[Page 75]

CUPID and GANYMEDE.

1 In Heav'n, one Holy-day, You read
2 In wise Anacreon, Ganymede
3 Drew heedless Cupid in, to throw
4 A Main, to pass an Hour, or so.
5 The little Trojan, by the way,
6 By Hermes taught, play'd All the Play.
7 The God unhappily engag'd,
8 By Nature rash, by Play enrag'd,
9 Complain'd, and sigh'd, and cry'd, and fretted;
10 Lost ev'ry earthly thing He betted:
11 In ready Mony, all the Store
12 Pick'd up long since from Danae's Show'r;
13 A Snush-Box, set with bleeding Hearts,
14 Rubies, all pierc'd with Diamond Darts;
15 His Nine-pins, made of Myrtle Wood;
16 (The Tree in Ida's Forest stood)
17 His Bowl pure Gold, the very same
18 Which Paris gave the Cyprian Dame;
19 Two Table-Books in Shagreen Covers;
20 Fill'd with good Verse from real Lovers;
21 Merchandise rare! A Billet-doux,
22 It's Matter passionate, yet true:
23 Heaps of Hair Rings, and cypher'd Seals;
24 Rich Trifles; serious Bagatelles.
25 What sad Disorders Play begets!
26 Desp'rate and mad, at length He sets
[Page 76]
27 Those Darts, whose Points make Gods adore
28 His Might, and deprecate his Pow'r:
29 Those Darts, whence all our Joy and Pain
30 Arise: those Darts come, Seven's the Main,
31 Cries Ganymede: The usual Trick:
32 Seven, slur a Six; Eleven: A Nick.
33 Ill News goes fast: 'Twas quickly known,
34 That simple Cupid was undone.
35 Swifter than Lightning Venus flew:
36 Too late She found the thing too true.
37 Guess how the Goddess greets her Son:
38 Come hither, Sirrah; no, begon;
39 And, hark Ye, is it so indeed?
40 A Comrade You for Ganymede?
41 An Imp as wicked, for his Age,
42 As any earthly Lady's Page;
43 A Scandal and a Scourge to Troy:
44 A Prince's Son? A Black-guard Boy:
45 A Sharper, that with Box and Dice
46 Draws in young Deities to Vice.
47 All Heav'n is by the Ears together,
48 Since first That little Rogue came hither:
49 Juno her self has had no Peace:
50 And truly I've been favour'd less:
51 For Jove, as Fame reports, (but Fame
52 Says things not fit for Me to name)
53 Has acted ill for such a God,
54 And taken Ways extreamly odd.
[Page 77]
55 And Thou, unhappy Child, She said
56 (Her Anger by her Grief allay'd)
57 Unhappy Child, who thus hast lost
58 All the Estate We e'er could boast;
59 Whither, O whither wilt Thou run,
60 Thy Name despis'd, thy Weakness known?
61 Nor shall thy Shrine on Earth be crown'd:
62 Nor shall thy Pow'r in Heav'n be own'd;
63 When Thou, nor Man, nor God can'st wound.
64 Obedient Cupid kneeling cry'd,
65 Cease, dearest Mother, cease to chide:
66 Gany's a Cheat, and I'm a Bubble:
67 Yet why this great Excess of Trouble?
68 The Dice were false: the Darts are gone:
69 Yet how are You, or I undone?
70 The Loss of These I can supply
71 With keener Shafts from Cloe's Eye:
72 Fear not, We e'er can be disgrac'd,
73 While That bright Magazine shall last:
74 Your crowded Altars still shall smoke;
75 And Man your Friendly Aid invoke:
76 Jove shall again revere your Pow'r,
77 And rise a Swan, or fall a Show'r.

Text

  • TEI/XML [chunk] (XML - 150K / ZIP - 16K) / ECPA schema (RNC - 357K / ZIP - 73K)
  • Plain text [excluding paratexts] (TXT - 2.8K / ZIP - 1.7K)

Facsimile (Source Edition)

(Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [H 6.8 Art.].)

Images

PDF

All Images (PDF - 3.9M)

About this text

Title (in Source Edition): CUPID and GANYMEDE.
Author: Matthew Prior
Themes:
Genres: narrative verse

Text view / Document view

Source edition

Prior, Matthew, 1664-1721. Poems on Several Occasions [English poems only]. London: Printed for JACOB TONSON at Shakespear's-Head over against Katharine-Street in the Strand, and JOHN BARBER upon Lambeth-Hill. MDCCXVIII., 1718, pp. 75-77. [42],506,[6]p.: ill.; 2°. (ESTC T075639) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [H 6.8 Art.].)

Editorial principles

Typography, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been cautiously modernized. The source of the text is given and all significant editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. This ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

Other works by Matthew Prior