Which Night envy'd, as done (a) in her despite,
And (mad to see an Æthiope washed white)
Thought to prevent in these; lest Men should
deem
Her colour, if thus chang'd, of small esteem.
And so, by Malice, and her Magick, tost
The Nymphs at Sea, as they were almost lost,
Till, on an Island, they by chance arriv'd,
That (b) floated in the Main; where, yet, she'
had giv'd
Them so, in charms of Darkness, as no might
Should loose them thence, but their chang'd
Sisters sight.
Where at the Twelve (in piety mov'd, and kind)
Straight put themselves in act, the Place to
find;
Which was the Nights sole trust they so will do,
That she, with labour, might confound them too.
For ever since with Error hath she held
Them wand'ring in the Ocean, and so quell'd
Their Hopes beneath their Toil, as (desperate
now
Of any least success unto their Vow;
Nor knowing to return to' express the Grace,
Wherewith they labour to this Prince, and Place)
One of them, meeting me at Sea, did pray,
That for the love of my (c) Orythyia,
(Whose very Name did heat my frosty Brest,
And make me shake my snow-fill'd Wings and
Crest)
To bear this sad Report I would be won,
And frame their just excuse; which here I
have done.
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(a) Because
they were
before of
her com-
plexion.
(b) To give
authority
to this
part of
our fiction
Pliny hath
a chap. 95.
of the 2.
Book Nat.
Hist.de In-
sulis fluctu-
antibus. Et
Card.lib.1.
de rerum
vari. &
cap. 7. re-
ports one
to be in
his time
known, in
the Lake
of Lou-
mond, in
Scotland.
To let pass
that of
Delos, &c.
(c) The
daughter
of Erect-
heus, King
of Athens,
whom Bo-
reas ravi-
shed a-
way, into
Thrace, as she was playing with other Virgins by the flood Ilissus: or
(as some will) by the Fountain Cephisus.
J A N U A R I U S.
Ould thou had'st not begun, unlucky
Wind,
That never yet blew'st Goodness to Mankind;
But with thy bitter, and too piercing Breath,
Strik'st (d) Horrors through the Air, as sharp as
Death.
Here a second Wind came in, Vulturnus, in a
blue coloured Robe and Mantle, pufft as the former,
but somewhat sweeter; his Face black, and on his
(e) Head a red Sun, shewing he came from the East:
his Wings of several Colours; his Buskins white, and
wrought with Gold.
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(d) The vi-
olence of
Boreas,
Ovid ex-
cellently
describes
in the
place a-
bove quo-
ted. Hâc
nubila pel-
lo, hâc fre-
ta concutio, nodosaque robora verto, induroque nives, & terras grandine
pulso. (e) According to that of Virg. —— Denuntiat igneus Euros.
V U L T U R N U S.
LL Horrors vanish, and all Name of Death,
Be all Things here as calm as is my Breath.
A gentler Wind, Vulturnus, brings you News
The Isle is found, and that the Nymphs now use,
Their Rest and Joy. The Nights black Charms
are flown.
For, being made unto their Goddess known,
Bright Æthiopia, the Silver Moon,
As she was (f) Hecate, she brake them soon:
And now by vertue of their Light, and Grace,
The glorious Isle, wherein they rest, takes place
Of all the Earth for Beauty. (g) There, their
Queen
Hath raised them a Throne, that still is seen
To turn unto the Motion of the World;
Wherein they sit, and are, like Heaven, whirl'd
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(f) She
is called
fwsfor
'Ekath
by Eurip.
in Helena,
which is
Lucifera,
to which
name we
here pre-
sently allude. (g) For the more full and clear understanding of
that which follows, have recourse to the succeeding Pages, where
the Scene presents itself.
[column break]
About the Earth; whil'st, to them contrary,
(Following those nobler Torches of the Sky,)
A World of little Loves, and chast Desires,
Do light their Beauties, with still moving Fires.
And who to Heavens consent can better move,
Than those that are so like it, Beauty and Love?
Hither, as to their new Elysium,
The Spirits of the antick Greeks are come,
Poets, and Singers, Linus, Orpheus, all
(h) So Te-
rence, and
the Anci-
ents call'd
Poësie, Ar-
tem musi-
cam.
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That have excell'd in (h) knowledg musical;
Where, set in Arbors made of Myrtle, and Gold,
They live, again, these Beauties to behold.
And thence in flowry Mazes walking forth,
Sing Hymns in celebration of their worth.
Whil'st, to their Songs, two Fountains flow, one
height
Of lasting Youth, the other chaste Delight,
That at the Closes, from their Bottoms spring,
And strike the Air to eccho what they sing.
But, why do I describe what all must see?
By this time, near the Coast, they floating be;
For, so their vertuous Goddess, the chaste Moon,
Told them, the Fate of th' Island should, and soon
Would fix itself unto thy Continent,
As being the place, by Destiny forement,
Where they should flow forth, drest in her Attires:
And, that the influence of those holy Fires,
(First rapt from hence) being multiplied upon
The other four, should make their Beauties one.
Which now expect to see, great Neptune's Son,
And love the Miracle, which thy self hast done.
Here, a Curtain was drawn, (in which the Night was
painted,) and the Scene discover'd, which (because the for-
mer was Marine, and these, yet of necessity, to come from the
Sea) I devised, should be an Island floating on a calm water.
In the midst thereof was a Seat of State, called, The Throne
of Beauty, erected: divided into eight Squares, and distin-
guished by so many Ionic Pilasters. In these Squares the six-
teen Masquers were placed by Couples: behind them, in the
Centre of the Throne was a tralucent Pillar, shining with seve-
ral coloured lights, that reflected on their backs. From the top
of which Pillar went several Arches to the Pilasters, that
sustained the Roof of the Throne, which was likewise adorned
with Lights and Gyrlands: And between the Pilasters, in front,
little Cupids in flying posture, waving of Wreaths and Lights,
bore up the Coronice: over which were placed eight Figures,
representing the Elements of Beauty; which advanced upon the
Ionic, and being Females, had the Corinthian Order. The
first was
S P L E N D O R
N a Robe of flame-colour, naked breasted; her bright
hair loose flowing: She was drawn in a Circle of Clouds,
her Face and Body breaking thorow; and in her
hand a branch, with two (i) Roses, a white, and
a red. The next to her was
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(i) The
Rose is cal-
led, ele-
gantly, by Achil. Tat. lib. 2. futwn aglaisma, the splendor of Plants,
and is everywhere taken for the Hieroglyphic, of Splendor.
S E R E N I T A S
N a garment of bright sky-colour, a long tress, and
waved with a vail of divers colours, such as the golden
Sky sometimes shews: upon her head a clear and fair Sun
shining, with rays of gold striking down to the
feet of the figure. In her hand a (k) Crystal,
cut with several angles, and shadowed with di-
vers colours, as caused by refraction. The third
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(k) As
this of Se-
renity, ap-
plying to
the Opticks reason of the Rainbow, and the Mythologists making her
the Daughter of Electra.
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