iercing dart,--and deep within the breast
"Of the dark god whose lot was given to rule
"The nether regions of the triple realm,
"Bury it. All the gods thy might confess;
"Ev'n Jove himself. The ocean powers allow
"Thy rule, and he whom Ocean's powers obey.
"Why then should Tartarus alone evade
"Thy thrall? Why not my empire and thine own
"With that complete? Of all the world's extent
"A third is stak'd. Nay more, our utmost power,
"Heaven our own seat contemns;--thy potent sway,
"And mine alike impair'd. Behold'st thou not
"Minerva, with the quiver-bearing maid
"Deserting me? Thus will the blooming child
"Of Ceres, if we grant it, still remain
"Inviolate a virgin;--thither tend
"Her anxious hopes. But thou, if dear thou hold'st
"Our mutual realm, the virgin goddess link
"In union with her uncle.--Venus spoke:
"His quiver he unlooses; from the heap
"Of darts, by her directed, one selects,
"Than which none bore a keener point; than which,
"None flew more certain,--trusty to the string.
"Bends to his knee the yielding horn, then sends
"Through Pluto's heart the bearded arrow sure.
"Not far from Enna's walls, a lake expands
"Profound in watery stores, Pergusa nam'd:
"Not ev'n Caisters' murmuring stream e'er heard
"The songster-swans more frequent. Woods o'ertop
"The waters, rising round on every side;
"And veil from Phoebus' rays the surface cool.
"A shade the branches form; the moist earth round,
"Produces purple flowers: perpetual spring
"Here reigns. While straying sportive in this grove
"Here Proserpine the violet cropp'd, and here
"The lily fair; with childish ardor warm'd
"Her bosom filling, and her basket high:
"Proud to surpass her comrades all around
"In skilful culling, she herself was seen;
"Was chosen, and by Dis was snatch'd away.
"Love urg'd him to the deed. Th' affrighted maid,
"Loud on her mother, and her comrades call'd;
"But chief her mother, with lamenting shrieks.
"Then as her robe she rent, the well-cull'd flowers
"Slipp'd through the loosen'd folds: e'en this (so great
"Her girlish innocence) her tears increas'd.
"Swiftly the robber speeds his car along
"Urging his steeds' exertions each by name;
"'Bove their high manes and necks the rusty reins
"Rattling, as o'er the wide Palician lake,
"Where the cleft earth with sulphur boils, he whirls:
"And where the Bacchiads, from the double sea