s: Nine ells aloft they rear'd their towering head,


s: And full nine cubits broad their shoulders spread.


s: Proud of their strength, and more than mortal size,


s: The gods they challenge, and affect the skies:


s: Such were they youths I had they to manhood grown


s: Almighty Jove had trembled on his throne,


s: To bristle on the chin, and promise man,


s: His shafts Apollo aim'd; at once they sound,


s: And stretch the giant monsters o'er the ground.


s: "There mournful Phaedra with sad Procris moves,


s: Both beauteous shades, both hapless in their loves;


s: And near them walk'd with solemn pace and slow,


s: She Theseus loved, from Crete with Theseus fled:


s: And towards his Athens bears the lovely prize;


s: There Bacchus with fierce rage Diana fires,


s: The goddess aims her shaft, the nymph expires.


s: Her lord, her honour, for the lust of gold.


s: But should I all recount, the night would fail,


s: And all-composing rest my nature craves,


s: Here in the court, or yonder on the waves;


s: In you I trust, and in the heavenly powers,


s: He ceased; but left so charming on their ear


s: His voice, that listening still they seem'd to hear,


s: Stretch'd out her snowy hand, and thus she spoke:


s: "What wondrous man heaven sends us in our guest;


s: Through all his woes the hero shines confess'd;


s: His comely port, his ample frame express


s: You share the pleasure, then in bounty share


s: And with a generous hand reward his stay;


s: For since kind heaven with wealth our realm has bless'd,


s: Give it to heaven by aiding the distress'd."


s: Then sage Echeneus, whose grave reverend brow


s: The hand of time had silvered o'er with snow,


s: Mature in wisdom rose: "Your words (he cries)


s: Demand obedience, for your words are wise.


s: But let our king direct the glorious way


s: "While life informs these limbs (the king replied),


s: Well to deserve, be all my cares employed:


s: But here this night the royal guest detain,


s: Till the sun flames along the ethereal plain.


s: The stranger from our hospitable shores:


s: Tread you my steps! 'Tis mine to lead the race,


s: The first in glory, as the first in place."


s: To whom the prince: "This night with joy I stay


s: If thou the circling year my stay control,


s: The circling year I wait, with ampler stores


s: And fitter pomp to hail my native shores:


s: Then by my realms due homage would be paid;


s: "O king! for such thou art, and sure thy blood


s: Through veins (he cried) of royal fathers flow'd:


s: Unlike those vagrants who on falsehood live,


s: Skill'd in smooth tales, and artful to deceive;


s: Wise is thy voice, and noble is thy heart.


s: Thy words like music every breast control,


s: Steal through the ear, and win upon the soul;


s: soft, as some song divine, thy story flows,


s: Nor better could the Muse record thy woes.


s: "But say, upon the dark and dismal coast,


s: Saw'st thou the worthies of the Grecian host?


s: The godlike leaders who, in battle slain,


s: Fell before Troy, and nobly press'd the plain?


s: And lo! a length of night behind remains,


s: The evening stars still mount the ethereal plains.


s: Thy tale with raptures I could hear thee tell,


s: Thy woes on earth, the wondrous scenes in hell,


s: Till in the vault of heaven the stars decay.


s: And the sky reddens with the rising day."


s: "O worthy of the power the gods assign'd


s: Since yet the early hour of night allows


s: Time for discourse, and time for soft repose,


s: Amidst a war of spears in foreign lands,


s: Yet bled at home, and bled by female hands.


s: "Now summon'd Proserpine to hell's black hall


s: The heroine shades: they vanish'd at her call.


s: When lo! advanced the forms of heroes slain


s: And, high above the rest Atrides press'd the plain.


s: He quaff'd the gore; and straight his soldier knew,


s: And from his eyes pour'd down the tender dew:


s: His arms he stretch'd; his arms the touch deceive,


s: His substance vanish'd, and his strength decay'd,


s: "Moved at the sight, I for a apace resign'd


s: At last with tears: 'O what relentless doom,


s: Imperial phantom, bow'd thee to the tomb?


s: Say while the sea, and while the tempest raves,


s: Has Fate oppress'd thee in the roaring waves,


s: Of war and slaughter, and the clash of arms?'


s: "The ghost returns: 'O chief of human kind


s: Nor while the sea, nor while the tempest raves


s: Has Fate oppress'd me on the roaring waves!


s: Of war and slaughter, and the clash of arms


s: Stabb'd by a murderous hand Atrides died,


s: A foul adulterer, and a faithless bride;


s: E'en in my mirth, and at the friendly feast,


s: O'er the full bowl, the traitor stabb'd his guest;


s: The stately ox, and bleeds within the stalls.


s: But not with me the direful murder ends,


s: These, these expired! their crime, they were my friends:


s: Thick as the boars, which some luxurious lord


s: Kills for the feast, to crown the nuptial board.


s: When war has thunder'd with its loudest storms,


s: Death thou hast seen in all her ghastly forms:


s: When hand to hand they wound return for wound;


s: But never have the eyes astonish'd view'd


s: So vile a deed, so dire a scene of blood.


s: E'en in the flow of joy, when now the bowl


s: Glows in our veins, and opens every soul,


s: We groan, we faint; with blood the doom is dyed.


s: And o'er the pavement floats the dreadful tide--


s: Her breast all gore, with lamentable cries,


s: Then though pale death froze cold in every vein,


s: My sword I strive to wield, but strive in vain;


s: Nor did my traitress wife these eyelids close,


s: Is bent, all hell contains no fouler fiend:


s: And such was mine! who basely plunged her sword


s: Through the fond bosom where she reign'd adored!


s: Alas! I hoped the toils of war o'ercome,


s: Delusive hope! O wife, thy deeds disgrace


s: The perjured sex, and blacken all the race;


s: Name Clytemnestra, they will curse the kind.'


s: "Oh injured shade (I cried) what mighty woes


s: By woman here thou tread'st this mournful strand,


s: And Greece by woman lies a desert land.'


s: "'Warn'd by my ills beware, (the shade replies,)


s: Nor trust the sex that is so rarely wise;


s: When earnest to explore thy secret breast,


s: Unfold some trifle, but conceal the rest.


s: When Troy first bled beneath the Grecian arms,


s: She shone unrivall'd with a blaze of charms;


s: Thy infant son her fragrant bosom press'd,


s: Hung at her knee, or wanton'd at her breast;


s: But now the years a numerous train have ran;


s: Thy eyes shall see him burn with noble fire,


s: The sire shall bless his son, the son his sire;


s: Without one look the murder'd father dies;


s: Then from a wretched friend this wisdom learn,


s: E'en to thy queen disguised, unknown, return;


s: Think all are false, nor e'en the faithful trust.


s: "'But, say, resides my son in royal port,


s: Or say in Pyle? for yet he views the light,


s: Nor glides a phantom through the realms of night.'


s: "Then I: 'Thy suit is vain, nor can I say


s: If yet he breathes in realms of cheerful day;


s: Or pale or wan beholds these nether skies;


s: "Thus in a tide of tears our sorrows flow,


s: And add new horror to the realms of woe;


s: Till side by side along the dreary coast


s: Advanced Achilles' and Patroclus' ghost,


s: A friendly pair! near these the Pylian stray'd,


s: And towering Ajax, an illustrious shade!


s: War was his joy, and pleased with loud alarms,


s: None but Pelides brighter shone in arms.


s: "Through the thick gloom his friend Achilles knew,


s: And as he speaks the tears descend in dew.


s: "'Comest thou alive to view the Stygian bounds,


s: Where the wan spectres walk eternal rounds;


s: Nor fear'st the dark and dismal waste to tread,


s: Throng'd with pale ghosts, familiar with the dead?'


s: "To whom with sighs: 'I pass these dreadful gates


s: To seek the Theban, and consult the Fates;


s: For still, distress'd, I rove from coast to coast,


s: Lost to my friends, and to my country lost.


s: But sure the eye of Time beholds no name


s: So bless'd as thine in all the rolls of fame;


s: Alive we hail'd thee with our guardian gods,


s: And dead thou rulest a king in these abodes.'


s: "'Talk not of ruling in this dolorous gloom,


s: Nor think vain words (he cried) can ease my doom.


s: A weight of woes, and breathe the vital air,


s: A slave to some poor hind that toils for bread,


s: Than reign the sceptred monarch of the dead.


s: But say, if in my steps my son proceeds,


s: And emulates his godlike father's deeds?


s: If at the clash of arms, and shout of foes,


s: Swells his bold heart, his bosom nobly glows?


s: Say if my sire, the reverend Peleus, reigns,


s: Great in his Phthia, and his throne maintains;


s: Or, weak and old, my youthful arm demands,


s: To fix the sceptre steadfast in his hands?


s: O might the lamp of life rekindled burn,


s: And death release me from the silent urn!


s: This arm, that thunder'd o'er the Phrygian plain,


s: And swell'd the ground with mountains of the slain,


s: Should vindicate my injured father's fame,


s: Crush the proud rebel, and assert his claim.'


s: "'Illustrious shade (I cried), of Peleus' fates


s: No circumstance the voice of Fame relates:


s: But hear with pleased attention the renown,


s: With me from Scyros to the field of fame


s: When Greece assembled all her hundred states,


s: Heavens! how he charm'd us with a flow of sense,


s: He first was seen of all the peers to rise,


s: The third in wisdom, where they all were wise!


s: But when, to try the fortune of the day,


s: Host moved toward host in terrible array,


s: Before the van, impatient for the fight,


s: With martial port he strode, and stern delight:


s: Heaps strew'd on heaps beneath his falchion groan'd,


s: And monuments of dead deform'd the ground.


s: The time would fail should I in order tell


s: What foes were vanquish'd, and what numbers fell:


s: How, lost through love, Eurypylus was slain,


s: And round him bled his bold Cetaean train.


s: "When Ilion in the horse received her doom,


s: Greece gave her latent warriors to my care,


s: 'Twas mine on Troy to pour the imprison'd war:


s: Then when the boldest bosom beat with fear,


s: When the stern eyes of heroes dropp'd a tear,


s: Fierce in his look his ardent valour glow'd,


s: Flush'd in his cheek, or sallied in his blood;


s: Pants for the battle, and the war demands:


s: His voice breathed death, and with a martial air


s: He grasp'd his sword, and shook his glittering spear.


s: And when the gods our arms with conquest crown'd,


s: When Troy's proud bulwarks smoked upon the ground,


s: Greece, to reward her soldier's gallant toils,


s: Heap'd high his navy with unnumber'd spoils.


s: "Thus great in glory, from the din of war


s: Safe he return'd, without one hostile scar;


s: Though spears in iron tempests rain'd around,


s: Yet innocent they play'd, and guiltless of a wound.'


s: "While yet I spoke, the shade with transport glow'd,


s: With haughty stalk he sought the distant glades


s: Of warrior kings, and join'd the illustrious shades.


s: "Now without number ghost by ghost arose,


s: For ever sad, with proud disdain he pined,


s: And the lost arms for ever stung his mind;


s: Though to the contest Thetis gave the laws,


s: And Pallas, by the Trojans, judged the cause.


s: O dear bought honour with so brave a life!


s: With him the strength of war, the soldier's pride,


s: Our second hope to great Achilles, died!


s: Touch'd at the sight from tears I scarce refrain,


s: And tender sorrow thrills in every vein;


s: Pensive and sad I stand, at length accost


s: 'Still burns thy rage? and can brave souls resent


s: E'en after death? Relent, great shade, relent!


s: Perish those arms which by the gods' decree


s: Accursed our army with the loss of thee!


s: With thee we fall; Greece wept thy hapless fates,


s: And shook astonish'd through her hundred states;


s: Not more, when great Achilles press'd the ground,


s: And breathed his manly spirit through the wound.


s: O deem thy fall not owed to man's decree,


s: Jove hated Greece, and punish'd Greece in thee!


