Hence, not unconscious to his orient beam, 

 At dawn's first blush thy shining petals spread ; 



Drink deep th' effulgence of the solar stream, 

 And, as he mounts, still brighter glories shed.* 



... 1 1 1 1 J 'i'^^i,,ra ti-.^ wifp nf Orpaniis to withhold from this new constellation the 



Jupiter in the sphere. Juno remaining implacable, prevailed upon lethys, the witc ot Uceanus, lo 



privilege of setting beneath the waters of the sea. Htjg. Poet. Astron. lib. ii. 



Homer paints the assembly of the Gods retiring each to his respective star at the tall ot day. 



Thus the blest Gods the genial day prolong 



In feasts ambrosial and celestial song. 



Apollo tun'd the lyre, the Muses round 



With voice alternate aid the silver sound. 



Meantime the radiant sun, to mortal sight 



Descending swift, roll'd down the rapid light. 



Then to their starry domes the Gods depart, 



The shining documents of Vulcan's art: 



Jove on his couch reclin'd his awful head. 



And Juno slumber d on the golden bed. 



Iliad, I. 



Thus Augustus Caesar is invoked by Virgil, as one who wih become a new constellation. 



And, chiefly thou, whose undetermin d state 



Is yet the business of the Gods' debate ; 



Whether in after times to be declared 



The patron of the Avorld, and Rome's peculiar guard, 



Or o'er the fruits and seasons to preside. 



And the round circuit of the year to guide. 



Pow'rful of blessings, which thou strew'st around, 



And with diy Goddess Mother's myrtle crown'd. 



Or wilt thou, CiESAH, choose the wat'ry reign. 



To smooth the surges, and correct the main ? 



Then mariners in storms to thee shall pray, 



E'en utmost Thule shaU thy pow'r obey; 



And Neptune shall resign the trident of the sea, 



The wat'ry virgins for thy bed shall strive, 



And Teihijs all her waves in dowry give; 



Or wilt thou bless our summers with thy rays. 



And seated near the balance, poise the days. 



Where in the void of heav'n a space is free, 



• Betwixt the Scorpion and the Maid, for thee. 



The Scorpion ready to receive thy laws. 

 Yields half his regioji, and contracts his claws. 



Georg. Book I. 



Each separate planet and star had its deity, l^enee the ancient doctrines of Astrology or predicting the fntnre fortunes of each as in- 

 fluctced by Ure .J under which each person was born. Instead of supposing such miiuence to anse from he Go^ or Godde. (a better 

 Ltion pnisidin, over each star, the superstitious mind imagined the «>e„ce to come from mart masses of matter. Thus Mdton m com- 

 phance wUh the°doctrines of tire times, describes the Almiohty, after the fall of man, eomm.sstomng his Angels to produce several changes 

 in nature, and to sully the beauty and perfection of this nether world. 



To the blank moon 



Her office they prescribed, to th' other /t;e 



Their planetary motions and aspects 



In sextile, square, and trine, and opposite. 



Of noxious efficacy, and when to joij:i 



In synod unbenign ; and taught the fix'd 



Their influence malignant when to shower. 



. TIreophrastus gives the following account of the Nelumbium in his history of plants. " It withdraws its flowers in the evening into the 

 EuphratwMh continue to descend' tdl midnight, to so great a depth, that at daybreak they are out of the reach of he hand; after whch 

 Sr^e'erds gradually agam, and in the course of the mornmg appears above water, and expands tts flowers, nsmg hrgher -d '.gher, tdl 

 ^Itrseve'^feet in hefghf abm-e the surface." Book iv. chap. 10. This descent and subsequent ascent ol the Nelumbmm ,s fully cred.ted 

 bvLnnirand is even apphed by him to our common Water Lily; but it probably arose from mistaknrg the drppmg under water wh.ch 

 Sce^rceLfter impregnation of the germen, and the ascent of the virgm flowers the foUowmg mornmg, w „eh was m.stook for the closed 

 Its de'rnded yesterd!y.-But the flower opens and expands just as the day advances, and shuts up about four m the evenmg. 



