To Adonis

LV.

TO ADONIS.

The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS.

MUCH-nam'd, and best of dæmons, hear my pray'r,
The desart-loving, deck'd with tender hair;
Joy to diffuse, by all desir'd is thine,
Much form'd, Eubulus; aliment divine

p. 188

Female and Male, all charming to the sight, 5
Adonis ever flourishing and bright;
At stated periods doom'd to set and rise,
With splendid lamp, the glory of the skies.  ⁸
Two-horn'd and lovely, reverenc'd with tears,
Of beauteous form, adorn'd with copious hairs. 10
Rejoicing in the chace, all-graceful pow'r,
Sweet plant of Venus, Love's delightful flow'r:
Descended from the secret bed divine,
Of lovely-hair'd, infernal Proserpine.
'Tis thine to fink in Tartarus profound, 15
And shine again thro' heav'ns illustrious round,
With beauteous temp'ral orb restor'd to sight;
Come, with earth's fruits, and in these flames delight.

Footnotes

188:8 Ver. 8.] With splendid lamp, &c. Proclus, in his elegant Hymn to the Sun, celebrates him as frequently called Adonis; and this perfectly agrees with the present epithet, and with many others in the Hymn.