s: Turn then; oh peaceful turn, thy wrath control,


s: And calm the raging tempest of thy soul.'


s: "While yet I speak, the shade disdains to stay,


s: In silence turns, and sullen stalks away.


s: "Touch'd at his sour retreat, through deepest night,


s: Through hell's black bounds I had pursued his flight,


s: And forced the stubborn spectre to reply;


s: But wondrous visions drew my curious eye.


s: Stern Minos waves a mace of burnish'd gold;


s: Around ten thousand thousand spectres stand


s: Through the wide dome of Dis, a trembling band


s: Still as they plead, the fatal lots he rolls,


s: Absolves the just, and dooms the guilty souls.


s: Swift through the gloom a giant-hunter flies:


s: A ponderous mace of brass with direful sway


s: Aloft he whirls, to crush the savage prey!


s: Stern beasts in trains that by his truncheon fell,


s: Now grisly forms, shoot o'er the lawns of hell.


s: "There Tityus large and long, in fetters bound,


s: O'erspreads nine acres of infernal ground;


s: Two ravenous vultures, furious for their food,


s: Scream o'er the fiend, and riot in his blood,


s: The immortal liver grows, and gives the immortal feast.


s: With haughty love the audacious monster strove


s: To force the goddess, and to rival Jove.


s: "There Tantalus along the Stygian bounds


s: Pours out deep groans (with groans all hell resounds);


s: E'en in the circling floods refreshment craves,


s: And pines with thirst amidst a sea of waves;


s: Back from his lip the treacherous water flies.


s: Above, beneath, around his hapless head,


s: Trees of all kinds delicious fruitage spread;


s: There figs, sky-dyed, a purple hue disclose,


s: Green looks the olive, the pomegranate glows.


s: There dangling pears exalting scents unfold.


s: The fruit he strives to seize; but blasts arise,


s: Toss it on high, and whirl it to the skies.


s: "I turn'd my eye, and as I turn'd survey'd


s: With many a weary step, and many a groan,


s: Up the high hill he heaves a huge round stone;


s: The huge round stone, resulting with a bound,


s: Thunders impetuous down, and smokes along the ground.


s: Dust mounts in clouds, and sweat descends in dews.


s: A shadowy form! for high in heaven's abodes


s: There in the bright assemblies of the skies.


s: He nectar quaffs, and Hebe crowns his joys.


s: Here hovering ghosts, like fowl, his shade surround,


s: And clang their pinions with terrific sound;


s: Gloomy as night he stands, in act to throw


s: Around his breast a wondrous zone is roll'd,


s: Where woodland monsters grin in fretted gold;


s: There sullen lions sternly seem to roar,


s: The bear to growl to foam the tusky boar;


s: There war and havoc and destruction stood,


s: And vengeful murder red with human blood.


s: Thus terribly adorned the figures shine,


s: The mighty good advanced with awful look,


s: And, turning his grim visage, sternly spoke:


s: O taught to bear the wrongs of base mankind!


s: Such, such was I! Still toss'd from care to care,


s: While in your world I drew the vital air!


s: E'en I, who from the Lord of Thunders rose,


s: Bore toils and dangers, and a weight of woes;


s: To a base monarch still a slave confined,


s: (The hardest bondage to a generous mind!)


s: Down to these worlds I trod the dismal way,


s: And dragg'd the three-mouth'd dog to upper day


s: E'en hell I conquer'd, through the friendly aid


s: Of Maia's offspring, and the martial maid.


s: "Thus he, nor deign'd for our reply to stay,


s: But, turning, stalk'd with giant-strides away.


s: "Curious to view the kings of ancient days,


s: The mighty dead that live in endless praise,


s: Resolved I stand; and haply had survey'd


s: The godlike Theseus, and Pirithous' shade;


s: But swarms of spectres rose from deepest hell,


s: With bloodless visage, and with hideous yell.


s: They scream, they shriek; and groans and dismal sounds


s: Stun my scared ears, and pierce hell's utmost bounds.


s: No more my heart the dismal din sustains,


s: And my cold blood hangs shivering in my veins;


s: Lest Gorgon, rising from the infernal lakes,


s: With horrors arm'd, and curls of hissing snakes,


s: Should fix me stiffen'd at the monstrous sight,


s: Straight from the direful coast to purer air


s: I speed my flight, and to my mates repair.


s: My mates ascend the ship; they strike their oars;


s: The mountains lessen, and retreat the shores;


s: Swift o'er the waves we fly; the freshening gales


s: Sing through the shrouds, and stretch the swelling sails."


s: He relates how, after his return from the shades, he was sent by


s: dangers: how, being cast on the island Trinacria, his companions


s: destroyed the oxen of the Sun: the vengeance that followed; how


s: all perished by shipwreck except himself, who, swimming on the


s: "Thus o'er the rolling surge the vessel flies,


s: Till from the waves the AEaean hills arise.


s: Here the gay Morn resides in radiant bowers,


s: Here keeps here revels with the dancing Hours;


s: Here Phoebus, rising in the ethereal way,


s: Through heaven's bright portals pours the beamy day.


s: At once descend, and press the desert sand:


s: There, worn and wasted, lose our cares in sleep,


s: To the hoarse murmurs of the rolling deep.


s: "Soon as the morn restored the day, we paid


s: Now by the axe the rushing forest bends,


s: And the huge pile along the shore ascends.


s: And a loud groan re-echoes from the main.


s: Fierce o'er the pyre, by fanning breezes spread,


s: The hungry flames devour the silent dead.


s: A rising tomb, the silent dead to grace,


s: Fast by the roarings of the main we place;


s: And high above it rose the tapering oar.


s: "Meantime the goddess our return survey'd


s: From the pale ghosts and hell's tremendous shade.


s: Swift she descends: a train of nymphs divine


s: Bear the rich viands and the generous wine:


s: In act to speak the power of magic stands,


s: And graceful thus accosts the listening bands;


s: "'O sons of woe? decreed by adverse fates


s: Alive to pass through hell's eternal gates!


s: All, soon or late, are doom'd that path to tread;


s: More wretched you! twice number'd with the dead!


s: This day adjourn your cares, exalt your souls,


s: Indulge the taste, and drain the sparkling bowls;


s: And when the morn unveils her saffron ray,


s: Spread your broad sails, and plough the liquid way:


s: Lo, I this night, your faithful guide, explain


s: Your woes by land, your dangers on the main.'


s: "The goddess spoke. In feasts we waste the day,


s: Till Phoebus downward plunged his burning ray;


s: Then sable night ascends, and balmy rest


s: Seals every eye, and calms the troubled breast.


s: The dreadful scenes of Pluto's dreary state.


s: She sat in silence while the tale I tell,


s: The wondrous visions and the laws of hell.


s: "Then thus: 'The lot of man the gods dispose;


s: These ills are past: now hear thy future woes


s: O prince attend; some favouring power be kind,


s: And print the important story on thy mind!


s: "'Next, where the Sirens dwells, you plough the seas;


s: Their song is death, and makes destruction please.


s: Unblest the man, whom music wins to stay


s: Nigh the cursed shore and listen to the lay.


s: No more that wretch shall view the joys of life


s: His blooming offspring, or his beauteous wife!


s: In verdant meads they sport; and wide around


s: Lie human bones that whiten all the ground:


s: The ground polluted floats with human gore,


s: And human carnage taints the dreadful shore


s: Fly swift the dangerous coast: let every ear


s: Be stopp'd against the song! 'tis death to hear!


s: Firm to the mast with chains thyself be bound,


s: Nor trust thy virtue to the enchanting sound.


s: If, mad with transport, freedom thou demand,


s: Be every fetter strain'd, and added band to band.


s: "'These seas o'erpass'd, be wise! but I refrain


s: To mark distinct thy voyage o'er the main:


s: New horrors rise! let prudence be thy guide,


s: And guard thy various passage through the tide.


s: "'High o'er the main two rocks exalt their brow,'


s: The boiling billows thundering roll below;


s: Through the vast waves the dreadful wonders move,


s: No bird of air, no dove of swiftest wing,


s: That bears ambrosia to the ethereal king,


s: Shuns the dire rocks: in vain she cuts the skies;


s: The dire rocks meet, and crush her as she flies:


s: Not the fleet bark, when prosperous breezes play,


s: Ploughs o'er that roaring surge its desperate way;


s: O'erwhelm'd it sinks: while round a smoke expires,


s: And the waves flashing seem to burn with fires.


s: Scarce the famed Argo pass'd these raging floods,


s: E'en she had sunk, but Jove's imperial bride


s: Wing'd her fleet sail, and push'd her o'er the tide.


s: "'High in the air the rock its summit shrouds


s: In brooding tempests, and in rolling clouds;


s: Loud storms around, and mists eternal rise,


s: Beat its bleak brow, and intercept the skies.


s: When all the broad expansion, bright with day,


s: Glows with the autumnal or the summer ray,


s: The sky for ever lowers, for ever clouds remain.


s: Impervious to the step of man it stands,


s: Though borne by twenty feet, though arm'd with twenty hands;


s: The slippery sides, and shoot into the skies.


s: Full in the centre of this rock display'd,


s: A yawning cavern casts a dreadful shade:


s: Nor the fleet arrow from the twanging bow,


s: Sent with full force, could reach the depth below.


s: Wide to the west the horrid gulf extends,


s: And the dire passage down to hell descends.


s: O fly the dreadful sight! expand thy sails,


s: Ply the strong oar, and catch the nimble gales;


s: Here Scylla bellows from the dire abodes,


s: Tremendous pest, abhorr'd by man and gods!


s: Hideous her voice, and with less terrors roar


s: The whelps of lions in the midnight hour.


s: Twelve feet, deform'd and foul, the fiend dispreads;


s: Six horrid necks she rears, and six terrific heads;


s: Her jaws grin dreadful with three rows of teeth;


s: Jaggy they stand, the gaping den of death;


s: Her parts obscene the raging billows hide;


s: When stung with hunger she embroils the flood,


s: The sea-dog and the dolphin are her food;


s: Here fills her sails, and spreads her oars in vain;


s: At once six mouths expands, at once six men devours.


s: "'Close by, a rock of less enormous height


s: Breaks the wild waves, and forms a dangerous strait;


s: Full on its crown a fig's green branches rise,


s: Beneath, Charybdis holds her boisterous reign


s: 'Midst roaring whirlpools, and absorbs the main;


s: Thrice in her gulfs the boiling seas subside,


s: Thrice in dire thunders she refunds the tide.


s: Oh, if thy vessel plough the direful waves,


s: When seas retreating roar within her caves,


s: Ye perish all! though he who rules the main


s: Lends his strong aid, his aid he lends in vain.


s: Ah, shun the horrid gulf! by Scylla fly.


s: 'Tis better six to lose, than all to die.'


s: "I then: 'O nymph propitious to my prayer,


s: Goddess divine, my guardian power, declare,


s: Is the foul fiend from human vengeance freed?


s: Or, if I rise in arms, can Scylla bleed?'


s: "Then she: 'O worn by toils, O broke in fight,


s: Still are new toils and war thy dire delight?


s: Will martial flames for ever fire thy mind,


s: How vain thy efforts to avenge the wrong!


s: Deathless the pest! impenetrably strong!


s: E'en with a look she withers all the bold!


s: She mocks the weak attempts of human might;


s: Oh, fly her rage! thy conquest is thy flight.


s: If but to seize thy arms thou make delay,


s: Her six mouths yawn, and six are snatch'd away.


s: From her foul wound Crataeis gave to air


s: This dreadful pest! To her direct thy prayer,


s: And guard thee through the tumult of the floods.


s: Thence to Trinacria's shore you bend your way,


s: Where graze thy herds, illustrious source of day!


s: Seven herds, seven flocks enrich the sacred plains,


s: Each herd, each flock full fifty heads contains;


s: The wondrous kind a length of age survey,


s: By breed increase not, nor by death decay.


