s: Whilst, heaping unwash'd wealth, I distant roam,


s: The best of brothers, at his natal home,


s: Whence, with incessant grief my soul annoy'd,


s: These riches are possess'd, but not enjoy'd!


s: My wars, the copious theme of every tongue,


s: How favouring Heaven repaid my glorious toils


s: With a sack'd palace, and barbaric spoils.


s: To those brave warriors, who, with glory fired


s: Far from their country, in my cause expired!


s: Still in short intervals of pleasing woe.


s: My heart bleeds fresh with agonizing pain;


s: The bowl and tasteful viands tempt in vain;


s: Nor sleep's soft power can close my streaming eyes,


s: When imaged to my soul his sorrows rise.


s: No peril in my cause he ceased to prove,


s: Whether he wanders on some friendly coast,


s: Or glides in Stygian gloom a pensive ghost,


s: No fame reveals; but, doubtful of his doom,


s: His good old sire with sorrow to the tomb


s: Declines his trembling steps; untimely care


s: Withers the blooming vigour of his heir;


s: And the chaste partner of his bed and throne


s: Wastes all her widow'd hours in tender moan."


s: While thus pathetic to the prince he spoke,


s: From the brave youth the streaming passion broke;


s: Studious to veil the grief, in vain repress'd,


s: His face he shrouded with his purple vest.


s: The conscious monarch pierced the coy disguise,


s: And view'd his filial love with vast surprise:


s: Dubious to press the tender theme, or wait


s: To hear the youth inquire his father's fate.


s: In this suspense bright Helen graced the room;


s: Before her breathed a gale of rich perfume.


s: So moves, adorn'd with each attractive grace,


s: The silver shafted goddess of the chase!


s: With art illustrious, for the pomp of kings;


s: To spread the pall (beneath the regal chair)


s: Of softest wool, is bright Alcippe's care.


s: In her soft hands the beauteous Phylo brought;


s: To Sparta's queen of old the radiant vase


s: For Polybus her lord (whose sovereign sway


s: The wealthy tribes of Pharian Thebes obey),


s: When to that court Atrides came, caress'd


s: With vast munificence the imperial guest:


s: Two lavers from the richest ore refined,


s: With silver tripods, the kind host assign'd;


s: And bounteous from the royal treasure told


s: And that rich vase, with living sculpture wrought,


s: Which heap'd with wool the beauteous Phylo brought


s: The silken fleece, impurpled for the loom,


s: The sovereign seat then Jove born Helen press'd,


s: And pleasing thus her sceptred lord address'd:


s: "Who grace our palace now, that friendly pair,


s: Speak they their lineage, or their names declare?


s: Uncertain of the truth, yet uncontroll'd,


s: Hear me the bodings of my breast unfold.


s: With wonder wrapp'd on yonder check I trace


s: Diffused o'er each resembling line appear,


s: Who bless'd Ulysses with a father's joy,


s: What time the Greeks combined their social arms,


s: To avenge the stain of my ill-fated charms!"


s: "Just is thy thought, (the king assenting cries,)


s: Methinks Ulysses strikes my wondering eyes;


s: Full shines the father in the filial frame,


s: His port, his features, and his shape the same;


s: Such quick regards his sparkling eyes bestow;


s: Such wavy ringlets o'er his shoulders flow


s: And when he heard the long disastrous store


s: Of cares, which in my cause Ulysses bore;


s: Dismay'd, heart-wounded with paternal woes,


s: Above restraint the tide of sorrow rose;


s: Cautious to let the gushing grief appear,


s: His purple garment veil'd the falling tear."


s: "See there confess'd (Pisistratus replies)


s: Of that heroic sire the youth is sprung,


s: But modest awe hath chain'd his timorous tongue.


s: Thy voice, O king! with pleased attention heard,


s: With him, at Nestor's high command, I came,


s: Whose age I honour with a parent's name.


s: Whatever ill the friendless orphan bears,


s: Bereaved of parents in his infant years,


s: Still must the wrong'd Telemachus sustain,


s: If, hopeful of your aid, he hopes in vain;


s: The youth would vindicate the vacant throne."


s: "Is Sparta blest, and these desiring eyes


s: View my friend's son? (the king exalting cries;)


s: Son of my friend, by glorious toils approved,


s: Whose sword was sacred to the man he loved;


s: Mirror of constant faith, revered and mourn'd--


s: When Troy was ruin'd, had the chief return'd,


s: No Greek an equal space had ere possess'd,


s: Of dear affection, in my grateful breast.


s: I, to confirm the mutual joys we shared,


s: Argos, the seat of sovereign rule, I chose;


s: Fair in the plan the future palace rose,


s: Where my Ulysses and his race might reign,


s: And portion to his tribes the wide domain,


s: With teeming plenty to reward their toil.


s: There with commutual zeal we both had strove


s: Brothers in peace, not rivals in command,


s: And death alone dissolved the friendly band!


s: Some envious power the blissful scene destroys;


s: The soul of friendship to my hope is lost,


s: He ceased; a gush of grief began to rise:


s: Fast streams a tide from beauteous Helen's eyes;


s: Fast for the sire the filial sorrows flow;


s: The weeping monarch swells the mighty woe;


s: Thy cheeks, Pisistratus, the tears bedew,


s: While pictured so thy mind appear'd in view,


s: Thy martial brother; on the Phrygian plain


s: But silence soon the son of Nestor broke,


s: "Frequent, O king, was Nestor wont to raise


s: And charm attention with thy copious praise;


s: To crowd thy various gifts, the sage assign'd


s: Let not your roof with echoing grief resound,


s: Now for the feast the friendly bowl is crown'd;


s: But when, from dewy shade emerging bright,


s: Aurora streaks the sky with orient light,


s: Let each deplore his dead; the rites of woe


s: O'er the congenial dust enjoin'd to shear


s: The graceful curl, and drop the tender tear.


s: Then, mingling in the mournful pomp with you,


s: I'll pay my brother's ghost a warrior's due,


s: With strength and speed superior form'd, in fight


s: To face the foe, or intercept his flight;


s: Too early snatch'd by fate ere known to me!


s: I boast a witness of his worth in thee."


s: "Young and mature! (the monarch thus rejoins,)


s: In thee renew'd the soul of Nestor shines;


s: Form'd by the care of that consummate sage,


s: Whene'er his influence Jove vouchsafes to shower,


s: To bless the natal and the nuptial hour;


s: From the great sire transmissive to the race,


s: The boon devolving gives distinguish'd grace.


s: Such, happy Nestor! was thy glorious doom,


s: Around thee, full of years, thy offspring bloom.


s: The gifts of Heaven to guard thy hoary state.


s: But now let each becalm his troubled breast,


s: Wash, and partake serene the friendly feast.


s: Till heaven's revolving lamp restores the day."


s: He said, Asphalion swift the laver brings;


s: Alternate, all partake the grateful springs;


s: And with keen gust the savoury viands share.


s: Meantime, with genial joy to warm the soul,


s: Bright Helen mix'd a mirth inspiring bowl;


s: Temper'd with drugs of sovereign use, to assuage


s: To clear the cloudy front of wrinkled Care,


s: Charm'd with that virtuous draught, the exalted mind


s: Though on the blazing pile his parent lay.


s: Or a loved brother groan'd his life away.


s: Or darling son, oppress'd by ruffian force,


s: Fell breathless at his feet, a mangled corse;


s: The man entranced would view the dreadful scene


s: These drugs, so friendly to the joys of life.


s: Bright Helen learn'd from Thone's imperial wife;


s: Who sway'd the sceptre, where prolific Nile


s: With various simples clothes the fatten'd soil.


s: With wholesome herbage mix'd, the direful bane


s: From Paeon sprung, their patron-god imparts


s: To all the Pharian race his healing arts.


s: The beverage now prepared to inspire the feast,


s: The circle thus the beauteous queen addressed:


s: By the firm sanction of his sovereign will,


s: To feastful mirth be this white hour assign'd.


s: And sweet discourse, the banquet of the mind


s: Will tell Ulysses' bold exploit in Troy,


s: Speak you (who saw) his wonders in the war.


s: "Seam'd o'er with wounds, which his own sabre gave,


s: The foe deceived, he pass'd the tented plain,


s: In Troy to mingle with the hostile train.


s: In this attire secure from searching eyes,


s: Till happily piercing through the dark disguise,


s: The chief I challenged; he, whose practised wit


s: Eludes my search; but when his form I view'd


s: Fresh from the bath, with fragrant oils renew'd,


s: Each brightening grace the genuine Greek confess'd.


s: A previous pledge of sacred faith obtain'd,


s: Till he the lines and Argive fleet regain'd,


s: To keep his stay conceal'd; the chief declared


s: The plans of war against the town prepared.


s: Exploring then the secrets of the state,


s: He learn'd what best might urge the Dardan fate;


s: And, safe returning to the Grecian host,


s: Sent many a shade to Pluto's dreary coast.


s: Loud grief resounded through the towers of Troy,


s: But my pleased bosom glow'd with secret joy:


s: For then, with dire remorse and conscious shame


s: I view'd the effects of that disastrous flame.


s: Which, kindled by the imperious queen of love,


s: Constrain'd me from my native realm to rove:


s: For every gift of mind and manly grace."


s: "Right well (replied the king) your speech displays


s: The matchless merit of the chief you praise:


s: Heroes in various climes myself have found,


s: For martial deeds and depth of thought renown'd;


s: In battle calm he guides the rapid storm,


s: Wise to resolve, and patient to perform.


s: What wondrous conduct in the chief appear'd,


s: When the vast fabric of the steed we rear'd!


s: Some demon, anxious for the Trojan doom,


s: To explore the fraud; with guile opposed to guile.


s: Slow-pacing thrice around the insidious pile,


s: Each noted leader's name you thrice invoke,


s: Your accent varying as their spouses spoke!


s: The pleasing sounds each latent warrior warm'd,


s: But most Tydides' and coy heart alarm'd:


s: To quit the steed we both impatient press


s: Threatening to answer from the dark recess.


s: And the vain ardours of our love restrain'd;


s: Spoke loud the language of his yearning soul:


s: Ulysses straight, with indignation fired


s: (For so the common care of Greece required),


s: Firm to his lips his forceful hands applied,


s: Till on his tongue the fluttering murmurs died.


s: Meantime Minerva, from the fraudful horse,


s: Back to the court of Priam bent your course."


s: The leader mingling with the vulgar host,


s: But now let sleep the painful waste repair


s: He ceased; the menial fair that round her wait,


s: At Helen's beck prepare the room of state;


s: The downy fleece to form the slumberous bed;


s: And o'er soft palls of purple grain unfold


s: Rich tapestry, stiff with interwoven gold:


s: Then, through the illumined dome, to balmy rest


s: The obsequious herald guides each princely guest;


s: While to his regal bower the king ascends,


s: And beauteous Helen on her lord attends.


s: Soon as the morn, in orient purple dress'd,


s: Unbarr'd the portal of the roseate east,


s: The imperial mantle o'er his vest he threw;


s: The glittering zone athwart his shoulders cast,


s: Clasp'd on his feet the embroidered sandals shine;


s: And forth he moves, majestic and divine,


s: And thus benevolent his speech addressed:


s: "Say, royal youth, sincere of soul report


s: Whit cause hath led you to the Spartan court?


s: This toilsome voyage o'er the surgy main?"


s: (Replies the prince) inflamed with filial love,


s: And anxious hope, to hear my parent's doom,


s: Prime of the flock, and choicest of the stall:


s: For wild ambition wings their bold desire,


s: And all to mount the imperial bed aspire.


s: The mournful series of my father's fate:


s: Each known disaster of the man disclose,


s: To wound with storied grief the filial ear.


s: If Phrygian camps the friendly toils attest,


s: To the sire's merit give the son's request."


