Swear, that th' assistance which our arms shall lend, , These to the grots retir'd and dark retreat
Shall no immortal angry god offend.” [wide Of Dicte's caverns in Minoian Crete:
He spoke; when straight tow'rd Heaven disclosing while the gay goddess of the waterv bow
His sightless balls, the senior thus replied: Gain'd in a moment high Olympus' brow.

“ My son, th' injustice of thy tongue restrain, Meanwhile the princes in the cleansing wave
Nor let such thoughts thy pious soul profane : With purifying rites their senior lave.
By Pbarbus, heavenly augur, who inspires Next from the spoil, which on Bybricia's shore
My conscious bosom with prophetic fires;

From vanquish'd Amycus stern Pollux tore,
By this my wretched lot of woe and care,

A victim they select with pious care;
These eyes involv'd in darkening clouds, I swear, And sooth the gods with sacrifice and prayer.
By the fell demons of the realms below,

Then in the palace each heroic guest
Whom ever unpropitious may I know,

Partakes the pleasure of the sumptuous feast. From their resentments not in death secure, With them sate Phineus, and refresh'd his soul If falsely their drcad god heads 1 adjure:

With savoury viands and the cheering bowl. That your assisting hands shall never move

Unsatiated he feeds, and bathes in streams Wrath or displeasure in the powers above.” Of ecstasy beyond the bliss of dreams.

Then acquiescing in the solemn prayer, To aid the prophet Boreas' sons prepare. The ready youth a banquet spread, the last

THE HYMN OF CLEANTHESI.
That those fell harpies were decreed to taste:
Nigh stand the brothers, ardent to oppose

O under various sacred names ador'd!
With glittering falchions their invading foes. Divinity supreine! all potent lord !
But scarce the first sweet morsel Phineus took, Author of Nature! whose unbounded sway
When from the clouds with swift prevention broke, And legislative power all things obey !
Swift as the lightning's glance, or stormy blast Majestic Jove! all hail! To thee belong
Whose rapid fury lays the forest waste,

The suppliant prayer, and tributary song;
Shrill clamouring for their prey the birds obscene. To thee from all thy mortal offspring due;
The watchful heroes shouting rush'd between; From thee we came, from thee our being drew;
But they with speediest rage the cates devour'd, Whatever lives and moves, great sire! is thine,
And round intolerable odours pour’d;

Embudied portions of the soul divine. Then o'er th’ Ægean far away they flew;

Therefore to thee will I attune my string, l'pspringing swift with threatening blades pursue And of thy wondrous power for ever sing. The feather'd chiefs. That day Saturnius steel'd The wheeling orbs, the wandering fires above, Their vigorous nerves with force untaught to yield; | That round this earthly sphere incessant move, And did not Jove their wcarying strength sustain, Through all this boundless world admit thy sway, Their flitting pinions had they spread in vain : And roll spontaneous where thou point'st the way. For when to Phineus furious they repair,

Such is the awe imprest on Nature round Or quitting Phineus seek the fields of air,

When through the void thy dreadful thunders sound, The light-wing'd monsters, fleeter than the wind, Those flaming agents of thy matchless power : Leave the impetuous zephyrs far behind.

Astonish'd worlds hear, tremble, and adore. As when the hound experienc'd in the chase, Thus paramount to all, by all obey'd, Through some wide forest o'er the scented grass Ruling that reason which through all convey'd A bounding hind or horned goat pursues,

Informs this general mass, thou reign'st ador'd,
And near his parting prey, and nearer views; Supreme, unbounded, universal lord.
Eager he stretches the short space to gain,

For nor in earth, nor earth-encircling floods,
And, snapping, grinds his gnashing fangs in vain : Nor yon ethereal pole, the seat of gods,
So ever-near th' insulting chiefs pursued;

Is aught perform'd without thy aid divine;
The barpies so their catching hands elude.