s: The constant guardian of the woolly train;


s: From Phoebus and the bright Neaea sprung;


s: Here, watchful o'er the flocks, in shady bowers


s: And flowery meads, they waste the joyous hours.


s: Rob not the gods! and so propitious gales


s: But if thy impious hands the flocks destroy,


s: The gods, the gods avenge it, and ye die!


s: 'Tis thine alone (thy friends and navy lost)


s: Through tedious toils to view thy native coast.'


s: She ceased: and now arose the morning ray;


s: Swift to her dome the goddess held her way.


s: Then to my mates I measured back the plain,


s: Climb'd the tall bark, and rush'd into the main;


s: Then, bending to the stroke, their oars they drew


s: To their broad breasts, and swift the galley flew.


s: Up sprung a brisker breeze; with freshening gales


s: The friendly goddess stretch'd the swelling sails;


s: We drop our oars; at ease the pilot guides;


s: The vessel light along the level glides.


s: When, rising sad and slow, with pensive look,


s: "'O friends, oh ever partners of my woes,


s: Attend while I what Heaven foredooms disclose.


s: Hear all! Fate hangs o'er all; on you it lies


s: "'In flowery meads the sportive Sirens play,


s: Touch the soft lyre, and tune the vocal lay;


s: Me, me alone, with fetters firmly bound,


s: The gods allow to hear the dangerous sound.


s: Be every fetter strain'd, be added band to band.'


s: "While yet I speak the winged galley flies,


s: And lo! the Siren shores like mists arise.


s: Sunk were at once the winds; the air above,


s: And waves below, at once forgot to move;


s: Some demon calm'd the air and smooth'd the deep,


s: Hush'd the loud winds, and charm'd the waves to sleep.


s: Now every sail we furl, each oar we ply;


s: Lash'd by the stroke, the frothy waters fly.


s: The ductile wax with busy hands I mould,


s: And cleft in fragments, and the fragments roll'd;


s: The aerial region now grew warm with day,


s: The wax dissolved beneath the burning ray;


s: Then every ear I barr'd against the strain,


s: And from access of frenzy lock'd the brain.


s: Now round the masts my mates the fetters roll'd,


s: And bound me limb by limb with fold on fold.


s: Then bending to the stroke, the active train


s: Plunge all at once their oars, and cleave the main.


s: "While to the shore the rapid vessel flies,


s: Our swift approach the Siren choir descries;


s: Celestial music warbles from their tongue,


s: And thus the sweet deluders tune the song:


s: "'Oh stay, O pride of Greece! Ulysses, stay!


s: Oh cease thy course, and listen to our lay!


s: Blest is the man ordain'd our voice to hear,


s: The song instructs the soul, and charms the ear.


s: Approach! thy soul shall into raptures rise!


s: Approach! and learn new wisdom from the wise!


s: We know whate'er the kings of mighty name


s: Whate'er beneath the sun's bright journey lies.


s: Oh stay, and learn new wisdom from the wise!'


s: "Thus the sweet charmers warbled o'er the main;


s: My soul takes wing to meet the heavenly strain;


s: I give the sign, and struggle to be free;


s: Swift row my mates, and shoot along the sea;


s: New chains they add, and rapid urge the way,


s: Till, dying off, the distant sounds decay;


s: Then scudding swiftly from the dangerous ground,


s: The deafen'd ear unlock'd, the chains unbound.


s: "Now all at once tremendous scenes unfold;


s: Thunder'd the deeps, the smoky billows roll'd!


s: Tumultuous waves embroil the bellowing flood,


s: All trembling, deafen'd, and aghast we stood!


s: No more the vessel plough'd the dreadful wave,


s: Fear seized the mighty, and unnerved the brave;


s: Each dropp'd his oar; but swift from man to man


s: With looks serene I turn'd, and thus began:


s: 'O friends! O often tried in adverse storms!


s: With ills familiar in more dreadful forms!


s: Learn courage hence, and in my care confide;


s: Lo! still the same Ulysses is your guide.


s: Attend my words! your oars incessant ply;


s: Strain every nerve, and bid the vessel fly.


s: Jove safety grants, he grants it to your care.


s: And thou, whose guiding hand directs our way,


s: Bear wide thy course, nor plough those angry waves


s: Where rolls yon smoke, yon tumbling ocean raves;


s: Steer by the higher rock; lest whirl'd around


s: We sink, beneath the circling eddy drown'd.'


s: While yet I speak, at once their oars they seize,


s: Stretch to the stroke, and brush the working seas.


s: Cautious the name of Scylla I suppress'd;


s: That dreadful sound had chill'd the boldest breast.


s: "Meantime, forgetful of the voice divine,


s: All dreadful bright my limbs in armour shine;


s: High on the deck I take my dangerous stand,


s: Two glittering javelins lighten in my hand;


s: Prepared to whirl the whizzing spear I stay,


s: Till the fell fiend arise to seize her prey.


s: The hideous pest, my labouring eyes I roll'd;


s: In vain! the dismal dungeon, dark as night,


s: Veils the dire monster, and confounds the sight.


s: "Now through the rocks, appall'd with deep dismay,


s: We bend our course, and stem the desperate way;


s: Dire Scylla there a scene of horror forms,


s: And here Charybdis fills the deep with storms.


s: When the tide rushes from her rumbling caves,


s: The rough rock roars, tumultuous boil the waves;


s: They toss, they foam, a wild confusion raise,


s: Like waters bubbling o'er the fiery blaze;


s: And high above the rock she spouts the main;


s: When in her gulfs the rushing sea subsides,


s: She drains the ocean with the refluent tides;


s: The rock re-bellows with a thundering sound;


s: Deep, wondrous deep, below appears the ground.


s: "Struck with despair, with trembling hearts we view'd


s: The yawning dungeon, and the tumbling flood;


s: When lo! fierce Scylla stoop'd to seize her prey,


s: Stretch'd her dire jaws, and swept six men away.


s: Chiefs of renown! loud-echoing shrieks arise;


s: I turn, and view them quivering in the skies;


s: They call, and aid with outstretch'd arms implore;


s: In vain they call! those arms are stretch'd no more.


s: As from some rock that overhangs the flood


s: The silent fisher casts the insidious food,


s: With fraudful care he waits the finny prize,


s: And sudden lifts it quivering to the skies:


s: So the foul monster lifts her prey on high,


s: So pant the wretches struggling in the sky;


s: In the wide dungeon she devours her food,


s: And the flesh trembles while she churns the blood.


s: Worn as I am with griefs, with care decay'd,


s: My shivering blood, congeal'd, forgot to flow;


s: "Now from the rocks the rapid vessel flies,


s: And the hoarse din like distant thunder dies;


s: To Sol's bright isle our voyage we pursue,


s: And now the glittering mountains rise to view.


s: There, sacred to the radiant god of day,


s: Graze the fair herds, the flocks promiscuous stray:


s: To low the ox, to blest the woolly train.


s: Straight to my anxious thoughts the sound convey'd


s: The words of Circe and the Theban shade;


s: Warn'd by their awful voice these shores to shun,


s: With cautious fears oppress'd I thus begun:


s: Hear Heaven's commands, and reverence what ye hear!


s: To fly these shores the prescient Theban shade


s: And Circe warn! Oh be their voice obey'd


s: Some mighty woe relentless Heaven forebodes:


s: Fly these dire regions, and revere the gods!'


s: Through every breast, and spread from man to man,


s: "'O cruel thou! some Fury sure has steel'd


s: That stubborn soul, by toil untaught to yield!


s: From sleep debarr'd, we sink from woes to woes:


s: Still must we restless rove, new seas explore,


s: The sun descending, and so near the shore?


s: And lo! the night begins her groomy reign,


s: And doubles all the terrors of the main:


s: Oft in the dead of night loud winds rise,


s: Lash the wild surge, and bluster in the skies.


s: Oh, should the fierce south-west his rage display,


s: And toss with rising storms the watery way,


s: Though gods descend from heaven's aerial plain


s: To lend us aid, the gods descend in vain.


s: Then while the night displays her awful shade,


s: Sweet time of slumber! be the night obey'


s: Haste ye to land! and when the morning ray


s: Sheds her bright beam, pursue the destined way.'


s: "To whom with grief: 'O swift to be undone!


s: Constrain'd I act what wisdom bids me shun.


s: But yonder herbs and yonder flocks forbear;


s: Attest the heavens, and call the gods to hear:


s: By Circe given, and fly the dangerous prey.'


s: 'Thus I: and while to shore the vessel flies,


s: With hands uplifted they attest the skies:


s: Then, where a fountain's gurgling waters play,


s: They rush to land, and end in feasts the day:


s: They feed; they quaff; and now (their hunger fled)


s: Sigh for their friends devour'd, and mourn the dead;


s: Nor cease the tears' till each in slumber shares


s: Now far the night advanced her gloomy reign,


s: And setting stars roll'd down the azure plain:


s: When at the voice of Jove wild whirlwinds rise,


s: And clouds and double darkness veil the skies;


s: The moon, the stars, the bright ethereal host


s: Seem as extinct, and all their splendours lost:


s: The furious tempest roars with dreadful sound:


s: Air thunders, rolls the ocean, groans the ground.


s: All night it raged: when morning rose to land


s: We haul'd our bark, and moor'd it on the strand,


s: Where in a beauteous grotto's cool recess


s: Dance the green Nerolds of the neighbouring seas.


s: "There while the wild winds whistled o'er the main,


s: Thus careful I address'd the listening train:


s: "'O friends, be wise! nor dare the flocks destroy


s: Of these fair pastures: if ye touch, ye die.


s: Warn'd by the high command of Heaven, be awed:


s: Holy the flocks, and dreadful is the god!


s: That god who spreads the radiant beams of light,


s: And views wide earth and heaven's unmeasured height.'


s: "And now the moon had run her monthly round,


s: The south-east blustering with a dreadful sound:


s: Unhurt the beeves, untouch'd the woolly train,


s: Low through the grove, or touch the flowery plain:


s: Then fail'd our food: then fish we make our prey,


s: Or fowl that screaming haunt the watery way.


s: Till now from sea or flood no succour found,


s: Famine and meagre want besieged us round.


s: Pensive and pale from grove to grove I stray'd,


s: From the loud storms to find a sylvan shade;


s: There o'er my hands the living wave I pour;


s: And Heaven and Heaven's immortal thrones implore,


s: To calm the roarings of the stormy main,


s: And guide me peaceful to my realms again.


s: Then o'er my eyes the gods soft slumbers shed,


s: "'O friends, a thousand ways frail mortals lead


s: To the cold tomb, and dreadful all to tread;


s: Pale hunger wastes the manly strength away.


s: Why cease ye then to implore the powers above,


s: Why seize ye not yon beeves, and fleecy prey?


s: To Phoebus shrines shall rise, and altars burn.


s: But should the powers that o'er mankind preside


s: Decree to plunge us in the whelming tide,


s: Than linger life away, and nourish woe.'


s: "Thus he: the beeves around securely stray,


s: When swift to ruin they invade the prey;


s: They seize, they kill!--but for the rite divine.


s: The barley fail'd, and for libations wine.


s: Swift from the oak they strip the shady pride;


s: And verdant leaves the flowery cake supplied.


s: "With prayer they now address the ethereal train,


s: Slay the selected beeves, and flay the slain;


s: The thighs, with fat involved, divide with art,


s: Strew'd o'er with morsels cut from every part.


s: Water, instead of wine, is brought in urns,


s: And pour'd profanely as the victim burns.


s: The thighs thus offer'd, and the entrails dress'd,


s: They roast the fragments, and prepare the feast.


s: "'Twas then soft slumber fled my troubled brain;


s: Back to the bark I speed along the main.


s: When lo! an odour from the feast exhales,


s: Spreads o'er the coast and scents the tainted gales;


s: And thus, obtesting Heaven, I mourn'd aloud;


s: "'O sire of men and gods, immortal Jove!