s: Deep from his inmost soul Atrides sigh'd,


s: And thus, indignant, to the prince replied:


s: So with her young, amid the woodland shades,


s: A timorous hind the lion's court invades,


s: Leaves in the fatal lair the tender fawns,


s: Climbs the green cliff, or feeds the flowery lawns:


s: Meantime return'd, with dire remorseless sway,


s: The monarch-savage rends the trembling prey.


s: O Jove supreme, whom gods and men revere!


s: And thou! to whom 'tis given to gild the sphere!


s: With power congenial join'd, propitious aid


s: Such to our wish the warrior soon restore,


s: And loud-acclaiming Greeks the victor bless'd;


s: Then soon the invaders of his bed and throne


s: Their love presumptuous shall with life atone.


s: The storied labour of thy father's friend:


s: Fruitful of deeds, the copious tale is long,


s: But truth severe shall dictate to my tongue:


s: Learn what I heard the sea-born seer relate,


s: Whose eye can pierce the dark recess of fate.


s: Heaven to my fleet refused a prosperous wind;


s: No vows had we preferr'd, nor victims slain!


s: For this the gods each favouring gale restrain


s: Jealous, to see their high behests obey'd;


s: Severe, if men the eternal rights evade.


s: Fronts the deep roar of disemboguing Nile:


s: Her distance from the shore, the course begun


s: At dawn, and ending with the setting sun,


s: A galley measures; when the stiffer gales


s: Rise on the poop, and fully stretch the sails.


s: There, anchor'd vessels safe in harbour lie,


s: Whilst limpid springs the failing cask supply.


s: "And now the twentieth sun, descending, laves


s: Still with expanded sails we court in vain


s: Propitious winds to waft us o'er the main;


s: His drooping vigour and exhausted stores.


s: When lo! a bright cerulean form appears,


s: Proteus her sire divine. With pity press'd,


s: Me sole the daughter of the deep address'd;


s: What time, with hunger pined, my absent mates


s: Roam the wide isle in search of rural cates,


s: Bait the barb'd steel, and from the fishy flood


s: Appease the afflictive fierce desire of food."


s: "'Whoe'er thou art (the azure goddess cries)


s: Thy conduct ill-deserves the praise of wise:


s: Is death thy choice, or misery thy boast,


s: That here inglorious, on a barren coast,


s: Thy brave associates droop, a meagre train,


s: With famine pale, and ask thy care in vain?'


s: "Struck with the loud reproach, I straight reply:


s: A goddess sure! for more than moral grace


s: Speaks thee descendant of ethereal race;


s: Deem not that here of choice my fleet remains;


s: Some heavenly power averse my stay constrains:


s: O, piteous of my fate, vouchsafe to show


s: (For what's sequester'd from celestial view?)


s: What power becalms the innavigable seas?


s: What guilt provokes him, and what vows appease?'


s: "I ceased, when affable the goddess cried:


s: 'Observe, and in the truths I speak confide;


s: The oracular seer frequents the Pharian coast,


s: From whose high bed my birth divine I boast;


s: Proteus, a name tremendous o'er the main,


s: Watch with insidious care his known abode;


s: There fast in chains constrain the various god;


s: Unerring will prescribe your destined course.


s: If, studious on your realms, you then demand


s: Their state, since last you left your natal land,


s: Instant the god obsequious will disclose


s: Bright tracts of glory or a cloud of woes.'


s: "She ceased; and suppliant thus I made reply:


s: What arts can captivate the changeful seer;


s: For perilous the assay, unheard the toil,


s: To elude the prescience of a god by guile.'


s: "Thus to the goddess mild my suit I end.


s: When through the zone of heaven the mounted sun


s: Hath journeyed half, and half remains to run;


s: The seer, while zephyrs curl the swelling deep,


s: Basks on the breezy shore, in grateful sleep,


s: The Phocas swift surround his rocky cave,


s: Frequent and full; the consecrated train


s: Of her, whose azure trident awes the main;


s: There wallowing warm, the enormous herd exhales


s: An oily steam, and taints the noontide gales.


s: To that recess, commodious for surprise,


s: When purple light shall next suffuse the skies,


s: With me repair; and from thy warrior-band


s: Three chosen chiefs of dauntless soul command;


s: Let their auxiliar force befriend the toil;


s: For strong the god, and perfected in guile.


s: Strech'd on the shelly shore, he first surveys


s: The flouncing herd ascending from the seas;


s: Their number summ'd, reposed in sleep profound


s: The scaly charge their guardian god surround;


s: So with his battening flocks the careful swain


s: Invade him, couch'd amid the scaly fold;


s: Or glides with liquid lapse a murmuring stream,


s: Or, wrapp'd in flame, he glows at every limb.


s: Yet, still retentive, with redoubled might,


s: Through each vain passive form constrain his flight


s: But when, his native shape renamed, he stands


s: Patient of conquest, and your cause demands;


s: The cause that urged the bold attempt declare,


s: And soothe the vanquish'd with a victor's prayer.


s: The bands releas'd, implore the seer to say


s: Who, straight propitious, in prophetic strain


s: Will teach you to repass the unmeasured main.


s: She ceased, and bounding from the shelfy shore,


s: Round the descending nymph the waves resounding roar.


s: "High wrapp'd in wonder of the future deed,


s: The wants of nature with repast suffice,


s: Till night with grateful shade involved the skies,


s: And shed ambrosial dews. Fast by the deep,


s: Our cares were lost. When o'er the eastern lawn,


s: In saffron robes, the daughter of the dawn


s: Then seek the place the sea-born nymph assign'd,


s: With three associates of undaunted mind.


s: Arrived, to form along the appointed strand


s: For each a bed, she scoops the hilly sand;


s: Then, from her azure cave the finny spoils


s: Of four vast Phocae takes, to veil her wiles;


s: Beneath the finny spoils extended prone,


s: Hard toil! the prophet's piercing eye to shun;


s: New from the corse, the scaly frauds diffuse


s: Unsavoury stench of oil, and brackish ooze;


s: But the bright sea-maid's gentle power implored,


s: With nectar'd drops the sickening sense restored.


s: "Thus till the sun had travell'd half the skies,


s: Ambush'd we lie, and wait the bold emprise;


s: When, thronging quick to bask in open air,


s: The flocks of ocean to the strand repair;


s: Couch'd on the sunny sand, the monsters sleep;


s: Then Proteus, mounting from the hoary deep,


s: Surveys his charge, unknowing of deceit;


s: (In order told, we make the sum complete.)


s: Pleased with the false review, secure he lies,


s: And leaden slumbers press his drooping eyes.


s: Rushing impetuous forth, we straight prepare


s: And shouting seize the god; our force to evade,


s: His various arts he soon resumes in aid;


s: Sudden our hands a spotted paid restrain;


s: Then, arm'd with tusks, and lightning in his eyes,


s: Here, from our strict embrace a stream he glides.


s: At last, sublime, his stately growth he rears


s: A tree, and well-dissembled foliage wears.


s: Vain efforts with superior power compress'd,


s: Me with reluctance thus the seer address'd;


s: 'Say, son of Atreus, say what god inspired


s: This daring fraud, and what the boon desired?'


s: I thus: 'O thou, whose certain eye foresees


s: The fix'd event of fate's remote decrees;


s: After long woes, and various toil endured,


s: Still on this desert isle my fleet is moor'd,


s: Unfriended of the gales.  All-knowing, say,


s: What vows repentant will the power appease,


s: To speed a prosperous voyage o'er the seas.'


s: "'To Jove (with stern regard the god replies)


s: And all the offended synod of the skies,


s: Thy guilt absolved, a prosperous voyage gain.


s: To the firm sanction of thy fate attend!


s: An exile thou, nor cheering face of friend,


s: Nor sight of natal shore, nor regal dome,


s: Shalt yet enjoy, but still art doom'd to roam.


s: Once more the Nile, who from the secret source


s: Of Jove's high seat descends with sweepy force,


s: Must view his billows white beneath thy oar,


s: And altars blaze along his sanguine shore.


s: Then will the gods with holy pomp adored,


s: "He ceased: heart wounded with afflictive pain,


s: (Doom'd to repeat the perils of the main,


s: A shelfy track and long!) 'O seer' I cry,


s: 'To the stern sanction of the offended sky


s: My prompt obedience bows. But deign to say


s: What fate propitious, or what dire dismay,


s: Sustain those peers, the relics of our host,


s: Whom I with Nestor on the Phrygian coast


s: Embracing left? Must I the warriors weep,


s: Whelm'd in the bottom of the monstrous deep?


s: The breathless heroes on their native shore?


s: "'Press not too far,' replied the god: 'but cease


s: To know what, known, will violate thy peace;


s: Too curious of their doom! with friendly woe


s: Thy breast will heave, and tears eternal flow.


s: Part live! the rest, a lamentable train!


s: Range the dark bounds of Pluto's dreary reign.


s: Two, foremost in the roll of Mars renown'd,


s: Whose arms with conquest in thy cause were crown'd,


s: Fell by disastrous fate: by tempests toss'd,


s: A third lives wretched on a distant coast.


s: "By Neptune rescued from Minerva's hate,


s: His ship o'erwhelm'd; but, frowning on the floods,


s: The power defrauding who vouchsafed to save.


s: This heard the raging ruler of the main;


s: His spear, indignant for such high disdain,


s: He launched; dividing with his forky mace


s: The rock rush'd seaward, with impetuous roar


s: Ingulf'd, and to the abyss the boaster bore.


s: "By Juno's guardian aid, the watery vast,


s: Secure of storms, your royal brother pass'd,


s: Till, coasting nigh the cape where Malen shrouds


s: Her spiry cliffs amid surrounding clouds,


s: A whirling gust tumultuous from the shore


s: Across the deep his labouring vessel bore.


s: In an ill-fated hour the coast he gain'd,


s: Where late in regal pomp Thyestes reigned;


s: But, when his hoary honours bow'd to fate,


s: The surges now subside, the tempest ends;


s: From his tall ship the king of men descends;


s: There fondly thinks the gods conclude his toil:


s: Far from his own domain salutes the soil;


s: With rapture oft the urge of Greece reviews,


s: And the dear turf with tears of joy bedews.


s: Him, thus exulting on the distant stand,


s: A spy distinguish'd from his airy stand;


s: To bribe whose vigilance, Aegysthus told


s: There watch'd this guardian of his guilty fear,


s: Till the twelfth moon had wheel'd her pale career;


s: And now, admonish'd by his eye, to court


s: With terror wing'd conveys the dread report.


s: Of deathful arts expert, his lord employs


s: The ministers of blood in dark surprise;


s: And twenty youths, in radiant mail incased,


s: Close ambush'd nigh the spacious hall he placed.


s: Vain shows of love to veil his felon hate!


s: To grace the victor's welcome from the wars,


s: Thoughtless of ill, accepts the fraudful feast.


s: The troop forth-issuing from the dark recess,


s: So, whilst he feeds luxurious in the stall,


s: The sovereign of the herd is doomed to fall,


s: The partners of his fame and toils at Troy,


s: Mix'd with the brave, the base invaders bleed;


s: Aegysthus sole survives to boast the deed."


s: He said: chill horrors shook my shivering soul,


s: Rack'd wish convulsive pangs in dust I roll;


s: And hate, in madness of extreme despair,


s: To view the sun, or breathe the vital air.


s: I stood restored and tears had ceased to flow,


s: 'Forget the brother, and resume the man.


s: To Fate's supreme dispose the dead resign,


s: That care be Fate's, a speedy passage thine


s: Still lives the wretch who wrought the death deplored,


s: But lives a victim for thy vengeful sword;


s: With him to share the sad funereal feast."


s: "He said: new thoughts my beating heart employ,


s: Fair hope revives; and eager I address'd


s: The prescient godhead to reveal the rest:


s: 'The doom decreed of those disastrous two


s: I've heard with pain, but oh! the tale pursue;


s: What third brave son of Mars the Fates constrain


s: Provoke new sorrows from these grateful eyes.'


