Now funk the Weft, and now a Southern breeze More dreadful than the tempeft, lafh'd the feas; For on the rocks it bore where Scylla raves, And dire Charybdis rolls her thundering waves. All night I drove; and at the dawn of day; Faft by the rocks beheld the defperate way: Just when the fea within her gulfs fubfides, And in the roaring whirlpools rufh the tides, Swift from the float I vaulted with a bound, The lofty fig-tree feiz'd, and clung around. So to the beam the bat tenacious clings, And pendant round it clasps his leathern wings. High in the air the tree its boughs display'd, And o'er the dungeon caft a dreadful shade, All unfuftain'd between the wave and sky, Beneath my feet the whirling billows fly, What-time the judge forfakes the noisy bar To take repast, and itills the wordy war;

|

Charybdis rumbling from her inmoft caves,
The maft refunded on her refluent waves.
Swift from the tree, the floating matt to gain,
Sudden I dropt amidst the flashing main;
Once more undaunted on the ruin rade.
And oar'd with labouring arms along the flood.
Unseen I pafs'd by Scylla's dire abodes :
So Jove decreed (dread Sire of men and gods).
Then nine long days I plough'd the calmer feas,
Heav'd by the furge, and wafted by the breeze.
Weary and wet th' Ogygian fhores I gain,
When the tenth fun defcended to the main.
There, in Calypfo's ever-fragrant bowers,
Refresh'd I lay, and joy beguil'd the hours.

My following fates to thee, O King, are known, And the bright partner of thy royal throne. Enough in mifery can words avail?

And what fo tedious as a twice told tale?

He

Hz ceas'd; but left so pleasing on their ear
His voice, that listening ftill they feem'd to hear.
A pause of filence hufh'd the shady rooms:
The grateful conference then the king refumes :
Whatever toils the great Ulyffes paft,
Beneath this happy roof they end at last ;
No longer now from shore to fhore to roam,
Smooth seas and gentle winds invite him home.
But hear me, princes! whom thefe walls enclose,
For whom my chanter fings, and goblet flows
With wines unmix'd (an honour due to age,
To cheer the grave, and warm the poet's rage);
Though labour'd gold and many a dazzling vest
Lie heap'd already for our godlike guest;
Without new treasures let him not remove,
Large, and expreffive of the public love :
Each peer a tripod, each peer a vase bestow,
A general tribute, which the state shall owe.
This fentence pleas'd: then all their steps addrest
To separate manfions, and retir'd to rest.

Now did the rofy-finger'd morn arife,
And shed her facred light along the skies.
Down to the haven and the fhips in hafte
They bore the treasures, and in fafety plac'd.
The king himself the vafes rang'd with care:
Then bade his followers to the feaft repair.

A victim ox beneath the facred hand

Of great Alcinous falls, and ftains the fand.
To Jove th' Eternal (Power above all Powers !
Who wings the winds, and darkens Heaven with
howers)

The flames afcend: till evening they prolong
Thy rites, more facred made by heavenly fong:
For in the midit, with public honours grac'd,
The lyre divine, Demodocus! was plac'd;
All, but Ulyffes, heard with fix'd delight:
He fate, and ey'd the fun, and wish'd the night;
Slow feem'd the fun to move, the hours to roll,
His native home deep-imag'd in his foul.
As the tir'd ploughman spent with stubborn toil,
Whole oxen long have torn the furrow'd foil,
Sees with delight the fun's declining ray,
When home with feeble knees he bends his way
To late repaft (the day's hard labour done):
· So to Ulyffes welcome fet the fun.
Then inftant to Alcinous and the reft
(The Scherian ftates) he turn'd, and thus addreft:
O thou, the firit in merit and command!
And you the peers and princes of the land!
May every joy be yours! nor this the least,
When due libation fhall have crown'd the feast,
Safe to my home to fend your happy guest.

}

Complete are now the bounties you have given,
Be all thofe bounties but confirm'd by Heaven!
So may I find, when all my wanderings ceafe,
My confort blameless, and my friends in peace.
On you be every blifs; and every day,
In home-felt joys delighted, roll away:
Yourselves, your wives, your long-defcending

race,

May every God enrich with every grace!
Sure fix'd on virtue may your nation ftand,
And public evil never touch the land!

His words, well weigh'd, the general voice ap prov'd

Benign, and inftant his difmiffion mov'd.
The monarch to Pontonous gave the sign,
To fill the goblet high with rofy wine:
Great Jove the Father firft (he cry'd) implore;
Then fend the ftranger to his native fhore.