s: O all ye blissful powers that reign above!


s: Why were my cares beguiled in short repose?


s: O fatal slumber, paid with lasting woes!


s: Vengeance is on the wing, and Heaven in arms!'


s: "Meantime Lampetie mounts the aerial way,


s: "'Vengeance, ye powers (he cries), and then whose hand


s: Aims the red bolt, and hurls the writhen brand!


s: Slain are those herds which I with pride survey,


s: When through the ports of heaven I pour the day,


s: Or deep in ocean plunge the burning ray.


s: Vengeance, ye gods! or I the skies forego,


s: And bear the lamp of heaven to shades below.'


s: "To whom the thundering Power: 'O source of day


s: Whose radiant lamp adorns the azure way,


s: Still may thy beams through heaven's bright portal rise,


s: The joy of earth, the glory of the skies:


s: Lo! my red arm I bare, my thunders guide,


s: To dash the offenders in the whelming tide.'


s: "To fair Calypso, from the bright abodes,


s: Hermes convey'd these counsels of the gods.


s: "Meantime from man to man my tongue exclaims,


s: My wrath is kindled, and my soul in flames.


s: In vain! I view perform'd the direful deed,


s: Beeves, slain in heaps, along the ocean bleed.


s: "Now heaven gave signs of wrath: along the ground


s: Crept the raw hides, and with a bellowing sound


s: Roar'd the dead limbs; the burning entrails groan'd.


s: Six guilty days my wretched mates employ


s: In impious feasting, and unhallowed joy;


s: The seventh arose, and now the sire of gods


s: Rein'd the rough storms; and calm'd the tossing floods:


s: With speed the bark we climb; the spacious sails.


s: Loosed from the yards invite the impelling gales.


s: Past sight of shore, along the surge we bound,


s: And all above is sky, and ocean all around;


s: When lo! a murky cloud the thunderer forms


s: Full o'er our heads, and blackens heaven with storms.


s: Night dwells o'er all the deep: and now outflies


s: The gloomy west, and whistles in the skies.


s: The mountain-billows roar! the furious blast


s: Howls o'er the shroud, and rends it from the mast:


s: The mast gives way, and, crackling as it bends,


s: Tears up the deck; then all at once descends:


s: Dash'd from the helm, falls headlong in the main.


s: Then Jove in anger bids his thunders roll,


s: And forky lightnings flash from pole to pole:


s: Fierce at our heads his deadly bolt he aims,


s: Red with uncommon wrath, and wrapp'd in flames:


s: Full on the bark it fell; now high, now low,


s: Toss'd and retoss'd, it reel'd beneath the blow;


s: At once into the main the crew it shook:


s: Sulphurous odours rose, and smouldering smoke.


s: Like fowl that haunt the floods, they sink, they rise,


s: Now lost, now seen, with shrieks and dreadful cries;


s: And strive to gain the bark, but Jove denies.


s: Firm at the helm I stand, when fierce the main


s: Rush'd with dire noise, and dash'd the sides in twain;


s: Again impetuous drove the furious blast,


s: Snapp'd the strong helm, and bore to sea the mast.


s: Firm to the mast with cords the helm I bind,


s: Through tumbling billows and a war of wind.


s: "Now sunk the west, and now a southern breeze,


s: More dreadful than the tempest lash'd the seas;


s: For on the rocks it bore where Scylla raves,


s: And dire Charybdis rolls her thundering waves.


s: All night I drove; and at the dawn of day,


s: Fast by the rocks beheld the desperate way;


s: Just when the sea within her gulfs subsides,


s: And in the roaring whirlpools rush the tides,


s: Swift from the float I vaulted with a bound,


s: The lofty fig-tree seized, and clung around;


s: So to the beam the bat tenacious clings,


s: And pendent round it clasps his leather wings.


s: High in the air the tree its boughs display'd,


s: And o'er the dungeon cast a dreadful shade;


s: All unsustain'd between the wave and sky,


s: Beneath my feet the whirling billows fly.


s: What time the judge forsakes the noisy bar


s: To take repast, and stills the wordy war,


s: Charybdis, rumbling from her inmost caves,


s: The mast refunded on her refluent waves.


s: Swift from the tree, the floating mass to gain,


s: Sudden I dropp'd amidst the flashing main;


s: And oar'd with labouring arms along the flood.


s: Unseen I pass'd by Scylla's dire abodes.


s: So Jove decreed (dread sire of men and gods).


s: Then nine long days I plow'd the calmer seas,


s: Heaved by the surge, and wafted by the breeze.


s: Weary and wet the Ogygian shores I gain,


s: When the tenth sun descended to the main.


s: There, in Calypso's ever-fragrant bowers,


s: Refresh'd I lay, and joy beguiled the hours.


s: "My following fates to thee, O king, are known,


s: And the bright partner of thy royal throne.


s: And what so tedious as a twice-told tale?"


s: Ulysses takes his leave of Alcinous and Arete, and embarks in the


s: Ithaca, by reason of a mist which Pallas had cast around him. He


s: breaks into loud lamentations; till the goddess appearing to him


s: in the form of a shepherd, discovers the country to him, and


s: conceal his return, and disguise his person the more effectually,


s: He ceased; but left so pleasing on their ear


s: His voice, that listening still they seem'd to hear.


s: A pause of silence hush'd the shady rooms:


s: The grateful conference then the king resumes:


s: "Whatever toils the great Ulysses pass'd,


s: Beneath this happy roof they end at last;


s: No longer now from shore to shore to roam,


s: Smooth seas and gentle winds invite him home.


s: But hear me, princes! whom these walls inclose,


s: For whom my chanter sings: and goblet flows


s: With wine unmix'd (an honour due to age,


s: To cheer the grave, and warm the poet's rage);


s: Though labour'd gold and many a dazzling vest


s: Lie heap'd already for our godlike guest;


s: Without new treasures let him not remove,


s: Large, and expressive of the public love:


s: A general tribute, which the state shall owe."


s: This sentence pleased: then all their steps address'd


s: To separate mansions, and retired to rest.


s: And shed her sacred light along the skies.


s: Down to the haven and the ships in haste


s: They bore the treasures, and in safety placed.


s: The king himself the vases ranged with care;


s: Then bade his followers to the feast prepare.


s: Of great Alcinous falls, and stains the sand.


s: To Jove the Eternal (power above all powers!


s: Who wings the winds, and darkens heaven with showers)


s: The flames ascend: till evening they prolong


s: The rites, more sacred made by heavenly song;


s: For in the midst, with public honours graced,


s: All, but Ulysses, heard with fix'd delight;


s: He sate, and eyed the sun, and wish'd the night;


s: Slow seem'd the sun to move, the hours to roll,


s: His native home deep-imaged in his soul.


s: As the tired ploughman, spent with stubborn toil,


s: Whose oxen long have torn the furrow'd soil,


s: Sees with delight the sun's declining ray,


s: When home with feeble knees he bends his way


s: To late repast (the day's hard labour done);


s: (The Scherian states) he turn'd, and thus address'd:


s: "O thou, the first in merit and command!


s: And you the peers and princes of the land!


s: May every joy be yours! nor this the least,


s: When due libation shall have crown'd the feast,


s: Safe to my home to send your happy guest.


s: Complete are now the bounties you have given,


s: Be all those bounties but confirm'd by Heaven!


s: So may I find, when all my wanderings cease,


s: My consort blameless, and my friends in peace.


s: Yourselves, your wives, your long-descending race,


s: Sure fix'd on virtue may your nation stand,


s: His words well weigh'd, the general voice approved


s: Benign, and instant his dismission moved,


s: "Great Jove the Father first (he cried) implore;'


s: Then send the stranger to his native shore."


s: The luscious wine the obedient herald brought;


s: Around the mansion flow'd the purple draught;


s: Each from his seat to each immortal pours,


s: Whom glory circles in the Olympian bowers


s: Then thus: "O queen, farewell! be still possess'd


s: Of dear remembrance, blessing still and bless'd!


s: Till age and death shall gently call thee hence,


s: Farewell! and joys successive ever spring


s: To thee, to thine, the people, and the king!"


s: Thus he: then parting prints the sandy shore


s: To the fair port: a herald march'd before,


s: Three chosen maids attend him to the main;


s: This does a tunic and white vest convey,


s: And bread and wine the third. The cheerful mates


s: Safe in the hollow poop dispose the cates;


s: Upon the deck soft painted robes they spread


s: He climbed the lofty stern; then gently press'd


s: The swelling couch, and lay composed to rest.


s: Now placed in order, the Phaeacian train


s: Their cables loose, and launch into the main;


s: At once they bend, and strike their equal oars,


s: And leave the sinking hills and lessening shores.


s: While on the deck the chief in silence lies,


s: And pleasing slumbers steal upon his eyes.


s: Urged by fierce drivers through the dusty space,


s: Toss their high heads, and scour along the plain,


s: So mounts the bounding vessel o'er the main.


s: Back to the stern the parted billows flow,


s: And the black ocean foams and roars below.


s: Thus with spread sails the winged galley flies;


s: Less swift an eagle cuts the liquid skies;


s: Much danger, long and mighty toils he bore,


s: In storms by sea, and combats on the shore;


s: All which soft sleep now banish'd from his breast,


s: Wrapp'd in a pleasing, deep, and death-like rest.


s: But when the morning-star with early ray


s: Flamed in the front of heaven, and promised day;


s: Like distant clouds the mariner descries


s: Far from the town a spacious port appears,


s: Sacred to Phorcys' power, whose name it bears;


s: Two craggy rocks projecting to the main,


s: The roaring wind's tempestuous rage restrain;


s: Within the waves in softer murmurs glide,


s: And ships secure without their halsers ride.


s: High at the head a branching olive grows,


s: And crowns the pointed cliffs with shady boughs.


s: Delights the Nereids of the neighbouring seas,


s: Where bowls and urns were form'd of living stone,


s: On which the labours of the nymphs were roll'd,


s: Their webs divine of purple mix'd with gold.


s: Within the cave the clustering bees attend


s: Their waxen works, or from the roof depend.


s: Perpetual waters o'er the pavement glide;


s: Sacred the south, by which the gods descend;


s: Thither they bent, and haul'd their ship to land


s: (The crooked keel divides the yellow sand).


s: Ulysses sleeping on his couch they bore,


s: And gently placed him on the rocky shore.


s: His treasures next, Alcinous' gifts, they laid


s: Secure from theft; then launch'd the bark again,


s: Resumed their oars, and measured back the main,


s: Nor yet forgot old Ocean's dread supreme,


s: The vengeance vow'd for eyeless Polypheme.


s: Before the throne of mighty Jove lie stood,


s: And sought the secret counsels of the god.


s: "Shall then no more, O sire of gods! be mine


s: The rights and honours of a power divine?


s: Scorn'd e'en by man, and (oh severe disgrace!)


s: Against yon destined head in vain I swore,


s: And menaced vengeance, ere he reach'd his shore;


s: To reach his natal shore was thy decree;


s: Mild I obey'd, for who shall war with thee?


s: From all the eluded dangers of the deep;


s: Lo where he lies, amidst a shining store


s: Of brass, rich garments, and refulgent ore;


s: A prize more worth than Ilion's noble spoil."


s: To whom the Father of the immortal powers,


s: Who swells the clouds, and gladdens earth with showers,


s: "Can mighty Neptune thus of man complain?


s: Neptune, tremendous o'er the boundless main!


s: Revered and awful e'en in heaven's abodes,


s: Ancient and great! a god above the gods!


s: If that low race offend thy power divine


s: (Weak, daring creatures!) is not vengeance thine?


s: Go, then, the guilty at thy will chastise."


s: He said. The shaker of the earth replies:


s: "This then, I doom: to fix the gallant ship,


s: To warn the thoughtless, self-confiding train,


s: No more unlicensed thus to brave the main.