s: "'That chief (rejoin'd the god) his race derives


s: From Ithaca, and wondrous woes survives;


s: Laertes' son: girt with circumfluous tides,


s: When streaming grief his faded cheek bedow'd.


s: But vain his prayer, his arts are vain, to move


s: The enamour'd goddess, or elude her love:


s: His vessel sunk, and dear companions lost,


s: But oh, beloved by Heaven! reserved to thee


s: Free from that law, beneath whose mortal sway


s: Matter is changed, and varying forms decay,


s: Elysium shall be thine: the blissful plains


s: Of utmost earth, where Rhadamanthus reigns.


s: Joys ever young, unmix'd with pain or fear,


s: Fill the wide circle of the eternal year:


s: Stern winter smiles on that auspicious clime:


s: The fields are florid with unfading prime;


s: From the bleak pole no winds inclement blow,


s: Mould the round hail, or flake the fleecy snow;


s: But from the breezy deep the blest inhale


s: The fragrant murmurs of the western gale.


s: This grace peculiar will the gods afford


s: To thee, the son of Jove, and beauteous Helen's lord.'


s: "He ceased, and plunging in the vast profound,


s: Beneath the god and whirling billows bound.


s: Then speeding back, involved in various thought,


s: My friends attending at the shore I sought,


s: Till night with silent shade invests the pole;


s: Then lose the cares of life in pleasing rest.


s: Soon as the morn reveals the roseate east,


s: With sails we wing the masts, our anchors weigh,


s: Unmoor the fleet, and rush into the sea.


s: Ranged on the banks, beneath our equal oars


s: White curl the waves, and the vex'd ocean roars


s: Then, steering backward from the Pharian isle,


s: We gain the stream of Jove-descended Nile;


s: There quit the ships, and on the destined shore


s: These rites to piety and grief discharged,


s: The friendly gods a springing gale enlarged;


s: The fleet swift tilting o'er the surges flew,


s: Till Grecian cliffs appear'd a blissful view!


s: "Thy patient ear hath heard me long relate


s: And now, young prince, indulge my fond request;


s: Be Sparta honoured with his royal guest,


s: Till, from his eastern goal, the joyous sun


s: Meantime my train the friendly gifts prepare,


s: The sprightly coursers and a polish'd car;


s: (Form'd for libation to the gods), shall prove


s: "My quick return (young Ithacus rejoin'd),


s: Damps the warm wishes of my raptured mind;


s: Did not my fate my needful haste constrain,


s: Charm'd by your speech so graceful and humane,


s: Lost in delight the circling year would roll,


s: While deep attention fix'd my listening soul.


s: My loved associates chide my long delay:


s: In dear remembrance of your royal grace,


s: I take the present of the promised vase;


s: The coursers, for the champaign sports retain;


s: That gift our barren rocks will render vain:


s: Horrid with cliffs, our meagre land allows


s: Thin herbage for the mountain goat to browse,


s: But neither mead nor plain supplies, to feed


s: The sprightly courser, or indulge his speed:


s: To sea-surrounded realms the gods assign


s: Small tract of fertile lawn, the least to mine."


s: His hand the king with tender passion press'd,


s: And, smiling, thus the royal youth address'd:


s: "O early worth! a soul so wise, and young,


s: Proclaims you from the sage Ulysses sprung.


s: Selected from my stores, of matchless price,


s: An urn shall recompense your prudent choice;


s: By Vulcan's art, the verge with gold enchased.


s: A pledge the sceptred power of Sidon gave,


s: When to his realm I plough'd the orient wave."


s: Thus they alternate; while, with artful care,


s: The menial train the regal feast prepare.


s: The firstlings of the flock are doom'd to die:


s: Rich fragrant wines the cheering bowl supply;


s: And the gilt roofs with genial triumph ring.


s: In active games divide their jovial hours;


s: Some whirl the disk, and some the javelin dart,


s: Aside, sequester'd from the vast resort,


s: With great Eurymachus, of worth confess'd,


s: Whom young Noemon lowly thus address'd:--


s: "My ship, equipp'd within the neighboring port,


s: The prince, departing for the Pylian court,


s: Requested for his speed; but, courteous, say


s: When steers he home, or why this long delay?


s: For Elis I should sail with utmost speed.


s: To import twelve mares which there luxurious feed,


s: And twelve young mules, a strong laborious race,


s: New to the plow, unpractised in the trace."


s: Unknowing of the course to Pyle design'd,


s: The prince in rural bower they fondly thought,


s: Numbering his flocks and herds, not far remote.


s: "Relate (Antinous cries), devoid of guile,


s: When spread the prince his sale for distant Pyle?


s: Spontaneous did you speed his secret course,


s: Or was the vessel seized by fraud or force?"


s: (Noemon cried), the vessel was resign'd,


s: Who, in the balance, with the great affairs


s: Of courts presume to weigh their private cares?


s: With him, the peerage next in power to you;


s: Safe from the secret rock and adverse storm,


s: Pilot's the course; for when the glimmering ray


s: Of yester dawn disclosed the tender day,


s: Mentor himself I saw, and much admired,"


s: Then ceased the youth, and from the court retired.


s: Confounded and appall'd, the unfinish'd game


s: The suitors quit, and all to council came.


s: Antinous first the assembled peers address'd.


s: Rage sparkling in his eyes, and burning in his breast


s: "O shame to manhood! shall one daring boy


s: The scheme of all our happiness destroy?


s: Fly unperceived, seducing half the flower


s: The ponderous engine raised to crush us all,


s: Instant prepare me, on the neighbouring strand,


s: With twenty chosen mates a vessel mann'd;


s: For ambush'd close beneath the Samian shore


s: His ship returning shall my spies explore;


s: He soon his rashness shall with life atone,


s: Seek for his father's fate, but find his own."


s: With vast applause the sentence all approve;


s: Then rise, and to the feastful hall remove;


s: Swift to the queen the herald Medon ran,


s: Who heard the consult of the dire divan:


s: Before her dome the royal matron stands,


s: And thus the message of his haste demands;


s: "What will the suitors? must my servant-train


s: The allotted labours of the day refrain,


s: Heaven grant this festival may prove their last!


s: Or, if they still must live, from me remove


s: In the young soul illustrious thought to raise,


s: Were ye not tutor'd with Ulysses' praise?


s: Have not your fathers oft my lord defined,


s: Or in their tyrant-minions vest the power;


s: His stores ye ravage, and usurp his state."


s: He thus: "O were the woes you speak the worst!


s: They form a deed more odious and accursed;


s: More dreadful than your boding soul divines;


s: But pitying Jove avert the dire designs!


s: Is marked to perish in a deathful snare;


s: From Pyle re-sailing and the Spartan court;


s: Sudden she sunk beneath the weighty woes,


s: The vital streams a chilling horror froze;


s: The big round tear stands trembling in her eye,


s: And on her tongue imperfect accents die.


s: With sighs, she thus expressed her anxious love;


s: "Why rarely would my son his fate explore,


s: Ride the wild waves, and quit the safer shore?


s: Did he with all the greatly wretched, crave


s: "Tis not (replied the sage) to Medon given


s: In his young breast the daring thought inspired


s: The winds end waves he tempts in early bloom,


s: Studious to learn his absent father's doom."


s: The mighty griefs that swell her labouring soul


s: The piteous object of a prostrate queen.


s: And breath, to waste in unavailing cries.


s: Around their sovereign wept the menial fair,


s: To whom she thus address'd her deep despair:


s: "Behold a wretch whom all the gods consign


s: Long to my joys my dearest lord is lost,


s: His country's buckler, and the Grecian boast;


s: Now from my fond embrace, by tempests torn,


s: Nor took a kind adieu, nor sought consent!--


s: Ill suits it with your shows of duteous zeal,


s: Though at the solemn midnight hour he rose,


s: Or seen his mother pierced with grief expire.


s: Bid Dolius quick attend, the faithful slave


s: To tend the fruit groves: with incessant speed


s: Convene the tribes the murderous plot reveal,


s: And to their power to save his race appeal."


s: Though to the sword I bow this hoary head,


s: I own me conscious of the unpleasing deed;


s: Auxiliar to his flight, my aid implored,


s: With wine and viands I the vessel stored;


s: A solemn oath, imposed, the secret seal'd,


s: Till the twelfth dawn the light of day reveal'd.


s: Dreading the effect of a fond mother's fear,


s: But bathe, and, in imperial robes array'd,


s: Tis impious to surmise the powers divine


s: Long shall the race of just Arcesius reign,


s: And isles remote enlarge his old domain."


s: The queen her speech with calm attention hears,


s: Her eyes restrain the silver-streaming tears:


s: She bathes, and robed, the sacred dome ascends;


s: And thus the queen invokes Minerva's aid;


s: "Daughter divine of Jove, whose arm can wield


s: The avenging bolt, and shake the dreadful shield


s: The best and choicest of his flock and herd;


s: Hear, goddess, hear, by those oblations won;


s: And for the pious sire preserve the son;


s: His wish'd return with happy power befriend,


s: And on the suitors let thy wrath descend."


s: She ceased; shrill ecstasies of joy declare


s: The favouring goddess present to the prayer;


s: The suitors heard, and deem'd the mirthful voice


s: Whilst one most jovial thus accosts the board:


s: "Too late the queen selects a second lord;


s: When o'er her son disastrous death impends."


s: Thus he, unskill'd of what the fates provide!


s: "These empty vaunts will make the voyage vain:


s: Alarm not with discourse the menial train:


s: The great event with silent hope attend,


s: Our deeds alone our counsel must commend."


s: His speech thus ended short, he frowning rose,


s: And twenty chiefs renowned for valour chose;


s: Down to the strand he speeds with haughty strides,


s: Where anchor'd in the bay the vessel rides,


s: In all her tackle trim to quit the shore.


s: The desperate crew ascend, unfurl the sails


s: Then take repast till Hesperus display'd


s: His golden circlet, in the western shade.


s: Meantime the queen, without reflection due,


s: Heart-wounded, to the bed of state withdrew:


s: In her sad breast the prince's fortunes roll,


s: And hope and doubt alternate seize her soul.


s: So when the woodman's toil her cave surrounds,


s: And with the hunter's cry the grove resounds,


s: With grief and rage the mother-lion stung.


s: Fearless herself, yet trembles for her young


s: While pensive in the silent slumberous shade,


s: Sleep's gentle powers her drooping eyes invade;


s: Impress'd the form of Iphthima the fair;


s: (Icarius' daughter she, whose blooming charms


s: A sceptred lord, who o'er the fruitful plain


s: Of Thessaly wide stretched his ample reign:)


s: As Pallas will'd, along the sable skies,


s: To calm the queen, the phantom sister flies.


s: Swift on the regal dome, descending right,


s: The bolted valves are pervious to her flight.


s: Close to her head the pleasing vision stands,


s: And thus performs Minerva's high commands


s: To render sleep's soft blessing unsincere?


s: The day-reflection, and the midnight-dream!


s: Thy son the gods propitious will restore,


s: And bid thee cease his absence to deplore."


s: To whom the queen (whilst yet in pensive mind


s: Was in the silent gates of sleep confined):


s: Why this first visit to reprove my fear?


s: How in a realm so distant should you know


s: From what deep source ceaseless sorrows flow?


s: His country's buckler, and the Grecian boast;


s: And with consummate woe to weigh me down,


s: The heir of all his honours and his crown,


s: To the fierce storms, or men more fierce than they;


s: Who, in a league of blood associates sworn,


s: Will intercept the unwary youth's return."


