To the Mother of the Gods. The Fumigation from a Variety of Odoriferous Substances.
Mother of Gods, great nurse of all, draw near,
Divinely honor'd, and regard my pray'r:
Thron'd on a car, by lions drawn along,
By bull-destroying lions, swift and strong,
Thou sway'st the sceptre of the pole divine,
And the world's middle seat, much-fam'd, is thine,
Hence earth is thine, and needy mortals share
Their constant food, from thy protecting care:
From thee at first both Gods and men arose;
From thee, the sea and ev'ry river flows.
Vesta, and source of good, thy name we find
To mortal men rejoicing to be kind
For ev'ry good to give, thy soul delights
Come, mighty pow'r, propitious to our rites,
All-taming, blessed, Phrygian saviour, come,
Saturn's great queen, rejoicing in the drum.
Celestial, ancient, life-supporting maid,
Fanatic Goddess, give thy suppliant aid;
With joyful aspect on our incense shine,
And, pleas'd, accept the sacrifice divine.
To Mercury. The Fumigation from Frankincense.
Hermes, draw near, and to my pray'r incline,
Angel of Jove, and Maia's son divine;
Studious of contests, ruler of mankind
With heart almighty, and a prudent mind.
Celestial messenger, of various skill,
Whose pow'rful arts could watchful Argus kill:
With winged feet, 'tis thine thro' air to course,
O friend of man, and prophet of discourse
Great life-supporter, to rejoice is thine,
In arts gymnastic, and in fraud divine:
With pow'r endu'd all language to explain,
Of care the loos'ner, and the source of gain.
Whose hand contains of blameless peace the rod,
Corucian, blessed, profitable God:
Of various speech, whose aid in works we find,
And in necessities to mortals kind:
Dire weapon of the tongue, which men revere,
Be present, Hermes, and thy suppliant hear;
Assist my works, conclude my life with peace,
Give graceful speech, and memory's increase.
To Proserpine. A Hymn.
Daughter of Jove, almighty and divine,
Come, blessed queen, and to these rites incline
Only-begotten, Pluto's honor'd wife,
O venerable Goddess, source of life:
'Tis thine in earth's profundities to dwell,
Fast by the wide and dismal gates of hell
Jove's holy offspring, of a beauteous mien,
Fatal, with lovely locks, infernal queen:
Source of the furies, whose blest frame proceeds
From Jove's ineffable and secret seeds:
Mother of Bacchus, sonorous, divine,
And many-form'd, the parent of the vine:
The dancing Hours attend thee, essence bright,
All-ruling virgin, bearing heav'nly light
Illustrious, horned, of a bounteous mind,
Alone desir'd by those of mortal kind,
O, vernal queen, whom grassy plains delight,
Sweet to the smell, and pleasing to the sight
Whose holy form in budding fruits we view,
Earth's vig'rous offspring of a various hue
Espous'd in Autumn: life and death alone
To wretched mortals from thy power is known
For thine the task according to thy will,
Life to produce, and all that lives to kill.
Hear, blessed Goddess, send a rich increase
Of various fruits from earth, with lovely Peace;
Send Health with gentle hand, and crown my life
With blest abundance, free from noisy strife;
Last in extreme old age the prey of Death,
Dismiss we willing to the realms beneath,
To thy fair palace, and the blissful plains
Where happy spirits dwell, and Pluto reigns,
To Bacchus. The Fumigation from Storax.
Bacchus I call, loud-sounding and divine,
Fanatic God, a two-fold shape is thine:
Thy various names and attributes I sing,
O, first-born, thrice begotten, Bacchic king:
Rural, ineffable, two-form'd, obscure,
Two-horn'd, with ivy crown'd, euion, pure:
Bull-fac'd, and martial, bearer of the vine,
Endu'd with counsel prudent and divine:
Triennial, whom the leaves of vines adorn,
Of Jove and Proserpine, occultly born.
Immortal dæmon, hear my suppliant voice,
Give me in blameless plenty to rejoice;
And listen gracious to my mystic pray'r,
Surrounded with thy choir of nurses fair.
To the Curetes. A Hymn.
Leaping Curetes, who with dancing feet
And circling measures, armed footsteps beat
Whose bosom's mad, fanatic transports fire,
Who move in rythm to the sounding lyre:
Who traces deaf when lightly leaping tread,
Arm bearers, strong defenders, rulers dread
Propitious omens, guards of Proserpine,
Preserving rites, mysterious and divine
Come, and benevolent my words attend,
(In herds rejoicing), and my life defend.
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