Una res est quam rogamus: cede, virgo Delia, Ut nemus sit incruentum de ferinis stragibus. Ipsa vellet ut venires, si deceret virginem: 40 Jam tribus choros videres feriatos noctibus Congreges inter catervas ire per saltus tuos, Floreas inter coronas, myrteas inter casas: Nee Ceres nee Bacchus absunt, nee poetarum Deus; De tenente tota nox est pervigilia canticis: 45 Regnet in silvis Dione; tu recede, Delia. _Cras amet qui nunquam amavit; quique amavit cras amet_. Hear Venus her only petition! Dear maiden of Delos, depart! Let the forest be bloodless to-day, unmolested the roe and the hart! Holy huntress, thyself she would bid be her guest, 40 could thy chastity stoop To approve of our revels, our dances--three nights that we weave in a troop Arm-in-arm thro' thy sanctu'ries whirling, till faint and dispersed in the grove We lie with thy lilies for chaplets, thy myrtles for arbours of love: And Apollo, with Ceres and Bacchus to chorus-- song, harvest, and wine-- Hymns thee dispossess'd, "'Tis Dione who reigns! 45 Let Diana resign!" O, the wonderful nights of Dione! dark bough, with her star shining thro'! _Now learn ye to love who loved never--now ye who have loved, love anew!_ Jussit Hyblæis tribunal stare diva floribus; Præses ipsa jura dicit, adsederunt Gratiæ. Hybla, totos funde floras quidquid annus adtulit; 50 Hybla, florum rumpe vestem quantus Ætnæ campus est. Ruris hic erunt puellæ, vel puellæ montium, Quæque silvas, quæque lucos, quæque fontes incolunt: Jussit omnes adsidere mater alitis dei, Jussit et nudo puellas nil Amori credere. 55 _Cras amet qui nunquam amavit; quique amavit cras amet._ She has set up her court, has Our Lady, in Hybla, and deckt it with blooms:-- With the Graces at hand for assessors Dione dispenses her dooms. Now burgeon, O Hybla! put forth and abound, till 50 Proserpina's field, To the foison thy lap overflowing its laurel of Sicily yield. Call, assemble the nymphs--hamadryad and dryad-- the echoes who court From the rock, who the rushes inhabit, in ripples who swim and disport. "I admonish you maids--I, his mother, who suckled the scamp ere he flew-- An ye trust to the Boy flying naked, some pestilent 55 prank ye shall rue." _Now learn ye to love who loved never--now ye who have loved, love anew!_ Et rigentibus virentes ducit umbras floribus: Cras erit quum primus Æther copulavit nuptias, Et pater totum creavit vernis annum nubibus, In sinum maritus imber fluxit almæ conjugis, 60 Unde fetus mixtus omnes aleret magno corpore. Ipsa venas atque mentem permeanti spiritu Intus occultis gubernat procreatrix viribus, Perque coelum, perque terras, perque pontum subditum Pervium sui tenorem seminali tramite 65