s: "Courage resume (the shadowy form replied);


s: In the protecting care of Heaven confide;


s: On him attends the blue eyed martial maid:


s: Me now the guardian goddess deigns to send,


s: The queen replies: "If in the blest abodes,


s: A goddess, thou hast commerce with the gods;


s: Say, breathes my lord the blissful realm of light,


s: Or lies he wrapp'd in ever-during night?"


s: "Inquire not of his doom, (the phantom cries,)


s: I speak not all the counsel of the skies;


s: Nor must indulge with vain discourse, or long,


s: Swift through the valves the visionary fair


s: Repass'd, and viewless mix'd with common air.


s: The queen awakes, deliver'd of her woes;


s: With florid joy her heart dilating glows:


s: Makes her with hope her son's arrival wait.


s: Meantime the suitors plough the watery plain,


s: Their sail directed for the Samian coast


s: A small but verdant isle appear'd in view,


s: To break the rolling waves and ruffling storm:


s: That safe recess they gain with happy speed,


s: And in close ambush wait the murderous deed.


s: Pallas in a council of the gods complains of the detention of


s: Ulysses in the Island of Calypso: whereupon Mercury is sent to


s: command his removal. The seat of Calypso described. She consents


s: with much difficulty; and Ulysses builds a vessel with his own


s: hands, in which he embarks. Neptune overtakes him with a terrible


s: death; till Lencothea, a sea-goddess, assists him, and, after


s: innumerable perils, he gets ashore on Phaeacia.


s: The saffron morn, with early blushes spread,


s: With new-born day to gladden mortal sight,


s: And gild the courts of heaven with sacred light.


s: Before the god, who thunders from on high,


s: Pallas, to these, deplores the unequal fates


s: Her hero's danger touch'd the pitying power,


s: The nymph's seducements, and the magic bower.


s: Thus she began her plaint:  "Immortal Jove!


s: And you who fill the blissful seats above!


s: Let kings no more with gentle mercy sway,


s: And every monarch be the scourge of God.


s: If from your thoughts Ulysses you remove,


s: Who ruled his subjects with a father's love,


s: Abandon'd, banish'd from his native reign,


s: Unbless'd he sighs, detained by lawless charms,


s: And press'd unwilling in Calypso's arms.


s: Nor friends are there, nor vessels to convey,


s: And now fierce traitors, studious to destroy


s: His only son, their ambush'd fraud employ;


s: Who, pious, following his great father's fame,


s: "What words are these? (replied the power who forms


s: The clouds of night, and darkens heaven with storms;)


s: The chief's return shall make the guilty bleed?


s: What cannot Wisdom do? Thou may'st restore


s: While the fell foes, who late in ambush lay,


s: With fraud defeated measure back their way."


s: Then thus to Hermes the command was given:


s: "Hermes, thou chosen messenger of heaven!


s: Go, to the nymph be these our orders borne


s: 'Tis Jove's decree, Ulysses shall return:


s: The patient man shall view his old abodes,


s: Nor helped by mortal hand, nor guiding gods


s: In twice ten days shall fertile Scheria find,


s: Alone, and floating to the wave and wind.


s: The bold Phaecians there, whose haughty line


s: Is mixed with gods, half human, half divine,


s: The chief shall honour as some heavenly guest,


s: And swift transport him to his place of rest,


s: His vessels loaded with a plenteous store


s: Of brass, of vestures, and resplendent ore


s: Received him charged with Ilion's noble spoil),


s: His friends, his country, he shall see, though late:


s: Such is our sovereign will, and such is fate."


s: He spoke. The god who mounts the winged winds


s: Fast to his feet the golden pinions binds,


s: That high through fields of air his flight sustain


s: O'er the wide earth, and o'er the boundless main:


s: He grasps the wand that causes sleep to fly,


s: Or in soft slumber seals the wakeful eye;


s: Then shoots from heaven to high Pieria's steep,


s: And stoops incumbent on the rolling deep.


s: So watery fowl, that seek their fishy food,


s: With wings expanded o'er the foaming flood,


s: Now sailing smooth the level surface sweep,


s: Now dip their pinions in the briny deep;


s: Thus o'er the word of waters Hermes flew,


s: Till now the distant island rose in view:


s: Then, swift ascending from the azure wave,


s: he took the path that winded to the cave.


s: Large was the grot, in which the nymph he found


s: (The fair-hair'd nymph with every beauty crown'd).


s: The cave was brighten'd with a rising blaze;


s: Cedar and frankincense, an odorous pile,


s: Flamed on the hearth, and wide perfumed the isle;


s: While she with work and song the time divides,


s: And through the loom the golden shuttle guides.


s: Appear'd around, and groves of living green;


s: Poplars and alders ever quivering play'd,


s: And nodding cypress form'd a fragrant shade:


s: On whose high branches, waving with the storm,


s: The birds of broadest wing their mansions form,--


s: The chough, the sea-mew, the loquacious crow,--


s: and scream aloft, and skim the deeps below.


s: Depending vines the shelving cavern screen.


s: With purple clusters blushing through the green.


s: Four limped fountains from the clefts distil:


s: And every fountain pours a several rill,


s: In mazy windings wandering down the hill:


s: Where bloomy meads with vivid greens were crown'd,


s: A scene, where, if a god should cast his sight,


s: A god might gaze, and wander with delight!


s: Joy touch'd the messenger of heaven: he stay'd


s: Entranced, and all the blissful haunts surveyed.


s: Him, entering in the cave, Calypso knew;


s: For powers celestial to each other's view


s: Stand still confess'd, though distant far they lie


s: Pour'd the big sorrows of his swelling heard;


s: All on the lonely shore he sate to weep,


s: And roll'd his eyes around the restless deep:


s: Toward his loved coast he roll'd his eyes in vain,


s: Till, dimm'd with rising grief, they stream'd again.


s: Now graceful seated on her shining throne,


s: Arrivest thou here, an unexpected guest?


s: Loved as thou art, thy free injunctions lay;


s: Approach, and taste the dainties of my bower."


s: Thus having spoke, the nymph the table spread


s: (Ambrosial cates, with nectar rosy-red);


s: Divine refection! then, recruited, spoke:


s: "What moves this journey from my native sky,


s: Hear then the truth. By mighty Jove's command


s: Unwilling have I trod this pleasing land:


s: For who, self-moved, with weary wing would sweep


s: Such length of ocean and unmeasured deep;


s: A world of waters! far from all the ways


s: Where men frequent, or sacred altars blaze!


s: But to Jove's will submission we must pay;


s: A man, he says, a man resides with thee,


s: The Greeks, (whose arms for nine long year employ'd


s: Their force on Ilion, in the tenth destroy'd,)


s: At length, embarking in a luckless hour,


s: With conquest proud, incensed Minerva's power:


s: Hence on the guilty race her vengeance hurl'd,


s: With storms pursued them through the liquid world.


s: There all his vessels sunk beneath the wave!


s: There all his dear companions found their grave!


s: Saved from the jaws of death by Heaven's decree,


s: The tempest drove him to these shores and thee.


s: Him, Jove now orders to his native lands


s: Straight to dismiss: so destiny commands:


s: And calls him to his country, and his friends."


s: E'en to her inmost soul the goddess shook;


s: Then thus her anguish, and her passion broke:


s: "Ungracious gods! with spite and envy cursed!


s: Still to your own ethereal race the worst!


s: And love, the only sweet of life destroy,


s: A favour'd mortal, and not feel your rage?


s: Her joys disturbed your blissful hours above,


s: Had pierced the hapless hunter to the heart,


s: So when the covert of the thrice-eared field


s: Scarce could Iasion taste her heavenly charms,


s: But Jove's swift lightning scorched him in her arms.


s: And is it now my turn, ye mighty powers!


s: A man, an outcast to the storm and wave,


s: When he who thunders rent his bark in twain,


s: And sunk his brave companions in the main,


s: The sport of winds, and driven from every coast,


s: Received the friendless, and the hungry fed;


s: Nay promised (vainly promised) to bestow


s: 'Tis past-and Jove decrees he shall remove;


s: Gods as we are, we are but slaves to Jove.


s: Try all those dangers, all those deeps, again);


s: To toils like these her husband and her friend.


s: What ships have I, what sailors to convey,


s: What oars to cut the long laborious way?


s: To her the power who hears the charming rod;


s: Prevent the rage of him who reigns above,


s: For what so dreadful as the wrath of Jove?"


s: Thus having said, he cut the cleaving sky,


s: Him pensive on the lonely beach she found,


s: With streaming eyes in briny torrents drown'd,


s: For now the soft enchantress pleased no more;


s: For now, reluctant, and constrained by charms,


s: On rocks and shores consumed the tedious day;


s: There sate all desolate, and sighed alone,


s: With echoing sorrows made the mountains groan.


s: And roll'd his eyes o'er all the restless main,


s: Till, dimmed with  rising grief, they streamed again.


s: Here, on his musing mood the goddess press'd,


s: Approaching soft, and thus the chief address'd:


s: Free as the winds I give thee now to rove:


s: And form a raft, and build the rising ship,


s: Sublime to bear thee o'er the gloomy deep.


s: To store the vessel let the care be mine,


s: And life-sustaining bread, and fair array,


s: And prosperous gales to waft thee on the way.


s: These, if the gods with my desire comply


s: (The gods, alas, more mighty far than I,


s: And better skill'd in dark events to come),


s: In peace shall land thee at thy native home."


s: With sighs Ulysses heard the words she spoke,


s: "Some other motive, goddess! sways thy mind


s: (Some close design, or turn of womankind),


s: Nor my return the end, nor this the way,


s: On a slight raft to pass the swelling sea,


s: Huge, horrid, vast! where scarce in safety sails


s: The best-built ship, though Jove inspires the gales.


s: Swear, then, thou mean'st not what my soul forebodes;


s: Swear by the solemn oath that binds the gods."


s: Him, while he spoke, with smiles Calypso eyed,


s: And gently grasp'd his hand, and thus replied:


s: "This shows thee, friend, by old experience taught,


s: And learn'd in all the wiles of human thought,


s: How prone to doubt, how cautious, are the wise!


s: But hear, O earth, and hear, ye sacred skies!


s: And thou, O Styx! whose formidable floods


s: Glide through the shades, and bind the attesting gods!


s: Lurks in the counsel of thy faithful friend;


s: Kind the persuasion, and sincere my aim;


s: The same my practice, were my fate the same.


s: Heaven has not cursed me with a heart of steel,


s: But given the sense to pity, and to feel."


s: Thus having said, the goddess marched before:


s: He trod her footsteps in the sandy shore.


s: At the cool cave arrived, they took their state;


s: He filled the throne where Mercury had sate.


s: For him the nymph a rich repast ordains,


s: Such as the mortal life of man sustains;


s: Before herself were placed the the cates divine,


s: Their hunger satiate, and their thirst repress'd,


s: Thus spoke Calypso to her godlike guest:


s: O sprung from gods! in wisdom more than man!


s: Is then thy home the passion of thy heart?


s: Thus wilt thou leave me, are we thus to part?


s: Farewell! and ever joyful mayst thou be,


s: Nor break the transport with one thought of me.


s: But ah, Ulysses! wert thou given to know


s: What Fate yet dooms these still to undergo,


s: Thy heart might settle in this scene of ease.


s: And e'en these slighted charms might learn to please.


s: Might banish from thy mind an absent wife.


s: Less soft my feature less august my frame?


s: Or shall the daughters of mankind compare


s: Their earth born beauties with the heavenly fair?"


s: "Alas! for this (the prudent man replies)


s: Loved and adored, O goddess as thou art,


s: The dear, though mortal, object of my love,


s: Of youth eternal well the difference know,


s: And the short date of fading charms below;


s: Yet every day, while absent thus I roam,


s: Whate'er the gods shall destine me to bear;


s: 'Tis mine to master with a constant mind;


s: Inured to perils, to the worst resign'd,


s: Still I can suffer; their high will he done!"


