From his knowledge of futurity, mankind are said to have received the
greatest benefits.
----------------"Blue Proteus dwells,
Great Neptune's prophet, who the ocean quells;
He in a glittering chariot courses o'er
The foaming waves, him all the nymphs adore,
Old Nereus too, because he all things knows,
The past, the present, and the future shows;
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So Neptune pleased who Proteus thus inspired,
And with such wages to his service hired,
Gave him the rule of all his briny flocks,
That feed among a thousand ragged rocks."
The changes which this deity was able to make in his appearance, caused the
name of Proteus to be synonimous with change. Thus
"The Proteus lover woos his playful bride,
To win the fair he tries a thousand forms,
Basks on the sands, or gambols in the storms.
A dolphin now, his scaly sides he laves;
And bears the sportive damsel on the waves;
She strikes the cymbals as he moves along,
And wondering Ocean listens to the song.
And now a spotted pard the lover stalks,
Plays round her steps, and guards her favoured walks;
As with white teeth he prints her hand, caressed,
And lays his velvet paw upon her breast,
O'er his round face her snowy fingers strain
The silken knots and fit the ribbon-rein.
And now a swan he spreads his plumy sails,
And proudly glides before the fanning gales;
Pleased on the flowery brink with graceful hand
She waves her floating lover to the land;
Bright shines his sinuous neck with crimson beak,
He prints fond kisses on her glowing cheek,
Spreads his broad wings, elates his ebon crest,
And clasps the beauty to his downy breast."