THE THEOGONY. 75

"Was nourished in their midst. The wafting waves First bore her to Cythera the divine : To wave-encircled Cyprus came she then, And forth emerged a goddess in the charms Of awful beauty. WJiere her delicate feet Had pressed the sands, green herbage flowering sprang. Her Aphrodite gods and mortals name, The foam-born goddess : and her name is known As Cytherea with the blooming wreath, For that she touched Cythera's flowery coast ; And Cypris, for that on the Cypiian shore She rose amid the multitude of waves. Love tracked her steps, and beautiful Desire Pursued ; while soon as born she bent her way Towards heaven's assembled gods : her honours these From the beginning : whether gods or men Her presence bless, to her the portion falls . Of virgin whisperings and alluring smiles, And smooth deceits, and gentle ecstasy, And dalliance and the blandishments of love." F. 258-283. The concluding verses of this passage are notable as enumerating the fabled assessors of Venus ; and the italicised lines, which find modem parallels in Milton, Scott, and Tennyson,* may have suggested the invo-

• " Now when as sacred light began to dawn

In Eden on the humid flowers that breathed Their morning incense, when all things that breathe From the earth's great altar send up silent praise To the Creator ; " &c. Paradise Lost, ix. " A foot more light, a step more true, Ne'er from the heath-flower dash'd the dew ; E'en the slight harebell raised its head Elastic from her airy tread." Lady of the Lake, i. 18.