Strength, wisdom, virtue, mighty Jove, are thine! But now far off in the Sicilian main,

Vice is the act of man, by passion tost, By the wing'd brothers, sons of Boreas, slain, And in the shoreless sea of folly lost : The race of harpies (though Heaven disallow'd) But thou, what vice disorders, canst compose, Had stain'd the Plotian isles with sacred blood; And profit by the malice of thy foes; Their sore distress had Iris not survey'd,

So blending good with evil, fair with foul, And, darting from the skies, the heroes staid. As hence to model one barmonious whole : " ( sons of Boreas, the dread laws above

One universal law of truth and right ; Perinit ve not to wound the dogs of Jove.

But wretched mortals shun the heavenly light ; And, lo! my oath I pledge, that never more And, thongh to bliss directing still their choice, Shall those fell dogs approach Bithynia's shore.” Hear not, or heed not, Reason's sacred voice, This said, adjuring the tremendous foods, Most fear'd, most bonour'd, by th' immortal gods: By the slow-dripping urn of Styx she swore,

I Cleanthes, the author of this hymn, was a The prophet's peaceful inansions evermore Stoic philosopher, a disciple of Zeno. He wrote From those rapacious spoilers should be free; mnany pieces, none of which are come down to us, Such was the fatal sister's fixt decree.

but ibis and a few fragments, which are printed The goddess swore, the brothers straight obey, by H. Stephens, in a collection of philosophical And back to Argo wing their airy way.

poems. This hymn was translated at the request The Strophades from thence derive their name, of a very learned and ingenious friend of mine, The Plotian islands styl'd by ancient fame. who was pleased to find such just sentiments of the Then part the harpies and Thaumantian maid, deity in a heathen, and so much poetry in a phiIn thousand various mingling dyes array'd. losopher.

NURSE.

car.

OCY PUS.

That common guide ordain'd to point the road While, like a bow-string by the forceful arm
That leads obedient man to solid good.

Of some buld archer strain'd, the cracking sidews Thence, quitting Virtue's lovely paths, they rove, Labour and stretch; and force me to complain, As various objects various passions move.

That length of time but strengthens the disease. Some through opposing crowds and threatening war Seek Power's bright throne, and Fame's triumphal

Raise thyself up, my son, nor bear so hard,

Lest, helpless as thou art, with thee I fall.
Some, bent on wealth, pursue with endless pain
Oppressive, sordid, and dishonest gain:
While others, to soft indolence resign'd,

Less weighty then, to humour thee, I'll lean, Drown in corporeal sweets th' immortal mind.

And rest upon my foot, and bear my pain. But, O great father, thunder-ruling god!

For shame it is that youth should ask the aid Who in thick darkness mak'st thy dread abode !

Of such a prating, old, decrepit wretch.
Thou, from whose bounty all good gifts descend,
Do thou from ignorance mankind defend!

Forbear, vain boy, thy scoffing insolence.
The clouds of vice and folly, O control;

Nor vaunt too much thy youth; for well thou know'st, And shed the beams of wisdom on the soul ! In sickness youth is impotent as age. Those radiant beams, by whose all-piercing flame Be govern'd; for, this arm should I withdraw, Thy justice rules tbis universal frame.

Thou fall'st, while my old feet unshaken stand. That, honour'd with a portion of thy light, We may essay thy goodness to requite

But if thon fall'st, through age thou fall'st, not With honorary songs and grateful lays,

sickness : And hymn thy glorious work with ceaseless praise, old age is weak, though prompt and willing ererThe proper task of man: and sure to sing Of Nature's laws, and Nature's mighty king, Is bliss supreme. Let gods with mortals join!

Leave arguing; and tell me by what chance The subject may transport a breast divine. This pain hath got possession of thy toe?

NURSE.

OCY PUS.

NURSE.

OCY PUS.

As in the course I exercis'd, awry
My ancle turn'd, and thence the pain ensued.

THE

NURSE.

OCYPUS.

GODDESS OF THE GOUT.

OCY PUS.
PHYSICIAN.
NURSE.

MESSENGER.
MOUNTEBANKS.
CHORUS.
SPIRITS.

TRIUMPHS OF THE GOUT.

Why, as the fellow said, who careless sat
TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK OP

Clipping his grisly beard, then run again.
LUCI A N.

Or wrestling might I not the hurt receive,
Tollere nodosam nescit medicina podagram. Ovid. When lock'd together were our grappling limbs?

