Hymn XVII: To Neptune

Hear, Neptune, ruler of the sea profound,
Whose liquid grasp begirds the solid ground ;
Who, at the bottom of the stormy main,
Dark and deep-bosom'd hold'st thy wat'ry reign.
Thy awful hand the brazen trident bears,
And Ocean's utmost bound thy will reveres.
Thee I invoke, whose steeds the foam divide,
From whose dark locks the briny waters glide ;
Whose voice, loud sounding thro' the roaring deep,
Drives all its billows in a raging heap ;
When fiercely riding thro' the boiling sea,
Thy hoarse command the trembling waves obey.
Earth-shaking, dark-hair'd God, the liquid plains
(The third division) Fate to thee ordains.
'Tis thine, cerulean demon, to survey,
Well-pleas'd, the monsters of the ocean play.
Confirm earth's basis, and with prosp'rous gales
Waft ships along, and swell the spacious sails ;
Add gentle Peace, and fair-hair'd Health beside,
And pour abundance in a blameless tide.