Ev'n to th' unhappy, that unjustly bleed,
Heaven gives posterity, t' avenge the deed.
So fell Egysthus; and may'st thou, my friend,
(On whom the virtues of thy sire descend)
Make future times thy equal act adore,
And be what brave Orestes was before!"

The prudent youth reply'd: "O thou the grace
And lasting glory of the Grecian race!
Just was the vengeance, and to latest days
Shail long posterity resound the praise.
Some god this arm with equal prowess bless!
And the proud suitors shall its force confess :
Injurious men who while my soul is sore
Of fresh affronts, are meditating more.
But Heaven denies this honour to my hand,
Nor shall my father repossess the land:
The father's fortune never to return,
And the sad son's to suffer and to mourn ""
Thus he; and Nestor took the word: "My son,
Is it then true, as distant rumours run,
That crowds of rivals for thy mother's charms
Thy palace fill with insults and alarms?
Say, is the fault, through tame submission, thine?
Or, leagu'd against thee, do thy people join,
Mov'd by some oracle, or voice divine?
And yet who knows, but ripening lies in fate
An hour of vengeance for th' afflicted state;
When great Ulysses shall suppress these harms,
Ulysses singly, or all Greece in arms.
But if Athena, war's triumphant maid,
The happy son will, as the father, aid,
(Whose fame and safety was her constant care
In every danger and in every ar:
Never on man did heavenly favour shine
With rays so strong, distinguish'd, and divine,
As those with which Minerva mark'd thy sire)
So might she love thee, so thy soul inspire!
Soon should their hopes in humble dust be laid,
And long oblivion of the bridal bed."

[plies) "Ah! no such hope" (the prince with sighs re"Can touch my breast! that blessing Heaven denies. Ev'n by celestial favour were it given, Fortune or fate would cross the will of Heaven." "What words are these, and what imprudence (Thus interpos'd the martial maid divine) [thine?" "Forgetful youth! but know, the power above With ease can save each object of his love; Wide as his will extends his boundless grace: Nor lost in time, nor circumscrib'd by place. Happier his lot, who, many sorrows past, Long labouring gains his natal shore at last; Than who, too speedy, hastes to end his lifeBy some stern ruffian, or adulterous wife. Death only is the lot which none can miss, And all is possible to Heaven, but this. The best, the dearest favourite of the sky Must taste that cup, for man is born to die." Thus check'd, reply'd Ulysses' prudent heir: "Mentor, no more-the mournful thought forbear; For he no more must draw his country's breath, Already snatch'd by fate, and the black doom of Pass we to other subjects; and engage On thetnes remote the venerable sage (Who thrice has seen the perishable kind Of men decay, and through three ages shin'd Like gods majestic, and like gods in mind). For much he knows, and just conclusions draws, From various precedents, and various laws. O son of Neleus! awful Nestor, tell How he, the mighty Agamemnon, fell? VOL. XIX.

[death!

By what strange fraud Ægysthus wrought, relate
(By force he could not) such a hero's fate?
Liv'd Menelaus not in Greece! or where
Was then the martial brother's pious care?
Condemn'd perhaps some foreign shore to tread;
Or sure Ægysthus had not dar'd the deed.”
To whom the full of days: "Illustrious youth!
Attend (though partly thou hast guest) the truth.
For had the martial Menelaus found
The ruffian breathing yet on Argive ground;
Nor earth had hid his carcase from the skies,
Nor Grecian virgins shriek'd his obsequies,
But fowls obscene dismember'd his remains,
And dogs had torn him on the naked plains.
While thus the works of bloody Mars employ'd,
The wanton youth inglorious peace enjoy'd;
He, stretch'd at ease in Argos' calm recess,
(Whose stately steeds luxuriant pastures bless).
With flattery's insinuating art

Sooth'd the frail queen, and poison'd all her heart.
At first, with worthy shame and decent pride,
The royal dame his lawless suit deny'd.
For virtue's image yet possest her mind,
Taught by a master of the tuneful kind:
Atrides, parting from the Trojan war,
Consign'd the youthful consort to his care.
True to his charge, the bard preserv'd her long
In honour's limits; such the power of song.
But when the gods these objects of their hate
Dragg'd to destruction, by the links of fate;
The bard they banish'd from his native soil,
And left all helpless in a desert isle:
There he, the sweetest of the sacred train,
Sung dying to the rocks, but sung in vain.
Then virtue was no more; her guard away,
She fell, to lust a voluntary prey.
Ev'n to the temple stalk'd th' adulterous spouse,.
With impious thanks, and mockery of vows,
With images, with garments, and with gold;
And odorous fumes from loaded altars roll'd.

