Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Story of Calisto
2:491 The day was settled in its course; and Jove
2:492 Walk'd the wide circuit of the
Heavens above,
2:493 To search if any cracks or flaws
were made;
2:494 But all was safe: the Earth he
then survey'd,
2:495 And cast an eye on ev'ry diff'rent
coast,
2:496 And ev'ry land; but on Arcadia
most.
2:497 Her fields he cloath'd, and chear'd
her blasted face
2:498 With running fountains, and with
springing grass.
2:499 No tracks of Heav'n's destructive
fire remain,
2:500 The fields and woods revive,
and Nature smiles again.
2:501 But as the God walk'd to and fro the Earth,
2:502 And rais'd the plants, and gave
the spring its birth,
2:503 By chance a fair Arcadian nymph
he view'd,
2:504 And felt the lovely charmer in
his blood.
2:505 The nymph nor spun, nor dress'd
with artful pride,
2:506 Her vest was gather'd up, her
hair was ty'd;
2:507 Now in her hand a slender spear
she bore,
2:508 Now a light quiver on her shoulders
wore;
2:509 To chaste Diana from her youth
inclin'd,
2:510 The sprightly warriors of the
wood she joyn'd.
2:511 Diana too the gentle huntress
lov'd,
2:512 Nor was there one of all the
nymphs that rov'd
2:513 O'er Maenalus, amid the maiden
throng,
2:514 More favour'd once; but favour
lasts not long.
2:515 The sun now shone in all its strength, and
drove
2:516 The heated virgin panting to
a grove;
2:517 The grove around a grateful shadow
cast:
2:518 She dropt her arrows, and her
bow unbrac'd;
2:519 She flung her self on the cool
grassy bed;
2:520 And on the painted quiver rais'd
her head,
2:521 Jove saw the charming huntress
unprepar'd,
2:522 Stretch'd on the verdant turf,
without a guard.
2:523 "Here I am safe," he
cries, "from Juno's eye;
2:524 Or shou'd my jealous queen the
theft descry,
2:525 Yet wou'd I venture on a theft
like this,
2:526 And stand her rage for such,
for such a bliss!"
2:527 Diana's shape and habit strait
he took,
2:528 Soften'd his brows, and smooth'd
his awful look,
2:529 And mildly in a female accent
spoke.
2:530 "How fares my girl? How
went the morning chase?"
2:531 To whom the virgin, starting
from the grass,
2:532 "All hail, bright deity,
whom I prefer
2:533 To Jove himself, tho' Jove himself
were here."
2:534 The God was nearer than she thought,
and heard
2:535 Well-pleas'd himself before himself
preferr'd.
2:536 He then salutes her with a warm embrace;
2:537 And, e're she half had told the
morning chase,
2:538 With love enflam'd, and eager
on his bliss,
2:539 Smother'd her words, and stop'd
her with a kiss;
2:540 His kisses with unwonted ardour
glow'd,
2:541 Nor cou'd Diana's shape conceal
the God.
2:542 The virgin did whate'er a virgin
cou'd
2:543 (Sure Juno must have pardon'd,
had she view'd);
2:544 With all her might against his
force she strove;
2:545 But how can mortal maids contend
with Jove?
2:546 Possest at length of what his heart desir'd,
2:547 Back to his Heav'ns, th' exulting
God retir'd.
2:548 The lovely huntress, rising from
the grass,
2:549 With down-cast eyes, and with
a blushing face,
2:550 By shame confounded, and by fear
dismay'd,
2:551 Flew from the covert of the guilty
shade,
2:552 And almost, in the tumult of
her mind,
2:553 Left her forgotten bow and shafts
behind.
2:554 But now Diana, with a sprightly train
2:555 Of quiver'd virgins, bounding
o'er the plain,
2:556 Call'd to the nymph; the nymph
began to fear
2:557 A second fraud, a Jove disguis'd
in her;
2:558 But, when she saw the sister
nymphs, suppress'd
2:559 Her rising fears, and mingled
with the rest.