NURSE.
DRAMATIS PERSONA.

A trusty champion by my troth thou art,
If all thy fury light upon thyself,
But this is a mere circle of evasions,
And I myself the like discourse have held
In former time, and tried to varnish o'er,

E’en to my dearest friends, th' unpleasing truth 3
Scene lies in Thebes.

But now, when every swelling inember speaks,

And burning dolours torture thy whole body-
SCENE, A CHAMBER.

Enter Physician.

PHYSICIAN. Enter Ocypus . lame, and leaning on the Nurse.

O! where is Ocypus, illustrious youth?

For lame, I hear, are his victorious feet; WHENCE, without wound, proceeds this horrid pain, And therefore to assist him am I come. That robs me of the assistance of my feet?

But see! where, careless on the couch diffus'd,

Supine he lies !Heaven grant thee health, my son, Ocypus, the son of Podalirius and Astasia, was And to thy feet restore their wonted strength ! eminent for his strength and beauty, a great lover Declare to me, 0 Ocypus, the cause of hunting, and of all gymnastic exercises. This Of thy complaint: perhaps my powerful art young man having been accustomed to insult and May for thy anguish find some quick relief. deride whomsoever he saw grievously afficted with the gout, telling them at the same time that their

Intolerable pain my foot consumes. pains were nothing, brought upon hijnself the indignation of the goddess who presides over that

Whence came? how? what accident?--explain. distemper, and was at last, by the violence of the disease, driven to a recantation. Lucian had com

OCY PUS. posed an entire drama upon this subject; but as

Or in the straining race, or haply while only the beginning of this piece remains, I have My gymnic exercises 1 perform’d, translated it, and, with very little alteration in Some hurt from my companions I receiv'd. either, have made it a part of his other drama,

PHYSICIAN, whose subject is the triumph of the gout over Then where's the sore and angry inflammation ? physic,

And why no fomentation on the part?

OCYPUS.

OCY PUS.

PHYSICIAN.

OCY PUS.

OCY PUS.

NURSE.

OCY PUS.

PHYSICIAN.

OCY PUS.

OCYPUS.

PHYSICIAN.

NURSE.

OCYPUS.

OCYPUS.

PHYSICIAN.

OCYPUS.

In hunting after this and that solution,
The woollen bandage I abhor.

But can't mistake the nature of his evil.
NURSE.

And now hear this, howe'er unpleasing truth,
Alas!

“ At length with vengeance due, 't is come upon How baneful is the pride of handsome looks !

thee.” PHYSICIAN.

It? what? Alas! what terrible disease, What therefore must be done ? shall I lay open That needs such preface to its horrid name? Thy tumid foot ? But, Ocypus, be sure If once I seize upon it, I shall drain, At many bleeding wounds, thy arteries.

The Gout, O wretched Ocypus, whose pangs

And gnawing tortures thou didst once deride. OCY PUS. Put all thy new devices now in practice, So from this horrid pain my foot be freed.

But what, О skilful artist, what say'st thou?
PHYSICIAN.

Farewell; to serve thee I neglect myself.
Then, lo! my steely instrument I draw,
This crooked, sharp, blood-thirsting instrument.

What accident or business calls thee hence ? Hey! ho !

Into a cureless evil thou art fall’n.
Physician, what dost thou intend ?
Wouldst thou with sharp incisions vex him more?

Must I then, ever lame, tormented ever,
And, without knowing why, his foot endanger?

Drag on a life of everlasting woe? He bath abus'd thee with an idle tale.

PHYSICIAN. For neither in the straining race, nor while

Pear not: thou shalt not be for ever lame
His gymnic exercises he perform’d,
From his companions did he hurt receive.

What worse have I to fear?
Then listen to my tale: Healthful he came,
And all unwounded home; and greedily
The evening feast devour'd, and draind the bowl;

On either leg
Then falling on the couch securely slept.

Her galling fetters will the goddess bind.
But at midnight awaking, loud he roar'd,
As smitten by some god : fear seiz'd us all.

Alas! in t other sympathising foot And, “Oh!" he cried, “ whence came this dire Methinks I feel a new unusual pain. mischance?

