SONG OF HERCULES TO HIS DAUGHTER.[1]
Reading edition
SONG OF HERCULES TO HIS DAUGHTER.[1]
"I've been, oh, sweet daughter, "To fountain and sea, "To seek in their water "Some bright gem for thee. "Where diamonds were sleeping, "Their sparkle I sought, "Where crystal was weeping, "Its tears I have caught.
"The sea-nymph I've courted "In rich coral halls; "With Naiads have sported "By bright waterfalls. "But sportive or tender, "Still sought I around "That gem, with whose splendor "Thou yet shalt be crowned.
"And see, while I'm speaking, "Yon soft light afar;— "The pearl I've been seeking "There floats like a star! "In the deep Indian Ocean "I see the gem shine, "And quick as light's motion "Its wealth shall be thine."
Then eastward, like lightning, The hero-god flew, His sunny looks brightening The air he went thro'. And sweet was the duty, And hallowed the hour, Which saw thus young Beauty Embellished by Power.
[1] Founded on the fable reported by Arrian (in Indicis) of Hercules having searched the Indian Ocean, to find the pearl with which he adorned his daughter Pandaea.