Kitap 2
With fire and sword she flies; the frantic dame
Disdains the thought of tenderness or shame.
420
Her offspring's blood enrag'd Medea spilt;
A cruel mother, for the father's guilt:
And Progne's unrelenting fury provesProgne, the wife of Tereus, king of Thrace, killed her own daughters and presented them to her husband, because he had ravished her sister Philumela.
That dire revenge pursues neglected loves.
Where sacred ties of honour are destroy'd,
425
Such errors cautious lovers must avoid.
Think not my precepts constancy enjoin;
Venus avert! far nobler's my design.
At large enjoy, conceal your passion well;
Nor use the modish vanity to tell:
430
Avoid presenting of suspected toys,
Nor to an hour confine your varied joys;
Desert the shades you did frequent before,
Nor make them conscious to a new amour
The nymph, when she betrays, disdains your guilt,
435
And by such falsehood taught, she learns to jilt.
While with a wife Atrides liv'd content,
Their loves were mutual, and she innocent;