s: Thus while he spoke, the beamy sun descends,


s: And rising night her friendly shade extends,


s: To the close grot the lonely pair remove,


s: And slept delighted with the gifts of love.


s: When rose morning call'd them from their rest,


s: Ulysses robed him in the cloak and vest.


s: The nymph's fair head a veil transparent graced,


s: Her swelling loins a radiant zone embraced


s: With flowers of gold; an under robe, unbound,


s: In snowy waves flow'd glittering on the ground.


s: Forth issuing thus, she gave him first to wield


s: A weighty axe with truest temper steeled,


s: And double-edged; the handle smooth and plain,


s: Wrought of the clouded olive's easy grain;


s: And next, a wedge to drive with sweepy sway


s: Then to the neighboring forest led the way.


s: On the lone island's utmost verge there stood


s: Of poplars, pine, and firs, a lofty wood,


s: Whose leafless summits to the skies aspire,


s: Scorch'd by the sun, or seared by heavenly fire


s: (Already dried).  These pointing out to view,


s: The nymph just show'd him, and with tears withdrew.


s: Now toils the hero: trees on trees o'erthrown


s: Fall crackling round him, and the forests groan:


s: Sudden, full twenty on the plain are strow'd,


s: And lopp'd and lighten'd of their branchy load.


s: He smooth'd and squared them by the rule and line,


s: (The wimbles for the work Calypso found)


s: With those he pierced them and with clinchers bound.


s: Long and capacious as a shipwright forms


s: Some bark's broad bottom to out-ride the storms,


s: So large he built the raft; then ribb'd it strong


s: From space to space, and nail'd the planks along;


s: These form'd the sides: the deck he fashion'd last;


s: Then o'er the vessel raised the taper mast,


s: With crossing sail-yards dancing in the wind;


s: And to the helm the guiding rudder join'd


s: (With yielding osiers fenced, to break the force


s: Of surging waves, and steer the steady course).


s: Supplied the cloth, capacious of the gales.


s: With stays and cordage last he rigged the ship,


s: And, roll'd on levers, launch'd her in the deep.


s: Four days were pass'd, and now the work complete,


s: Shone the fifth morn, when from her sacred seat


s: The nymph dismiss'd him (odorous garments given),


s: And bathed in fragrant oils that breathed of heaven:


s: Then fill'd two goatskins with her hands divine,


s: With water one, and one with sable wine:


s: Of every kind, provisions heaved aboard;


s: And the full decks with copious viands stored.


s: The goddess, last, a gentle breeze supplies,


s: To curl old Ocean, and to warm the skies.


s: And now, rejoicing in the prosperous gales,


s: With beating heart Ulysses spreads his sails;


s: Placed at the helm he sate, and mark'd the skies,


s: Nor closed in sleep his ever-watchful eyes.


s: There view'd the Pleiads, and the Northern Team,


s: The Bear, revolving, points his golden eye:


s: Who shines exalted on the ethereal plain,


s: Nor bathes his blazing forehead in the main.


s: Far on the left those radiant fires to keep


s: The nymph directed, as he sail'd the deep.


s: Full seventeen nights he cut the foaming way:


s: The distant land appear'd the following day:


s: Then swell'd to sight Phaeacia's dusky coast,


s: And woody mountains, half in vapours lost;


s: That lay before him indistinct and vast,


s: Like a broad shield amid the watery waste.


s: The king of ocean saw, and seeing burn'd


s: (From AEthiopia's happy climes return'd);


s: The raging monarch shook his azure head,


s: "Heavens! how uncertain are the powers on high!


s: Is then reversed the sentence of the sky,


s: In one man's favour; while a distant guest


s: Behold how near Phoenecia's land he draws;


s: To end his toils. Is then our anger vain?


s: No; if this sceptre yet commands the main."


s: He spoke, and high the forky trident hurl'd,


s: Rolls clouds on clouds, and stirs the watery world,


s: At once the face of earth and sea deforms,


s: Swells all the winds, and rouses all the storms.


s: Down rushed the night: east, west, together roar;


s: And south and north roll mountains to the shore.


s: Then shook the hero, to despair resign'd,


s: And question'd thus his yet unconquer'd mind;


s: "Wretch that I am! what farther fates attend


s: This life of toils, and what my destined end?


s: On the black sea what perils should ensue.


s: New horrors now this destined head inclose;


s: With what a cloud the brows of heaven are crown'd;


s: What raging winds! what roaring waters round!


s: 'Tis Jove himself the swelling tempest rears;


s: Death, present death, on every side appears.


s: Happy! thrice happy! who, in battle slain,


s: Press'd in Atrides' cause the Trojan plain!


s: Oh! had I died before that well-fought wall!


s: Had some distinguish'd day renown'd my fall


s: (Such as was that when showers of javelins fled


s: From conquering Troy around Achilles dead),


s: All Greece had paid me solemn funerals then,


s: And spread my glory with the sons of men.


s: A shameful fate now hides my hapless head,


s: A mighty wave rush'd o'er him as he spoke,


s: The raft is cover'd, and the mast is broke;


s: Swept from the deck and from the rudder torn,


s: Far on the swelling surge the chief was borne;


s: While by the howling tempest rent in twain


s: Flew sail and sail-yards rattling o'er the main.


s: Long-press'd, he heaved beneath the weighty wave,


s: Clogg'd by the cumbrous vest Calypso gave;


s: At length, emerging, from his nostrils wide


s: And gushing mouth effused the briny tide;


s: E'en then not mindless of his last retreat,


s: He seized the raft, and leap'd into his seat,


s: Strong with the fear of death.  In rolling flood,


s: Now here, now there, impell'd the floating wood


s: As when a heap of gather'd thorns is cast,


s: Now to, now fro, before the autumnal blast;


s: Together clung, it rolls around the field;


s: So roll'd the float, and so its texture held:


s: And now the south, and now the north, bear sway,


s: And now the west wind whirls it o'er the sea.


s: The wandering chief with toils on toils oppress'd,


s: Leucothea saw, and pity touch'd her breast.


s: (Herself a mortal once, of Cadmus' strain,


s: Swift as a sea-mew springing from the flood,


s: All radiant on the raft the goddess stood;


s: Then thus address'd him: "Thou whom heaven decrees


s: To Neptune's wrath, stern tyrant of the seas!


s: (Unequal contest!) not his rage and power,


s: Great as he is, such virtue shall devour.


s: What I suggest, thy wisdom will perform:


s: Forsake thy float, and leave it to the storm;


s: Strip off thy garments; Neptune's fury brave


s: With naked strength, and plunge into the wave.


s: To reach Phaeacia all thy nerves extend,


s: There Fate decrees thy miseries shall end.


s: This heavenly scarf beneath thy bosom bind,


s: And live; give all thy terrors to the wind.


s: Soon as thy arms the happy shore shall gain,


s: Return the gift, and cast it in the main:


s: Cast it far off, and turn thy eyes away."


s: With that, her hand the sacred veil bestows,


s: Then down the deeps she dived from whence she rose;


s: A moment snatch'd the shining form away,


s: And all was covered with the curling sea.


s: Struck with amaze, yet still to doubt inclined,


s: He stands suspended, and explores his mind:


s: Whoe'er thou art, I shall not blindly join


s: Thy pleaded reason, but consult with mine:


s: For scarce in ken appears that distant isle


s: Thy voice foretells me shall conclude my toil.


s: Thus then I judge: while yet the planks sustain


s: The wild waves' fury, here I fix'd remain:


s: But, when their texture to the tempest yields,


s: I launch adventurous on the liquid fields,


s: Join to the help of gods the strength of man,


s: And take this method, since the best I can."


s: While thus his thoughts an anxious council hold,


s: The raging god a watery mountain roll'd;


s: Like a black sheet the whelming billows spread,


s: Burst o'er the float, and thunder'd on his head.


s: Planks, beams, disparted fly; the scatter'd wood


s: Rolls diverse, and in fragments strews the flood.


s: So the rude Boreas, o'er the field new-shorn,


s: Tosses and drives the scatter'd heaps of corn.


s: And now a single beam the chief bestrides:


s: There poised a while above the bounding tides,


s: His limbs discumbers of the clinging vest,


s: And binds the sacred cincture round his breast:


s: Stretch'd wide his eager arms, and shot the seas along.


s: Stern Neptune eyed him, and contemptuous said:


s: "Go, learn'd in woes, and other foes essay!


s: Thus, thus find out the destined shore, and then


s: (If Jove ordains it) mix with happier men.


s: Whate'er thy fate, the ills our wrath could raise


s: Shall last remember'd in thy best of days."


s: This said, his sea-green steeds divide the foam,


s: And reach high Aegae and the towery dome.


s: Now, scarce withdrawn the fierce earth-shaking power,


s: Jove's daughter Pallas watch'd the favouring hour.


s: Back to their caves she bade the winds to fly;


s: And hush'd the blustering brethren of the sky.


s: With gentle force impelling to that shore,


s: Where fate has destined he shall toil no more.


s: And now, two nights, and now two days were pass'd,


s: Since wide he wander'd on the watery waste;


s: Heaved on the surge with intermitting breath,


s: And hourly panting in the arms of death.


s: The third fair morn now blazed upon the main;


s: Then glassy smooth lay all the liquid plain;


s: The winds were hush'd, the billows scarcely curl'd,


s: And a dead silence still'd the watery world;


s: The land at distance, and with sharpen'd eyes.


s: When a loved sire revives before their sight


s: (Who, lingering along, has call'd on death in vain,


s: Till heaven by miracle his life restore);


s: And sees (and labours onward as he sees)


s: The rising forests, and the tufted trees.


s: And now, as near approaching as the sound


s: Of human voice the listening ear may wound,


s: Of murmuring surges breaking on the shore;


s: Nor peaceful port was there, nor winding bay,


s: To shield the vessel from the rolling sea,


s: But cliffs and shaggy shores, a dreadful sight!


s: All rough with rocks, with foamy billows white.


s: Fear seized his slacken'd limbs and beating heart,


s: As thus he communed with his soul apart;


s: "Ah me! when, o'er a length of waters toss'd,


s: These eyes at last behold the unhoped-for coast,


s: No port receives me from the angry main,


s: But the loud deeps demand me back again.


s: Above, sharp rocks forbid access; around


s: Roar the wild waves; beneath, is sea profound!


s: No footing sure affords the faithless sand,


s: To stem too rapid, and too deep to stand.


s: Dash'd on the cliffs, or heaved into the main;


s: Or round the island if my course I bend,


s: Where the ports open, or the shores descend,


s: Back to the seas the rolling surge may sweep,


s: Too well the turns of mortal chance I know,


s: And hate relentless of my heavenly foe."


s: While thus he thought, a monstrous wave upbore


s: The chief, and dash'd him on the craggy shore;


s: Torn was his skin, nor had the ribs been whole,


s: Close to the cliff with both his hands he clung,


s: Till the huge surge roll'd off; then backward sweep


s: The refluent tides, and plunge him in the deep.


s: As when the polypus, from forth his cave


s: Torn with full force, reluctant beats the wave,


s: His ragged claws are stuck with stones and sands;


s: So the rough rock had shagg'd Ulysses hands,


s: And now had perish'd, whelm'd beneath the main,


s: The unhappy man; e'en fate had been in vain;


s: And prudence saved him in the needful hour.


s: Beyond the beating surge his course he bore,


s: (A wider circle, but in sight of shore),


s: Some smooth ascent, or safe sequester'd bay.


s: Between the parting rocks at length he spied


s: A failing stream with gentler waters glide;


s: Where to the seas the shelving shore declined,


s: And form'd a bay impervious to the wind.