2:560 How in the look does conscious guilt appear!
2:561 Slowly she mov'd, and loiter'd
in the rear;
2:562 Nor lightly tripp'd, nor by the
Goddess ran,
2:563 As once she us'd, the foremost
of the train.
2:564 Her looks were flush'd, and sullen
was her mien,
2:565 That sure the virgin Goddess
(had she been
2:566 Aught but a virgin) must the
guilt have seen.
2:567 'Tis said the nymphs saw all,
and guess'd aright:
2:568 And now the moon had nine times
lost her light,
2:569 When Dian, fainting in the mid-day
beams,
2:570 Found a cool covert, and refreshing
streams
2:571 That in soft murmurs through
the forest flow'd,
2:572 And a smooth bed of shining gravel
show'd.
2:573 A covert so obscure, and streams so clear,
2:574 The Goddess prais'd: "And
now no spies are near
2:575 Let's strip, my gentle maids,
and wash," she cries.
2:576 Pleas'd with the motion, every
maid complies;
2:577 Only the blushing huntress stood
confus'd,
2:578 And form'd delays, and her delays
excus'd;
2:579 In vain excus'd: her fellows
round her press'd,
2:580 And the reluctant nymph by force
undress'd,
2:581 The naked huntress all her shame
reveal'd,
2:582 In vain her hands the pregnant
womb conceal'd;
2:583 "Begone!" the Goddess
cries with stern disdain,
2:584 "Begone! nor dare the hallow'd
stream to stain":
2:585 She fled, for ever banish'd from
the train.
2:586 This Juno heard, who long had watch'd her
time
2:587 To punish the detested rival's
crime;
2:588 The time was come; for, to enrage
her more,
2:589 A lovely boy the teeming rival
bore.
2:590 The Goddess cast a furious look, and cry'd,
2:591 "It is enough! I'm fully
satisfy'd!
2:592 This boy shall stand a living
mark, to prove
2:593 My husband's baseness and the
strumpet's love:
2:594 But vengeance shall awake: those
guilty charms
2:595 That drew the Thunderer from
Juno's arms,
2:596 No longer shall their wonted
force retain,
2:597 Nor please the God, nor make
the mortal vain."
2:598 This said, her hand within her hair she wound,
2:599 Swung her to Earth, and drag'd
her on the ground:
2:600 The prostrate wretch lifts up
her arms in pray'r;
2:601 Her arms grow shaggy, and deform'd
with hair,
2:602 Her nails are sharpen'd into
pointed claws,
2:603 Her hands bear half her weight,
and turn to paws;
2:604 Her lips, that once cou'd tempt
a God, begin
2:605 To grow distorted in an ugly
grin.
2:606 And, lest the supplicating brute
might reach
2:607 The ears of Jove, she was depriv'd
of speech:
2:608 Her surly voice thro' a hoarse
passage came
2:609 In savage sounds: her mind was
still the same,
2:610 The furry monster fix'd her eyes
above,
2:611 And heav'd her new unwieldy paws
to Jove,
2:612 And beg'd his aid with inward
groans; and tho'
2:613 She could not call him false,
she thought him so.
2:614 How did she fear to lodge in woods alone,
2:615 And haunt the fields and meadows,
once her own!
2:616 How often wou'd the deep-mouth'd
dogs pursue,
2:617 Whilst from her hounds the frighted
huntress flew!
2:618 How did she fear her fellow-brutes,
and shun
2:619 The shaggy bear, tho' now her
self was one!
2:620 How from the sight of rugged
wolves retire,
2:621 Although the grim Lycaon was
her sire!
2:622 But now her son had fifteen summers told,
2:623 Fierce at the chase, and in the
forest bold;
2:624 When, as he beat the woods in
quest of prey,
2:625 He chanc'd to rouze his mother
where she lay.
