He vows revenge for guiltless blood,And, spite of Jove, his banks o'erflows,Uxorious flood.Yes, Fame shall tell of civic steelThat better Persian lives had spilt,To youths, whose minish'd numbers feelTheir parents' guilt.What god shall Rome invoke to stayHer fall? Can suppliance overbearThe ear of Vesta, turn'd awayFrom chant and prayer?Who comes, commission'd to atoneFor crime like ours? at length appear,A cloud round thy bright shoulders thrown,Apollo seer!Or Venus, laughter-loving dame,Round whom gay Loves and Pleasures fly;Or thou, if slighted sons may claimA parent's eye,O weary with thy long, long game,