Thy heart might fettle in this fcene of eafe,
And ev'n thefe flighted charms might learn to
please.
A willing Goddess and immortal life
Might banish from thy mind an abfent wife.
Am I inferior to a mortal dame?
Lefs foft my feature, lefs auguft my frame?
Or fhall the daughters of mankind compare
Their earth-born beauties with the heavenly
Alas! for this (the prudent man replies)
Against Ulyffes fhall thy anger rife?
Lov'd and ador'd, oh Goddefs! as thou art,
Forgive the weakness of a human heart.
Though well I fee thy graces far above
The dear, though mortal, object of my love,
Of youth eternal well the difference know,
And the short date of fading charms below;
Yet every day, while absent thus I roam,
I languish to return and die at home.
Whate'er the Gods fhall deftine me to bear
In the black ocean, or the watery war,
Tis mine to master with a constant mind;
nur'd to perils, to the worst refign'd.
By feas, by wars, fo many dangers run,
Still I can fuffer: their high will be done!
265 | Thy loom, Calypfo! for the future fails
Supply'd the cloth, capacious of the gales.
With stays and cordage laft he rigg'd the ship,
And, roll'd on levers, launch'd her in the deep.
Four days were paft, and now the work com-
plete,
Shone the fifth morn: when from her facred feat The nymph dismiss'd him, (odorous garments giv en) 335 [Heaven And bath'd in fragrant oils that breath'd of Then fill'd two goat-fkins with her hands divine, 275 With water one, and one with fable wine; Of every kind, provifions heav'd aboard; And the full decks with copious viands stor❜d. 34 The Goddefs, last, a gentle breeze fupplies, To curl old ocean, and to warm the skies.
And now, rejoicing in the profperous gales,
With beating heart, Ulyffes fpreads his fails;
Plac'd at the helm he fate, and mark'd the skies, 345
Nor clos'd in fleep his ever-watchful eyes.
There view'd the Pleiads, and the Northern Team,
285 And great Orion's more refulgent beam,
To which, around tl.axle of the sky
The Bear, revolving, points his golden eye:
Who fhines exalted on th' atherial plain,
Nor bathes his blazing forehead in the main.
Far on the left those radiant fires to keep
The nymph directed, as he fail'd the deep.
Full feventeen nights he cut the foamy way: 355
The diftant land appear'd the following day:
Then fwell'd to fight Phæacia's duíky coaft,
And woody mountains, half in vapours loft:
That lay before him, indistinct and vast,
Like a broad fhield amid the watery wafte.
Thus while he spoke, the beamy fun defcends,
And rifing night her friendly fhade extends.
To the clofe grot the lonely pair remove,
And flept delighted with the gifts of love.
When rofy morning call'd them from their reft,
Ulyffes rob'd him in the cloak and vest.
The nymph's fair head a veil transparent grac'd, 295
Her fwelling loins a radiant zone embrac'd
With flowers of gold: an under robe, unbound,
In fnowy waves flow'd glittering on the ground,
Forth iffuing thus, fhe gave him first to wield
A weighty axe with trueft temper fteel'd,
And double edg'd; the handle fmooth and plain,
Wrought of the clouded olive's cafy grain;
And next, a wedge to drive with fweepy fway:
Then to the neighbouring foreft led the way.
On the lone ifland's utmoft verge there stood
Of poplars, pines, and firs, a lofty wood,
Whofe leaflefs fummits to the fkies afpire,
Scorch'd by the fun, or fear'd by heavenly fire
(Already dry'd). These pointing out to view,
The nymph juft fhow'd him, and with tears with-
310
Now toils the hero; trees on trees o'erthrown
Fall crackling round him, and the foreft groan :
Sudden, full twenty on the plain are frow'd,
And lopp'd, and lighten'd of their branchy load.
At equal angles thefe difpos'd to join,
315
He fmooth'd and fquar'd them, by the rule and line.
(The wimbles or the work Calypfo found)
With thofe he pierc'd them, and with clinchers
bound.