2:626 She knew her son, and kept him
in her sight,
2:627 And fondly gaz'd: the boy was
in a fright,
2:628 And aim'd a pointed arrow at
her breast,
2:629 And would have slain his mother
in the beast;
2:630 But Jove forbad, and snatch'd
'em through the air
2:631 In whirlwinds up to Heav'n, and
fix'd 'em there!
2:632 Where the new constellations
nightly rise,
2:633 And add a lustre to the northern
skies.
2:634 When Juno saw the rival in her height,
2:635 Spangled with stars, and circled
round with light,
2:636 She sought old Ocean in his deep
abodes,
2:637 And Tethys, both rever'd among
the Gods.
2:638 They ask what brings her there:
"Ne'er ask," says she,
2:639 "What brings me here, Heav'n
is no place for me.
2:640 You'll see, when night has cover'd
all things o'er,
2:641 Jove's starry bastard and triumphant
whore
2:642 Usurp the Heav'ns; you'll see
'em proudly rowle
2:643 And who shall now on Juno's altars
wait,
2:644 When those she hates grow greater
by her hate?
2:645 I on the nymph a brutal form
impress'd,
2:646 Jove to a goddess has transform'd
the beast;
2:647 This, this was all my weak revenge
could do:
2:648 But let the God his chaste amours
pursue,
2:649 And, as he acted after Io's rape,
2:650 Restore th' adultress to her
former shape;
2:651 Then may he cast his Juno off,
and lead
2:652 The great Lycaon's offspring
to his bed.
2:653 But you, ye venerable Pow'rs,
be kind,
2:654 And, if my wrongs a due resentment
find,
2:655 Receive not in your waves their
setting beams,
2:656 Nor let the glaring strumpet
taint your streams."
2:657 The Goddess ended, and her wish was giv'n.
2:658 Back she return'd in triumph
up to Heav'n;
2:659 Her gawdy peacocks drew her through
the skies.
2:660 Their tails were spotted with
a thousand eyes;
2:661 The eyes of Argus on their tails
were rang'd,
2:662 At the same time the raven's
colour chang'd.
Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Story of Calisto
2:491 The day was settled in its course; and Jove
2:492 Walk'd the wide circuit of the
Heavens above,
2:493 To search if any cracks or flaws
were made;
2:494 But all was safe: the Earth he
then survey'd,
2:495 And cast an eye on ev'ry diff'rent
coast,
2:496 And ev'ry land; but on Arcadia
most.
2:497 Her fields he cloath'd, and chear'd
her blasted face
2:498 With running fountains, and with
springing grass.
2:499 No tracks of Heav'n's destructive
fire remain,
2:500 The fields and woods revive,
and Nature smiles again.
2:501 But as the God walk'd to and fro the Earth,
2:502 And rais'd the plants, and gave
the spring its birth,
2:503 By chance a fair Arcadian nymph
he view'd,
2:504 And felt the lovely charmer in
his blood.
2:505 The nymph nor spun, nor dress'd
with artful pride,
2:506 Her vest was gather'd up, her
hair was ty'd;
2:507 Now in her hand a slender spear
she bore,
2:508 Now a light quiver on her shoulders
wore;
2:509 To chaste Diana from her youth
inclin'd,
2:510 The sprightly warriors of the
wood she joyn'd.
2:511 Diana too the gentle huntress
lov'd,
2:512 Nor was there one of all the
nymphs that rov'd
2:513 O'er Maenalus, amid the maiden
throng,
2:514 More favour'd once; but favour
lasts not long.
2:515 The sun now shone in all its strength, and
drove
2:516 The heated virgin panting to
a grove;
2:517 The grove around a grateful shadow
cast:
2:518 She dropt her arrows, and her
bow unbrac'd;
2:519 She flung her self on the cool
grassy bed;
2:520 And on the painted quiver rais'd
her head,
2:521 Jove saw the charming huntress
unprepar'd,
2:522 Stretch'd on the verdant turf,
without a guard.
