The Cloud-compeller, Jupiter, rejoined:⁠— “Hereafter, Juno, there will be a time For such a journey; meantime let us give This hour to rest and dalliance. Never yet Did love of goddess or of mortal maid Possess and overcome my heart as now; Not even when I loved Ixion’s dame, Who bore Pirithoüs, prudent as a god Among the counsellors; nor when I loved Acrisius’ daughter with the dainty feet, Danae, who brought forth Perseus, eminent Above the other warrior-chiefs; nor when I carried off from Phoenix the renowned His daughter, who bore Minos afterward, And Rhadamanthus. Never so I loved Semele, nor Alcmena who in Thebes Brought forth to me the great-souled Hercules, My valiant son, while Bacchus, the delight Of men, was born of Semele; nor yet So loved I Ceres, fair-haired queen, nor yet Latona, gloriously beautiful, Nor even thee, as now I love, and yield My spirit to the sweetness of desire.”