MARY BARBER
“Jupiter and Fortune. A Fable”
Once JUPITER, from out the Skies,
Beheld a thousand Temples rise;
The Goddess FORTUNE all invok’d,
To JOVE an Altar seldom smoak’d:
The God resolv’d to make Inspection, 5
What had occasion’d this Defection;
And bid the Goddess tell the Arts,
By which she won deluded Hearts.
My Arts! (says she) Great JOVE, you know,
That I do ev’ry Thing below: 10
I make my Vot’ries dine on Plate;
I give the gilded Coach of State;
Bestow the glitt’ring Gems, that deck
The fair LAVINIA’S lovely Neck;
I make NOVELLA Nature’s Boast, 15
And raise VALERIA to a Toast;
‘Tis I, who give the Stupid, Taste,
(Or make the Poets lie, at least);
My fav’rite Sons, whene’er they please,
Can Palaces in Desarts raise, 20
Cut out Canals, make Fountains play,
And make the dreary Waste look gay;
Ev’n Vice seems Virtue by my Smiles;
I gild the Villian’s gloomy Wiles,
Nay, almost raise him to a God, 25
While crowded Levees wait his Nod.
ENOUGH– the Thunderer reply’d;
But say, whom have you satisfy’d?
These boasted Gifts are thine, I own;
But know, Content is mine alone. 30
NOTES:
Title Jupiter “Known as ‘Jove’ is the god of sky and thunder in Ancient Roman Mythology and the chief of the gods. Father of Fortuna and great protector”(Britannica); Fortune Fortuna is the goddess of fortune and luck in ancient Roman mythology.
11 Vot’ries “A devoted or zealous worshipper of a particular god [or] goddess” (OED).
16 Toast “The reigning belle of the season” (OED).
26 Levees “A morning assembly held by a prince or a person of distinction” (OED).
SOURCE: Poems on Several Occasions (London, 1735), pp. 63-64. [Google Books]
Edited by Raven Valdivia