Page:The Works of Alexander Pope (1717).djvu/359
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STATIUS his THEBAIS.
323
But if thou must reform the stubborn times,
Avenging on the sons the father's crimes,
And from the long records of distant age
Derive incitements to renew thy rage;
Say, from what period then has Jove design'd
To date his vengeance; to what bounds confin'd?
Begin from thence, where first Alphëus hides
His wandring stream, and thro' the briny tides,
Unmix'd, to his Sicilian river glides.
Thy own Arcadians there the thunder claim,
Whose impious rites disgrace thy mighty name,
Who raise thy temples where the chariot stood
Of fierce Oenömaus, defil'd with blood;
Where once his steeds their savage banquet found,
And human bones yet whiten all the ground.
Say, can those honours please? and can'st thou love
Presumptuous Crete, that boasts the tomb of Jove?
And shall not Tantalus his kingdoms share
Thy wife and sister's tutelary care?
Avenging on the sons the father's crimes,
And from the long records of distant age
Derive incitements to renew thy rage;
Say, from what period then has Jove design'd
To date his vengeance; to what bounds confin'd?
Begin from thence, where first Alphëus hides
His wandring stream, and thro' the briny tides,
Unmix'd, to his Sicilian river glides.
Thy own Arcadians there the thunder claim,
Whose impious rites disgrace thy mighty name,
Who raise thy temples where the chariot stood
Of fierce Oenömaus, defil'd with blood;
Where once his steeds their savage banquet found,
And human bones yet whiten all the ground.
Say, can those honours please? and can'st thou love
Presumptuous Crete, that boasts the tomb of Jove?
And shall not Tantalus his kingdoms share
Thy wife and sister's tutelary care?
Reverse,