Long and capacious as a fhipwright forms
Some bark's broad bottom to out-ride the forms, 320
So large he built the raft: then ribb'd it flrong
From space to space, and nail'd the planks along;
Thefe form'd the fides: the deck he fashion'd laft;
Then o'er the vessel rais'd the taper maft,
With crolling fail-yards dancing in the wind;
And to the helm the guiding rudder join'd
(With yielding ofiers fenc'd, to break the force
Offurging waves, and ifcer the fready course),
But him, thus voyaging the deeps below,
From far, on Solyme's aërial brow,
The King of Ocean faw, and seeing burn'd
(From Ethiopia's happy climes return'd;)
The raging monarch thook his azure head,
And thus in fecret to his foul he said:
Heavens! how uncertain are the Powers on
high?
Is then revers'd the sentence of the sky,
In one man's favour; while a distant guest
I fhar'd fecure the Æthiopian feast?
Behold how near Phaacia's land he draws!
The land, affix'd by Fate's eternal laws
To end his toils. Is then our anger vain?
No; if this fceptre yet commands the main.
He fpoke, and high the forky trident hurl'd 375
Rolls clouds on clouds, and firs the watery world,
At once the face of earth the fea deforms,
Swells all the winds, and roufes all the ftorms.
Down rush'd the night: caft, weft, together roar;
And fouth, and north, roll mountains to the fhore;
Then shook the hero, to despair refign'd,
And queftion'd thus his yet unconquer'd mind:
Wretch that I am! what farther fates attend
This life of toils, and what my deftin'd end?
Too well, alas! the Ifland Goddess knew,
On the black fea what perils fhould enfue.
New horrors now this deftin'd head enclose;
Unfill'd is yet the measure of my woes;
With what a cloud the brows of heaven are crown'd!
What raging winds! what roaring waters round!
'Tis Jove himself the fwelling tempests rears;
Death, prefent death, on every fide appears,
Happy! thrice happy! who, in battle flain,
Preft, in Atrides' caufe, the Trojan plain :
Oh' had 1 dy'd before that well-fought wall; 395
Had fome diftinguish'd day renown'd my fall
(Such as was that, when showers of javelins fled
From conquering Troy around Achilles dead);
All Greece had paid me folemn funerals then,
And fpread my glory with the fons of men.
A fhameful fate now hides my hapless head,
Un-wept, un-noted, and for ever dead!
A mighty wave rush'd o'er him as he fpoke,
The raft is cover'd, and the maft it broke;
Swept from the deck, and from the rudder torn, 405
Far on the fwelling furge the chief was borne:
While by the howling tempeft rent in twain
Flew fail and fail-yards rattling o'er the main.
Long prefs'd, he heav'd beneath the weighty wave,
Clogg'd by the cumbrous veft Calypfo gave: 410
At length, emerging from his noftrils wide
And gushing mouth, effus'd the briny tide,
Ev'n then not mindlefs of his last retreat,
He feiz'd the raft, and leapt into his feat.
Strong with the fear of death. The rolling flood 415
Now here, now there, impell'd the floating wood.
As when a heap of gather'd thorns is caft
Now to, now fro, before th' autumnal blast;
Together clung, it rolls around the field;
So roll'd the float, and fo its texture held:
And now the fouth, and now the north, bear
And now the eaft the foamy floods obey, [fway,
And now the weft-wind whirls it o'er the fea.
The wandering chief, with toils on toils oppreft,
Leucothea faw, and pity touch'd her breast
(Herfelf a mortal once, of Cadmus' ftrain,
But now an azure fifter of the main).
Swift as a fea-mew fpringing from the flood,
All radiant on the raft the Goddess flood:
Then thus addrefs'd him: Thou, whom Heaven
decrees
430
To Neptune's wrath, stern tyrant of the feas,
(Unequal contest! not his rage and power,
Great as he is, fuch virtue fhall de vour.
What I fuggeft, thy wifdom will perform;
Forfake thy float, and leave it to the storm;
Strip off thy garments; Neptune's fury brave
With naked frength, and plunge into the wave.
To reach Phacia all thy nerves extend,
There Fate decrees thy miferies fhall end.
This heavenly scarf beneath thy bofom bind,
And live; give all thy terrors to the wind,
Soon as thy arms the happy fhore fhall gain,
Return the gift, and caft it on the main;
Obferve my orders, and with heed obey,
Caft it far off, and turn thy eyes away.