s: Full in their port a Shady hill shall rise,


s: If such thy will."--" We will it (Jove replies).


s: E'en when with transport blackening all the strand,


s: The swarming people hail their ship to land,


s: Still let her seem to sail, and seem alone.


s: The trembling crowds shall see the sudden shade


s: Of whelming mountains overhang their head!"


s: With that the god whose earthquakes rock the ground


s: Fierce to Phaeacia cross'd the vast profound.


s: Swift as a swallow sweeps the liquid way,


s: The god arrests her with a sudden stroke,


s: Aghast the Scherians stand in deep surprise;


s: All press to speak, all question with their eyes.


s: What hands unseen the rapid bark restrain!


s: And yet it swims, or seems to swim, the main!


s: Thus they, unconscious of the deed divine;


s: Till great Alcinous, rising, own'd the sign.


s: "Behold the long predestined day I (he cries;)


s: These ears have heard my royal sire disclose


s: How, moved with wrath, that careless we convey


s: Stern Neptune raged; and how by his command


s: Firm rooted in the surge a ship should stand


s: (A monument of wrath); and mound on mound


s: Should hide our walls, or whelm beneath the ground.


s: "The Fates have follow'd as declared the seer.


s: Be humbled, nations! and your monarch hear.


s: No more unlicensed brave the deeps, no more


s: With every stranger pass from shore to shore;


s: To his high name let twelve black oxen fall.


s: So may the god reverse his purposed will,


s: Nor o'er our city hang the dreadful hill."


s: The monarch spoke: they trembled and obey'd,


s: The gathered tribes before the altars stand,


s: The king of ocean all the tribes implore;


s: The blazing altars redden all the shore.


s: Released from sleep, and round him might survey


s: Yet had his mind through tedious absence lost


s: The dear resemblance of his native coast;


s: Diffused around a veil of thickened air;


s: His royal person from his friends and queen;


s: Till the proud suitors for their crimes afford


s: An ample vengeance to their injured lord.


s: And long-continued ways, and winding floods,


s: And unknown mountains, crown'd with unknown woods


s: Pensive and slow, with sudden grief oppress'd,


s: The king arose, and beat his careful breast,


s: Cast a long look o'er all the coast and main,


s: And sought, around, his native realm in vain;


s: Then with erected eyes stood fix'd in woe,


s: And as he spoke, the tears began to flow.


s: "Ye gods (he cried), upon what barren coast,


s: Possess'd by wild barbarians, fierce in arms?


s: Where shall this treasure now in safely be?


s: Some juster prince perhaps had entertain'd,


s: Is this the promised, long-expected coast,


s: And this the faith Phaeacia's rulers boast?


s: O righteous gods! of all the great, how few


s: Are just to Heaven, and to their promise true!


s: But he, the power to whose all-seeing eyes


s: The deeds of men appear without disguise,


s: 'Tis his alone to avenge the wrongs I bear;


s: For still the oppress'd are his peculiar care.


s: To count these presents, and from thence to prove,


s: Their faith is mine; the rest belongs to Jove."


s: Then on the sands he ranged his wealthy store,


s: The gold, the vests, the tripods number'd o'er:


s: All these he found, but still in error lost,


s: Sighs for his country, and laments again


s: To the deaf rocks, and hoarse-resounding main.


s: When lo! the guardian goddess of the wise,


s: Celestial Pallas, stood before his eyes;


s: In show a youthful swain, of form divine,


s: Who seem'd descended from some princely line.


s: A graceful robe her slender body dress'd;


s: Around her shoulders flew the waving vest;


s: And painted sandals on her feet she wore.


s: To whom the king: "Whoe'er of human race


s: Thou art, that wanderest in this desert place,


s: With joy to thee, as to some god I bend,


s: To thee my treasures and myself commend.


s: O tell a wretch in exile doom'd to stray,


s: What air I breathe, what country I survey?


s: The fruitful continent's extremest bound,


s: Or some fair isle which Neptune's arms surround?


s: "From what far clime (said she) remote from fame


s: Arrivest thou here, a stranger to our name?


s: Thou seest an island, not to those unknown


s: Whose hills are brighten'd by the rising sun,


s: Nor those that placed beneath his utmost reign


s: Yet, not ungrateful to the peasant's pain,


s: The loaded trees their various fruits produce,


s: And clustering grapes afford a generous juice;


s: Woods crown our mountains, and in every grove


s: The bounding goats and frisking heifers rove;


s: Soft rains and kindly dews refresh the field,


s: And rising springs eternal verdure yield.


s: E'en to those shores is Ithaca renown'd,


s: Where Troy's majestic ruins strew the ground."


s: At this, the chief with transport was possess'd;


s: His panting heart exulted in his breast;


s: Yet, well dissembling his untimely joys,


s: And veiling truth in plausible disguise,


s: Thus, with an air sincere, in fiction bold,


s: "Oft have I heard in Crete this island's name;


s: For 'twas from Crete, my native soil, I came,


s: Self-banished thence.  I sail'd before the wind,


s: And left my children and my friends behind.


s: (With brutal force he seized my Trojan prey,


s: Unseen I 'scaped, and favour'd by the night,


s: For Pyle or Elis bound; but tempests toss'd


s: And raging billows drove us on your coast.


s: In dead of night an unknown port we gain'd;


s: Spent with fatigue, and slept secure on land.


s: While in the embrace of pleasing sleep I lay,


s: They land my goods, and hoist their flying sails.


s: Thus while he spoke, the blue-eyed maid began


s: With pleasing smiles to view the godlike man;


s: Then changed her form: and now, divinely bright,


s: Jove's heavenly daughter stood confess'd to sight;


s: Like a fair virgin in her beauty's bloom,


s: Skill'd in the illustrious labours of the loom.


s: "O still the same Ulysses! (she rejoin'd,)


s: Artful in speech, in action, and in mind!


s: Sufficed it not, that, thy long labours pass'd,


s: Secure thou seest thy native shore at last?


s: But this to me? who, like thyself, excel


s: In arts of counsel and dissembling well;


s: To me? whose wit exceeds the powers divine,


s: No less than mortals are surpass'd by thine.


s: Know'st thou not me; who made thy life my care,


s: Through ten years' wandering, and through ten years' war;


s: Who taught thee arts, Alcinous to persuade,


s: To raise his wonder, and engage his aid;


s: And now appear, thy treasures to protect,


s: And tell what more thou must from Fate expect;


s: The pride of fools, and slaves' insulting scorn?


s: But thou be silent, nor reveal thy state;


s: And bear unmoved the wrongs of base mankind,


s: The last, and hardest, conquest of the mind."


s: He who discerns thee must be truly wise,


s: When the bold Argives led their warring powers,


s: Against proud Ilion's well-defended towers,


s: Graced with thy sight, and favoured with thy aid.


s: And bound for Greece we plough'd the watery way;


s: Our fleet dispersed, and driven from coast to coast,


s: Thy sacred presence from that hour I lost;


s: Till I beheld thy radiant form once more,


s: And heard thy counsels on Phaeacia's shore.


s: But, by the almighty author of thy race,


s: Tell me, oh tell, is this my native place?


s: For much I fear, long tracts of land and sea


s: To soothe my hopes, and mitigate my woes."


s: Thus he. The blue-eyed goddess thus replies;


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


s: Who, versed in fortune, fear the flattering show,


s: And taste not half the bliss the gods bestow.


s: The more shall Pallas aid thy just desires,


s: And guard the wisdom which herself inspires.


s: Others long absent from their native place,


s: Straight seek their home, and fly with eager pace


s: To their wives' arms, and children's dear embrace.


s: His subjects' faith, and queen's suspected love;


s: Who mourn'd her lord twice ten revolving years,


s: And wastes the days in grief, the nights in tears.


s: But Pallas knew (thy friends and navy lost)


s: Once more 'twas given thee to behold thy coast;


s: Yet how could I with adverse Fate engage,


s: Now lift thy longing eyes, while I restore


s: The pleasing prospect of thy native shore.


s: Bebold the port of Phorcys! fenced around


s: With rocky mountains, and with olives crown'd,


s: Behold the gloomy grot! whose cool recess


s: Delights the Nereids of the neighbouring seas;


s: Blush'd with the blood of sheep and oxen slain,


s: Behold! where Neritus the clouds divides,


s: And shakes the waving forests on his sides."


s: So spake the goddess; and the prospect clear'd,


s: The mists dispersed, and all the coast appeared.


s: The king with joy confess'd his place of birth,


s: And on his knees salutes his mother earth;


s: Then, with his suppliant hands upheld in air,


s: Thus to the sea-green sisters sends his prayer;


s: "All hail! ye virgin daughters of the main!


s: Ye streams, beyond my hopes, beheld again!


s: Attend his transports, and receive his vows!


s: If Jove prolong my days, and Pallas crown


s: And grateful offerings on your altars laid."


s: Thus then Minerva: "From that anxious breast


s: Dismiss those cares, and leave to heaven the rest.


s: Our task be now thy treasured stores to save,


s: Then future means consult." She spoke, and trod


s: The shady grot, that brighten'd with the god.


s: The closest caverns of the grot she sought;


s: The gold, the brass, the robes, Ulysses brought;


s: These in the secret gloom the chief disposed;


s: The entrance with a rock the goddess closed.


s: Now, seated in the olive's sacred shade,


s: The suitor-train thy earliest care demand,


s: Three years thy house their lawless rule has seen,


s: And proud addresses to the matchless queen.


s: But she thy absence mourns from day to day,


s: And inly bleeds, and silent wastes away;


s: Fond hopes to all, and all with hopes deceives."


s: Praised be thy counsel, and thy timely aid;


s: Else had I seen my native walls in vain,


s: Like great Atrides, just restored and slain.


s: Vouchsafe the means of vengeance to debate,


s: And plan with all thy arts the scene of fate.


s: Then, then be present, and my soul inspire,


s: As when we wrapp'd Troy's heaven-built walls in fire.


s: Though leagued against me hundred heroes stand.


s: Hundreds shall fall, if Pallas aid my hand."


s: She answer'd: "In the dreadful day of fight


s: Know, I am with thee, strong in all my might.


s: What gasping numbers then shall press the ground!


s: What human victims stain the feastful floor!


s: How wide the pavements float with guilty gore!


s: It fits thee now to wear a dark disguise,


s: For this, my hand shall wither every grace,


s: O'er thy smooth skin a bark of wrinkles spread,


s: Turn hoar the auburn honours of thy head;


s: Disfigure every limb with coarse attire,


s: And in thy eyes extinguish all the fire;


s: Add all the wants and the decays of life;


s: Estrange thee from thy own; thy son, thy wife;


s: From the loathed object every sight shall turn,


s: And the blind suitors their destruction scorn.


s: "Go first the master of thy herds to find,


s: True to his charge, a loyal swain and kind;


s: For thee he sighs; and to the loyal heir


s: Swell the fat herd; luxuriant, large repast!


s: With him rest peaceful in the rural cell,


s: And all you ask his faithful tongue shall tell.


s: To Sparta, still with female beauty gay;


s: For know, to Sparta thy loved offspring came,


s: To learn thy fortunes from the voice of Fame."


s: At this the father, with a father's care:


s: "Must he too suffer? he, O goddess! bear


s: Of wanderings and of woes a wretched share?


s: Through the wild ocean plough the dangerous way,


s: And leave his fortunes and his house a prey?


s: Why would'st not thou, O all-enlighten'd mind!


s: Inform him certain, and protect him, kind?"


s: And know, whatever heaven ordains is best.


s: Secure he sits, near great Atrides placed;


s: With friendships strengthen'd, and with honours graced,


s: But lo! an ambush waits his passage o'er;


s: Fierce foes insidious intercept the shore;


s: In vain; far sooner all the murderous brood


s: This injured land shall fatten with their blood."


