To the Rt Honyble Lady Viscountess Scudamort OVID's METAMORPHOSES. BOOK X. Translated by Mr. Dryden, Mr. Congreve, and Others. The Story of Orpheus and Euridice. By Mr. Congreve. HENCE, in his Saffron Robe, for distant Thrace, Hymen departs thro' Air's unmeasur'd Space; By Orpheus call'd, the Nuptial Pow'r attends, But with ill-omen'd Augury descends; Nor chearful look'd the God, nor prosp'rous spoke, Nor blaz'd his Torch, but wept in hissing Smoke. In vain they whirl it round, in vain they shake, No rapid Motion can its Flames awake. With Dread these inauspicious Signs were view'd, And soon a more disastrous End ensu'd; For as the Bride, amid the Naiad Train, Ran joyful, sporting o'er the flow'ry Plain, A venom'd Viper bit her as she pass'd; Instant she fell, and suddain breath'd her last. When long his Loss the Thracian had deplor'd, Not by superior Pow'rs to be restor'd; Inflam'd by Love, and urg'd by deep Despair, He leaves the Realms of Light, and upper Air; Daring to tread the dark Tenarian Road, And tempt the Shades in their obscure Abode; Thro' gliding Spectres of th' Interr'd to go, And Phantom People of the World below: Persephonè he seeks, and him who reigns O'er Ghosts, and Hell's uncomfortable Plains. Arriv'd, he, tuning to his Voice his Strings, Thus to the King and Queen of Shadows sings. Ye Pow'rs, who under Earth your Realms extend, To whom all Mortals must one Day descend; If here 'tis granted sacred Truth to tell: I come not curious to explore your Hell; Nor come to boast (by vain Ambition fir'd) How Cerberus at my Approach retir'd. My Wife alone I seek; for her lov'd sake These Terrors I support, this Journey take. She, luckless wandring, or by Fate misled, Chanc'd on a lurking Viper's Crest to tread; The vengeful Beast, enflam'd with Fury, starts, And thro' her Heel his deathful Venom darts. Thus was she snatch'd untimely to her Tomb; Her growing Years cut short, and springing Bloom. Long I my Loss endeavour'd to sustain, And strongly strove, but strove, alas, in vain: At length I yielded, won by mighty Love; Well known is that Omnipotence above! But here, I doubt, his unfelt Influence fails; And yet a Hope within my Heart prevails, That here, ev'n here, he has been known of old; At least, if Truth be by Tradition told; If Fame of former Rapes Belief may find, You both by Love, and Love alone, were join'd. Now, by the Horrors which these Realms surround; By the vast Chaos of these Depths profound; By the sad Silence which eternal reigns O'er all the Waste of these wide-stretching Plains; Let me again Eurydice receive, Let Fate her quick-spun Thread of Life re-weave. All our Possessions are but Loans from you, And soon, or late, you must be paid your Due; Hither we haste to Human-kind's last Seat, Your endless Empire, and our sure Retreat. She too, when ripen'd Years she shall attain, Must, of avoidless Right, be yours again: I but the transient use of that require, Which soon, too soon, I must resign entire. But if the Destinies refuse my Vow, And no remission of her Doom allow; Know, I'm determin'd to return no more; So both retain, or both to Life restore.