The Hymns of Orpheus · 62 of 91

To Cupid, or Love.

LVII. TO CUPID, OR LOVE. The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS. I Call great Cupid, source of sweet delight,

Holy and pure, and lovely to the sight;

Darting, and wing'd, impetuous fierce desire,

With Gods and mortals playing, wand'ring fire:

Cautious, and two-fold, keeper of the keys 5

Of heav'n and earth, the air, and spreading seas;

Of all that Ceres' fertile realms contains,

By which th' all-parent Goddess life sustains,

Or dismal Tartarus is doom'd to keep,

Widely extended, or the sounding, deep; 10

For thee, all Nature's various realms obey,

Who rul'st alone, with universal sway.

Come, blessed pow'r, regard these mystic fires,

And far avert, unlawful mad desires.