Or am I motionless? Or wherefore dread I [rising up. Some torturing demon seizes on my foot!" To place these once so nimble feet on earth? Thus on his couch up-sitting, all night long Seiz'd like a child with vain and sudden fear: His foot in sad solemnity he moan'd.

Now by the gods, th' immortal gods, I beg, But when the cock's shrill-sounding trump proclaims If aught thy art suggest of aid or comfort, The dawning day, lamenting forth he comes, Thy friendly help impart, and heal my pain, And on my shoulder leans his feverish hand, Or surely I shall die: within I feel While his disabled footsteps ( upheld.

The secret venom, and the thrilling arrow All that he told thee is a forg'd device

That pierces through my feet, and tears my sinews.
To veil the secret of his dire disease,
Which now in every limb begins to rack him,
Nor yet is able to extort the truth.

Not to amuse thee with unmeaning words,
Like some of those who call themselves physicians,

But of the healing science nothing know,
Old Age is ever arm'd with mighty words; P'll briefly show the state of thy complaint :
Vaunting in speech, but impotent in action. An unsurmountable and strong disease
He, who uhen sick his nursing friends deceives, Is fall’n upon thee: bonds more hard and stubborn
Like the starv'd wretch that hungry mastic? chews, Than those steel-temper'd shackles which the hand
But cheats himself, and fosters his disease.

Of Justice fixes on the bold offender :
PHYSICIAN.

A dreadful, undiscover'd, secret ill,
Thou cheatest all; now that, now saying this,

Whose burthen human nature scarce can bear. Confessing pain, but not explaining what.

Alas! oh! oh! what inward smart is this, And how shall I explain it? I indeed

That penetrates my foot ? oh! on thy arm Know that I suffer pain ; and that is all.

Support me, ere I fall, and lead me on

As the young satyrs reeling Bacchus lead.
PHYSICIAN.

[fails on the couch, When pain, without apparent cause, invades The swelling foot, a man may please himself

There leave him on the couch; refreshing sleep

His much-exhausted spirits will recruit. * Mastic is a great strengthener of the stomach,

[ Exeunt Nurse and Physician. and consequently promotes appetite; which to a

Ocypus solus. man dying of hunger is so far from being a relief, that it rather increases bis complaint: this I take to be the meaning of this passage.

O horrid name! detested by the gods !

PHYSICIAN.

OCYPUS.

OCY PUS.

OCY PUS.

PHYSICIAN.

OCY PUS.

OCY PUS.

Gout, rueful Gout! of sad Cocytus born!

SCENE, A CHAMBER.
Whom in the mirky caves of Tartarus

Ocypus solus.
The fiend Megæra in her womb conceiv'd,
And nourish'd at her breast: Alecto too
With her fell milk the wayward infant fed.

Come, O my comfort, my supporter, come, But oh! what god brought thy disastrous power My staff, my third best leg, 0! now uphold To taint this light, and harass human kind?

My tottering footsteps, and direct my way, If punishment condign pursue the dead,

That lightly on the earth my foot may tread. For crimes committed in their days of nature, Wretch, froin thy pallet raise thy heavy limbs, What need was there in Pluto's dreary realms And quit the cover'd closeness of the room. With streams forbidden Tantalus to vex?

Dispel the cloud, that weighs thy eyelids down, To whirl Ixion on the giddy wheel?

In open day, and in the golden Sun, And weary Sisyphus with fruitless toil ?

On purer air thy enliven'd spirit feast.
It sure had been sufficient punishment

For now my willing mind invites me forth;
Had each offender the sharp pains endurid, But the weak flesh refuses to comply.
That tear this meagre miserable carcase :

Be resolute, my soul; for well thou know'st, While through th' obstructed pores the struggling The gouty wretch, that would but cannot more, vapour

Ought to be number'd with th' inactive dead. And bitter distillation force their way:

Come on.