"Meantime from flaming Troy we cut the way,
With Menelaus, through the curling sea.
But when to Sunium's sacred point we came,
Crown'd with the temple of th' Athenian dame;
Atrides' pilot, Phrontes, there expir'd
(Phrontes, of all the sons of men admir'd
To steer the bounding bark with steady toil,
When the storm thickens, and the billows boil);
While yet he exercis'd the steerman's art,
Apollo touch'd him with his gentle dart;
Ev'n with the rudder in his hand he fell.
To pay whose honours to the shades of Hell,
We check'd our haste, by pious office bound,
And laid our old companion in the ground.
And now,
the rites discharg'd, our course we keep
Far on the gloomy bosom of the deep:
Soon as Maiæa's misty tops arise,
Sudden the thunderer blackens all the skies,
And the winds whistle, and the surges roll
Mountains on mountains, and obscure the pole.
The tempest scatters and divides our fleet:
Part the storm urges on the coast of Crete.
Where, winding round the rich Cydonian plain,
The streams of Jardan issue to the main,
There stands a rock, high eminent and steep,
Whose shaggy brow o'erhangs the shady deep,
And views Gortyna on the western side;

On this rough Auster drove th' impetuous tide :
With broken force the billows roll'd away,
And heav'd the fleet into the neighbouring bay ;

N

Thus say'd from death, they gain'd the Phæstan
With shatter'd vessels, and disabled oars: [shores,
But five tall barks the winds and waters tost,
Far from their fellows on th' Ægyptian coast.
There wander'd Menelaus through foreign shores,
Amassing gold, and gathering naval stores;
While curst Fgysthus the detested deed

By fraud fulfill'd, and his great brother bled.
Seven years the traitor rich Mycena sway'd,
And his stern rule the groaning land obey'd;
The eighth, from Athens, to his realm restor'd,
Orestes brandish'd the revenging sword,
Slew the dire pair, and gave to funeral flame
The vile assassin, and adulterous daine.
That day, ere yet the bloody triumphs cease,
Return'd Atrides to the coast of Greece.
And safe to Argos' port his navy brought,
With gifts of price and ponderous treasure fraught.
Hence warn'd, my son, beware! nor idly stand
Too long a stranger to thy native land;
Lest heelless absence wear thy wealth away,
While lawless feasters in thy palace sway;
Perhaps may seize thy realm, and share the spoil;
And thou return with disappointed toil,
From thy vain journey, to a rifled isle.
Howe'er, my friend, indulge one labour more,
And seek Atrides on the Spartan shore.
He, wandering long, a wider circle made,
And many languag'd nations has survey'd ;
And measur'd tracts unknown to other ships
Ainid the monstrous wonders of the deeps;
(A length of ocean and unbounded sky,
Which scarce the sea-fowl in a year o'erfly).
Go then; to Sparta take the watery way,
Thy ship and sailors but for orders stay,
Or, if by land thou chuse thy course to bend,
My steeds, my chariots, and my sons attend:
Thee to Atrides they shall safe convey,
Guides of thy road, companions of thy way.
Urg'd him with truth to frame his free replies,
And sure he will; for Menelaus is wise."

Thus while he speaks the ruddy Sun descends,
And twilight gray her evening shade extends.
Then thus the blue-ey'd maid: “O full of days!
Wise are thy words, and just are all thy ways.
Now immolate the tongues, and mix the wine,
Sacred to Neptune and the powers divine.
The lamp of day is quench'd beneath the deep,
And soft approach the balmy hours of sleep :
Nor fits it to prolong the heavenly feast,
Timeless, indecent, but retire to rest."

So spake Jove's daughter, the celestial maid.
The sober train attended and obey'd.
The sacred heralds on their hands around
Pour'd the full urns; the youths the goblets
crown'd:

From bowl to bowl the holy beverage flows:
While to the final sacrifice they rose.
The tongues they cast upon the fragrant flame,
And pour, above, the consecrated stream.
And now, their thirst by copious draughts allay'd,
The youthful hero and th' Athenian maid
Propose departure from the finish'd rite,
And in their hollow bark to pass the night:
But this the hospitable sage deny'd.
"Forbid it Jove! and all the gods !" he cry'd,
"Thus from my walls the much-lov'd son to send
Of such a hero, and of such a friend!
Me, as some needy peasant, would ye leave,
Whom Heaven denies the blessing to relieve?

Me would you leave, who boast imperial sway,
When beds of royal state invite your stay?
No-long as life this mortal shall inspire,
Or as my children imitate their sire,

Here shall the wandering stranger find his home,
And hospitable rites adoru the dome."