s: To this calm port the glad Ulysses press'd,


s: And hail'd the river, and its god address'd:


s: "Whoe'er thou art, before whose stream unknown


s: I bend, a suppliant at thy watery throne,


s: Hear, azure king! nor let me fly in vain


s: To thee from Neptune and the raging main


s: Heaven hears and pities hapless men like me,


s: Let then thy waters give the weary rest,


s: And save a suppliant, and a man distress'd."


s: He pray'd, and straight the gentle stream subsides,


s: Detains the rushing current of his tides,


s: Before the wanderer smooths the watery way,


s: And soft receives him from the rolling sea.


s: That moment, fainting as he touch'd the shore,


s: He dropp'd his sinewy arms: his knees no more


s: Perform'd their office, or his weight upheld:


s: His swoln heart heaved; his bloated body swell'd:


s: From mouth and nose the briny torrent ran;


s: Deprived of voice, of motion, and of breath;


s: The soul scarce waking in the arms of death.


s: Soon as warm life its wonted office found,


s: The mindful chief Leucothea's scarf unbound;


s: HIs head, and cast it on the rolling tide.


s: The waters waft it, and the nymph receives.


s: Now parting from the stream, Ulysses found


s: A mossy bank with pliant rushes crown'd;


s: The bank he press'd, and gently kiss'd the ground;


s: Where on the flowery herb as soft he lay,


s: "What will ye next ordain, ye powers on high!


s: And yet, ah yet, what fates are we to try?


s: Here by the stream, if I the night out-wear,


s: Thus spent already, how shall nature bear


s: Or chilly vapours breathing from the flood


s: When morning rises?--If I take the wood,


s: And in thick shelter of innumerous boughs


s: Though fenced from cold, and though my toil be pass'd,


s: What savage beasts may wander in the waste?


s: To prowling bears, or lions in the way."


s: At length he took the passage to the wood,


s: Waved high, and frown'd upon the stream below.


s: There grew two olives, closest of the grove,


s: With roots entwined, the branches interwove;


s: Alike their leaves, but not alike they smiled


s: With sister-fruits; one fertile, one was wild.


s: Nor here the sun's meridian rays had power,


s: Nor wind sharp-piercing, nor the rushing shower;


s: The verdant arch so close its texture kept:


s: Beneath this covert great Ulysses crept.


s: (Thick strewn by tempest through the bowery shade);


s: Where three at least might winter's cold defy,


s: Though Boreas raged along the inclement sky.


s: This store with joy the patient hero found,


s: And, sunk amidst them, heap'd the leaves around.


s: Remote from neighbours in a forest wide,


s: Studious to save what human wants require,


s: In embers heap'd, preserves the seeds of fire:


s: Till Pallas pour'd soft slumbers on his eyes;


s: And golden dreams (the gift of sweet repose)


s: Lull'd all his cares, and banish'd all his woes.


s: Pallas appearing in a dream in to Nausicaa (the daughter of


s: Alcinous, king of Phaeacia, commands her to descend to the river,


s: Nausicaa goes with her handmaidens to the river; where, while the


s: princess, is by her relieved and clothed, and receives directions


s: While thus the weary wanderer sunk to rest,


s: And peaceful slumbers calmed his anxious breast,


s: The martial maid from heavens aerial height


s: Swift to Phaeacia wing'd her rapid flight,


s: In ease possess'd the wide Hyperian plain;


s: Through seas retreating from the sounds of war,


s: The recreant nation to fair Scheria led,


s: Where never science rear'd her laurell'd head;


s: There round his tribes a strength of wall he raised;


s: To heaven the glittering domes and temples blazed;


s: Just to his realms, he parted grounds from grounds,


s: And shared the lands, and gave the lands their bounds.


s: Now in the silent grave the monarch lay,


s: To his high palace through the fields of air


s: There, as the night in silence roll'd away,


s: Through the thick gloom the shining portals blaze;


s: Two nymphs the portals guard, each nymph a Grace,


s: Light as the viewless air the warrior maid


s: Glides through the valves, and hovers round her head;


s: A favourite virgin's blooming form she took,


s: From Dymas sprung, and thus the vision spoke:


s: And sleep'st thou careless of the bridal day!


s: A just applause the cares of dress impart,


s: And give soft transport to a parent's heart.


s: Haste, to the limpid stream direct thy way,


s: When the gay morn unveils her smiling ray;


s: Haste to the stream! companion of thy care,


s: Lo, I thy steps attend, thy labours share.


s: Virgin, awake! the marriage hour is nigh,


s: See from their thrones thy kindred monarchs sigh!


s: For rough the way, and distant rolls the wave,


s: Where their fair vests Phaeacian virgins lave,


s: In pomp ride forth; for pomp becomes the great


s: And majesty derives a grace from state."


s: Then to the palaces of heaven she sails,


s: Incumbent on the wings of wafting gales;


s: The seat of gods; the regions mild of peace,


s: There no rude winds presume to shake the skies,


s: No rains descend, no snowy vapours rise;


s: But on immortal thrones the blest repose;


s: The firmament with living splendours glows.


s: Hither the goddess winged the aerial way,


s: Through heaven's eternal gates that blazed with day.


s: The dawn, and all the orient flamed with red.


s: Up rose the virgin with the morning light,


s: The queen she sought, the queen her hours bestowed


s: In curious works; the whirling spindle glow'd


s: With crimson threads, while busy damsels call


s: The snowy fleece, or twist the purpled wool.


s: Meanwhile Phaeacia's peers in council sate;


s: From his high dome the king descends in state;


s: Approach'd him passing, and submissive said:


s: "Will my dread sire his ear regardful deign,


s: Say, with my garments shall I bend my way?


s: Where through the vales the mazy waters stray?


s: And kings draw lustre from the robe of state.


s: Five sons thou hast; three wait the bridal day.


s: And spotless robes become the young and gay;


s: So when with praise amid the dance they shine,


s: By these my cares adorn'd that praise is mine."


s: Thus she: but blushes ill-restrain'd betray


s: Her thoughts intentive on the bridal day,


s: The conscious sire the dawning blush survey'd,


s: And, smiling, thus bespoke the blooming maid


s: "My child, my darling joy, the car receive;


s: That, and whate'er our daughter asks, we give."


s: Swift at the royal nod the attending train


s: The car prepare, the mules incessant rein,


s: The blooming virgin with despatchful cares


s: Tunics, and stoles, and robes imperial, bears.


s: The queen, assiduous to her train assigns


s: The sumptuous viands, and the flavorous wines.


s: The train prepare a cruse of curious mould,


s: A cruse of fragrance, form'd of burnish'd gold;


s: Odour divine! whose soft refreshing streams


s: Sleek the smooth skin, and scent the snowy limbs.


s: Now mounting the gay seat, the silken reins


s: Shine in her hand; along the sounding plains


s: Swift fly the mules; nor rode the nymph alone;


s: They seek the cisterns where Phaeacian dames


s: Wash their fair garments in the limpid streams;


s: Where, gathering into depth from falling rills,


s: The mules, unharness'd, range beside the main,


s: Or crop the verdant herbage of the plain.


s: And plunge the vestures in the cleansing wave


s: (The vestures cleansed o'erspread the shelly sand,


s: Their snowy lustre whitens all the strand);


s: Then with a short repast relieve their toil,


s: And o'er their limbs diffuse ambrosial oil;


s: And while the robes imbibe the solar ray,


s: O'er the green mead the sporting virgins play


s: (Their shining veils unbound). Along the skies,


s: Toss'd and retoss'd, the ball incessant flies.


s: They sport, they feast; Nausicaa lifts her voice,


s: And, warbling sweet, makes earth and heaven rejoice.


s: A sylvan train the huntress queen surrounds,


s: Her rattling quiver from her shoulders sounds:


s: Fierce in the sport, along the mountain's brow


s: They bay the boar, or chase the bounding roe;


s: High o'er the lawn, with more majestic pace,


s: Above the nymphs she treads with stately grace;


s: Distinguish'd excellence the goddess proves;


s: With equal grace Nausicaa trod the plain,


s: And shone transcendent o'er the beauteous train.


s: Meantime (the care and favourite of the skies


s: Wrapp'd in imbowering shade, Ulysses lies,


s: His woes forgot! but Pallas now address'd


s: To break the bands of all-composing rest.


s: Forth from her snowy hand Nausicaa threw


s: The various ball; the ball erroneous flew


s: And swam the stream; loud shrieks the virgin train,


s: And the loud shriek redoubles from the main.


s: Waked by the shrilling sound, Ulysses rose,


s: And, to the deaf woods wailing, breathed his woes:


s: Possess'd by wild barbarians fierce in arms;


s: What sounds are these that gather from he shores?


s: The voice of nymphs that haunt the sylvan bowers,


s: The fair-hair'd Dryads of the shady wood;


s: Or human voice? but issuing from the shades,


s: Why cease I straight to learn what sound invades?"


s: Then, where the grove with leaves umbrageous bends,


s: With forceful strength a branch the hero rends;


s: Around his loins the verdant cincture spreads


s: A wreathy foliage and concealing shades.


s: Beat by rude blasts, and wet with wintry showers,


s: Descends terrific from the mountains brow;


s: With living flames his rolling eye balls glow;


s: With conscious strength elate, he bends his way,


s: (The steer or stag;) or, with keen hunger bold,


s: Spring o'er the fence and dissipates the fold.


s: No less a terror, from the neighbouring groves


s: (Rough from the tossing surge) Ulysses moves;


s: Urged on by want, and recent from the storms;


s: The brackish ooze his manly grace deforms.


s: Wide o'er the shore with many a piercing cry


s: To rocks, to caves, the frightened virgins fly;


s: All but the nymph; the nymph stood fix'd alone,


s: By Pallas arm'd with boldness not her own.


s: Meantime in dubious thought the king awaits,


s: And, self-considering, as he stands, debates;


s: Or prostrate at her knee address the prayer.


s: But fearful to offend, by wisdom sway'd,


s: "If from the skies a goddess, or if earth


s: (Imperial virgin) boast thy glorious birth,


s: To thee I bend! If in that bright disguise


s: Thou visit earth, a daughter of the skies,


s: Hail, Dian, hail! the huntress of the groves


s: So shines majestic, and so stately moves,


s: So breathes an air divine! But if thy race


s: Be mortal, and this earth thy native place,


s: Blest is the father from whose loins you sprung,


s: Blest is the mother at whose breast you hung.


s: Blest are the brethren who thy blood divide,


s: Joyful they see applauding princes gaze,


s: When stately in the dance you swim the harmonious maze.


s: But blest o'er all, the youth with heavenly charms,


s: Who clasps the bright perfection in his arms!


s: Never, I never view'd till this blast hour


s: Such finish'd grace! I gaze, and I adore!


s: Thus seems the palm with stately honours crown'd


s: By Phoebus' altars; thus o'erlooks the ground;


s: The pride of Delos. (By the Delian coast,


s: But ah, how changed I from thence my sorrow flows;


s: Raptured I stood, and as this hour amazed,


s: With reverence at the lofty wonder gazed:


s: Raptured I stand! for earth ne'er knew to bear


s: Awed from access, I lift my suppliant hands;


s: For Misery, O queen! before thee stands.


s: Twice ten tempestuous nights I roll'd, resign'd


s: Heaven bade the deep to spare; but heaven, my foe,


s: Spares only to inflict some mightier woe.


s: Inured to cares, to death in all its forms;


s: Outcast I rove, familiar with the storms.


s: Once more I view the face of human kind:


s: Oh let soft pity touch thy generous mind!


s: Unconscious of what air I breathe, I stand


s: To guard the wretched from the inclement sky:


s: So may the gods, who heaven and earth control,


s: Crown the chaste wishes of thy virtuous soul,


s: On thy soft hours their choicest blessings shed;


s: Blest be thy husband with a blooming race,


s: And lasting union crown your blissful days.


s: The gods, when they supremely bless, bestow


s: Then envy grieves, with inly-pining hate;


s: The good exult, and heaven is in our state."


