Its golden lances: by their gleams I see
Thy ship’s white sails. Go free if scorn can yield
Thee freedom! Then alone, my love and I,—
We both are royal: we know how to die.”
—Helen Hunt.
STORY.
MARRIAGE OF BACCHUS AND ARIADNE.
The island where Ariadne was left when deserted by Theseus was a favorite haunt of Bacchus, the young god of wine. In wandering over the rocks one day, he came across Ariadne as she sat lamenting her fate. Her distress appealed to him, and in consoling her he became charmed with her beauty. His devotion and admiration caused her to forget her faithless lover, and, after a short courtship, Bacchus won her for his wife.
The bridegroom presented the bride with a golden crown adorned with seven glittering gems. Shortly after the marriage, however, Ariadne sickened and died. The broken-hearted Bacchus took the crown and flung it into space, where, growing in brightness, it became a beautiful constellation known as Ariadne’s crown or corona.
“And still her sign is seen in heaven,
And, midst the glittering symbols of the sky,