"Well hast thou spoke," (the blue-ey'd maid replies)

"Belov'd old man! benevolent as wise.
Be the kind dictates of thy heart obey'd,
And let thy words Telemachus persuade :
He to thy palace shall thy steps pursue;
I to the ship to give the orders due,
Prescribe directions, and confirm the crew.
For I alone sustain their naval cares,
Who boast experience from these silver hairs;
All youths the rest, whom to this journey move
Like years, like tempers, and their prince's love.
There in the vessel shall I pass the night;
And soon as morning paints the fields of light,
go to challenge from the Caucons bold,
A debt, contracted in the days of old.
But this thy guest, receiv'd with friendly care,
Let thy strong coursers swift to Sparta bear;
Prepare thy chariot at the dawn of day,
And be thy son companion of his way."

I

Then turning with the word, Minerva flies,
And soars an eagle through the liquid skies.
Vision divine! the throng'd spectators gaze
In holy wonder fix'd, and still amaze.
But chief the reverend sage admir'd; he took
The hand of young Telemachus, and spoke:
"Oh, happy youth and favour'd of the skies,
Distinguish'd care of guardian deities!
Whose early years for future worth engage,
No vulgar manhood, no ignoble age.
For, lo! none other of the court above
Than she, the daughter of almighty Jove,
Pallas herself, the war-triumphant maid,
Confest is thine, as once thy father's aid.
So guide me, goddess! so propitious shine
On me, my consort, and my royal line!
A yearling bullock to thy name shall smoke,
Untam'd, unconscious of the galling yoke,
With ample forehead, and yet tender horus,
Whose budding honours ductile gold adorns."

Submissive thus the hoary sire preferr'd
His holy vow: the favouring goddess heard.
Then, slowly rising, o'er the sandy space
Precedes the father, follow'd by his race,
(A long procession) timely marching home
In comely order to the regal dome.

There when arriv'd, on thrones around him plac'd,
His sons and grandsons the wide circle grac'd.
To these the hospitable sage, in sign
Of social welcome, mix'd the racy wine
(Late from the mellowing cask restòr'd to light,
By ten long years refin'd, and rosy bright).
To Pallas high the foaming bowl he crown'd,
And sprinkled large libations on the ground.
| Each drinks a full oblivion of his cares,
And to the gifts of balmy sleep repairs.
Deep in a rich alcove the prince was laid,
And slept beneath the pompous colonnade;
Fast by his side Pisistratus lay spread,
(In age his equal) on a splendid bed:
But in an inner court, securely clos'd,
The reverend Nestor and his queen repos'd.
When now Aurora, daughter of the dawn,
With rosy lustre purpled o'er the lawn;

The old man early rose, walk'd forth, and sate
On polish'd stone before his palace-gate :
With unguents smooth the lucid marble shone,
Where ancient Neleus sate, a rustic throne;
But he descending to th' infernal shade,
Sage Nestor fill'd it, and the sceptre sway'd.
His sons around him mild obeisance pay,
And duteous take the orders of the day.
First Echephron and Stratius quit their bed:
Then Perseus, Aretus, and Thrasymed;
The last Pisistratus arose from rest :
They came, and near him plac'd the stranger-guest.
To these the senior thus declar'd his will:

My sons! the dictates of your sire fulfil.
To Pallas, first of gods, prepare the feast,
Who grac'd our rites, a more than mortal guest.
Let one, dispatchful, bid some swain to lead
A well-fed bullock from the grassy mead;
One seek the harbour where the vessels moor,
And bring thy friends, Telemachus! ashore
(Leave only two the galley to attend);
Another to Laertius must we send,
Artist divine, whose skilful hands infold
The victim's horn with circumfusile gold.
The rest may here the pious duty share,
And bid the handmaids for the feast prepare,
The seats to range, the fragrant wood to bring,
And limpid waters from the living spring."

He said, and busy each his care bestow'd:
Already at the gates the bullock low'd,
Already came the Ithacensian crew,
The dextrous smith the tools already drew:
His ponderous hammer, and his anvil sound,
And the strong tongs to turn the metal round.
Nor was Minerva absent from the rite,

She view'd her honours, and enjoy'd the sight.
With reverend hand the king presents the gold,
Which round th' intorted horns the gilder roll'd,
So wrought, as Pallas might with pride behold.
Young Aretus from forth his bridal bower
Brought the full laver, o'er their hands to pour,
And canisters of consecrated flour.
Stratius and Echephron the victim led;
The ax was held by warlike Thrasymed,
In act to strike: before him Perseus stood,
The vase extending to receive the blood.
The king himself initiates to the power;
Scatters with quivering hand the sacred flour,