s: To whom the nymph: "O stranger, cease thy care;


s: Wise is thy soul, but man is bore to bear;


s: Jove weighs affairs of earth in dubious scales,


s: And the good suffers, while the bad prevails.


s: Bear, with a soul resign'd, the will of Jove;


s: Who breathes, must mourn: thy woes are from above.


s: But since thou tread'st our hospitable shore,


s: 'Tis mine to bid the wretched grieve no more,


s: To clothe the naked, and thy way to guide.


s: Know, the Phaecian tribes this land divide;


s: From great Alcinous' royal loins I spring,


s: Then to her maids: "Why, why, ye coward train,


s: These fears, this flight? ye fear, and fly in vain.


s: Dread ye a foe? dismiss that idle dread,


s: 'Tis death with hostile step these shores to tread;


s: Safe in the love of heaven, an ocean flows


s: Around our realm, a barrier from the foes;


s: 'Tis ours this son of sorrow to relieve,


s: Cheer the sad heart, nor let affliction grieve.


s: By Jove the stranger and the poor are sent;


s: And what to those we give to Jove is lent.


s: Then food supply, and bathe his fainting limbs


s: Where waving shades obscure the mazy streams."


s: Obedient to the call, the chief they guide


s: Close by the stream a royal dress they lay,


s: A vest and robe, with rich embroidery gay;


s: That breathed a fragrance through the balmy sky.


s: Your friendly care: retire, ye virgin train!


s: Retire, while from my wearied limbs I lave


s: Ye gods! since this worn frame refection know,


s: What scenes have I surveyed of dreadful view!


s: But, nymphs, recede! sage chastity denies


s: To raise the blush, or pain the modest eyes."


s: The nymphs withdrawn, at once into the tide


s: Active he bounds; the flashing waves divide


s: O'er all his limbs his hands the waves diffuse,


s: And from his locks compress the weedy ooze;


s: The balmy oil, a fragrant shower, be sheds;


s: Then, dressed, in pomp magnificently treads.


s: The warrior-goddess gives his frame to shine


s: Back from his brows a length of hair unfurls,


s: His hyacinthine locks descend in wavy curls.


s: His skill divine, a breathing statue lives;


s: By Pallas taught, he frames the wondrous mould,


s: And o'er the silver pours the fusile gold


s: With heavenly bloom, and like a god he moves.


s: A fragrance breathes around; majestic grace


s: Attends his steps: the astonished virgins gaze.


s: Soft he reclines along the murmuring seas,


s: Inhaling freshness from the fanning breeze.


s: The wondering nymph his glorious port survey'd,


s: And to her damsels, with amazement, said:


s: "Not without care divine the stranger treads


s: This land of joy; his steps some godhead leads:


s: Would Jove destroy him, sure he had been driven


s: Far from this realm, the favourite isle of heaven.


s: The desert sands, and now be looks a god.


s: This man my spouse, or such a spouse as he!


s: But haste, the viands and the bowl provide."


s: The maids the viands and the bowl supplied:


s: Eager he fed, for keen his hunger raged,


s: And with the generous vintage thirst assuaged.


s: The robes resumes, the glittering car ascends,


s: Far blooming o'er the field; and as she press'd


s: The splendid seat, the listening chief address'd:


s: "Stranger, arise! the sun rolls down the day.


s: Where, in high state, the nobles of the land


s: But hear, though wisdom in thy soul presides,


s: Speaks from thy tongue, and every action guides;


s: Advance at distance, while I pass the plain


s: Where o'er the furrows waves the golden grain;


s: A strength of wall the guarded city bounds;


s: The jutting land two ample bays divides:


s: Full through the narrow mouths descend the tides;


s: The spacious basons arching rocks enclose,


s: A sure defence from every storm that blows.


s: Close to the bay great Neptune's fane adjoins;


s: And near, a forum flank'd with marble shines,


s: Where the bold youth, the numerous fleets to store,


s: Shape the broad sail, or smooth the taper oar:


s: For not the bow they bend, nor boast the skill


s: To give the feather'd arrow wings to kill;


s: But the tall mast above the vessel rear,


s: Or teach the fluttering sail to float in air.


s: Climb the steep surge, and through the tempest fly;


s: The care to shun the blast of slanderous tongues;


s: Lest malice, prone the virtuous to defame,


s: Thus with wild censure taint my spotless name:


s: 'What stranger this whom thus Nausicaa leads!


s: Heavens, with what graceful majesty he treads!


s: Won by her prayer, the aerial bridegroom flies,


s: Heaven on that hour its choicest influence shed,


s: That gave a foreign spouse to crown her bed!


s: All, all the godlike worthies that adorn


s: This realm, she flies: Phaeacia is her scorn.'


s: And just the blame: for female innocence


s: Not only flies the guilt, but shuns the offence:


s: The unguarded virgin, as unchaste, I blame;


s: And the least freedom with the sex is shame,


s: Till our consenting sires a spouse provide,


s: But would'st thou soon review thy native plain?


s: Attend, and speedy thou shalt pass the main:


s: Nigh where a grove with verdant poplars crown'd,


s: To Pallas sacred, shades the holy ground,


s: We bend our way; a bubbling fount distills


s: A lucid lake, and thence descends in rills;


s: Around the grove, a mead with lively green


s: Falls by degrees, and forms a beauteous scene;


s: Here a rich juice the royal vineyard pours;


s: And there the garden yields a waste of flowers.


s: Hence lies the town, as far as to the ear


s: Floats a strong shout along the waves of air.


s: There wait embower'd, while I ascend alone


s: A child may point the way. With earnest gait


s: Seek thou the queen along the rooms of state;


s: Around a circle of bright damsels shines;


s: Part twist the threads, and part the wool dispose,


s: While with the purple orb the spindle glows.


s: High on a throne, amid the Scherian powers,


s: My royal father shares the genial hours:


s: But to the queen thy mournful tale disclose,


s: So shalt thou view with joy thy natal shore,


s: Though mountains rise between and oceans roar."


s: She added not, but waving, as she wheel'd,


s: The silver scourge, it glitter'd o'er the field;


s: With skill the virgin guides the embroider'd rein,


s: Slow rolls the car before the attending train,


s: Now whirling down the heavens, the golden day


s: Shot through the western clouds a dewy ray;


s: The grove they reach, where, from the sacred shade,


s: "Daughter of Jove! whose arms in thunder wield


s: The avenging bolt, and shake the dreadful shield;


s: Forsook by thee, in vain I sought thy aid


s: When booming billows closed above my bead;


s: Attend, unconquer'd maid! accord my vows,


s: Bid the Great hear, and pitying, heal my woes."


s: (By Neptune awed) apparent from the sky;


s: Stern god! who raged with vengeance, unrestrain'd.


s: Till great Ulysses hail'd his native land.


s: The princess Nausicaa returns to the city and Ulysses soon after


s: follows thither. He is met by Pallas in the form of a young


s: virgin, who guides him to the palace, and directs him in what


s: Alcinous described. Ulysses falling at the feet of the queen, the


s: respect. The queen inquiring by what means he had the garments he


s: Calypso, and his arrival in their dominions.


s: The same day continues, and the book ends with the night.


s: The patient heavenly man thus suppliant pray'd;


s: While the slow mules draws on the imperial maid;


s: Through the proud street she moves, the public gaze;


s: The turning wheel before the palace stays.


s: With ready love her brothers, gathering round,


s: Received the vestures, and the mules unbound.


s: She seeks the bridal bower: a matron there


s: The rising fire supplies with busy care,


s: Whose charms in youth her father's heart inflamed,


s: Snatch'd from Epirus, her sweet native shore


s: (A grateful prize), and in her bloom bestow'd


s: Nurse of Nausicaa from her infant years,


s: Now from the sacred thicket where he lay,


s: Around him spread a veil of thicken'd air;


s: To shun the encounter of the vulgar crowd,


s: When near the famed Phaeacian walls he drew,


s: His step a virgin met, and stood before:


s: And youthful smiled; but in the low disguise


s: Lay hid the goddess with the azure eyes.


s: "Show me, fair daughter (thus the chief demands),


s: The house of him who rules these happy lands


s: Through many woes and wanderings, do I come


s: A wretched stranger, and of all unknown!"


s: And point the wandering traveller his way:


s: Well known to me the palace you inquire,


s: For fast beside it dwells my honour'd sire:


s: But silent march, nor greet the common train


s: With question needless, or inquiry vain;


s: Unpolish'd men, and boisterous as their seas


s: And hateful he who breathes a foreign air.


s: To build proud navies, and command the main;


s: No bird so light, no thought so swift as they."


s: Thus having spoke, the unknown celestial leads:


s: And secret moves along the crowded space,


s: (So Pallas order'd, Pallas to their eyes


s: The mist objected, and condensed the skies.)


s: The chief with wonder sees the extended streets,


s: The spreading harbours, and the riding fleets;


s: He next their princes' lofty domes admires,


s: In separate islands, crown'd with rising spires;


s: And deep entrenchments, and high walls of stone.


s: At length the kingly palace-gates he view'd;


s: There stopp'd the goddess, and her speech renew'd;


s: "My task is done: the mansion you inquire


s: High-throned, and feasting, there thou shalt behold


s: The sceptred rulers. Fear not, but be bold:


s: A decent boldness ever meets with friends,


s: Succeeds, and even a stranger recommends


s: First to the queen prefer a suppliant's claim,


s: The same her parents, and her power the same.


s: For know, from ocean's god Nausithous sprung,


s: (Eurymedon's last hope, who ruled of old


s: The race of giants, impious, proud, and bold:


s: Perish'd the prince, and left this only heir),


s: Who now, by Neptune's amorous power compress'd,


s: Produced a monarch that his people bless'd,


s: Father and prince of the Phaeacian name;


s: The first by Phoebus' hurtling arrows fired,


s: New from his nuptials, hapless youth! expired.


s: No son survived; Arete heir'd his state,


s: This queen he graces, and divides the throne;


s: And all the children emulate their sire.


s: When through the streets she gracious deigns to move


s: (The public wonder and the public love),


s: The tongues of all with transport sound her praise,


s: She feels the triumph of a generous breast;


s: To heal divisions, to relieve the oppress'd;


s: In virtue rich; in blessing others, bless'd.


s: And owe thy country and thy friends to her."


s: With that the goddess deign'd no longer stay,


s: But o'er the world of waters wing'd her way;


s: Forsaking Scheria's ever-pleasing shore,


s: Thence, where proud Athens rears her towery head,


s: With opening streets and shining structures spread,


s: She pass'd, delighted with the well-known seats;


s: There stops, and anxious with his soul debates,


s: The front appear'd with radiant splendours gay,


s: Bright as the lamp of night, or orb of day,


s: The walls were massy brass: the cornice high


s: Blue metals crown'd in colours of the sky,


s: Rich plates of gold the folding doors incase;


s: Silver the lintels deep-projecting o'er,


s: And gold the ringlets that command the door.


s: Two rows of stately dogs, on either hand,


s: In sculptured gold and labour'd silver stood


s: These Vulcan form'd with art divine, to wait


s: And still to live beyond the power of years,


s: Fair thrones within from space to space were raised,


s: Where various carpets with embroidery blessed,


s: The work of matrons: these the princes press'd.


s: Day following day, a long-continued feast,


s: Which boys of gold with illuming torches crown'd;


s: Blazed on the banquets with a double day.


s: Full fifty handmaids form the household train;


s: Some turn the mill, or sift the golden grain;


s: Some ply the loom; their busy fingers move


s: Like poplar-leaves when Zephyr fans the grove.


s: Not more renown'd the men of Scheria's isle


s: For sailing arts and all the naval toil,


s: Than works of female skill their women's pride,


s: The flying shuttle through the threads to guide:


s: Pallas to these her double gifts imparts,


s: Close to the gates a spacious garden lies,


s: From storms defended and inclement skies.


