"Of Corinth wandering, rais'd their lofty walls;
"'Twixt two unequal havens. Midst, the stream,
"Pisaean Arethusa, and the lake
"Of Cyane are seen, close round embrac'd
"By narrowing horns. This Cyane was once,
"Of all Sicilia's nymphs, the fairest deem'd;
"Who gave the lake her name. She to the waist
"Uprais'd, amidst the waters stood, and knew
"The god, and,--here thy speed must stay,--exclaim'd;
"Nor e'er of Ceres hope the son-in-law
"'Gainst her consent to be: beseechings bland,
"Not rugged rape, thy purpos'd hope might gain.
"If lofty things with low I durst compare,
"Anapis lov'd me; but the nuptial couch,
"I press'd, entreated,--not as thus in dread.
"She said;--her arms extended wide, and stopp'd
"His course. The angry son of Saturn flames
"Swelling with rage; exhorts his furious steeds;
"Throws with a forceful arm, and buries deep
"His regal sceptre in the lowest gulph:
"Wide gapes the stricken earth; an opening gives
"To hell, and headlong down, the car descends.

Now equal Cyane the goddess mourns,
"So forc'd; and her own sacred stream despis'd;
"A cureless wound her silent breast contains;
"And all in tears she wastes: lost in those waves,
"Where lately sovereign goddess she had rul'd.
"Soft grow her limbs, and flexile seem her bones;
"Her nails their hardness lose. The tenderest parts.
"Melt into water long before the rest:
"Her tresses green; her fingers, legs, and feet.
"Quickly this change the smaller limbs perceive,
"To cooling rills transform'd. Next after these,
"Her back, her shoulders, breasts, and sides dissolve,
"And vanish all in streams. A limpid flood
"Now fills the veins that once in purple flow'd;
"Nought of the nymph to fill the grasp remains.

"Meantime the trembling mother through the earth,
"And o'er the main, the goddess vainly sought.
"Aurora rising, with her locks of gold;
"Nor Hesper sinking, saw her labors cease.
"With either hand at Etna's flaming mouth,
"A torch she lighted, restless these she bore
"In dewy darkness. Then renew'd again
"Her labor, till fair day made blunt the stars;
"From Sol's first rising till his evening fall.
"Weary'd at length, and parch'd with thirst,--no stream
"Her lips to moisten nigh, by chance she spy'd
"A straw-thatch'd cot, and knock'd the humble door.
"An ancient dame thence stepp'd,--the goddess saw,
"And brought her, (who for water