Pygmalion, loathing their lascivious life, Abhorred all womankind, but most a wife; So single chose to live, and shunned to wed, Well pleased to want a consort of his bed. Yet fearing idleness, the nurse of ill, In sculpture exercised his happy skill; And carved in ivory such a maid, so fair, As nature could not with his art compare, Were she to work; but in her own defence, Must take her pattern here, and copy hence. Pleased with his idol, he commends, admires, Adores; and last, the thing adored desires. A very virgin in her face was seen, And, had she moved, a living maid had been: One would have thought she could have stirred, but strove With modesty, and was ashamed to move. Art, hid with art, so well performed the cheat, It caught the carver with his own deceit. He knows 'tis madness, yet he must adore, And still the more he knows it, loves the more; The flesh, or what so seems, he touches oft, Which feels so smooth, that he believes it soft. Fired with this thought, at once he strained the breast, And on the lips a burning kiss impressed. 'Tis true, the hardened breast resists the gripe, And the cold lips return a kiss unripe; But when, retiring back, he looked again, To think it ivory was a thought too mean; So would believe she kissed, and courting more, Again embraced her naked body o'er; And, straining hard the statue, was afraid His hands had made a dint, and hurt the maid; Explored her, limb by limb, and feared to find So rude a gripe had left a livid mark behind. With flattery now he seeks her mind to move, And now with gifts, the powerful bribes of love: He furnishes her closet first; and fills The crowded shelves with rarities of shells; Adds orient pearls, which from the conchs he drew, And all the sparkling stones of various hue; And parrots, imitating human tongue,[28] And singing-birds in silver cages hung; And every fragrant flower, and odorous green, Were sorted well, with lumps of amber laid between; Rich fashionable robes her person deck; Pendents her ears, and pearls adorn her neck; Her tapered fingers too with rings are graced, And an embroidered zone surrounds her slender waste. Thus like a queen arrayed, so richly dressed, Beauteous she showed, but naked showed the best. Then from the floor he raised a royal bed, With coverings of Sidonian purple spread; The solemn rites performed, he calls her bride, With blandishments invites her to his side, And as she were with vital sense possessed, Her head did on a plumy pillow rest. The feast of Venus came, a solemn day, To which the Cypriots due devotion pay; With gilded horns the milk-white heifers led, Slaughtered before the sacred altars, bled; Pygmalion, offering, first approached the shrine,