Kitap 2
Denied her person they debauch her fame,
And brand her innocence with public shame.
700
Go, jealous fool, the injur'd beauty guard,
Let ev'ry door be lock'd, and window barr'd!
The suff'ring nymph remains expos'd to wrong,
Her name's a prostitute to ev'ry tongue;
For malice with joy the lie receive,
705
Report, and what it wishes true, believe.
With care conceal whatever defects you find,
To all her faults seem like a lover blind.
Naked Andromeda when Perseus view'd,
He saw her faults, but yet pronounc'd them good.That is, as this poet elsewhere says, she was swarthy, or had not a good skin and complexion, yet Perseus liked her, delivered her from a sea-monster and married her.
710
Andromache was tall,The poet means she was very tall; so much so, that it was rather a disadvantage than a beauty, yet Hector thought she was of a moderate height. This princess was the daughtor of Aetion king of Thebes, and Hector's wife. Ovid is not the only author who takes notice of her tallness. Juvenal, in his sixth satire, wherein he rallies a lady of his time, who dressed her head very high, says she affected to have the air of Andromache. yet some report
Her Hector was so blind he thought her short.
At first what's nauseous lessens by degrees;
Young loves are nice, and difficult to please.
The infant plant that bears a tender rind,
715
Reels to and fro with ev'ry breath of wind;
But shooting upward to a tree at last,
It stems the storm, and braves the strongest blast