2:523 "Here I am safe," he
cries, "from Juno's eye;
2:524 Or shou'd my jealous queen the
theft descry,
2:525 Yet wou'd I venture on a theft
like this,
2:526 And stand her rage for such,
for such a bliss!"
2:527 Diana's shape and habit strait
he took,
2:528 Soften'd his brows, and smooth'd
his awful look,
2:529 And mildly in a female accent
spoke.
2:530 "How fares my girl? How
went the morning chase?"
2:531 To whom the virgin, starting
from the grass,
2:532 "All hail, bright deity,
whom I prefer
2:533 To Jove himself, tho' Jove himself
were here."
2:534 The God was nearer than she thought,
and heard
2:535 Well-pleas'd himself before himself
preferr'd.
2:536 He then salutes her with a warm embrace;
2:537 And, e're she half had told the
morning chase,
2:538 With love enflam'd, and eager
on his bliss,
2:539 Smother'd her words, and stop'd
her with a kiss;
2:540 His kisses with unwonted ardour
glow'd,
2:541 Nor cou'd Diana's shape conceal
the God.
2:542 The virgin did whate'er a virgin
cou'd
2:543 (Sure Juno must have pardon'd,
had she view'd);
2:544 With all her might against his
force she strove;
2:545 But how can mortal maids contend
with Jove?
2:546 Possest at length of what his heart desir'd,
2:547 Back to his Heav'ns, th' exulting
God retir'd.
2:548 The lovely huntress, rising from
the grass,
2:549 With down-cast eyes, and with
a blushing face,
2:550 By shame confounded, and by fear
dismay'd,
2:551 Flew from the covert of the guilty
shade,
2:552 And almost, in the tumult of
her mind,
2:553 Left her forgotten bow and shafts
behind.
2:554 But now Diana, with a sprightly train
2:555 Of quiver'd virgins, bounding
o'er the plain,
2:556 Call'd to the nymph; the nymph
began to fear
2:557 A second fraud, a Jove disguis'd
in her;
2:558 But, when she saw the sister
nymphs, suppress'd
2:559 Her rising fears, and mingled
with the rest.
2:560 How in the look does conscious guilt appear!
2:561 Slowly she mov'd, and loiter'd
in the rear;
2:562 Nor lightly tripp'd, nor by the
Goddess ran,
2:563 As once she us'd, the foremost
of the train.
2:564 Her looks were flush'd, and sullen
was her mien,
2:565 That sure the virgin Goddess
(had she been
2:566 Aught but a virgin) must the
guilt have seen.
2:567 'Tis said the nymphs saw all,
and guess'd aright:
2:568 And now the moon had nine times
lost her light,
2:569 When Dian, fainting in the mid-day
beams,
2:570 Found a cool covert, and refreshing
streams
2:571 That in soft murmurs through
the forest flow'd,
2:572 And a smooth bed of shining gravel
show'd.
2:573 A covert so obscure, and streams so clear,
2:574 The Goddess prais'd: "And
now no spies are near
2:575 Let's strip, my gentle maids,
and wash," she cries.
2:576 Pleas'd with the motion, every
maid complies;
2:577 Only the blushing huntress stood
confus'd,
2:578 And form'd delays, and her delays
excus'd;
2:579 In vain excus'd: her fellows
round her press'd,
2:580 And the reluctant nymph by force
undress'd,
2:581 The naked huntress all her shame
reveal'd,
2:582 In vain her hands the pregnant
womb conceal'd;
2:583 "Begone!" the Goddess
cries with stern disdain,
2:584 "Begone! nor dare the hallow'd
stream to stain":
2:585 She fled, for ever banish'd from
the train.
2:586 This Juno heard, who long had watch'd her
time
2:587 To punish the detested rival's
crime;
2:588 The time was come; for, to enrage
her more,
2:589 A lovely boy the teeming rival
bore.
2:590 The Goddess cast a furious look, and cry'd,
2:591 "It is enough! I'm fully
satisfy'd!
