when Boreas fiercely blows; So from the clouds descending Iris falls, And to blue Neptune thus the goddess calls: "Attend the mandate of the sire above! In me behold the messenger of Jove: He bids thee from forbidden wars repair To thine own deeps, or to the fields of air. This if refused, he bids thee timely weigh His elder birthright, and superior sway. How shall thy rashness stand the dire alarms If heaven's omnipotence descend in arms? Striv'st thou with him by whom all power is given? And art thou equal to the lord of heaven?" "What means the haughty sovereign of the skies? (The king of ocean thus, incensed, replies;) Rule as he will his portion'd realms on high; No vassal god, nor of his train, am I. Three brother deities from Saturn came, And ancient Rhea, earth's immortal dame: Assign'd by lot, our triple rule we know; Infernal Pluto sways the shades below; O'er the wide clouds, and o'er the starry plain, Ethereal Jove extends his high domain; My court beneath the hoary waves I keep, And hush the roarings of the sacred deep; Olympus, and this earth, in common lie: What claim has here the tyrant of the sky? Far in the distant clouds let him control, And awe the younger brothers of the pole; There to his children his commands be given, The trembling, servile, second race of heaven." "And must I then (said she), O sire of floods! Bear this fierce answer to the king of gods? Correct it yet, and change thy rash intent; A noble mind disdains not to repent. To elder brothers guardian fiends are given, To scourge the wretch insulting them and heaven." "Great is the profit (thus the god rejoin'd) When ministers are blest with prudent mind: Warn'd by thy words, to powerful Jove I yield, And quit, though angry, the contended field: Not but his threats with justice I disclaim, The same our honours, and our birth the same. If yet, forgetful of his promise given To Hermes, Pallas,