LXVIII: To The Furies

LXVIII.

TO THE FURIES *

The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS.

VOCIFEROUS Bacchanalian Furies, hear!
Ye, I invoke, dread pow'rs, whom all revere;
Nightly, profound, in secret who retire,
Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megara dire:
Deep in a cavern merg'd, involv'd in night, 5
Near where Styx flows impervious to the sight;
Ever attendant on mysterious rites,
Furious and fierce, whom Fate's dread law delights;
Revenge and sorrows dire to you belong,
Hid in a savage veil, severe and strong, 10
Terrific virgins, who forever dwell
Endu'd with various forms, in deepest hell;
Aerial, and unseen by human kind,
And swiftly coursing, rapid as the mind.
In vain the Sun with wing'd refulgence bright, 15
In vain the Moon, far darting milder light,
Wisdom and Virtue may attempt in vain;
And pleasing, Art, our transport to obtain
Unless with these you readily conspire,
And far avert your all-destructive ire. 20

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The boundless tribes of mortals you descry,
And justly rule with Right's impartial eye.
Come, snaky-hair'd, Fates many-form'd, divine,
Suppress your rage, and to our rites incline.