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.* 



TVth™ the wife of Oceanus, to withhold from this new constellation the 

 Inniter in the sphere. Jnno remaining implacable, prevailed upon Te lys, the 



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. 



Thns Augustus Casar is invoked by Virgil, as one who will become a new constellation. 



And, chiefly thou, whose undelermin'd state 



Is yet the business of the Gods' debate ; 



Whether in after times to be declar'd 



The patron of the world, 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 thy Goddess Mother's myrtle crown d. 



Or wilt thou, Cesar, choose the wat'ry reign, 



To smooth the surges, and correct the mam. 



Then mariners in storms to thee shall pray, 



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



And Neptune shall resign the trident of the sea, 



The wat'ry virgins for thy bed shall strive, 



And Tethys 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 ofheav'n a space is free, 



Betwixt the Scorpion and the Maid, for thee, 



The Scorpion ready to receive thy laws. 



Yields half his region, and contracts his claws. 



Georg. Book I. 



e A t Inmi or predicting the future fortunes of each as in- 



Each separate planet and star had us deity, hence ^_^*^^ g {*b influence to arise from the God or Goddess (abetter 



fluenced by the Sunder which each person was born. ^^J^ corac from inert masses of matter. Thus Milton in com- 



nouon) presiding over each star, the supersuuous ^^Tr^t fall of man, commissioning his Angels to produce several changes 



in nature, ana ^ ^ ^^ mom 



Her office they prescribed, to th' other Jive 



Their planetary motions and aspects 



In sextile, square, and trine, and opposite, 



Of noxious efficacy, and when to join 



In synod unbenign; and taught the fix d 



Their influence malignant when to shower. , ^ 



• u- u- „™ nf nlants " It withdraws its flowers in the evening into the 



* Theophrastus gives the following account of the Nelumb um m h,s hish*y rfpta- ^ ^ rf ^ — rf the hand; after which 



v Kt 6 which continue to descend till midnight, to so great a de P lh ' "^ J and ds its flowers, rising higher and higher, tdl 



STSStSuly again, and in the course of the »g appears f^^ J eM ascent of the Ne.umbium is fully credited 



k several feet in height above the surface." Book iv. chap. 10. This de see 4 ^ fc dipping ^ water hlch 



^SnnTu: and is even applied by him to our "W^te. ^ ; b JP^J morning , which wa8 mis took for the closed 



1^ d^^^ * ^ "" ^ ShUtS " ab ° Ut f ° Ur m eVemng ' 



--~* 



