Whilst Venus, springing from his side, With looks of scornful anger, cried, "And didst thou fly from mortal foe, Nor stay to strike one vengeful blow For her who fondly has believ'd, By all thy val'rous boasts deceiv'd, That in the god of war she press'd The first of heroes to her breast? Cupid, my swans and car prepare-- To Cyprus we will hasten, where Some youth, as yet unknown to fame, May haply raise another flame; For Mars may take his leave of Venus, No coward shall enjoy my love; And nothing more shall pass between us,-- I swear it by my fav'rite dove." She spake; and through the realms of air, Before the humbled god could dare Upraise his head to urge her stay, Already she had ta'en her way; And in her Cyprian bow'r that night, (If ancient scandal tell aright,) Forgetful of her recent wound, In place of Mars another found, And to a mortal's close embraces Surrender'd her celestial graces. 'Tis said that Venus, wont to range Both heav'n and earth in search of change, Was not unwilling to discover Some pretext to desert her lover; Nor do I combat the assertion, But from the _cause_ of her desertion, Whilst you, fair readers, justly rail Against _her morals_, I will dare To draw _this moral_ for my tale,-- "None but the brave deserve the fair!" NOTES. (a) Ovid thus speaks of the result of Vulcan's exposure of his wife's infidelity: "Hoc tibi profectum, Vulcane, quod ante tegebant, Liberius faciunt ut pudor omnis abest; Sæpe tamen demens stultè fecisse fateris, Teque ferunt iræ poenituisse tuæ." (b) Leonidas, in his beautiful epigram to Venus armed, says, [Greek: Areos entea tauta tinos charin, ô Kythireia, Endidysai, keneon touto pherousa baros, Auton Arê' gymnê gar aphoplisas, ei de lileiptai Kai theos, anthrôpois opla matên epageis.] (c) The ancients were seldom guilty of making the actions of their gods inconsistent with their general character and attributes; but there seems to have been much of the Captain Bobadil in the mighty god of war, and the instance of cowardice here alluded to is not the only one recorded of him by the pts. In the wars with the Titans he showed a decided "white feather," and suffered himself to be made prisoner. AN EVENING MEDITATION.