And the stream sprinkles: from the curling brows
The hair collected in the fire he throws.
Soon as due vows on every part were paid,
And sacred wheat upon the victim laid,
Strong Thrasymed discharg'd the speeding blow
Full on his neck, and cut the nerves in two.
Down sunk the heavy beast: the females round,
Maids, wives, and matrons, mix a shrilling sound.
Nor scorn'd the queen the holy choir to join
(The first-born she, of old Clymenus' line;
in youth by Nestor lov'd, of spotless fame,
And lov'd in age, Eurydice her name). [death;
From earth they rear him, struggling now with
And Nestor's youngest stops the vents of breath.
The soul for ever flies: on all sides round
Streams the black blood, and smokes upon the
The beast they then divide, and disunite [ground.
The ribs and limbs, observant of the rite:
On these, in double cawls involv'd with art,
The choicest morsels lay from every part.
The sacred sage before his altar stands,
Turns the burnt-offering with his holy hands,

And pours the wine, and bids the flames aspire:
The youth with instruments surround the fire.
The thighs now sacrific'd, and entrails drest,
Th' assistants part, transfix, and broil the rest.
While these officious tend the rites divine,
The last fair branch of the Nestorean line,
Sweet Polycaste, took the pleasing toil.
To bathe the prince, and pour the fragrant oil.
O'er his fair limbs a flowery vest he threw,
And issued, like a god, to mortal view.
His former seat besides the king he found
(His people's father with his peers around);
All plac'd at ease the holy banquet join,
And in the dazzling goblet laughs the wine.

The rage of thirst and hunger now supprest,
The monarch turns him to his royal guest;
And for the promis'd journey bids prepare
The smooth-hair'd horses, and the rapid car.
Observant of his word; the word scarce spoke,
The sons obey, and join them to the yoke.
Then bread and wine a ready handmaid brings,
And presents, such as suit the state of kings.
The glittering seat Telemachus ascends;
His faithful guide Pisistratus attends;
With hasty hand the ruling reins he drew:
He lash'd the coursers, and the coursers flew.
Beneath the bounding yoke alike they held
Their equal pace, and smok'd along the field.
The towers of Pylos sink, its views decay,
Fields after fields fly back, till close of day:
Then sunk the Sun, and darken'd all the way.
To Phere now, Diocleus' stately seat
(Of Alpheus' race), the weary youths retreat.
His house affords the hospitable rite,
And pleas'd they sleep (the blessing of the night).
But when Aurora, daughter of the dawn,
With rosy lustre purpled o'er the lawn;
Again they mount, their journey to renew,
And from the sounding portico they flew.
Along the waving fields their way they hold,
The fields receding as the chariot roll'd:
Then slowly sunk the ruddy globe of light,
And o'er the shaded landscape rush'd the night.

THE ODYSSEY.

BOOK IV.

ARGUMENT.

THE CONFERENCE WITH MENELAUS.

TELEMACHUS with Pisistratus arriving at Sparta, is hospitably received by Menelaus, to whom he relates the cause of his coming, and learns from him many particulars of what befel the Greeks since the destruction of Troy. He dwells more at large upon the prophecies of Proteus to him in his return; from which he acquaints Telemachus, that Ulysses is detained in the island of Calypso.

In the mean time the suitors consult to destroy Telemachus in his voyage home. Penelope

Nor sleep's soft power can close my streaming eyes,
When imag'd to my soul his sorrows rise.
No peril in my cause he ceas'd to prove,
His labours equall'd only by my love:
And both alike to bitter fortune born,
For him to suffer, and for me to mourn!
Whether he wanders on some friendless coast,
Or glides in Stygian gloom a pensive ghost,
No fame reveals; but, doubtful of his doom,
His good old sire with sorrow the tomb

Declines his trembling steps; untimely care
Withers the blooming vigour of his heir;
And the chaste partner of his bed and throne
Wastes all her widow'd hours in tender moan>
While thus pathetic to the prince he spoke.
From the brave youth the streaming passion broke:
Studious to veil the grief, in vain represt,
His face he shrouded with his purple vest:
The conscions monarch pierc'd the coy disguise,
And view'd his filial love with vast surprise:
Dubious to press the tender theme, or wait
To hear the youth enquire his father's fate.