[Exit Ocypus. E'en through the bowels runs the scalding plague,

Scene changes. And wastes the flesh with floods of eddying fire. So rage the flames in Etna's sulphurous womb: Enter Ocypus, who discovers the Chorus before a So 'twixt Charybdis and vex'd Scylla rave

temple offering sacrifices to the Gout, with music Th’imprison'd tides, and, in wild whirlpools tost, and dancing. Dance, Dash 'gainst the mouldering rocks the foaming

OCY PUS. O evil unexplor'd! how oft in vain (surge.

But who are they, whose hands with crutches fillid, We fondly try to mitigate thy woes,

Whose tossing heads with eldern garlands bound, And find no comfort, by false hopes abus'd! [Sleeps. Seem in wild dance some feast to celebrate?

Do they to thee, Apollo, Pæans sing? Scene changes, and discovers the Chorus, consisting Then would the Delphic laurel shade their brows.

of gouty men and women, marching in proces. Or chant they rather Bacchanalian hymns ? sion to ihe Temple of the Goul, with music and Then would their temples be with ivy wreath'd. dancing

Whence are ye, strangers ? speak: the truth de

clare.
To tender Attis, beardless boy,

Declare, O friends, what deity ye worship.
The howling Phrygian throng
On Cybele's high mountain chant

But who art thou, who mak'st us this demand?
Thị enthusiastic song.

Thou too, as from thy crutch may be inferrd,
On yellow Tmolus' flowery top

And hobbling pace, thou art a votary
The Lydian youth around

Of the invincible divinity.
For Comus mix the warbling voice

OCYPUS.
And flute's melodious sound.

I am; nor am unworthy of the name.
With clashing arms, in frantic mood,
The mad Idæan train

When Cyprian Venus, queen of love,
Attemper to the Cretan dance

In pearly dews fell from above,
Their holy ritual strain.

Nereus amass'd her scatter'd frame,
To Mars, the furious god of war,

And form’d the fair-proportion'd dame,
The swelling trumpets breathe,

Fast by the fountains of the deep,
Preluding to contentious strife,

Where on their ouze the surges sleep,
To battle, blood, and death.

On her broad bosom Tethys laid
But we, O Gout, afflictive power!

The partner of Jove's regal bed.
We, thy sad votaries,

Minerva, virgin bold and wise,
In sighs and groans to thee perform

From the great monarch of the skies,
Our annual sacrifice:

Saturnian Jove, her birth receiv'd,
When usher'd by the blushing hours

In his immortal brain conceir'd.
The genial spring appears;

But old Ophion, hoary god,
And every flower-embroider'd rale

Our goddess first embrac'd,
Its verdant mantle wears:

First in his fond paternal arms
When Zephyr on each pregnant tree,

The mighty infant plac'd.
Calls forth the tender leaves;

What time primeval Chaos ceas'd,
And her sad nest the swallow builds

And Night eternal fled;
Beneath the friendly eaves :

Bright rose the Morning, and the Sun
When in the grove, at midnight hour,

His new-born radiance shed.
Disconsolate, alone,

Then from the womb of Fate sprung forth
For Itys lost th’ Athenian bird

The Gout's tremendous power,
Renews her plaintive moan.

Heaven with portentous thunders rung [Exit Chorus.

And hail'd ber natal hour

CHORUS.

CHORUS

CHORUS

CHORUS.

Clotho receiv'd and swath'd the babe, That shades the downy peach, benumbing henbane,
Thence at the streaming breast

The poppies’ soothing gum, th' emollient bulb,
Of Wealth by fostering Plutus fed,

Rhind of the Punic apple, fleawort Hot,
Her awfal force increas'd.

The costly frankincense, and searching root
OCYPUS.

Of potent bellebore, soft fenugreek
Say by what rites mysterious to her altar

Temper'd with rosy wine, collamphacum,
Doth the dread power her votaries admít ?

