Ovid, The Rape of Europa
From
Metamorphoses, Book II, contributed to the European Prospect pages by
Laellius.
*
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Page 3
His skin was whiter than the snow that lies
Unsully'd by the breath of southern skies;
Small shining horns on his curl'd forehead stand,
As turn'd and polish'd by the work-man's hand;
His eye-balls rowl'd, not formidably bright,
But gaz'd and languish'd with a gentle light.
His ev'ry look was peaceful, and exprest
The softness of the lover in the beast.
Agenor's royal daughter, as she plaid
Among the fields, the milk-white bull survey'd,
And view'd his spotless body with delight,
And at a distance kept him in her sight.
At length she pluck'd the rising flow'rs, and fed
The gentle beast, and fondly stroak'd his head.
He stood well-pleas'd to touch the charming fair,
But hardly could confine his pleasure there.
Cf.
Horace, Wife
of the Invincible ,
Virgil, Europe
& Beyond,
Hippocrates, Europeans Have
Courage (margin: Aristotle, Europeans, Asians, and Greeks)
