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Salmacis
and Hermaphroditus
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Telling her still, Thou art no
wife of mine,
Anothers strumpet, Mars
his concubine.
By this Astræa spyde
almighty Ioue,
And bow'd her finger to the Queene
of loue,
To cease her sute, which she would
heare anon,
When the great King of all the
world was gone.
Then she descended from her stately
throne,
Which seat was builded all of
Iasper stone,
And o're the seat was paynted
all aboue,
The wanton vnseene stealths of
amorous Ioue;
There might a man behold the naked
pride
Of louely Venus in the
vale of Ide,
When Pallas, and Ioues
beauteous wife and she
Stroue for the prise of beauties
raritie:
And there lame Vulcan and
his Cyclops stroue
To make the thunderbolts for mighty
Ioue:
From this same stately throne
she down desceded,
And sayd, The griefs of Ioue
should be amended,
Asking the King of gods what lucklesse
cause,
What great contept of state, what
breach of lawes
(For sure she thought, some vncouth
cause befell,
That made him visit poore Astræas
cell)
Troubled his thought: and if she
might decide it,
VVho vext great Ioue, he
dearely should abide it.
Ioue onely thankt her,
and beganne to show
His cause of comming (for each
one doth know
The longing words of Louers are
not many,
If they desire to be inioyd of
any)
Telling Astræa, It
might now befall,
That she might make him blest,
that blesseth all: |
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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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