The lufcious wine th' obedient herald brought;
Around the manfion flow'd the purple draught:
Each from his feat to each immortal pours,
Whom glory circles in th' Olympian bowers.
Ulyffes fole with air majeftic ftands,
The bowl prefenting to Arete's hands;
Then thus: O Queen, farewell! be still poffeft
Of dear remembrance, blefling ftill and bleft!
Till age and death thal! gently call thee hence,
(Sure fate of every mortal excellence!)
Farewell! and joys fucceffive ever spring
To thee, to thine, the people, and the king!
Thus he; then parting prints the fandy ihore
To the fair port: a herald march'd before,
Sent by Alcinous; of Arete's train

Three chofen maids attend him to the main;
This does a tunic and white veft convey,

A various cafket that, of rich inlay,

And bread and wine the third. The cheerful

mates

Safe in the hollow poop difpofe the cates:
Upon the deck foft painted robes they spread,
With linen cover'd for the hero's bed.

He climb'd the lofty ftern! then gently preft
The fwelling couch, and lay compos'd to rest.
Now plac'd in order, the Phæacian train
Their cables loose, and launch into the main:
At once they bend, and ftrike their equal oars,
And leave the finking hills, and leffening fhores.
While on the deck the chief in filence lies,
And pleafing flumbers fteal upon his eyes.
As fiery courfers in the rapid race
Urg'd by fierce drivers through the duty space,
Tols their high heads, and fcour along the plain;
So mounts the bounding veffel o'er the main.
Back to the ftern the parted billows flow,

And the black ocean foams and roars below.
Thus with fpread fails the winged galley flies;
Lefs swift an eagle cuts the liquid fkies;
Divine Ulyffes was her facred load,
A man, in wifdom equal to a God!
Much danger, long and mighty toils, he bore,
In ftorms by fea, and combats on the fhore :
All which foft fleep now banish'd from his breaft,
·Wrapt in a pleafing, deep, and death-like reft.

But when the morning ftar with early ray
Flam'd in the front of heaven, and promis'd day;
Like diftant clouds the mariner defcries
Fair Ithaca's emerging hills arife.

Far from the town a fpacious port appears.
Sacred to Phorcys' power, whofe name it bears:
Two craggy rocks projecting to the main,
The roaring wind's tempeftuous rage reftrain;
Within, the waves in fofter murmurs glide,
And hips fecure without their haliers ride;
High at the head a branching olive grows,
And crowns the pointed cliffs with shady boughs.
Beneath, a gloomy grotto's cool recefs
Delights the Nereids of the neighbouring feas,
Where bowls and urns were form'd of living ftone,
And mafly beams in native marble fhone;
On which the labours of the nymph were roll',
Their webs divine of purple mix'd with gold.
Within the cave the clustering bees attend
Their waxen works, or from the roof depend,
Perpetual waters o'er the pavement glide;
Two marble doors unfold on either fide;
Sacred the fouth, by which the Gods defcend;
But mortals enter at the northern end.

Thither they bent, and haul'd their fhip to
land;

(The crooked keel divides the yellow fand);
Ulyffes fleeping on his couch they bore,
And gently plac'd him on the rocky shore.
His treasures next, Alcinous' gifts, they laid
In the wild olive's unfrequented fhade,
Secure from theft: then launch'd the bark again,
Refum'd their oars, and measur'd back the main.
Nor yet forgot old Ocean's dread fupreme
The vengeance vow'd for eyelefs Polypheme.
Before the throne of mighty Jove he stood;
And fought the fecret counfels of the God:

Shall then no more, O Sire of Gods, be mine
The rights and honours of a Power divine?
Scorn'dev'n by man, and (oh ! severe disgrace!)
By foft Phæacians, my degenerate race!
Against yon deftin'd head in vain (wore,
And menac'd vengeance, ere he reach'd his shore;
To reach his natal fhore was thy decree;
Mild I obey'd, for who fhall war with thee?
Behold him landed, carelefs and asleep,
From all th' eluded dangers of the deep!
Lo! where he lies, amidft a fhining ftore
Of brass, rich garments, and refulgent ore:
And bears triumphant to his native isle
A prize more worth than Ilion's noble ípoil.