With that her hand the facred veil beftows,
Thus then I judge; while yet the planks fustain
The wild waves fury, here I fix'd remain :
But when their texture to the tempests yields, 460
I launch adventurous on the liquid fields,
Join to the help of Gods the ftrength of man,
And take this method, fince the best I can.
While thus his thoughts an anxious council hold, The raging God a watery mountain roll'd; Like a black sheet the whelming billow spread Burfts o'er the float, and thunder'd on his head. Planks, beams, difparted fly: the scatter'd wood Rolls diverfe, and in fragments ftrows the flood. So the rude Boreas, o'er the fields new-fhorn, 470 Toffes and drives the fcatter'd heaps of corn. And now a single beam the chief bestrides; There pois'd a while above the bounding tides, His limbs difcumbers of the clinging vest, And binds the facred cincture round his breast; 475 Then prone on ocean in a moment flung, Stretch'd wide his eager arms, and fhot the feas All naked now, on heaving billows laid, [along. Stern Neptune ey'd him, and contemptuous faid;
Go, learn'd in woes, and other woes effay! 480 Go, wander helpless on the watery way: Thus, thus find out the destin'd shore, and then (If Jove ordains it) mix with happier men. Whate'er thy fate, the ills our wrath could raise Shall laft remember'd in thy best of days. 485
This faid, his fea-green steeds divide the foam, And reach high Æga and the towery dome. Now, fcarce withdrawn the fierce earth shaking
Jove's daughter, Pallas, watch'd the favouring hour,
Back to their caves the bade the winds to fly, 490
And hush'd the blustering brethren of the sky.
The drier blafts alone of Boreas fway,
And bear him foft on broken waves away;
With gentle force impelling to that shore,
Where Fate has deftin'd he shall toil no more. 495
And now two nights, and now two days were paft,
Siuce wide he wander'd on the watery wafte
Heav'd on the furge with intermitting breath,
And hourly panting in the arms of death.
The third fair morn now blaz'd upon the main; 500
Then glaffy fmooth lay all the liquid plain :
The winds were hufh'd, the billows fcarcely curl'd,
And a dead filence fill'd the watery world;
When lifted on a ridgy wave he 'fpies
440 The land at diftance, and with sharpen'd eyes, 505
As pious children joy with vaft delight
When a lov'd fire revives before their fight
(Who, lingering long has call'd on death in vain, Fix'd by fome damon to his bed of pain,
Till Heaven by miracle his life restore);
So joys Ulyffes at th' appearing fhore,
Then down the deeps the div'd from whence the And fees, (and labours onward as he fees)
A moment fuatch'd the fhining form away,
And all was cover'd with the curling fea.
Struck with amaze, yet still to doubt inclin'd, 450
He ftands fufpended, and explores his mind.
What shall I do? Unhappy me! who knows
But other Gods' intend me other woes?
Whoe'er thou art, I fhall not blindly join
Thy pleaded reafon, but confult with mine:
For fcarce in ken appears that diftant ifle,
Thy voice foretels mc fhall conclude my toil.
The rifing forefts and the tufted trees.
And now, as near approaching as the found
Of human voice the liftening ear may wound, 515
Amidst the rocks he hears a hollow roar
Of murmuring furges breaking on the fhore;
