Apollonius of Rhodes Quotes

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It chanc'd the nymphs, in neighbouring streams that dwell,
Then kept a concert at the sacred well.
In Dian's praise they rais'd the nightly song,
All who to high, aerial hills belong;
All who in caverns hide, or devious rove
The mountain-forest, or the shady grove.

Apollonius of Rhodes
For Jason beam'd in beauty's charms so bright,
The maid admiring, languish'd with delight.
Thus when the rising sun appears in view,
On the fair rose dissolves the radiant dew.

Apollonius of Rhodes
His golden locks, that flow'd with grace divine,
Hung clustering like the branches of the vine;
In his left hand, his bow unbent he bore,
His quiver pendant on his back he wore:
The conscious island trembled as he trod,
And the big rolling waves confess'd the God.
Nor dar'd the heroes, seiz'd with dire dismay,
The splendors of his countenance survey,
But on the ground their downward eyes they cast.

Apollonius of Rhodes
As some good housewife, who, to labour born,
Fresh to her loom must rise with early morn;
Studious to gain what human wants require,
In embers heap'd preserves the seeds of fire;
Renew'd by these the brand rekindling burns,
And all the glowing heap to ashes turns:
Thus, kindling slow, love's secret flames invade,
And torture, as they rise, the troubled maid:
Her changeful cheeks the heart-felt anguish show,
Now pale they turn, now like the ruby glow.

Apollonius of Rhodes
Swift sail'd the ship, the sun refulgent beam'd,
And bright as flame their glittering armour gleam'd.
While to their outstretch'd oars the heroes bow,
The parted ocean whitening foams below.

Apollonius of Rhodes
As when a bull, whom galling gadflies wound,
Forsakes the meadows, and the marshy ground,
The flowery food, the herd and herdsmen shuns,
Now stands stock-still, and restless now he runs;
Stung by the breese, he maddens with the pain,
Tosses aloft his head, and roars amain.

Apollonius of Rhodes
With a parting kiss her bed she press'd,
Clung round each door, and e'n the walls caress'd.
A lock she tore of loosely-flowing hair,
And safe consign'd it to her mother's care,
The sacred relick of her virgin-fame.

Apollonius of Rhodes
Th' Etesian winds, while forty days they blow,
Refresh with balmy gales the soil below.

Apollonius of Rhodes
Two bulls in Mars's field your wonder claim,
Their hoofs of brass, their nostrils breathing flame.
These oft I seize, and to the yoke constrain
To plough four acres of the stubborn plain.
No seeds I sow, but scatter o'er the land
A dragon's teeth; when, lo! an armed band
Of chiefs spring up: but soon as they appear,
I slay th' embattled squadrons with my spear.
Each morn I yoke the bulls, at eve resign:
Perform this labour, and the fleece is thine.

Apollonius of Rhodes
But friendly Juno shrouds
Her favourite heroes in a veil of clouds.

Apollonius of Rhodes
But adverse soon they meet, with rage they glow,
Like bulls fierce fighting for some favourite cow.

Apollonius of Rhodes
Then heaves he from the couch his haggard bead,
(Like some pale, lifeless, visionary shade)
Propp'd on his staff his way explores, and crawls
With lingering step along the lonely walls:
Diseas'd, enfeebled, and by age unbrac'd,
Thro' every limb he trembled as he pass'd;
Shrunk was his form, with want adust and thin,
The pointed bones seem'd bursting thro' his skin...

Apollonius of Rhodes
The nymph with joy
Sprung from the deep to kiss the charming boy.
Her left arm round his lovely neck she threw,
And with her right hand to the bottom drew.

Apollonius of Rhodes
A mantle doubly lin'd, of purple hue,
The son of Æson o'er his shoulders threw.
This Pallas gave him, when, with wondrous art,
She plann'd his ship, and measur'd every part.
'Twere safer to survey the radiant globe
Of rising Phoebus, than this splendid robe.
Full in the middle beam'd a crimson blaze,
The verge surrounding darted purple rays.
In every part historic scenes were wrought;
The moving figures seem'd inform'd with thought...

Apollonius of Rhodes
As when from street to street, in wild dismay,
Affrighted mortals, like pale spectres, stray;
Expecting wars, or plagues, or bursting rains,
That deluge all the harvest of the plains:
Or, as when statues drops of blood distil,
And fancied bellowings the temples fill;
The noon-day sun eclips'd involves in night
Th' astonish'd world, and stars emit their light:
Thus on the beach they stalk'd, a heartless clan!
Like sweating statues, or like spectres wan.

Apollonius of Rhodes
Sudden, the vessel, as she sail'd along,
Spoke, wondrous portent! as with human tongue:
Her sturdy keel of Dodonean oak,
By Pallas vocal made, prophetic spoke.

Apollonius of Rhodes
With Chiron came Chariclo to the shore;
The young Achilles in her arms she bore.
Peleus, his sire, with secret pleasure smil'd,
As high in air she rais'd the royal child.

Apollonius of Rhodes
The fate of others he had oft foreshown,
But fail'd, unhappy! to prevent his own.

Apollonius of Rhodes
His corse the bright-arm'd heroes thrice surround,
And raise in seemly form the hallow'd mound.

Apollonius of Rhodes
Haste, royal mother, to your native tow'rs,
Pass with your handmaids there the peaceful hours.
Forebode not here calamities to come...

Apollonius of Rhodes
When, lo! a Halcyon, of cerulean hue,
O'er the fair head of slumbering Jason flew,
In airy circles, wondrous to behold,
And, screaming loud, the ceasing storm foretold.

Apollonius of Rhodes
Boughs bend with fruit, Earth from her bosom pours
Herbs ever green, and voluntary flow'rs.

Apollonius of Rhodes
No peace by day, no sleep at night I take,
Since these brave chiefs assembled for my sake.
With cold indifference may'st thou look down,
For no man's safety anxious but thy own;
But I, the least solicitous for mine,
Feel for this friend's, that comrade's, and for thine.
Much shall I feel for all this martial band,
Unless they safe regain their native land.

Apollonius of Rhodes
But Lynceus stands renown'd for piercing sight:
So keen his beam, that ancient fables tell,
He saw, thro' earth, the wondrous depths of hell.

Apollonius of Rhodes
As some fair dame, when Cynthia rises bright,
Beholds the beamy splendours with delight,
Which from her vestment strong-reflected rise;
Thus gloried Jason in the glistering prize.
The flaming rays, that from its surface flow'd,
Beam'd on his cheeks, and on his forehead glow'd.

Apollonius of Rhodes