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Salmacis
and Hermaphroditus
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At length (with much adoo) he past
them all,
And entred straight into a spacious
hall,
Full of darke angles and of hidden
wayes,
Crooked Mæanders, infinite
delayes;
All which delayes and entries
he must passe,
Ere he could come where iust Astræa
was.
All these being past by his immortall
wit,
Without her doore he saw a porter
sit,
An aged man, that long time there
had beene,
Who vs'd to search all those that
entred in,
And still to euery one he gaue
this curse,
None must see Iustice but with
emptie purse.
This man searcht Ioue for
his owne priuate gaine,
To haue the money which did yet
remaine,
Which was but small: for much
was spent before
On the tumultuous rout that kept
the dore.
When he had done, he brought him
to the place
Where he should see diuine Astræas
face.
Then the great King of gods and
men in went,
And saw his daughter Venus
there lament,
And crying lowd for iustice, whom
Ioue found
Kneeling before Astræa
on the ground,
And still she cry'd and beg'd
for a iust doome
Against blacke Vulcan,
that vnseemely groome,
Whome she had chosen for her onely
loue,
Though she was daughter to great
thundring Ioue:
And though the fairest goddesse,
yet content
To marrie him, though weake
and impotent;
But for all this they alwayes
were at strife:
For euermore he rayld at her
his wife, |
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| © Twilight
Pictures,
September
2000. This text is freely available for educational, non-profit uses
only. Please report any errors or suggestions to
Drew Whitehead. |
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