s: She spake, then touch'd him with her powerful wand:


s: The skin shrunk up, and wither'd at her hand;


s: A swift old age o'er all his members spread;


s: A sudden frost was sprinkled on his head;


s: The glance divine, forth-beaming from the mind.


s: His robe, which spots indelible besmear,


s: In rags dishonest flutters with the air:


s: A stag's torn hide is lapp'd around his reins;


s: A rugged staff his trembling hand sustains;


s: And at his side a wretched scrip was hung,


s: Wide-patch'd, and knotted to a twisted thong.


s: So looked the chief, so moved: to mortal eyes


s: While Pallas, cleaving the wild fields of air,


s: Ulysses arrives in disguise at the house of Eumaeus, where he is


s: But he, deep-musing, o'er the mountains stray'd


s: Through mazy thickets of the woodland shade,


s: And cavern'd ways, the shaggy coast along


s: With cliffs and nodding forests overhung.


s: A faithful servant, and without a fault.


s: Before the threshold of his rustic gate;


s: (In absence of his lord with honest toil


s: His own industrious hands had raised the pile).


s: The wall was stone from neighbouring quarries borne,


s: And strong with pales, by many a weary stroke


s: Of stubborn labour hewn from heart of oak:


s: Frequent and thick. Within the space were rear'd


s: Twelve ample cells, the lodgments of his herd.


s: Full fifty pregnant females each contain'd;


s: The males without (a smaller race) remain'd;


s: Doom'd to supply the suitors' wasteful feast,


s: Now scarce four hundred left. These to defend,


s: Four savage dogs, a watchful guard, attend.


s: To form strong buskins of well-season'd hide.


s: Of four assistants who his labour share,


s: Three now were absent on the rural care;


s: The fourth drove victims to a suitor train:


s: But he, of ancient faith, a simple swain,


s: Sigh'd, while he furnish'd the luxurious board,


s: And wearied Heaven with wishes for his lord.


s: Soon as Ulysses near the inclosure drew,


s: With open mouths the furious mastiffs flew:


s: Down sat the sage, and cautious to withstand,


s: Let fall the offensive truncheon from his hand.


s: Sudden, the master runs; aloud he calls;


s: And from his hasty hand the leather falls:


s: With showers of stones he drives then far away:


s: The scattering dogs around at distance bay.


s: "Unhappy stranger! (thus the faithful swain


s: What sorrow had been mine, if at my gate


s: Thy reverend age had met a shameful fate!


s: While here (ungrateful task!) his herds I feed,


s: Far from his country roams my hapless lord;


s: Or sigh'd in exile forth his latest breath,


s: Now cover'd with the eternal shade of death!


s: Then tell me whence thou art, and what the share


s: Of woes and wanderings thou wert born to bear."


s: He said, and, seconding the kind request,


s: With friendly step precedes his unknown guest.


s: A shaggy goat's soft hide beneath him spread,


s: And with fresh rushes heap'd an ample bed;


s: Jove touch'd the hero's tender soul, to find


s: And "Oh, ye gods! with all your blessings grace


s: (He thus broke forth) this friend of human race!"


s: The swain replied: "It never was our guise


s: To slight the poor, or aught humane despise:


s: 'Tis Jove that sends the stranger and the poor,


s: Accept such treatment as a swain affords,


s: Slave to the insolence of youthful lords!


s: That man of bounties, loving and beloved!


s: To whom whate'er his slave enjoys is owed,


s: And more, had Fate allow'd, had been bestow'd:


s: But Fate condemn'd him to a foreign shore;


s: Much have I sorrow'd, but my Master more.


s: Now cold he lies, to death's embrace resign'd:


s: For whose cursed cause, in Agamemnon's name,


s: His vest succinct then girding round his waist,


s: Forth rush'd the swain with hospitable haste.


s: Straight to the lodgments of his herd he run,


s: Where the fat porkers slept beneath the sun;


s: Of two, his cutlass launch'd the spouting blood;


s: These quarter'd, singed, and fix'd on forks of wood,


s: All hasty on the hissing coals he threw;


s: And smoking, back the tasteful viands drew.


s: Broachers and all then an the board display'd


s: With flour imbrown'd; next mingled wine yet new,


s: And luscious as the bees' nectareous dew:


s: Then sate, companion of the friendly feast,


s: With open look; and thus bespoke his guest:


s: "Take with free welcome what our hands prepare,


s: Such food as falls to simple servants' share;


s: The best our lords consume; those thoughtless peers,


s: Rich without bounty, guilty without fears;


s: Yet sure the gods their impious acts detest,


s: And honour justice and the righteous breast.


s: Pirates and conquerors of harden'd mind,


s: The foes of peace, and scourges of mankind,


s: When Jove in vengeance gives a land away;


s: E'en these, when of their ill-got spoils possess'd,


s: Find sure tormentors in the guilty breast:


s: Some voice of God close whispering from within,


s: 'Wretch! this is villainy, and this is sin.'


s: But these, no doubt, some oracle explore,


s: That tells, the great Ulysses is no more.


s: Hence springs their confidence, and from our sighs


s: Their rapine strengthens, and their riots rise:


s: Constant as Jove the night and day bestows,


s: Bleeds a whole hecatomb, a vintage flows.


s: None match'd this hero's wealth, of all who reign


s: O'er the fair islands of the neighbouring main.


s: Nor all the monarchs whose far-dreaded sway


s: First, on the main land, of Ulysses' breed


s: Twelve herds, twelve flocks, on ocean's margin feed;


s: As many stalls for shaggy goats are rear'd;


s: Two foreign keepers guard: and here are seen


s: Twelve herds of goats that graze our utmost green;


s: To native pastors is their charge assign'd,


s: And mine the care to feed the bristly kind;


s: Each day the fattest bleeds of either herd,


s: All to the suitors' wasteful board preferr'd."


s: With hunger keen devours the savoury feast;


s: While schemes of vengeance ripen in his breast.


s: Silent and thoughtful while the board he eyed,


s: The king with smiling looks his joy express'd,


s: And thus the kind inviting host address'd:


s: "Say now, what man is he, the man deplored,


s: So rich, so potent, whom you style your lord?


s: Late with such affluence and possessions bless'd,


s: And now in honour's glorious bed at rest.


s: Who (so the gods and so the Fates ordain'd)


s: Have wander'd many a sea, and many a land."


s: "Small is the faith the prince and queen ascribe


s: (Replied Eumaeus) to the wandering tribe.


s: For needy strangers still to flattery fly,


s: And want too oft betrays the tongue to lie.


s: Each vagrant traveller, that touches here,


s: To dear remembrance makes his image rise,


s: And calls the springing sorrows from her eyes.


s: Such thou mayst be. But he whose name you crave


s: Moulders in earth, or welters on the wave,


s: Or food for fish or dogs his relics lie,


s: Or torn by birds are scatter'd through the sky.


s: So perish'd he: and left (for ever lost)


s: Much woe to all, but sure to me the most.


s: Less dear the parents whom I left behind,


s: Less soft my mother, less my father kind.


s: Not with such transport would my eyes run o'er,


s: Again to hail them in their native shore,


s: Restored and breathing in his natal place.


s: That name for ever dread, yet ever dear,


s: E'en in his absence I pronounce with fear:


s: In my respect, he bears a prince's part;


s: Thus spoke the faithful swain, and thus rejoin'd


s: The master of his grief, the man of patient mind:


s: "Ulysses, friend! shall view his old abodes


s: (Distrustful as thou art), nor doubt the gods.


s: Nor speak I rashly, but with faith averr'd,


s: And what I speak attesting Heaven has heard.


s: Though certain be my news, and great my need.


s: Whom want itself can force untruths to tell,


s: My soul detests him as the gates of hell.


s: "Thou first be witness, hospitable Jove!


s: And witness every household power that waits,


s: Guard of these fires, and angel of these gates!


s: Ere the next moon increase or this decay,


s: His ancient realms Ulysses shall survey,


s: In blood and dust each proud oppressor mourn,


s: And the lost glories of his house return."


s: "Nor shall that meed be thine, nor ever more


s: Shall loved Ulysses hail this happy shore.


s: Now turn thy thought, and joys within our power.


s: But guard him, gods! and to these arms restore!


s: Not his true consort can desire him more;


s: Not young Telemachus, his blooming heir.


s: Afresh for thee, my second cause of woe!


s: Like some fair plant set by a heavenly hand,


s: He grew, he flourish'd, and he bless'd the land;


s: In all the youth his father's image shined,


s: Bright in his person, brighter in his mind.


s: What man, or god, deceived his better sense,


s: Far on the swelling seas to wander hence?


s: To seek his father's fate and find his own!


s: For traitors wait his way, with dire design


s: But let us leave him to their wills above;


s: The fates of men are in the hand of Jove.


s: Your name, your parents, and your native air:


s: Sincere from whence begun, your course relate,


s: And to what ship I owe the friendly freight?"


s: Thus he: and thus (with prompt invention bold)


s: The cautious chief his ready story told.


s: "On dark reserve what better can prevail,


s: Or from the fluent tongue produce the tale,


s: Than when two friends, alone, in peaceful place


s: Confer, and wines and cates the table grace;


s: But most, the kind inviter's cheerful face?


s: Thus might we sit, with social goblets crown'd,


s: Till the whole circle of the year goes round:


s: Not the whole circle of the year would close


s: But such was Heaven's high will! Know then, I came


s: From sacred Crete, and from a sire of fame:


s: Beloved and honour'd in his native shore;


s: Bless'd in his riches, in his children more.


s: Sprung of a handmaid, from a bought embrace,


s: I shared his kindness with his lawful race:


s: But when that fate, which all must undergo,


s: From earth removed him to the shades below,


s: The large domain his greedy sons divide,


s: And each was portion'd as the lots decide.


s: Little, alas! was left my wretched share,


s: A willing widow's copious wealth supplied.


s: That, true to honour, never lagg'd behind


s: Now wasting years my former strength confound,


s: And added woes have bow'd me to the ground;


s: Yet by the stubble you may guess the grain,


s: Me, Pallas gave to lead the martial storm,


s: Me, Mars inspired to turn the foe to flight,


s: And tempt the secret ambush of the night.


s: Let ghastly Death in all his forms appear,


s: Before the rest I raised my ready steel,


s: The first I met, he yielded, or he fell.


s: But works of peace my soul disdain'd to bear,


s: To raise the mast, the missile dart to wing,


s: And send swift arrows from the bounding string,


s: Were arts the gods made grateful to my mind;


s: Those gods, who turn (to various ends design'd)


s: The various thoughts and talents of mankind.


s: Before the Grecians touch'd the Trojan plain,


s: Nine times commander or by land or main,


s: In foreign fields I spread my glory far,


s: Great in the praise, rich in the spoils of war;


s: Thence charged with riches, as increased in fame,


s: But when great Jove that direful war decreed,


s: Which roused all Greece, and made the mighty bleed;


s: To lead their fleets, and carry death to Troy.


s: Nine years we warr'd; the tenth saw Ilion fall;


s: Homeward we sail'd, but heaven dispersed us all.


s: So will'd the god who gives and takes away.


s: Nine ships I mann'd, equipp'd with ready stores,


s: Six days consum'd; the seventh we plough'd the main.


s: Crete's ample fields diminish to our eye;


s: Before the Boreal blast the vessels fly;


s: Safe through the level seas we sweep our way;


s: The steersman governs, and the ships obey.


s: And tilting o'er the bay the vessels ride:


s: And spies commission to explore the land.


s: But, sway'd by lust of gain, and headlong will,


s: The coasts they ravage, and the natives kill.


s: The spreading clamour to their city flies,


s: And horse and foot in mingled tumult rise.


s: The reddening dawn reveals the circling fields,


s: Horrid with bristly spears, and glancing shields.


s: Jove thunder'd on their side. Our guilty head


s: We turn'd to flight; the gathering vengeance spread


s: On all parts round, and heaps on heaps lie dead.


