How well the fon appeas'd the flaughter'd fire! Ev'n to th' unhappy, that unjustly bleed, Heaven gives pofterity, t' avenge the deed. So fell gyfthus; and may't thou, my friend, (On whom the virtues of thy fire defcend) 180 Make future time thy equal act adore,

He, ftretch'd at cafe in Argos' calm recefs, Whole ftately fleeds luxuriant paftures blefs) Swith flattery's infinuating art

265

for

335

Say, is the fault through tame fubmiffion thine?
Or, leagued against thee, do thy people join,
Mov'e by fome oracle, or voice divine?
And yet who knows, but ripening lies in fate
An hour of vengeance for th' afflicted state;
When great Ulyffes fhall fupprefs these harmis,
Ulyffes fingly, or all Greece in arms.
But if Athena, war's triumphant maid,
The happy fon will, as the father, aid,
(Whofe fame and fafety was her conftant care
In every danger, aud in every war:
Never on man did heavenly favour shine
With rays fo ftrong, diftinguish'd, and divine,
As thofe with which Minerva mark'd thy fire) 275
So might fhe love thee, fo thy foul infpire!
Soon fhould their hopes in humble dust be laid,
And long oblivion of the bridal bed.
Ah! no fuch hope (the prince with fighs re-Sung dying to the rocks, but fung in vain.
plies;
[nies. Then Virtue was no more; her guard away,
Can touch my breaft; that bleffing Heaven de- She fell, to luft a voluntary prey.
Ev'n by celeftial favour were it given, 281 Ev'n to the temple stalk'd th' adulterous spouse,
Fortune or Fate will crols the will of Heaven.
With impious thanks, and mockery of vows,
What words are these, and what imprudence With images, with garments, and with gold;
thine?
And odorous fumes from loaded altars roll'd.
Mean time from flaming Troy we cut the way,

Soot'd the frail queen, and poifon'd all her heart.
At first, with worthy fhame and decent pride, 330
The royal dame his lawiefs fuit deny`d.
For virtue's image yet pofleft her mind,
Taught by a matter of the tuneful kina
270 Atrides, parting a the Trojan war,
Confign'd the youthful confort to his care.
True to his charge, the bard preferv'd her long
In honour's limits; fuch the power of fong.
But when the Gods thefe objects of their hate
Dragg'd to deftruction, by the links of fate;
The bard they banifh'd from his native foil,
And left all helplefs in a defert ife;
There he, the fweeteft of the facred train,

(Thus interpos'd the martial Maid divine)

Forgetful youth! but know, the Power above 285|| With Menelaüs, through the curling fea."

290

With eafe can fave each object of his love;
Wide as his will extends his boundless grace:
Nor loft in time, nor circunferib'd by place.
Happier his lot, who, many forrows past,
Long labouring gains his natal fhore at laft:
'Than who, too speedy, haftes to end his life
By fome fern ruffian, or adulterous wife.
Death only is the lot which none can mifs,
And all is poffible to Heaver, but this.
The beft, the dearest favourite of the fky
Must taste that cup, for man is born to die.
Thus check'd, reply'd Ulyfies' prudent heir:
Mentor, no more-the mournful thought forbear;
For he no more muft draw his country's breath,
Already fnatch'd by fate, and the black doom of
death!

295

300

Pafs we to other fubjects; and engage
On themes remote the venerable fage
(Who thrice has feen the perishable kind
Of men decay, and through three ages fhin'd
Like Gods majestic, and like Gods in mind. 305
For much he knows, and just conclufions draws,
From various precedents, and various laws.
O fon of Neleus! awful Neftor, tell
How he, the mighty Agamemnon, fell?
By what ftrange fraud Agyfthus wrought,
By force he could not) fuch a hero's fate?
Liv'd Menelaus not in Greece! or where
Was then the martial brother's pious care?
Condemn'd perhaps fome foreign fhore to tread;
Or fure Ægyfthus had not dar'd the deed.