To whom the Father of th' immortal Powers,

Who fwells the clouds, and gladdens earth with

showers:

Can mighty Neptune thus of man complain!
Neptune, tremendous o'er the boundlefs main!
Rever'd and awful ev'n in heaven's abodes,
Ancient and great! a God above the Gods!
If that low race offend thy power divine,
Weak, daring creatures!) is not vengeance thine?
Go then, the guilty at thy will chattife.
He faid: the Shaker of the earth replies :

This then I doom; to fix the gallant fhip
A mark of vengeance on the fable deep :
To warn the thoughtlefs felf-confiding train,
No more unlicens'd thus to brave the main.
Full in their port a fhady hill fhall rise.
If fuch thy will--We will it, Jove replies:
Even when, with tranfport blackening all the
ftrand,

The fwarming people hail their ship to land,

Fix her for ever, a memorial stone :
Still let her feem to fail, and feem alone;
The trembling crowds fhall fee the fudden fhade
Of whelming mountains overhang their head!
With that the God, whofe earthquakes rock
the ground,

Fierce to Phæacia crofs'd the vast profound.
Swift as a swallow fweeps the liquid way,
The winged pinnace shot along the sea.
The God arrefts her with a fudden stroke,
And roots her down an everlasting rock.
Aghaft the Scherians ftand in deep furprife;
All prefs to fpeak, all queftion with their eyes.
What hands unfeen the rapid bark reftrain!
And yet it fwims, or feems to fwim, the main !
Thus they, unconscious of the deed divine:
Till great Alcinous rifing own'd the fign.

Behold the long predeftin'd day! (he cries)
Oh! certain faith of ancient prophecies!
Thefe ears have heard my royal fire difclofe
A dreadful story, big with future woes;
How mov'd with wrath, that careless we convey
Promifcuous every guest to every hay,
Stern Neptune rag'd; and how by his command
Firm rooted in the furge a fhip should stand
(A monument of wrath); and mound on mound
Should hide our walls, or whelm beneath the
ground.

The Fates have follow'd as declar'd the feer.
Be humbled, nations! and your monarch hear.
No more unlicens'd brave the deeps, no more
With every ftranger pafs from thore to shore;
On angry Neptune now for mercy call:
To his high name let twelve black oxen fall.
So may the God reverfe his purpos'd will,
Nor o'er our city hang the dreadiui hill.

The monarch (poke: they trembled and obey'd:
Forth on the fands the victim oxen led:
The gather'd tribes before the altar ftand,
And chiefs and rulers, a majestic band.
The King of Ocean all the tribes implore;
The blazing altars redden all the shore.
Mean while Ulyffes in his country lay,
Releas'd from fleep, and round him might furvey
The folitary fhore, and rolling fea.

Yet had his mind through tedious abfence loft
The dear remembrance of his native coaft;
Befides, Minerva, to fecure her care,
Diffus'd around a veil of thicken'd air:
For fo the Gods ordain'd, to keep unfeen
His royal perfon from his friends and queen;
Till the proud fuitors for their crimes afford
An ample vengeance to their injur'd lord.

}

Where fhall this treasure now in fafety lie
And whither, whither, its fad owner fly?
Ah! why did I Alcinous' grace implore?
Ah! why forfake Phæacia's happy fhore?
Some jufter prince perhaps had entertain'd,
And fafe reftor'd me to my native land.
Is this the promis'd long-expected coast,
And this the faith Phæacia's rulers boaft?
O righteous Gods! of all the great how few
Are just to Heaven, and to their promife true!
But he, the Power to whofe all-feeing eyes
The deeds of men appear without difguite.
'Tis his alone t' avenge the wrongs I bear:
For ftill th' oppreft are his peculiar care.
To count thefe prefents, and from thence to prove.
Their faith, is mine: the reft belongs to Jove.

Then on the fands he rang'd his wealthy ftore,
The gold, the vefts, the tripods, number'd o'er:
All these he found, but still in error loft
Difconfolate he wanders on the coast,
Sighs for his country, and laments again
To the deaf rocks, and hoarfe-refounding main.
When, lo! the guardian Goddels of the wife,
Celestial Pallas, ftood before his eyes;

In fhow a youthfui fwain, of form divine,
Who feem'd defcended from fome princely line,
A graceful robe her flender body dreft,
Around her shoulders flew the waving veft,
Her decent hand a fhining javelin bore,
And painted fandals on her feet she wore.
To whom the king: Whoe'er of human race
Thou art, that wander'it in this defert place!
With joy to thee, as to fome God, I bend,
To thee my treafures and myfelf commend.
Oh! tell a wretch in exile doom'd to ftray,
What air I breathe, what country I furvey?
The fruitful continent's extremeit bound,
Or fome fair ifle which Neptune's arms fur-
round!
[fame,