s: I then explored my thought, what course to prove


s: (And sure the thought was dictated by Jove):


s: Oh, had he left me to that happier doom,


s: The radiant helmet from my brows unlaced,


s: And low on earth my shield and javelin cast,


s: I meet the monarch with a suppliant's face,


s: Approach his chariot, and his knees embrace,


s: He heard, he saved, he placed me at his side;


s: My state he pitied, and my tears he dried,


s: Restrain'd the rage the vengeful foe express'd,


s: And turn'd the deadly weapons from my breast.


s: And fearing Jove, whom mercy's works delight.


s: I lived (and happy still have lived) a guest.


s: On seven bright years successive blessings wait;


s: The next changed all the colour of my fate.


s: Versed in vile arts, and foe to humankind,


s: With semblance fair invites me to his home;


s: I seized the proffer (ever fond to roam):


s: Domestic in his faithless roof I stay'd,


s: Till the swift sun his annual circle made.


s: Much doubting, yet compell'd I quit the strand,


s: Through the mid seas the nimble pinnace sails,


s: Aloof from Crete, before the northern gales:


s: But when remote her chalky cliffs we lost,


s: When all was wild expanse of sea and air,


s: Then doom'd high Jove due vengeance to prepare.


s: He hung a night of horrors o'er their head


s: (The shaded ocean blacken'd as it spread):


s: He launch'd the fiery bolt: from pole to pole


s: Broad burst the lightnings, deep the thunders roll;


s: In giddy rounds the whirling ship is toss'd,


s: An all in clouds of smothering sulphur lost.


s: As from a hanging rock's tremendous height,


s: Drop endlong; scarr'd, and black with sulphurous hue,


s: So from the deck are hurl'd the ghastly crew.


s: Such end the wicked found! but Jove's intent


s: Was yet to save the oppress'd and innocent.


s: Placed on the mast (the last resource of life)


s: With winds and waves I held unequal strife:


s: For nine long days the billows tilting o'er,


s: The tenth soft wafts me to Thesprotia's shore.


s: The monarch's son a shipwreck'd wretch relieved,


s: The sire with hospitable rites received,


s: And in his palace like a brother placed,


s: With gifts of price and gorgeous garments graced


s: While here I sojourn'd, oft I heard the fame


s: How loved, how honour'd in this court he stay'd,


s: And here his whole collected treasure laid;


s: And brass high heap'd amidst the regal dome;


s: What means might best his safe return avail,


s: Full oft has Phidon, whilst he pour'd the wine,


s: That soon Ulysses would return, declared


s: The sailors waiting, and the ships prepared.


s: But first the king dismiss'd me from his shores,


s: For fair Dulichium crown'd with fruitful stores;


s: To good Acastus' friendly care consign'd:


s: But other counsels pleased the sailors' mind:


s: New frauds were plotted by the faithless train,


s: Soon as remote from shore they plough the wave,


s: With ready hands they rush to seize their slave;


s: Then with these tatter'd rags they wrapp'd me round


s: (Stripp'd of my own), and to the vessel bound.


s: The ship arriv'd: forth issuing on the sand,


s: They sought repast; while to the unhappy kind,


s: The pitying gods themselves my chains unbind.


s: My naked breast, and shot along the tide.


s: Soon pass'd beyond their sight, I left the flood,


s: And took the spreading shelter of the wood.


s: Their prize escaped the faithless pirates mourn'd;


s: But deem'd inquiry vain, and to their ships return'd.


s: Screen'd by protecting gods from hostile eyes,


s: And wait the woes Heaven dooms me yet to bear."


s: "Unhappy guest! whose sorrows touch my mind!


s: (Thus good Eumaeus with a sigh rejoin'd,)


s: For real sufferings since I grieve sincere,


s: Check not with fallacies the springing tear:


s: Nor turn the passion into groundless joy


s: For him whom Heaven has destined to destroy.


s: Oh! had he perish'd on some well-fought day,


s: That grateful Greece with streaming eyes might raise


s: His praise, eternal on the faithful stone,


s: Had with transmissive honours graced his son.


s: Now, snatch'd by harpies to the dreary coast,


s: Far from gay cities and the ways of men,


s: But when my constant queen commands my care;


s: Some guest arrives, with rumours of her lord;


s: And these indulge their want, and those their woe,


s: And here the tears and there the goblets flow.


s: By many such have I been warn'd; but chief


s: Whose hap it was to this our roof to roam,


s: For murder banish'd from his native home.


s: A few revolving months should waft him o'er,


s: Fraught with bold warriors, and a boundless store


s: O thou! whom age has taught to understand,


s: And Heaven has guided with a favouring hand!


s: Forbear, and dread to flatter as to die.


s: Nor for such ends my house and heart are free,


s: (Thus quick replied the wisest of mankind)


s: Doubt you my oath? yet more my faith to try,


s: And witness every power that rules the sky!


s: And where my hopes invite me, straight transport


s: In safety to Dulichium's friendly court.


s: Hurl me from yon dread precipice on high:


s: "Doubtless, O guest! great laud and praise were mine


s: (Replied the swain, for spotless faith divine),


s: If after social rites and gifts bestow'd,


s: I stain'd my hospitable hearth with blood.


s: How would the gods my righteous toils succeed,


s: And bless the hand that made a stranger bleed?


s: No more--the approaching hours of silent night


s: First claim refection, then to rest invite;


s: Beneath our humble cottage let us haste,


s: And here, unenvied, rural dainties taste."


s: Thus communed these; while to their lowly dome


s: The full-fed swine return'd with evening home;


s: Compell'd, reluctant, to their several sties,


s: With din obstreperous, and ungrateful cries.


s: Then to the slaves: "Now from the herd the best


s: With him let us the genial banquet share,


s: For great and many are the griefs we bear;


s: While those who from our labours heap their board


s: Blaspheme their feeder, and forget their lord."


s: Thus speaking, with despatchful hand he took


s: This on the earth he piled; a boar full fed,


s: Of five years' age, before the pile was led:


s: First shears the forehead of the bristly boar,


s: And suppliant stands, invoking every power


s: Down dropped he groaning, and the spirit fled.


s: The scorching flames climb round on every side;


s: Then the singed members they with skill divide;


s: On these, in rolls of fat involved with art,


s: The choicest morsels lay from every part.


s: Some in the flames bestrew'd with flour they threw;


s: Some cut in fragments from the forks they drew:


s: These while on several tables they dispose.


s: A priest himself the blameless rustic rose;


s: In seven just portions, pure of hand and heart.


s: One sacred to the nymphs apart they lay:


s: The rural tribe in common share the rest,


s: The king the chine, the honour of the feast,


s: Who sate delighted at his servant's board;


s: The faithful servant joy'd his unknown lord.


s: "Oh be thou dear (Ulysses cried) to Jove,


s: As well thou claim'st a grateful stranger's love!"


s: "Be then thy thanks (the bounteous swain replied)


s: From God's own hand descend our joys and woes;


s: These he decrees, and he but suffers those:


s: All power is his, and whatsoe'er he wills,


s: This said, the first-fruits to the gods he gave;


s: Then pour'd of offer'd wine the sable wave:


s: In great Ulysses' hand he placed the bowl,


s: He sate, and sweet refection cheer'd his soul.


s: (Eumaeus' proper treasure bought this slave,


s: And led from Taphos, to attend his board,


s: His task it was the wheaten loaves to lay,


s: And from the banquet take the bowls away.


s: And now the rage of hunger was repress'd,


s: And each betakes him to his couch to rest.


s: Now came the night, and darkness cover'd o'er


s: The face of things; the winds began to roar;


s: The driving storm the watery west-wind pours,


s: And Jove descends in deluges of showers.


s: Studious of rest and warmth, Ulysses lies,


s: Foreseeing from the first the storm would rise


s: With artful preface to his host he spoke:


s: "Hear me, my friends! who this good banquet grace;


s: 'Tis sweet to play the fool in time and place,


s: And wine can of their wits the wise beguile,


s: Make the sage frolic, and the serious smile,


s: The grave in merry measures frisk about,


s: And many a long-repented word bring out.


s: Let wit cast off the sullen yoke of sense.


s: Once I was strong (would Heaven restore those days!)


s: And with my betters claim'd a share of praise.


s: And join'd me with them ('twas their own command);


s: Beneath Troy walls by night we took our way:


s: There, clad in arms, along the marshes spread,


s: Full soon the inclemency of heaven I feel,


s: Nor had these shoulders covering, but of steel.


s: Sharp blew the north; snow whitening all the fields


s: Froze with the blast, and gathering glazed our shields.


s: There all but I, well fenced with cloak and vest,


s: Lay cover'd by their ample shields at rest.


s: The skill of weather and of winds unknown,


s: And trusted to my coat and shield alone!


s: When now was wasted more than half the night,


s: And the stars faded at approaching light,


s: Fast by my side, and shivering thus I said:


s: "'Here longer in this field I cannot lie;


s: The winter pinches, and with cold I die,


s: The only fool who left his cloak behind.'


s: "He thought and answer'd: hardly waking yet,


s: (That wit, which or in council or in fight,


s: Still met the emergence, and determined right).


s: 'Hush thee (he cried, soft whispering in my ear),


s: Speak not a word, lest any Greek may hear'--


s: And then (supporting on his arm his head),


s: 'Hear me, companions! (thus aloud he said:)


s: Methinks too distant from the fleet we lie:


s: And sure the warning vision was from high:


s: Let from among us some swift courier rise,


s: Haste to the general, and demand supplies.'


s: "Up started Thoas straight, Andraemon's son,


s: Nimbly he rose, and cast his garment down!


s: Instant, the racer vanish'd off the ground;


s: That instant in his cloak I wrapp'd me round:


s: And safe I slept, till brightly-dawning shone


s: The morn conspicuous on her golden throne.


s: "Oh were my strength as then, as then my age!


s: Some friend would fence me from the winter's rage.


s: Yet, tatter'd as I look, I challenged then


s: Some master, or some servant would allow


s: A cloak and vest--but I am nothing now!"


s: "Well hast thou spoke (rejoin'd the attentive swain):


s: Nor garment shalt thou want, nor aught beside,


s: Meet for the wandering suppliant to provide.


s: But in the morning take thy clothes again,


s: No change of garments to our hinds is known;


s: But when return'd, the good Ulysses' son


s: With better hand shall grace with fit attires


s: His guest, and send thee where thy soul desires."


s: The honest herdsman rose, as this he said,


s: And drew before the hearth the stranger's bed;


s: The fleecy spoils of sheep, a goat's rough hide


s: He spreads; and adds a mantle thick and wide;


s: With store to heap above him, and below,


s: And guard each quarter as the tempests blow.


s: There lay the king, and all the rest supine;


s: All, but the careful master of the swine:


s: Forth hasted he to tend his bristly care;


s: Well arm'd, and fenced against nocturnal air:


s: His weighty falchion o'er his shoulder tied:


s: His shaggy cloak a mountain goat supplied:


s: With his broad spear the dread of dogs and men,


s: There to the tusky herd he bends his way,


s: Where, screen'd from Boreas, high o'erarch'd they lay.


s: The goddess Minerva commands Telemachus in a vision to return to


s: Ithaca. Pisistratus and he take leave of Menelaus, and arrive at


s: Pylos, where they part: and Telemachus sets sail, after having


s: received on board Theoclymenus the soothsayer. The scene then


s: changes to the cottage of Eumaeus, who entertains Ulysses with a


s: recital of his adventures. In the meantime Telemachus arrives on


s: Now had Minerva reach'd those ample plains,


s: Famed for the dance, where Menelaus reigns:


s: Anxious she flies to great Ulysses' heir,


s: His instant voyage challenged all her care.


s: In sleep profound the son of Nestor lies;


s: Not thine, Ulysses! Care unseal'd his eyes:


s: Restless he grieved, with various fears oppress'd,


s: And all thy fortunes roll'd within his breast.