[310 relate

315

To whom the full of days: Illuftrious youth! Attend (though partly thou haft guest) the truth. For had the martial Menelaüs found

340

345

351

353

360

365

But when to Sunium's facred point we came,
Crown'd with the temple of the Athenian dame;
Atrides' pilot, Phrontes, there expir'd
(Phroutes, of all the fons of men admir'd
To fteer the bounding bark with steady toil,
When the form thickens, and the billows boil):
While yet he exercis'd the fteerman's art,
Apollo touch'd him with his gentle dart;
Even with the rudder in his hand he fell.
To pay whofe honours to the fhades of hell,
We check'd our hafte, by pious office bound,
And laid our old companion in the ground.
And now, the rites difcharg'd, our courfe we keep
Far on the gloomy bofom of the deep:
Soon as Malæa's mifly tops arife,
Sudden the i hunderer blackens all the skies,
And the winds whittie, and the furges roll
Mountains on mountains, and obfcure the pole.
The tempeft featters and divides our fleet:
Part the form urges on the coaft of Crete,
Where, winding round the rich Cydonian plain,
The ftreams of Jardan ifiue to the main.
There ftands a rock, high eminent and steep,
Whofe haggy brow o'crhangs the fhady deep. 375
And views Gortyna on the western fide,
On this rough Aufter drove th' impetuous tide:
With broken force the billows roll'd away,
And heav'd the fleet into the neighbouring bay;
Thus fav'd from death, they gain'd the Phaftan
fhores,
380

370

With fhatter'd veffels, and difabled oars:
But five tall barks the winds and waters toft,
Far from their fellows on the Egyptian coaft.
There wander'd Menelaus through foreign fhores,
Amaffing gold, and gathering naval stores; 385
While curft Agyfthus the detefied deed
By fraud fulfill'd, and his great brother bled.
Seven years the traitor rich Mycena fway'd,
And his ftern rule the groaning land obey'd;
The eighth, from Athens, to his realm reftor'd, 390
Dreftes brandifh'd the revenging (word,

Be the kind dictates of thy heart obey'd, . ; And let thy words Telemachus perfuade: He to thy palace hall thy fteps pursue; 3651 to the fhip to give the orders due.

525

His fons around him mild obeifance pay,
And duteous take the orders of the day.
Firft Echephron and Stratius quit their bed:
Then Perfeus, Aretus, and Thrafymed;
The laft, Pififtratus arofe from reft;
They came, and near him plac'd the franger-
To thefe the fenior thus declar'd his will: [gueft.
My fons! the dictates of your fire fulfil. 531
To Pallas, firft of Gods, prepare the feaft,
Who grac'd our rites, a more than mortal guest.
Let one, difpatchful, bid fome fwain to lead
A well-fed bullock from the graily mead;
One feek the harbour where the veffels moor,
And bring thy friends, Telemachus! afhore
(Leave only two the galley to attend);
Another to Laerceus muft we fend,
Artist divine, whofe skilful hands infold
The victim's horn with circumfufile gold.
The rest may here the pious duty fhare,
And bid the handmaids for the leaft prepare,
The feats to range, the fragrant wood to bring,
And limpid waters from the living spring.

535

From earth they rear Lim, ftruggling now with death;

580

And Neftor's your geft ftops the vents of breath.
The foul for ever flies; on all fides round
Streams the black blood, and smokes upon the
ground,

The beaft they then divide, and difunite
The ribs and limbs, obfervant of the rite:
On thefe, in double cawls involv'd with art,
The choiceft morfels lay from every part. 585
The facred fage before his altar ftands,
Turns the burnt-offering with his holy hands,
And pours the wine, and bids the flames afpire;
The youth with inftruments furround the fire,
The thighs now facrific'd, and entrails dreft. 590
h' affiftants part, transfix, and broil the reft.
540 While thefe officious tend the rites divine,
The laft fair branch of the Neftorean line,
Sweet Polycafte, took the pleasing toil [595
To bathe the prince, and pour the fragrant oil.
O'er his fair limbs a flowery veft he threw,
And iffued, like a God, to mortal view.
His former feat behind the king he found
(His people's father with his peers around);
All plac'd at eafe the holy banquet join,
And in the dazzling goblet laughs the wine.

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550

He faid, and bufy each his care bestow'd:
Already at the gates the bullock low'd,
Already came the Ithacenfian crew,
The dextrous fmith the tools already drew:
His ponderous hammer, and his anvil found,
And the ftrong tongs to turn the metal round.
Nor was Minerva abfent from the rite,
She view'd her honours, and enjoy'd the fight.
With reverend hand the king prefents the gold,
Which round th' intorted horns the gilder
roll'd,
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560

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 canifters of confecrated flour.
Stratius and Echephron the victim led;
The axe was held by warlike Thrafymed,
In act to ftrike: before him Perfeus ftood,
The vafe extending to receive the blood.
The king himself initiates to the Power,
Scatters with quivering hand the facred flour, 565
And the ftream fprinkles: from the curling brows
The hair collected in the fire he throws.
Soon as due vows on every part were paid,
And facred wheat upon the victim laid,
Strong Thrafymed discharg'd the speeding blow
Full on his neck, and cut the nerves in two.
Down funk the heavy beast: the females round,
Maids, wives, and matrons, mix a fhrilling found.
Nor fcorn'd the queen the holy choir to join,
(The first-born fhe, of old Clymenus' line;
In youth by Neftor lov'd, of spotlefs fame,
And lov'd in age, Eurydice her name).

[570

575

600

610

The rage of thirft and hunger now fuppreft,
The monarch turns him to his royal guest ;
And for the promis'd journey bids prepare
The fmooth-hair'd horfes, and the rapid car, 605
Obfervant of his word; the word fcarce spoke,
The fons obey, and join them to the yoke.
Then bread and wine a ready handmaid brings,
And prefents, fuch as fuit the ftate of kings.
The glittering feat Telemachus afcends;
His faithful guide Pisiftratus attends;
With hafty hand the ruling reins he drew :
He lafh'd the courfers, and the courfers flew.
Beneath the bounding yoke alike they held
Their equal pace, and fmok'd along the field. 615
The towers of Pylos fink, its views decay,
Fields after fields fly back, till close of day:
Then funk the fun, and darken'd all the way.

To Phere now, Diocleus' ftately feat
(Of Alpheus' race), the weary youths retreat. 620
His houfe affords the hofpitable rite,
And pleas'd they fleep (the bleffing of the night).
But when Aurora, daughter of the dawn,
With rofy luftre purpled o'er the lawn;
Again they mount, their journey to renew,
And from the founding portico they flew.
Along the waving fields their way they hold,
The fields receding as the chariot roll'd:
Then flowly funk the ruddy globe of light,
And o'er the fhaded landscape rufh'd the night.630

625

BOOK IV.

THE ARGUMENT.

The Conference with Menelaus.

Telemachus with Pififlratus arriving at Sparta, is befpitably received by Menelaus, to whom he relates the caufe of his coming, and learns from him many particulars of rubat befel the Greeks fince the deftruction of Trey. He dwells more at large upon the prophecies of Proteus to him in his return; from which be acquaints Telemachus, that Ulffes is detaired in the ifland of Calypfo.

In the mean time the fuitors confult to defroy Telemachus in bis voyage bome. Penelope is apprised of this; but comforted in a dream by Pallas, in the soape of her fifter Ipthima.

A

ND now proud Sparta with their wheels

refounds :

Sparta, whofe walls a range of hills furrounds;
At the fair dome the rapid labour ends;
Where fate Acrides, 'midft his bridal friends,
With double vows invoking Hymen's power,
To blefs his fons and daughters nuptial hour.

