Swift on the deck the stud-sails all descend,
Which ready seamen from the yards unbend; 100
The boats then hoisted in are fix'd on board,
And on the deck with fastening gripes secured.
The watchful ruler of the helm no more
With fix'd attention eyes the adjacent shore,
But by the oracle of truth below,
The wondrous magnet guides the wayward prow.
The powerful sails, with steady breezes swell'd,
Swift and more swift the yielding bark impell'd:
Across her stem the parting waters run,
As clouds, by tempests wafted, pass the sun. 110
Impatient thus she darts along the shore,
Till Ida's mount, and Jove's, are seen no more;
And, while aloof from Retimo she steers,
Maleca foreland full in front appears.
Wide o'er yon Isthmus stands the cypress grove,
That once enclosed the hallow'd fane of Jove:
Here, too, memorial of his name! is found
A tomb in marble ruins on the ground.
This gloomy tyrant, whose despotic sway
Compell'd the trembling nations to obey, 120
Through Greece for murder, rape, and incest known,
The Muses raised to high Olympus' throne;
For oft, alas! their venal strains adorn
The prince whom blushing virtue holds in scorn:
Still Rome and Greece record his endless fame,
And hence yon mountain yet retains his name.
But see! in confluence borne before the blast,
Clouds roll'd on clouds the dusky noon o'ercast: