And calls those happy whom their funerals wait. } This wretch with prayers and vows the gods implores, And even the skies he cannot see, adores. That other on his friends his thoughts bestows, His careful father, and his faithful spouse. The covetous worldling in his anxious mind Thinks only on the wealth he left behind. All Ceyx his Alcyone employs, For her he grieves, yet in her absence joys; His wife he wishes, and would still be near, Not her with him, but wishes him with her: Now with last looks he seeks his native shore, Which fate has destined him to see no more; He sought, but in the dark tempestuous night He knew not whither to direct his sight. So whirl the seas, such darkness blinds the sky, That the black night receives a deeper dye. The giddy ship ran round; the tempest tore Her mast, and over-board the rudder bore. One billow mounts; and with a scornful brow, Proud of her conquest gained, insults the waves below; Nor lighter falls, than if some giant tore Pindus and Athos, with the freight they bore, And tossed on seas; pressed with the ponderous blow, Down sinks the ship within the abyss below; Down with the vessel sink into the main The many, never more to rise again. Some few on scattered planks, with fruitless care Lay hold, and swim; but, while they swim, despair. Even he, who late a sceptre did command, Now grasps a floating fragment in his hand; And while he struggles on the stormy main, Invokes his father, and his wife, in vain: But yet his consort is his greater care; Alcyone he names amidst his prayer; Names as a charm against the waves and wind, Most in his mouth, and ever in his mind. Tired with his toil, all hopes of safety past, From prayers to wishes he descends at last,-- That his dead body, wafted to the sands, Might have its burial from her friendly hands. As oft as he can catch a gulph of air, And peep above the seas, he names the fair; And, even when plunged beneath, on her he raves, Murmuring Alcyone below the waves: At last a falling billow stops his breath, Breaks o'er his head, and whelms him underneath. Bright Lucifer[30] unlike himself appears That night, his heavenly form obscured with tears; And since he was forbid to leave the skies, He muffled with a cloud his mournful eyes. Mean time Alcyone (his fate unknown) Computes how many nights he had been gone; Observes the waning moon with hourly view, Numbers her age, and wishes for a new; Against the promised time provides with care, And hastens in the woof the robes he was to wear; And for herself employs another loom, } New-dressed to meet her lord returning home, } Flattering her heart with joys that never were to come }