brother's car, to mount the distant skies, And show'd the wound by fierce Tydides given, A mortal man, who dares encounter heaven. Stern Mars attentive hears the queen complain, And to her hand commits the golden rein; She mounts the seat, oppress'd with silent woe, Driven by the goddess of the painted bow. The lash resounds, the rapid chariot flies, And in a moment scales the lofty skies: They stopp'd the car, and there the coursers stood, Fed by fair Iris with ambrosial food; Before her mother, love's bright queen appears, O'erwhelmed with anguish, and dissolved in tears: She raised her in her arms, beheld her bleed, And ask'd what god had wrought this guilty deed? [Illustration: VENUS, WOUNDED IN THE HAND, CONDUCTED BY IRIS TO MARS.] VENUS, WOUNDED IN THE HAND, CONDUCTED BY IRIS TO MARS. Then she: "This insult from no god I found, An impious mortal gave the daring wound! Behold the deed of haughty Diomed! 'Twas in the son's defence the mother bled. The war with Troy no more the Grecians wage; But with the gods (the immortal gods) engage." Dione then: "Thy wrongs with patience bear, And share those griefs inferior powers must share: Unnumber'd woes mankind from us sustain, And men with woes afflict the gods again. The mighty Mars in mortal fetters bound,(149) And lodged in brazen dungeons underground, Full thirteen moons imprison'd roar'd in vain; Otus and Ephialtes held the chain: Perhaps had perish'd had not Hermes' care Restored the groaning god to upper air. Great Juno's self has borne her weight of pain, The imperial partner of the heavenly reign; Amphitryon's son infix'd the deadly dart,(150) And fill'd with anguish her immortal heart. E'en hell's grim king Alcides' power confess'd, The shaft found entrance in his iron breast; To Jove's high palace for a cure he fled, Pierced in his own dominions of the dead; Where Paeon, sprinkling heavenly balm around, Assuage