Nor peaceful port was there, nor winding bay,
To fhield the veffel from the rolling fea,
But cliffs, and fhaggy shores, a dreadful fight! 520
455 All-rough with rocks, with foaming billows white.'
Fear feiz'd his flacken'd limbs and beating heart;
As thus commun'd he with his foul apart :
D d 2
Ah me! when, o'er a length of waters toft, These eyes at last behold th' unhop'd for coaft, 525 No port receives me from the angry main, But the loud deeps demand me back again. Above, fharp rocks forbid accefs; around, Roar the wild wave; beneath is fea profound! No footing fure affords the faithless fand, To ftem too rapid, and too deep to stand. If here I enter, my efforts are in vain, Dash'd on the cliffs, or heav'd into the main ; Or round the island if my course I bend, Where the ports open, or the fhores descend, Back to the feas the rolling furge may sweep, And bury all my hopes beneath the deep. Or fome enormous whale the God may fend, (For many fuch on Amphitrite attend) Too well the turns of mortal chance I know, And hate relentless of my heavenly foe. While thus he thought, a monstrous wave upThe chief, and dash'd him on the craggy fhore : Torn was his fkin, nor had the ribs been whole, But inftant Pallas enter'd in his foul. Close to the cliff with both his hands he clung, And ftuck adherent, and fufpended hung; [fweep Till the huge furge roll'd off: then, backward The refluent tides, and plunge him in the deep. As when the Polypus, from forth his cave Torn with full force, reluctant beats the wave; His ragged claws are ftuck with ftones and fands: So the rough rock had shagg'd Ulysses' hands. And now had perish'd, whelm'd beneath the main, Th' unhappy man; ev'n Fate had been in vain : But all-fubduing Pallas lent her power, And prudence fav'd him in the needful hour. Beyond the beating furge his course he bore, (A wider circle, but in fight of fhore) With longing eyes, obferving, to furvey Some smooth afcent, or safe fequetter'd bay. Between the parting rocks at length he 'spy'd A falling fream with gentler waters glide; Where to the feas the fhelving fhore declin'd, And form'd a bay impervious to the wind. To this calm port the glad Ulysses preft, And hail'd the river, and its God addreft: Whoe'er thou art, before whole ftream unknown I bend, a fuppliant at thy watery throne, Hear, azure king nor let me fly in vain To thee from Neptune and the raging main. Heaven hears and pities hapless men like me, For facred ev'n to Gods is mifery: Let then thy waters give the weary rest, And fave a fuppliant, and a man diftreft. He pray'd, and ftraight the gentle stream fubfides, Detains the rushing current of his tides, Before the wanderer fmooths the watery way, And foft receives him from the rolling fea. That moment, fainting as he touch'd the fhore, 580 He dropt his finewy arms: his knees no more
Perform'd their office, or his weight upheld:
His fwoln heart heav'd; his bloated body fwell'd;
From mouth and nose the briny torrent ran;
And loft in laffitude lay all the man,
Depriv'd of voice, of motion, and of breath;
The foul fearce waking in the arms of death.
Soon as warm life its wonted office found,
The mindful chief Leucothea's fcarf unbound;
Obfervant of her word, he turn'd afide
His head, and caft it on the rolling tide.
Behind him far, upon the purple waves
The waters waft it, and the nymph receives.
Now parting from the stream, Ulyffes found
A moffy bank, with pliant rufhes crown'd! 595
The bank he prefs'd, and gently kifs'd the ground;)
Where on the flowery herb as foft he lay,
Thus to his foul the fage began to say:
What will ye next ordain, ye Powers on high?
And yet, ah! yet, what Fates are we to try? 600
Here by the fiream, if I the night out-wear,
Thus spent already, how shall nature bear
The dews defcending, and nocturnal air ;
Or chilly vapours breathing from the flood
When morning rife ?-If I take the wood,
And in thick fhelter of innumerous boughs
Enjoy the comfort gently fleep allows;
Though fenc'd from cold, and though my toil be
paft,
What favage beafts may wander in the waste ;
Perhaps I yet may fall a bloody prey
To prowling bears, or lions in the way.
Thus long debating in himself he flood: At length he took the paffage to the wood, Whofe fhady horrors on a rifing brow Wav'd high, and frown'd upon the ftream below. There grew two olives, clofeft of the grove, With roots entwin'd, and branches interwove; Alike their leaves, but not alike they fmil'd With filler fruits; one fertile, one was wild. Nor here the fun's meridian rays had power, 620 Nor wind fharp-piercing, nor the rushing shower; The verdant arch so close its texture kept : Beneath this covert great Ulyffes crept. Of gather'd leaves an ample bed he made (Thick ftrown by tempeft through the bowery fhade);
625 Where three at least might winter's cold defy, Though Boreas rag'd along th' inclement sky. This ftore, with joy the the patient hero found, And, funk amidst them, heap'd the leaves around. As fome poor peafant, fated to refide Remote from neighbours in a foreft wide, Studious to fave what human wants require, In embers heap'd, preferves the feeds of fire: Hid in dry foliage thus Ulyffes lies, Till Pallas pour'd foft flumbers on his eyes; 635 And golden dreams (the gift of fweet repose) Lull'd all his cares, and banish'd all his woes.