From what fair clime (faid fhe) remote from
Arriv'ft thou here a stranger to our name?
Thou feeft an ifland, not to thofe unknown
Whofe hills are brighten'd by the rising fun,
Nor thofe that plac'd beneath his utmost reign
Behold him finking in the western main.
The rugged foil allows no level space
For flying chariots, or the rapid race;
Yet, not ungrateful to the peafant's pain,
Suffices fulneis to the fwelling grain:
The loaded trees their various fruits produce,
And cluttering grapes afford a generous juice:
Woods crown our mountains, and in every grove
The bounding goats and frisking heifers rove:
Soft rains and kindly dews refresh the field,
And rifing springs eternal verdure yield.
Ev'n to thofe thores is Ithaca renown'd,
Where Troy's majestic ruins ftrow the ground.
At this the chief with tranfport was pofleft,
His panting heart exulting in his breast:
Yet, well diffembling his untimely joys,
And veiling truth in plaufible difguife,
Thus, with an air fincere, in fiction bold,
His ready tale th' inventive hero told:

Oft have I heard in Crete this ifland's name; For 'twas from Crete my native foil I came, Self-banifh'd thence. I fail'd before the wind, And left my children and my friends behind.

Elfe had I feen my native walls in vain,
Like great Atrides just restor'd and flain.
Vouchsafe the means of vengeance to debate,
And plan with all thy arts the scene of fate.
Then, then be present, and my foul inspire,
As when we wrapp'd Troy's heaven-built walls
in fire.
[ftand,
Though leagued againft me hundred heroes
Hundreds fhall fall, if Pallas aid my hand.

She answer'd: In the dreadful day of fight
Know, I am with thee, Atrong in all my might.
If thou but equal to thyself be found,
What gafping numbers then shall prefs the
ground?

What human victims stain the feastful floor!
How wide the pavements float with guilty gore!
It fits thee now to wear a dark disguise,
And fecret walk unknown to mortal eyes.
For this, my hand fhall wither every grace,
And every elegance of form and face,

O'er thy fmooth skin a bark of wrinkles spread,
Turn hoar the auburn honours of thy head,
Disfigure every limb with coarse attire,
And in thy eyes extinguish all the fire;
Add all the wants and the decays of life;
Eftrange thee from thy own; thy fon, thy
wife;

From the loath'd object every fight shall turn,
And the blind fuitors their deftruction fcorn.
Go first the mafter of thy herds to find,
True to his charge, a loyal swain and kind :
For thee he fighs; and to the royal heir
And chafte Penelope extends his care.
At the Coracian rock he now refides,
Where Arethufa's fable water glides;
The fable water and the copious maft
Swell the fat herd; luxuriant, large repast!
With him, reft peaceful in the rural cell,
And all you ask his faithful tongue shall tell;

Me into other realms my cares convey,
To Sparta, ftill with female beauty gay:
For know, to Sparta thy lov'd offspring came,
To learn thy fortunes from the voice of Fame.
At this the father, with a father's care.
Muft he too fuffer? he, O Goddess! bear
Of wanderings and of woes a wretched share?
Through the wild ocean plough the dangerous

way,

}

And leave his fortunes and his house a prey? Why would't not thou, O all enlighten'd Mind! Inform him certain, and protect him, kind?

To whom Minerva: Be thy foul at reft;
And know, whatever Heaven ordains, is best.
To fame I fent him, to acquire renown:
To other regions is his virtue known:
Secure he fits, near great Atrides plac'd!
With friendships ftrengthened, and with honours
But lo! an ambush waits his paflage o'er; [grac'd.
Fierce foes infidious intercept the thore:

In vain for fooner all the murtherous brood
This injur'd land fhall fatten with their blood.
She ipake, then touch'd him with her power.
ful wand:

The skin shrunk up, and wither'd at her hand:
A swift old age o'er all his members spread;
A fudden froft was fprinkled on his head;
Nor longer in the heavy eye-ball shin'd
The glance divine, forth-beaming from the mind,
His robe, which spots indelible befmear,
In rags dishonest flutters with the air:

A ftag's torn hide is lapp'd around his reins;
A rugged staff his trembling hand fuftains;
And at his fide a wretched fcrip was hung,
Wide-patch'd, and knotted to a twisted thong.
So look'd the chief, so mov'd, to mortal eyes
Object uncouth! a man of miferies!
While Pallas, cleaving the wide field of air,
To Sparta flies, Telemachus her care.

BUT he, deep-mufing, o'er the mountains stray'd
Through mazy thickets of the woodland fhade,
And cavern'd ways, the fhaggy coast along,
With cliffs and nodding forefts over-hung.
Eumæus at his fylvan lodge he fought,
A faithful fervant, and without a fault.
Ulyffes found him bufied, as he fate
Before the threshold of his ruftic gate;
Around the manfion in a circle fhone
A rural portico of rugged stone.

(In abfence of his Lord, with honeft toil
His own industrious hands had rais'd the pile).

Twelve ample cells, the lodgment of his herd, Full fifty pregnant females each contain’d; The males without (a fmaller race) remain ; Doom'd to fupply the fuitors' waseful feast, A stock by daily luxury decreas'd!