s: Four acres was the allotted space of ground,


s: Fenced with a green enclosure all around.


s: Tall thriving trees confess'd the fruitful mould:


s: The reddening apple ripens here to gold.


s: Here the blue fig with luscious juice o'erflows,


s: With deeper red the full pomegranate glows;


s: The branch here bends beneath the weighty pear,


s: And verdant olives flourish round the year,


s: Eternal breathes on fruits, unthought to fail:


s: Each dropping pear a following pear supplies,


s: The same mild season gives the blooms to blow,


s: The buds to harden, and the fruits to grow.


s: Here order'd vines in equal ranks appear,


s: With all the united labours of the year;


s: Some to unload the fertile branches run,


s: Some dry the blackening clusters in the sun,


s: Others to tread the liquid harvest join:


s: The groaning presses foam with floods of wine


s: Here are the vines in early flower descried,


s: Here grapes discolour'd on the sunnyside,


s: And there in autumn's richest purple dyed,


s: Beds of all various herbs, for ever green,


s: Two plenteous fountains the whole prospect crown'd


s: This through the gardens leads its streams around


s: Visits each plant, and waters all the ground;


s: While that in pipes beneath the palace flows,


s: And thence its current on the town bestows:


s: To various use their various streams they bring,


s: The people one, and one supplies the king.


s: Such were the glories which the gods ordain'd,


s: E'en from the chief whom men and nations knew,


s: The unwonted scene surprise and rapture drew;


s: In pleasing thought he ran the prospect o'er,


s: Night now approaching, in the palace stand,


s: With goblets crown'd, the rulers of the land;


s: Prepared for rest, and offering to the god


s: Unseen he glided through the joyous crowd,


s: With darkness circled, and an ambient cloud.


s: Direct to great Alcinous' throne he came,


s: And prostrate fell before the imperial dame.


s: Then from around him dropp'd the veil of night;


s: Sudden he shines, and manifest to sight.


s: The nobles gaze, with awful fear oppress'd;


s: Silent they gaze, and eye the godlike guest.


s: "Daughter of great Rhexenor! (thus began,


s: Low at her knees, the much-enduring man)


s: To thee, thy consort, and this royal train,


s: To all that share the blessings of your reign,


s: Long worn with griefs, and long without a friend


s: So may the gods your better days increase,


s: And all your joys descend on all your race;


s: So reign for ever on your country's breast,


s: Your people blessing, by your people bless'd!"


s: Then to the genial hearth he bow'd his face,


s: And humbled in the ashes took his place.


s: Silence ensued.  The eldest first began,


s: Whose well-taught mind the present age surpass'd,


s: And join'd to that the experience of the last.


s: Fit words attended on his weighty sense,


s: And mild persuasion flow'd in eloquence.


s: "Oh sight (he cried) dishonest and unjust!


s: A guest, a stranger, seated in the dust!


s: To raise the lowly suppliant from the ground


s: But wait thy word, the gentle guest to grace,


s: And seat him fair in some distinguish'd place.


s: To Jove, who guides the wanderer on his way:


s: Then set the genial banquet in his view,


s: And give the stranger-guest a stranger's due."


s: His sage advice the listening king obeys,


s: He stretch'd his hand the prudent chief to raise,


s: (The monarch's offspring, and his best-beloved);


s: There next his side the godlike hero sate;


s: With stars of silver shone the bed of state.


s: The golden ewer a beauteous handmaid brings,


s: Replenish'd from the cool translucent springs,


s: Whose polish'd vase with copious streams supplies


s: The glittering canisters are heap'd with bread:


s: Viands of various kinds invite the taste,


s: Of choicest sort and savour, rich repast!


s: Thus feasting high, Alcinous gave the sign,


s: To Jove, who guides the wanderer on his way."


s: He said. Pontonous heard the king's command;


s: The circling goblet moves from hand to hand;


s: Each drinks the juice that glads the heart of man.


s: "Princes and peers, attend; while we impart


s: To you the thoughts of no inhuman heart.


s: Now pleased and satiate from the social rite


s: Repair we to the blessings of the night;


s: But with the rising day, assembled here,


s: And Heaven propitiate in the stranger's cause;


s: Then join'd in council, proper means explore


s: Safe to transport him to the wished-for shore


s: (How distant that, imports us not to know,


s: Nor weigh the labour, but relieve the woe).


s: Meantime, nor harm nor anguish let him bear


s: This interval, Heaven trusts him to our care


s: But to his native land our charge resign'd,


s: Heaven's is his life to come, and all the woes behind.


s: Then must he suffer what the Fates ordain;


s: For Fate has wove the thread of life with pain?


s: And twins, e'en from the birth, are Misery and Man!


s: But if, descended from the Olympian bower,


s: Gracious approach us some immortal power;


s: If in that form thou comest a guest divine:


s: Some high event the conscious gods design.


s: As yet, unbid they never graced our feast,


s: The solemn sacrifice call'd down the guest;


s: Then manifest of Heaven the vision stood,


s: Oft with some favour'd traveller they stray,


s: And shine before him all the desert way;


s: With social intercourse, and face to face,


s: The friends and guardians of our pious race.


s: So near approach we their celestial kind,


s: As our dire neighbours of Cyclopean birth


s: Match in fierce wrong the giant-sons of earth."


s: "Let no such thought (with modest grace rejoin'd


s: The prudent Greek) possess the royal mind.


s: In form, ah how unlike their heavenly kind!


s: Whom Fate has loaded with a weight of woes;


s: Distinguish'd long, and second now to none!


s: By Heaven's high will compell'd from shore to shore;


s: With Heaven's high will prepared to suffer more.


s: But still long-wearied nature wants repair;


s: Spent with fatigue, and shrunk with pining fast,


s: Howe'er the noble, suffering mind may grieve


s: Its load of anguish, and disdain to live,


s: But finish, oh ye peers! what you propose,


s: And let the morrow's dawn conclude my woes.


s: Pleased will I suffer all the gods ordain,


s: To see my soil, my son, my friends again.


s: That view vouchsafed, let instant death surprise


s: With ever-during shade these happy eyes!"


s: The assembled peers with general praise approved


s: His pleaded reason, and the suit he moved.


s: Each drinks a full oblivion of his cares,


s: And to the gifts of balmy sleep repairs,


s: Remain'd: beside him, on a splendid throne,


s: The queen, an nearer view, the guest survey'd,


s: Rob'd in the garments her own hands had made,


s: Not without wonder seen. Then thus began,


s: Her words addressing to the godlike man:


s: "Camest thou hither, wondrous stranger I say,


s: From lands remote and o'er a length of sea?


s: Tell, then, whence art thou? whence, that princely air?


s: And robes like these, so recent and so fair?"


s: "Hard is the task, O princess! you impose


s: (Thus sighing spoke the man of many woes),


s: Of all my sorrows sent by Heaven and Fate!


s: Yet what you ask, attend.  An island lies


s: Beyond these tracts, and under other skies,


s: Where dwells Calypso, dreadful in her charms!


s: Remote from gods or men she holds her reign,


s: Unblest! to tread that interdicted shore:


s: Launch'd his red lightning at our scattered ships;


s: Then, all my fleet and all my followers lost.


s: Sole on a plank on boiling surges toss'd,


s: Heaven drove my wreck the Ogygian Isle to find,


s: Full nine days floating to the wave and wind.


s: Met by the goddess there with open arms,


s: She bribed my stay with more than human charms;


s: Nay, promised, vainly promised, to bestow


s: But all her blandishments successless prove,


s: To banish from my breast my country's love.


s: And water her ambrosial couch with tears,


s: Or urged by Jove, or her own changeful heart.


s: A raft was formed to cross the surging sea;


s: Herself supplied the stores and rich array,


s: And gave the gales to waft me on my way,


s: In seventeen days appear'd your pleasing coast,


s: And woody mountains half in vapours lost.


s: Joy touched my soul; my soul was joy'd in vain,


s: For angry Neptune roused the raging main;


s: The wild winds whistle, and the billows roar;


s: The splitting raft the furious tempest tore;


s: And storms vindictive intercept the shore.


s: Soon as their rage subsides, the seas I brave


s: With naked force, and shoot along the wave,


s: To reach this isle; but there my hopes were lost,


s: The surge impell'd me on a craggy coast.


s: I chose the safer sea, and chanced to find


s: And clear of rocks. I fainted by the flood;


s: Then took the shelter of the neighbouring wood.


s: 'Twas night, and, covered in the foliage deep,


s: Jove plunged my senses in the death of sleep.


s: All night I slept, oblivious of my pain:


s: Aurora dawned and Phoebus shined in vain,


s: Nor, till oblique he sloped his evening ray,


s: Then female voices from the shore I heard:


s: A maid amidst them, goddess-like appear'd;


s: Like thee in beauty, nor in virtue less.


s: Who from such youth could hope considerate care?


s: She gave me life, relieved with just supplies


s: My wants, and lent these robes that strike your eyes.


s: This is the truth: and oh, ye powers on high!


s: Forbid that want should sink me to a lie."


s: To this the king: "Our daughter but express'd


s: Her cares imperfect to our godlike guest.


s: Suppliant to her, since first he chose to pray,


s: Why not herself did she conduct the way,


s: And with her handmaids to our court convey?"


s: Nor blame her faultless nor suspect of pride:


s: She bade me follow in the attendant train;


s: But fear and reverence did my steps detain,


s: Lest rash suspicion might alarm thy mind:


s: "Far from my soul (he cried) the gods efface


s: All wrath ill-grounded, and suspicion base!


s: Whate'er is honest, stranger, I approve,


s: And would to Phoebus, Pallas, and to Jove,


s: Such as thou art, thy thought and mine were one,


s: In such alliance couldst thou wish to join,


s: A palace stored with treasures should be thine.


s: But if reluctant, who shall force thy stay?


s: Jove bids to set the stranger on his way,


s: And ships shall wait thee with the morning ray.


s: Till then, let slumber cross thy careful eyes:


s: The wakeful mariners shall watch the skies,


s: And seize the moment when the breezes rise:


s: Then gently waft thee to the pleasing shore,


s: Where thy soul rests, and labour is no more.


s: Our ships with ease transport thee in a day.


s: Thither of old, earth's giant son to view,


s: On wings of wind with Rhadamanth they flew;


s: This land, from whence their morning course begun,


s: Saw them returning with the setting sun.


s: Your eyes shall witness and confirm my tale,


s: Our youth how dexterous, and how fleet our sail,


s: When justly timed with equal sweep they row,


s: And ocean whitens in long tracks below."


s: Thus he. No word the experienced man replies,


s: But thus to heaven (and heavenward lifts his eyes):


s: "O Jove! O father! what the king accords


s: Do thou make perfect! sacred be his words!


s: Wide o'er the world Alcinous' glory shine!


s: Let fame be his, and ah! my country mine!"


s: Ordains the fleecy couch, and covering vest;


s: Bids her fair train the purple quilts prepare,


s: And the thick carpets spread with busy care.


s: With torches blazing in their hands they pass'd,


s: And finish'd all their queen's command with haste:


s: Then gave the signal to the willing guest:


s: He rose with pleasure, and retired to rest.


s: There, soft extended, to the murmuring sound


s: Of the high porch, Ulysses sleeps profound!


s: Within, released from cares, Alcinous lies;


s: And fast beside were closed Arete's eyes.


s: Alcinous calls a council, in which it is resolved to transport


s: Ulysses into his country. After which splendid entertainments are


s: to the admiration of all the spectators. They return again to the


s: introduction of the wooden horse into Troy, which subject


s: provoking his tears, Alcinous inquires of his guest his name,


s: And all the ruddy orient flames with day:


s: Alcinous, and the chief, with dawning light,


s: Rose instant from the slumbers of the night;