze the wanton ewe, Nor from his plot the flow ox lick the dew. The favage goat, that feeds among the rocks, Hath not graz'd here, nor any of their flocks. Hence the Dardanian walls I might efpy, The lofty towers of Ilium reared high. Hence I the feas might from the firm land fee, Which to behold, I lean'd me on a tree.

Believe me, for I fpeak but what is true,
Down from the fky, with feather'd pinions, flew
The nephew to great Atlas, and doth stand,
With golden Caduceus in his hand.

This, as the gods to me thought good to fhow,
I hold it good, that you the fame fhould know.
Three goddeffes behind young Hermes move;
Great Juno, Pallas, and the Queen of Love;
Who as in pomp and pride of gait they pass,
Scarce with their weight they bend the tops of grass.
Amaz'd I start, and endlong ftands my hair,
When Maia's fon thus fays; Abandon fear,
Thou courteous fwain, that to thefe groves repairest,
And freely judge, which of thefe three is faireft.
And left I should this curious fentence fhun,
He tells me by Jove's fentence all is done.
And to be judge, I no way can efchew..
This having faid, up thro' the air he flew.
I ftrait took heart-a-grace, and grew more bold;
And there their beauties one by one behold.
Why am I made the judge to give this doom?
Methinks all three are worthy to o'ercome.
To injure two fuch beauties what tongue dare?
Or prefer one, where they be all fo fair?
Now this feems faireft, now again that other;
Now would I speak, and now my thoughts I fmother:
And yet at length the praise of one most founded,
And from that one my prefent love is grounded.
The goddeffes out of their earnest care,
And pride of beauty to be held moft fair,
Seek, with large alms, and gifts of wond'rous price,
To their own thoughts my cenfure to entice.
Juno the wife of Jove doth firft inchant me;
To judge her faireft, fhe a crown will grant me

Pallas her daughter, next doth undertake me;
Give her the prize, and valiant she will make me.
I ftrait devife which can most pleasure bring,
To be a valiant foldier, or a king.

Laft Venus fmiling, came with fuch a grace,
As if the fway'd an empire in her face:

Let not (faid fhe) thefe gifts the conqueft bear,
Combats and kingdoms are both fraught with fear.
I'll give thee what thou lov'ft beft (lovely fwain)
The faireft faint that doth on earth remain,
Shall be thine own: make thou the conqueft mine,
Fair Lada's faireft daughter fhall be thine.
This faid, when with myfelf I had devised,
And her rich gift and beauty jointly prized;
Venus the victor o'er the reft is plac'd,
Juno and Pallas leave the mount difgrac'd.
Mean time my fate a profperous courfe had run,
And by known figns King Priam call'd me fon.
The day of my reftoring is kept holy
Among the faints days, confecrated folely
To my remembrance, being a day of joy
For ever in the calendars of Troy.

As I wish you, I have been wifh'd by others;
The faireft maids by me would have been mothers :
Of all my favours, I beftow'd not any,
You only may enjoy the loves of many.

Nor by the daughters of great dukes and kings,
Have I alone been fought, whofe marriage-rings
I have turn'd back; but by a ftrain more high,
By nymphs and fairies, such as never die.
No fooner were you promis'd as my due,
But I all hated, to remember you;
Waking, I faw your image; if I dreamt,
Your beauteous figure ftill appear'd to tempt,

And urge this voyage; till your face excelling,
Thefe eyes beheld my dreams were all of Helen.
Image how your face fhould now incite me,
Being feen, that unfeen did fo much delight me.
If I was fcorch'd fo far off from the fire,
How am I burnt to cinders thus much nigher!
Nor could I longer owe myfelf this treasure,
But thro' the ocean I muft fearch my pleasure.
The Phrygian hatchets to the roots are put
Of the Idean pines; afunder cut,

The wood-land mountain yielded me large fees,
Being defpoil'd of all her talleft trees.

From whence we have fquar'd out unnumber'd beams,
That must be wash'd within the marine ftreams.
The grounded oaks are bow'd, tho' ftiff as fteel,
And to the tough ribs is the bending keel
Woven by fhipwrights craft; then the main maft,
Acrofs whofe middle is the fail-yard plac'd,
Tackles and fails; and next you may difcern
Our painted gods upon the hooked ftern:
The god that bears me on my happy way,
And is my guide, is Cupid. Now the day
In which the laft ftroke of the hammer's heard
Within our navy, in the east appear❜d:
And I must now launch forth (fo the fates please)
To feek adventures in the Egean feas.
My father and my mother move delay,
And by intreaties would inforce my stay:
They hang about my neck, and with their tears
Woo me, defer my journey; but their fears
Can have no power to keep me from thy fight:
And now Caffandra, full of fad affright,
With loose difhevel'd trammels, madly skips,
Juft in the way betwixt me and my fhips;