s: Too long in vain, too widely hast thou stray'd,


s: Thus leaving careless thy paternal right


s: The robbers' prize, the prey to lawless might.


s: On fond pursuits neglectful while you roam,


s: E'en now the hand of rapine sacks the dome.


s: To launch thy vessel for thy natal shore;


s: Fly, whilst thy mother virtuous yet withstands


s: Her kindred's wishes, and her sire's commands;


s: Through both, Eurymachus pursues the dame,


s: And with the noblest gifts asserts his claim.


s: Hence, therefore, while thy stores thy own remain;


s: Thou know'st the practice of the female train,


s: Lost in the children of the present spouse,


s: They slight the pledges of their former vows;


s: Their love is always with the lover past;


s: Still the succeeding flame expels the last.


s: Let o'er thy house some chosen maid preside,


s: Till Heaven decrees to bless thee in a bride.


s: But now thy more attentive ears incline,


s: For thee their snares the suitor lords shall lay


s: To seize thy life shall lurk the murderous band,


s: Ere yet thy footsteps press thy native land.


s: No!--sooner far their riot and their lust


s: All-covering earth shall bury deep in dust!


s: Then distant from the scatter'd islands steer,


s: Thy heavenly guardian shall instruct the gales


s: To smooth thy passage and supply thy sails:


s: Send to the town the vessel with thy friends;


s: But seek thou first the master of the swine


s: (For still to thee his loyal thoughts incline);


s: There pass the night: while he his course pursues


s: That thou, safe sailing from the Pylian strand,


s: Art come to bless her in thy native land."


s: Thus spoke the goddess, and resumed her flight


s: And with these words the slumbering youth awakes:


s: "Rise, son of Nestor; for the road prepare,


s: And join the harness'd coursers to the car."


s: "What cause (he cried) can justify our flight


s: To tempt the dangers of forbidding night?


s: Here wait we rather, till approaching day


s: Shall prompt our speed, and point the ready way.


s: Nor think of flight before the Spartan king


s: Shall bid farewell, and bounteous presents bring;


s: Gifts, which to distant ages safely stored,


s: The sacred act of friendship shall record."


s: Thus he. But when the dawn bestreak'd the east,


s: The king from Helen rose, and sought his guest.


s: The splendid mantle round him first he threw,


s: Then o'er his ample shoulders whirl'd the cloak,


s: Respectful met the monarch, and bespoke:


s: "Hail, great Atrides, favour'd of high Jove!


s: Let not thy friends in vain for licence move.


s: Swift let us measure back the watery way,


s: Nor check our speed, impatient of delay."


s: "If with desire so strong thy bosom glows,


s: Ill (said the king) should I thy wish oppose;


s: The ill-timed efforts of officious love;


s: Who love too much, hate in the like extreme,


s: Who drives the free, or stays the hasty friend:


s: True friendship's laws are by this rule express'd,


s: Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest.


s: Yet, stay, my friends, and in your chariot take


s: The noblest presents that our love can make;


s: The traveller, rising from the banquet gay,


s: Then if a wider course shall rather please,


s: Through spacious Argos and the realms of Greece,


s: Himself thy convoy to each royal friend.


s: Without some pledge, some monument of love:


s: These will the caldron, these the tripod give;


s: From those the well-pair'd mules we shall receive,


s: Or bowl emboss'd whose golden figures live."


s: To whom the youth, for prudence famed, replied:


s: "O monarch, care of heaven! thy people's pride!


s: No powerful hands are there, no watchful eyes:


s: My stores exposed and fenceless house demand


s: The speediest succour from my guardian hand;


s: Lest, in a search too anxious and too vain,


s: Of one lost joy, I lose what yet remain."


s: His purpose when the generous warrior heard,


s: He charged the household cates to be prepared.


s: Now with the dawn, from his adjoining home,


s: Swift at the word he forms the rising blaze,


s: And o'er the coals the smoking fragments lays.


s: Meantime the king, his son, and Helen went


s: Where the rich wardrobe breathed a costly scent;


s: The king selected from the glittering rows


s: A bowl; the prince a silver beaker chose.


s: The beauteous queen revolved with careful eyes


s: Her various textures of unnumber'd dyes,


s: And chose the largest; with no vulgar art


s: Her own fair hands embroider'd every part;


s: Beneath the rest it lay divinely bright,


s: Like radiant Hesper o'er the gems of night,


s: Then with each gift they hasten'd to their guest,


s: And thus the king Ulysses' heir address'd:


s: "Since fix'd are thy resolves, may thundering Jove


s: With happiest omens thy desires approve!


s: This silver bowl, whose costly margins shine


s: Enchased with old, this valued gift be thine;


s: To thee we now consign the precious load,


s: The pride of kings, and labour of a god."


s: Then gave the cup, while Megapenthe brought


s: The silver vase with living sculpture wrought.


s: The beauteous queen, advancing next, display'd


s: The shining veil, and thus endearing said:


s: "Accept, dear youth, this monument of love,


s: Long since, in better days, by Helen wove:


s: Safe in thy mother's care the vesture lay,


s: To deck thy bride and grace thy nuptial day.


s: Meantime may'st thou with happiest speed regain


s: Thy stately palace, and thy wide domain."


s: She said, and gave the veil; with grateful look


s: And now, when through the royal dome they pass'd,


s: High on a throne the king each stranger placed.


s: A golden ewer the attendant damsel brings,


s: Replete with water from the crystal springs;


s: With copious streams the shining vase supplies


s: They wash. The tables in fair order spread,


s: The glittering canisters are crown'd with bread;


s: Viands of various kinds allure the taste,


s: Of choicest sort and savour; rich repast!


s: Atrides' son the purple draught prepares,


s: And now (each sated with the genial feast,


s: And the short rage of thirst and hunger ceased)


s: Ulysses' son, with his illustrious friend,


s: The horses join, the polish'd car ascend,


s: Along the court the fiery steeds rebound,


s: And the wide portal echoes to the sound.


s: The king precedes; a bowl with fragrant wine


s: (Libation destined to the powers divine)


s: His right hand held: before the steed he stands,


s: Then, mix'd with prayers, he utters these commands:


s: "Farewell, and prosper, youths! let Nestor know


s: What grateful thoughts still in this bosom glow,


s: For all the proofs of his paternal care,


s: Through the long dangers of the ten years' war."


s: "Ah! doubt not our report (the prince rejoin'd)


s: Of all the virtues of thy generous mind.


s: To him thy presents show, thy words repeat:


s: How will each speech his grateful wonder raise!


s: How will each gift indulge us in thy praise!"


s: Scarce ended thus the prince, when on the right


s: Advanced the bird of Jove: auspicious sight!


s: A milk-white fowl his clinching talons bore,


s: With care domestic pampered at the floor.


s: Peasants in vain with threatening cries pursue,


s: Full dexter to the car; the prosperous sight


s: Fill'd every breast with wonder and delight.


s: But Nestor's son the cheerful silence broke,


s: And in these words the Spartan chief bespoke:


s: "Say if to us the gods these omens send,


s: Whilst yet the monarch paused, with doubts oppress'd


s: The beauteous queen relieved his labouring breast:


s: "Hear me (she cried), to whom the gods have given


s: To read this sign, and mystic sense of heaven,


s: Left on the mountain's brow his callow care,


s: And wander'd through the wide ethereal way


s: To pour his wrath on yon luxurious prey;


s: So shall thy godlike father, toss'd in vain


s: Through all the dangers of the boundless main,


s: From slaughter'd gluttons to release the dome."


s: "Oh! if this promised bliss by thundering Jove


s: (The prince replied) stand fix'd in fate above;


s: To thee, as to some god, I'll temples raise.


s: And crown thy altars with the costly blaze."


s: He said; and bending o'er his chariot, flung


s: Athwart the fiery steeds the smarting thong;


s: The bounding shafts upon the harness play,


s: Till night descending intercepts the way.


s: Whose boasted sire was sacred Alpheus' heir;


s: With him all night the youthful stranger stay'd,


s: Had tinged the mountains with her earliest red,


s: They join'd the steeds, and on the chariot sprung,


s: The brazen portals in their passage rung.


s: To Pylos soon they came; when thus begun


s: "Let not Pisistratus in vain be press'd,


s: Nor unconsenting hear his friend's request;


s: In toils his equal, and in years the same.


s: The courses drive; but lash them to the shore.


s: Too long thy father would his friend detain;


s: I dread his proffer'd kindness urged in vain."


s: The hero paused, and ponder'd this request,


s: While love and duty warr'd within his breast.


s: At length resolved, he turn'd his ready hand,


s: And lash'd his panting coursers to the strand.


s: There, while within the poop with care he stored


s: "With speed begone (said he); call every mate,


s: 'Tis true, the fervour of his generous heart


s: Brooks no repulse, nor couldst thou soon depart:


s: Himself will seek thee here, nor wilt thou find,


s: In words alone, the Pylian monarch kind.


s: But when, arrived, he thy return shall know


s: How will his breast with honest fury glow!"


s: This said, the sounding strokes his horses fire,


s: And soon he reached the palace of his sire.


s: "Now (cried Telemachus) with speedy care


s: Hoist every sail, and every oar prepare."


s: Swift as the word his willing mates obey,


s: And seize their seats, impatient for the sea.


s: Meantime the prince with sacrifice adores


s: When lo! a wretch ran breathless to the shore,


s: New from his crime; and reeking yet with gore.


s: A seer he was, from great Melampus sprung,


s: Till, urged by wrongs, a foreign realm he chose,


s: Far from the hateful cause of all his woes.


s: Neleus his treasures one long year detains,


s: Meantime, what anguish and what rage combined


s: For lovely Pero rack'd his labouring mind!


s: Yet 'scaped he death; and vengeful of his wrong


s: Then (Neleus vanquish'd, and consign'd the fair


s: To Bias' arms) he so sought a foreign air;


s: Argos the rich for his retreat he chose,


s: There form'd his empire; there his palace rose.


s: The people's saviour, and divinely wise,


s: Beloved by Jove, and him who gilds the skies;


s: Yet short his date of life! by female pride he dies.


s: Snatch'd for his beauty to the thrones above;


s: And taught mankind the counsels of the god.


s: (The sacred wine yet foaming on the ground)


s: Telemachus: whom, as to Heaven he press'd


s: His ardent vows, the stranger thus address'd:


s: "O thou! that dost thy happy course prepare


s: With pure libations and with solemn prayer:


s: By that dread power to whom thy vows are paid;


s: By all the lives of these; thy own dear head,


s: Thy name, thy lineage, and paternal land."


s: "Prepare, then (said Telemachus), to know


s: A tale from falsehood free, not free from woe.


s: Once was my sire, though now, for ever lost,


s: In Stygian gloom he glides a pensive ghost!


s: Whose fate inquiring through the world we rove;


s: The last, the wretched proof of filial love."


s: The stranger then: "Nor shall I aught conceal,


s: Of my own tribe an Argive wretch I slew;


s: Whose powerful friends the luckless deed pursue


s: With unrelenting rage, and force from home


s: The blood-stain'd exile, ever doom'd to roam.


s: But bear, oh bear me o'er yon azure flood;


s: Receive the suppliant! spare my destined blood!"


s: "Stranger (replied the prince) securely rest


s: Affianced in our faith; henceforth our guest."


s: Takes from the stranger's hand the glittering spear:


s: He climbs the ship, ascends the stern with haste


s: And by his side the guest accepted placed.


s: The chief his order gives: the obedient band,


s: With due observance wait the chief's command:


s: With speed the mast they rear, with speed unbind


s: The spacious sheet, and stretch it to the wind.


s: With rapid speed to whirl them o'er the sea.


s: Crunus they pass'd, next Chalcis roll'd away,


s: With thickening darkness closed the doubtful day;


s: The silver Phaea's glittering rills they lost,