Orphic Hymn 69

To The Furies

THE FUMIGATION FROM AROMATICS. Vociferous Bacchanalian Furies hear! Ye I invoke, dread pow’rs, whom all revere; Nightly, profound, in secret who retire, Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megara dire: Deep in a cavern merg’d, involv’d in night, Near where Styx flows impervious to the sight. To mankind’s impious counsels ever nigh, Fateful, and fierce to punish these you fly. Revenge and sorrows dire to you belong, Hid in a savage vest, severe and strong. Terrific virgins, who for ever dwell, Endu’d with various forms, in deepest hell; Aerial, and unseen by human kind, And swiftly coursing, rapid as the mind. In vain the sun with wing’d effulgence bright, In vain the moon far darting milder light, Wisdom and virtue may attempt in vain, And pleasing art, our transport to obtain; Unless with these you readily conspire, And far avert your all-destructive ire. The boundless tribe of mortals you descry, And justly rule with Right’s impartial eye. Come, snaky-hair’d, Fates many-form’d, divine, Suppress your rage, and to our rites incline.