breast with clasps of gold, and then She passed about her waist a zone which bore Fringes an hundred-fold, and in her ears She hung her three-gemmed ear-rings, from whose gleam She won an added grace. Around her head The glorious goddess drew a flowing veil, Just from the loom, and shining like the sun; And, last, beneath her bright white feet she bound The shapely sandals. Gloriously arrayed In all her ornaments, she left her bower, And calling Venus to herself, apart From all the other gods, addressed her thus:—
“Wilt thou, dear child, comply with what I ask? Or, angered that I aid the Greeks, while thou Dost favor Troy, wilt thou deny my suit?”
And thus Jove’s daughter, Venus, made reply:— “O Juno, whom I reverence, speak thy thought, Daughter of mighty Saturn! For my heart Commands me to obey thy wish in all That I can do, and all that can be done.”
And thus imperial Juno, planning guile, Rejoined: “Give me the charm and the desire