Pallas, appearing in a dream to Nausicaa (the daughter of Alcinous king of Fbæacia), commands ber to defcend to the river, and wash the robes of flate, in preparation to her nuptials. Nausicaa goes with ber bandmaids to the river, bere, while the garments are spread on the bank, they divert themselves in sports. Their voices awake Ulyffes, who, addreffing himself to the princess, is by her relieved and clothed, and receives directions in what manner to apply to the king and queen of the island.
THILE thus the weary wanderer funk to reft,
And peaceful flumbers calm'd his anxious breast
The Martial Maid from heaven's aerial height
Swift to Phaacia wing'd her rapid flight.
The feat of Gods; the regions mild of peace,
Full joy, and calm eternity of eafe.
There no rude winds prefume to shake the skies,
No rains defcend, no Tnowy vapours rife ;
But on immortal thrones the bleft repose:
The firmament with living fplendors glows.
Hither the Goddefs wing'd th' aerial way,
Thro' heaven's eternal gates that blaz'd with day.
Now from her rofy car Aurora shed
10 The dawn, and all the orient flam'd with red.
Up rofe the virgin with the morning light,
Obedient to the vision of the night. [ftow'd 60
The queen the fought: the queen her hours be-
In curious works; the whirling fpindle glow'd
With crimson threads, while bufy damfels cull
The fnowy flecce, or twist the purpled wool.
Mean while Phæacia's peers in council fate;
From his high dome the king defcends in state,
Then with a filial awe th royal maid
Approach'd him paffing and fubmiffive faid :
In elder times the foft Phæacian train
In eafe poffeft the wide Hyperian plain;
Till the Cyclopean race in arms arofe,
A lawless nation of Gigantic foes:
Then great Naufithous from Hyperia far,
Through feas retreating from the found of war,
The recreant nation to far scheria led, i
Where never feience rear'd her laurel'd head:
There, round his tribes a ftrength of wall he rais'd:
To heaven the glittering domes and temples blaz'd:
Juft to his realms, he parted grounds from grounds,
And fhar'd the lands, and gave the lands their
Now in the filert grave the monarch lay,
And wife Alcinous held the regal fway.
To his high palace through the fields of air
The Goddefs fhot; Ulyffes was her care.
There as the night in filence roil'd away,
A heaven of charms divine Nausicaa lay⚫
Through the thick gloom the fhining portals blaze;
Two nymphs the portals guard, each nymph a
Light as the viewlefs air the Warrior-Maid
Glides thro' the valves, and hovers round Her head;
A favourite virgin's blooming form the took,
From Dymas fprung, and thus the vifion spoke
Oh indolent to waste thy hours away '
And fleep'st thou careless of the bridal day?
Thy fpoufal ornament neglected lies;
Arife, prepare the bridal train, arife!
A juft applaufe the cares of drefs impart,
And give foft tranfport to a parent's heart.
Hafte, to the limpid ftream direct thy way,
When the gay morn unveils her fmiling ray!
Hafte to the ftream! Companion of thy care,
Lo, I thy fteps attend, thy labours fhare.
Virgin, awake! the marriage hour is nigh,
See! from their thrones thy kindred monarchs
The royal car at early dawn obtain,
And order mules obedient to the rein;
[igh
For rough the way, and diftant rolls the wave,,
Where their fair vefts Phæacian virgins lave.
In pomp ride forth; for pomp becomes the great, 45
And majefly derives a grace from ftate.
Then to the palaces of heaven the fails,
Incumbent on the wings of wafting gales:
Will my dread fire his ear regardful deign,
And may his child the royal ear obtain?
Say, with thy garments fhall I bend my way,
Where through the vales the mazy waters ftray?
A dignity of drefs adorns the great,
And kings draw luftre from the robe of state.
Five fons thou hast; three wait the bridal day, 75
And fpotlefs robes become the young and gay.
So when with praife amid the dance they fhine,
By these my cares adorn'd, that praife is mine.