2:592 This boy shall stand a living
mark, to prove
2:593 My husband's baseness and the
strumpet's love:
2:594 But vengeance shall awake: those
guilty charms
2:595 That drew the Thunderer from
Juno's arms,
2:596 No longer shall their wonted
force retain,
2:597 Nor please the God, nor make
the mortal vain."
2:598 This said, her hand within her hair she wound,
2:599 Swung her to Earth, and drag'd
her on the ground:
2:600 The prostrate wretch lifts up
her arms in pray'r;
2:601 Her arms grow shaggy, and deform'd
with hair,
2:602 Her nails are sharpen'd into
pointed claws,
2:603 Her hands bear half her weight,
and turn to paws;
2:604 Her lips, that once cou'd tempt
a God, begin
2:605 To grow distorted in an ugly
grin.
2:606 And, lest the supplicating brute
might reach
2:607 The ears of Jove, she was depriv'd
of speech:
2:608 Her surly voice thro' a hoarse
passage came
2:609 In savage sounds: her mind was
still the same,
2:610 The furry monster fix'd her eyes
above,
2:611 And heav'd her new unwieldy paws
to Jove,
2:612 And beg'd his aid with inward
groans; and tho'
2:613 She could not call him false,
she thought him so.
2:614 How did she fear to lodge in woods alone,
2:615 And haunt the fields and meadows,
once her own!
2:616 How often wou'd the deep-mouth'd
dogs pursue,
2:617 Whilst from her hounds the frighted
huntress flew!
2:618 How did she fear her fellow-brutes,
and shun
2:619 The shaggy bear, tho' now her
self was one!
2:620 How from the sight of rugged
wolves retire,
2:621 Although the grim Lycaon was
her sire!
2:622 But now her son had fifteen summers told,
2:623 Fierce at the chase, and in the
forest bold;
2:624 When, as he beat the woods in
quest of prey,
2:625 He chanc'd to rouze his mother
where she lay.
2:626 She knew her son, and kept him
in her sight,
2:627 And fondly gaz'd: the boy was
in a fright,
2:628 And aim'd a pointed arrow at
her breast,
2:629 And would have slain his mother
in the beast;
2:630 But Jove forbad, and snatch'd
'em through the air
2:631 In whirlwinds up to Heav'n, and
fix'd 'em there!
2:632 Where the new constellations
nightly rise,
2:633 And add a lustre to the northern
skies.
2:634 When Juno saw the rival in her height,
2:635 Spangled with stars, and circled
round with light,
2:636 She sought old Ocean in his deep
abodes,
2:637 And Tethys, both rever'd among
the Gods.
2:638 They ask what brings her there:
"Ne'er ask," says she,
2:639 "What brings me here, Heav'n
is no place for me.
2:640 You'll see, when night has cover'd
all things o'er,
2:641 Jove's starry bastard and triumphant
whore
2:642 Usurp the Heav'ns; you'll see
'em proudly rowle
2:643 And who shall now on Juno's altars
wait,
2:644 When those she hates grow greater
by her hate?
2:645 I on the nymph a brutal form
impress'd,
2:646 Jove to a goddess has transform'd
the beast;
2:647 This, this was all my weak revenge
could do:
2:648 But let the God his chaste amours
pursue,
2:649 And, as he acted after Io's rape,
2:650 Restore th' adultress to her
former shape;
2:651 Then may he cast his Juno off,
and lead
2:652 The great Lycaon's offspring
to his bed.
2:653 But you, ye venerable Pow'rs,
be kind,
2:654 And, if my wrongs a due resentment
find,
2:655 Receive not in your waves their
setting beams,
2:656 Nor let the glaring strumpet
taint your streams."
2:657 The Goddess ended, and her wish was giv'n.
2:658 Back she return'd in triumph
up to Heav'n;
2:659 Her gawdy peacocks drew her through
the skies.
2:660 Their tails were spotted with
a thousand eyes;
2:661 The eyes of Argus on their tails
were rang'd,
2:662 At the same time the raven's
colour chang'd.