Thrice Dido tried to raise her drooping head,
And, panting, thrice fell grovelling on the bed.
Thrice ope'd her heavy eyes, and saw the light,
But having found it, sickened at the sight,
And closed her lids at last in endless night."
Dryden.
ALLEGORICAL DIVINITIES.
The ancients, following the inspirations of an undisciplined imagination, deified alike Virtues, Vices, and Evil principles. These divinities, the number of whom was constantly increasing, had both altars and temples consecrated to them: and from this kind of god, poets, painters, and sculptors have taken ideas, and have blended the deity and the virtue in beautiful unison, giving to them new and delightful charms.