Page:The Works of Alexander Pope (1717).djvu/375
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STATIUS his THEBAIS.
339
Yet ev'n in those obscure abodes to live,
Was more, alas! than cruel fate would give!
For on the grassy verdure as he lay,
And breath'd the freshness of the rising day,
Devouring dogs the helpless infant tore,
Fed on his trembling limbs, and lapp'd the gore.
Th' astonish'd mother when the rumour came,
Forgets her father, and neglects her fame,
With loud complaints she fills the yielding air,
And beats her breast, and rends her flowing hair;
Then wild with anguish, to her Sire she flies;
Demands the sentence, and contented dies.
But touch'd with sorrow for the dead, too late,
The raging God prepares t'avenge her fate.
He sends a monster, horrible and fell,
Begot by furies in the depths of hell.
The pest a virgin's face and bosom bears;
High on her crown a rising snake appears,
Guards her black front, and hisses in her hairs:
Was more, alas! than cruel fate would give!
For on the grassy verdure as he lay,
And breath'd the freshness of the rising day,
Devouring dogs the helpless infant tore,
Fed on his trembling limbs, and lapp'd the gore.
Th' astonish'd mother when the rumour came,
Forgets her father, and neglects her fame,
With loud complaints she fills the yielding air,
And beats her breast, and rends her flowing hair;
Then wild with anguish, to her Sire she flies;
Demands the sentence, and contented dies.
But touch'd with sorrow for the dead, too late,
The raging God prepares t'avenge her fate.
He sends a monster, horrible and fell,
Begot by furies in the depths of hell.
The pest a virgin's face and bosom bears;
High on her crown a rising snake appears,
Guards her black front, and hisses in her hairs:
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