Nitre and spawn of frogs, the cypress-cone,
And meal of bearded barley, and the leaf

Of coleworts unprepar'd, and ointments made
Nor with the biting steel ourselves we wound 3,

Of pickled garus, and (O vain conceit!) Or sprinkle with our blood the hallow'd ground:

The dung of mountain-goats and human ordure, Nor are our necks with galling collars worn; The flower of beans, and hot sarcophagus. Or livid backs with sounding scourges torn: The poisonous ruddoc 4 some, and shrew-mouse boil, Nor at the altar, when the victim dies,

The weasel some, the frog, the lizard green, Gorge we the raw and bleeding sacrifice:

The fell hyena, and the wily fox, But when the Spring the rising sap impells, And branching stone-buck 5 bearded like a goat. And the young elm with genial moisture swells, What kind of metals have ye left untried ? When in the hedges on the budding spray

What juice? what weeping tree's medicinal tear The blackbird modulates her various lay:

What beasts, what animals, have not bestow'd Tben unperceir'd she drives her piercing dart, Their bones, or nerves, or hides, or blood, or marrow, And wounds the inmost sense with secret smart; Or milk, or fat, or excrement, or urine? The hip, the nervous thigh, the ancles swell, The draught of four ingredients some compose, The bending knee, and firm-supporting heel : Some eight, but more from seven expect relief; The strong-knit shoulder and the sinewy arm, Some from the purging hiera seek their cure; And hand mechanic, feel th' intestine harm; On mystic verses vainly some depend; Through every joint the thrilling anguish pours, The tricking Jew gulls other fools with charms; And gnaws, and burns, and tortures, and devours; while to the cooling fountain others fly, Till length of suffering the dire power appease, And in the crystal current seek for health. And the fierce torments at her bidding cease. But to all these fell anguish I denounce, OCY PUS,

To all who tempt me ever more severe, Unweeting then ler votary am I.

But they who patiently my visit take, Thou, goddess, gentle and benign, approach !

Nor seek to combat me with anodynes, And I, with these thy votaries, will begin

Still find me gentle and benevolent. Thy sacred, solemn, customary song. [Dance. For in my rites whoe'er participates,

His tongue with eloquence I straight endow, Thou air, be still; thou sky, serene;

And teach him with facetious wit to please, Thy groans, thou gouty wretch, forbear:

A merry, gay, jocose companion boon, Propt on her staff, behold the queen

Round whom the noisy crowd incessant laugh,

As to the baths the crippled wretch is borne,
Deigns at our altars to appear!

For that dire Até, of whom Homer sings,
The Goddess of the Gout descends or enters. That dreaded powerful deity am I:
Hail! gentlest of the heavenly powers !

Who on the heads of men insulting tread,
Propitious on thy servants smile;

And silent, soft, and unobserv'd, approach. And grant in Spring's fermenting hours

But as from me the acid drop descends,
A quick deliverance from our toil.

The drop of anguish, I the Gout am call’d.
GODDESS.

Now then, my votaries all, my orgies sing,
Lires there on Earth to whom I am unknown,

And praise with hymns th' unconquerable goddess. Unconquerable queen of mighty woes? Whom nor the fuming censer can appease, Nor victim's blood on blazing altars pour'd.

Hear, stubborn virgin, fierce and strong, Me not Apollo's self with all his drugs,

Impracticable maid !

O listen to our holy song!
High Heav'n's divine physician, can subdue;
Nor his leanu'd son, wise #sculapius.

And grant thy servants aid!
Yet, ever since the race of man began,

Thy power, imperious dame, dismays All have essay'd my fury to repel,

The monarch of the dead, Racking th' invention of still-baffed physic.

And strikes the ruler of the seas Some this receipt 'gainst me, some that explore.

And thundering Jove with dread, Plantane they bruise, the parsley's odorous herb, Thee soft reposing beds delight The lenient lettuce, and the purslain wild;

And flannels warm embrace, These bitter horehound, and the watery plant

And bandag'd legs nor swift in flight,
That on the verdant banks of rivers grows;

Nor victors in the race.
Those nettles crush, and comfrey's viscid root,
And pluck the lentils in the standing pools;

Thy flames the tumid ancles feel,
Some parsnips, some the glossy leaf apply

The finger maiin'd, the burning heel,

And toe that dreads the ground.

CHORUS.

CHORUS.

3 The Chorus here allude to several religious ceremonies performed by several priests to their gods. The Scripture mentions the priests of Baal cutting and Jasbing themselves with knives, &c.

4 A kind of red land-toad.

5 A beast with shaggy hair and a beard like a goat, but otherwise like a stag.