That day, to great Achilles' fon refign'd,
Hermione the faireft of the kind,
Was fent to crown the long-protracted joy;
Efpous'd before the final doom of Troy:
With fteeds and gilded cars, a gorgeous train
Attend the nymph to Phthia's distant reign.
Mean while at home, to Megapenthes' bed
The virgin-choir Alector's daughter led.
Brave Megapenthes, from a stol'n amour
To great Atrides' age his handmaid bore:
To Helen's bed the Gods alone affign
Hermione, t' extend the regal line;
On whom a radiant pomp of Graces wait,
Refembling Venus in attractive state.

10

Part led the courfers, from the car enlarg`d,
Each to a crib with choicest grain furcharg'd; 50
Part in a portico, profufely grac'd

With rich magnificence, the chariot plac'd:
Then to the dome the friendly pair invite,

55

60

65

5 Who eye the dazzling roofs with vaft delight;
Refplendent as the blaze of fummer-noon,
Or the pale radiance of the midnight moon.
From room to room their eager view they bend:
Thence to the bath, a beauteous pile, descend;
Where a bright damfel-train attend the guests
With liquid odours, and embroider'd vests.
Refresh'd, they wait them to the bower of fiate,
Where circled with his peers Atrides fate:
Thron'd next the king, a fair attendant brings
15 The purest product of the crystal springs;
High on a maffy vafe of filver mold,
The burnish'd laver flames with folid gold;
In folid gold the purple vintage flows,
And on the board a fecond banquet rofe.
When thus the king with hofpitable port:-
Accept this welcome to the Spartan court;
The wafte of nature let the feast repair,
Then your high lineage and your names declare;
Say from what fcepter'd ancestry ye claim,
Recorded eminent in deathlefs fame?
For vulgar parents cannot stamp their race
With fignatures of fuch majestic grace.

20

While this gay friendly troop the king furround,
With festival and mirth the roofs refound:
A bard amid the joyous circle fings
High airs, attemper'd to the vocal ftrings;
Whilft, warbling to the varied ftrain, advance 25
Two fprightly youths to form the bounding dance.
Twas then, that, iffuing through the palace gate,
The fplendid car roll'd flow in regal state:
On the bright eminence young Nettor thone,
And faft befide him great Ulyffes' fon :
Grave Eteoneus faw the pomp appear,
And, fpeeding, thus addrest the royal ear:
Two youths approach, whose semblant features
prove

Ceafing, benevolent he straight affigns
The royal portion of the choiceft chines
30 To each accepted friend: with grateful haste
They fhare the honours of the rich repast.
Sufic'd, foft-whispering thus to Neftor's fon,
His head reclin'd, young Ithacus begun:

35

40

Their blood devolving from the fource of Jove.
Is due reception deign'd, or mult they bend
Their doubtful courfe to feek a diftant friend?
Infenfate! (with a figh the king replies)
Too long, misjudging, have I thought thee wife;
But fure relentless folly feels thy breast,
Obdurate to reject the ftranger-guest;
To thofe dear hofpitable rites a foc,
Which in my wanderings oft reliev'd my woe:
Fed by the bounty of another's board,
Till pitying Jove my native realm restor`d -
Straight be the courfers from the car releast,
Conduct the youths to grace the genial feaft.
The fenefchal rebuk'd in hafte withdrew;
With equal haste a menial train pursue;

70

75

8a

85

View'll thou unmov'd, O ever-honour'd most !
Thefe prodigies of art, and wondrous coft!
Above, beneath, around the palace fhines
The fumlefs treasure of exhaufted mines:
The fpoils of elephants the roofs inlay,
And ftudded amber darts a golden ray :
Such, and not nobler, in the realms above,
My wonder dictates, is the dome of Jove.

90

The monarch took the word, and grave reply'd:
Prefumptuous are the vaunts, and vain the pride
Of man, who dares in pomp with Jove conteft,
Unchang'd, immortal, and fupremely bleft!
45 With all my affluence, when my woes are weigh'd
Envy will own the purchase dearly paid.
96.
For eight flow-circling years by tempeft tot,
From Cyprus to the far Phoenician coaft