The Metamorphoses of Publius Ovidus Naso in English blank verse Vols. I & II

The princes sate; the common troops in crowds Circled them round; when Ajax in the midst, Lord of the seven-fold shield, arose, with rage Uncurb'd. Sigæum's shores he fiercely v...

Now Jove beheld a mighty lake expand Where late was earth, and from the swarming crowds But one man sav'd--of woman only one: Both guiltless,--pious both. He chas'd the clouds A...

Thus far the watery deity, and ceas'd. The wondrous tale all mov'd, save one, the son Of bold Ixion; fierce of soul, he laugh'd To scorn their minds so credulous, the gods Impio...

Then Achæmenides, not ragged now, In robes with thorns united, but all free, Thus answer'd his enquiries. "May I view "Once more that Polyphemus, and those jaws "With human gore...

While thus the Thracian bard the forests drew, And rocks, and furious beasts with strains divine;-- Behold the Thracian dames! their madden'd breasts Clad with the shaggy spoil...

"'Twas now deep night when sleep sooth'd all the cares "Of mortal breasts. But Myrrha wakeful laid "Consum'd with raging fires; and rolling deep "Her frantic wishes in her wande...

Now Phineus, fearful hand to hand to meet The foe, his javelin hurl'd, the point ill-aim'd On Idas glanc'd, who vainly kept aloof With neutral weapon. Phineus, stern he view'd,...

His breast with these, and such like doctrines fill'd, Numa, 'tis said, back to his country came; And held, unsought for, the supreme command O'er Latium's realm. Blest with the...

"Cease, mortals, cease your bodies to pollute "With food unhallow'd: plentiful is grain; "The apples bend the branches with their load; "The vines bear swelling heaps of cluster...

Then bore she Epaphus, whose birth deriv'd From mighty Jove, his temples through the land, An equal worship with his mother's claim. Him Phaëton, bright Phoebus' youthful son, I...

Victorious Ithacus his sails unfurls, To seek the land Hypsipylé once rul'd, And Thoäs fam'd. An isle of old disgrac'd By slaughter of its males, to bring the darts, The weapons...

Now Philomel' Safely on board the painted vessel plac'd, The land far left, as with their laboring oars The surges move;--exulting Tereus, cry'd, "Victorious,--lo! my utmost wis...

"Long were the tale to tell, what tracts of land "What tracts of sea, the wandering goddess pass'd. "Earth now no spot unsearch'd affording, back "To Sicily she turns; with clos...

"Him dying thus,--her lacerated veil; "The ivory scabbard empty'd of its sword; "She saw,--at once the truth upon her mind "Flash'd quick. Alas! thy hand, by love impell'd, "Has...

These, as they skimm'd the surface of the main, An ancient sire beheld, and prais'd their love: Constant in death: his neighbour or himself Also repeats;--the bird which there y...

Lo! Bacchus comes, and all the country rings With joyous outcries; crowds on crowds thick swarm;-- Matrons, and wives new-wedded, mixt with men; Nobles, and commons; all the imp...

Near stood a vale, where pointed cypress form'd With gloomy pines a grateful shade, and nam'd Gargaphié;--sacred to the girded maid: Its deep recess a shrubby cavern held, By na...

A lofty tower there stood, whose summit bore A beacon; grateful object to the sight Of weary mariners. Thither they mount, And see with sighs the herd strew'd o'er the beach; Th...

"O, Galatea! brighter than the leaves "Of snow-white lilies; fresher than the meads; "More lofty far than towering alder trees; "Than chrystal clearer; than the wanton kid "More...

Loud howls the frantic mother; frantic made By grief, or by the scatter'd poison's power: And, raving, with dishevell'd tresses spread Wide o'er her shoulders, flies. Her naked...

Let Byblis warn, that nymphs should ne'er indulge Illicit warmth. Her brother Byblis lov'd; Not as she ought; not with a sister's soul. No fires at first the maid suspected; nou...

Thence Hymen, in his saffron vesture clad, Through the vast air departs; and seeks the land Ciconian; by the voice of Orpheus call'd Vainly. He came indeed, but with him brought...

'Twas hop'd, the fleet transform'd to nymphs marine, The fierce Rutilians, struck with awe, might cease The war; but stubborn either side persists. Each have their gods, and eac...

Thou too, rash Nessus, through thy furious love, Of the same virgin, thy destruction met; Pierc'd through thy body with the feather'd dart! Jove's son returning to his natal soi...

Now Manto, sprung from old Tiresias, skill'd In future fate, impell'd by power divine, In every street with wild prophetic tongue Exclaim'd;--"Ye Theban matrons, haste in crowds...

"A dreadful plague, the angry Juno shed "Unjust, upon the natives of the land, "Detested, that her rival's name it bore. "While human seem'd the scourge, the noxious cause "Of s...

This wonderous change Sthenelian Cycnus saw; To thee, O Phaëton, by kindred join'd, But by affection closer. He his realms, (For o'er Liguria's large and populous towns He reign...

Mothers of Thessaly, and aged sires For sons restor'd, glad offerings bring: bright flames The high-heap'd incense; votive victims deck'd With gilded horns are slain: but Æson,...

"With endless draughts of stupefactive wine "Aphidas lay, 'mid all the raging noise "Unrous'd; and grasping in his languid hand "A ready-mingled bowl: stretch'd was he seen, "On...

Minos, meanwhile, the Lelegeian coast Lays waste, and on Alcathoë's town his power Essays. Here Nisus rul'd, whose reverend locks Of silvery brightness, in the midst contain'd O...

Hermes from hence, on waving wings upborne Darted, and in his flight beneath him saw The Attic pastures,--the much-favor'd land Of Pallas; and Lyceum's cultur'd groves. It chanc...

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Darken'd with trees thick-growing, rose a wood; From earliest ages there the biting axe Had never sounded; in the plain it rear'd Facing the sloping fields. The youths arriv'd;...