In this suspence bright Helen grac'd the room;
Before her breath'd a gale of rich perfume.
So moves, adorn'd with each attractive grace,
The silver-shafted goddess of the chase!
The seat of majesty Adraste brings,
With art illustrious, for the pomp of kings;
To spread the pall (beneath the regal chair)
Of softest woof, is bright Alcippe's care.
A silver canister, divinely wrought,
In her soft hands the beauteous Phylo brought;
To Sparta's queen of old the radiant vase
Alcandra gave, a pledge of royal grace:
For Polybus her lord (whose sovereign sway
The wealthy tribes of Pharian Thebes obey),
When to that court Atrides came, carest
With vast munificence th' imperial guest:
Two lavers from the richest ore refin'd,
With silver tripods, the kind host assign'd;
And bounteous from the royal treasure told
Ten equal talents of refulgent gold.
Alcandra, consort of his high command,
A golden distaff gave to Helen's hand;

And that rich vase, with living sculpture wrought, Which, heap'd with wool, the beauteous Phylo

brought;

The silken fleece impurpled for the loom,
Rivall'd the hyacinth in vernal bloom.

The sovereign seat then Jove-born Helen press'd,
And pleasing thus her scepter'd lord address'd :
"Who grace our palace now, that friendly
pair,

Speak they their lineage, or their names declare?
Uncertain of the truth, yet uncontrol'd,
Hear me the boding of my breast unfold.
With wonder wrapt, on yonder cheek I trace
The feature of the Ulyssean race :
Diffus'd o'er each resembling line appear,
In just similitude, the grace and air
Of young Telemachus! the lovely boy,
Who bless'd Ulysses with a father's joy,
What time the Greeks combin'd their social arms,
T' avenge the stain of my ill-fated charms!"
"Just is thy thought," the king assenting cries,
"Methinks Ulysses strikes my wondering eyes;
Full shines the father in the filial frame,
His port, his features, and his shape, the same:
Such quick regards his sparkling eyes bestow;
Such wavy ringlets o'er his shoulders flow!

And when he heard the long disastrous store
Of cares, which in my cause Ulysses bore;
Dismay'd, heart-wounded with paternal woes,
Above restraint the tide of sorrow rose:
Cautious to let the gushing grief appear,
His purple garment veil'd the falling tear."
"See there confest," Pisistratus replies,
The genuine worth of Ithacus the wise!
Of that heroic sire the youth is sprung,
But modest awe hath chain'd his timorous tongue :
Thy voice, O king! with pleas'd attention heard,
Is like the dictates of a god rever'd.

With him at Nestor's high command I came,
Whose age I honour with a parent's name.
By adverse destiny constrain❜d to sue
For counsel and redress, he sues to you.
Whatever ill the friendless orphan bears,
Bereav'd of parents in his infant years,
Still must the wrong'd Telemachus sustain,
If, hopeful of your aid, he hopes in vain :
Affianc'd in your friendly power alone,
The youth would vindicate the vacant throne.”

"Is Sparta blest, and these desiring eyes
View my friend's son?" (the king exulting crics)
"Son of my friend, by glorious toils approv'd,
Whose sword was sacred to the man he lov'd:
Mirror of constant faith, rever'd, and mourn'd !-
When Troy was ruin'd, had the chief return'd,
No Greek an equal space had c'er possest,
Of dear affection in my grateful breast.
I, to confirm the mutual joys we shar'd,
For his abode a capital prepar'd;
Argos the seat of sovereign rule I chose;
Fair in the plan the future palace rose,
Where my Ulysses and his race might reign,
And portion to his tribes the wide domain.
To them my vassals had resign'd a soil,
With teeming plenty to reward their toil.
There with commutual zeal we both had strove
In acts of dear benevolence and love:
Brothers in peace, not rivals in command,
And death alone dissolv'd the friendly band!
Some envious power the blissful scene destroys;
Vanish'd are all the visionary joys:
The soul of friendship to my hope is lost,
Fated to wander from his natal coast!"

He ceas'd; a gust of grief began to rise, Fast streams a tide from beauteous Helen's eyes; Fast for the sire the filial sorrows flow; The weeping monarch swells the mighty woe: Thy cheeks, Pisistratus, the tears bedew, While pictur'd to thy mind appear'd in view Thy martial brother: on the Phrygian plain Extended pale, by swarthy Memnon slain! But silence soon the son of Nestor broke, And, melting with fraternal pity, spoke :

'Frequent, O king, was Nestor wont to raise And charm attention with thy copious praise: To crown thy various gifts, the sage assign'd The glory of a firm capacious mind: With that superior attribute control This unavailing impotence of soul, Let not your roof with echoing grief resound, Now for the feast the friendly bowl is crown'd; But when, from dewy shade emerging bright, Aurora streaks the sky with orient light, Let each deplore his deed: the rites of woe Are all, afas! the living can bestow :

! Antilochus,