Thus the: but blushes ill-reftrain'd betray
Her thoughts intentive on the bridal day:
The confcious fire the dawning blush survey'd,
And fmiling thus bespoke the blooming maid:
My child, my darling joy, the car receive;
That, and whate'er our daughter asks, we give.
Swift at the royal nod th' attending train
The car prepare, the mules inceffant rein.
The blooming virgin with difpatchful cares
Tunicks, and ftoles, and robes imperial, bears.
The queen, affiduous, to her train affigns
The fumptuous viands, and the flavorous wines. 90
The train prepare a cruife of curious mould,
A cruife of fragrance, form'd of burnifh'd gold;
Odour divine! whofe fe ft refreshing freams
Sleek the fmooth fkin, and fcent the fnowy limbs.
Now mounting the gay fat, the filken rejas 95
Shine in her hand: along the founding plans
Swift fly the mules: nor rode the nymph alone;
Around, a bevy of bright damfel. fhone.
They feek the cifterns where Phæacian dames
Wafh their fair garments in the limpid ftreams; 100
Where, gathering into depth from falling fills;
The lucid wave a spacious bason fills.
The mules unharness'd range beside the main,
Or crop the verdant herbage of the plain.
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Then emulous the royal robes they lave, And plunge the vestures in the cleansing wave; (The vestures cleans'd o'erfpread the fhelly fand, Their fnowy luftre whitens all the strand :) Then with a short repaft relieve their toil, And o'er their limbs diffufe ambrofial oil; And, while the robes imbibe the folar ray, O'er the green mead the fporting virgins play (Their shining veils unbound). Along the skies Toft, and retoft, the ball inceffant flies. They fport, they feaft; Nausicaa lifts her voice, 115 And, warbling fweet, makes earth and heaven reAs when o'er Erymanth Diana roves, [joice. Or wide Taygetus' refounding groves; A fylvan train the huntress queen furrounds, Her rattling quiver from her shoulder founds: Fierce in the sport, along the mountain's brow They bay the boar, or chase the bounding roe: High o'er the lawn with more majestic pace, Above the nymphs fhe treads with stately grace; Diftinguifh'd excellence the Goddess proves; Exults Latona, as the virgin moves. With equal grace Nauficaa trod the plain, And fhoue transcendant o'er the beauteous train. Mean time (the care and favourite of the skies) Wrapt in embowering fhade, Ulyffes lies, His woes forgot! but Pallas now addrest
To break the bands of all-composing rest.
Forth from her fnowy hand Nausicaa threw
The various ball; the ball erroneous flew,
And fwam the stream; loud fhrieks the virgin
train,
And the loud fhriek redoubles from the main.
Wak'd by the fhrilling found, Ulyffes rofe,
And, to the deaf woods wailing, breath'd his woes:
Ah me! on what inhofpitable coaft,
Or what new region, is Ulyffes toft?
Poffeft by wild barbarians fierce in arms;
Or men, whofe bofom tender pity warms?
What founds are thefe that gather from the
[bowers,
The voice of nymphs that haunt the fylvan
The fair-hair'd Dryads of the fhady wood; 145
Or azure daughters of the filver flood;
Or human voice? but, iffuing from the fhades,
Why ceafe I ftraight to learn what found invades?
Then, where the grove with leaves umbrageous
bends,
With forceful strength a branch the hero rends; 150
Around his loins the verdant cincture spreads
A wreathy foliage and concealing fhades.
As when a lion in the midnight hours,
Beat by rude blafts, and wet with wintry fhowers,
Defcends terrific from the mountain's brow:
With living flames his rolling eye-balls glow;
With confcious ftrength elate, he bends his way,
Majestically fierce, to feize his prey.
(The iteer or ftag): or with keen hunger bold, Springs o'er the fence, and diffipates the fold. 160 No lefs a terror, from the neighbouring groves Rough from the toffing furge, Ulyffes moves;
Urg'd on by want, and recent from the forms;
The brackish ooze his manly face deforms.
Wide o'er the shore with many a piercing cry 165
To rocks, to caves, the frighted virgins fly:
All but the nymph: the nymph ftood fix'd alone,
By Pallas arm'd with boldness not her own.
Mean time in dubious thought the king awaits,
And, felf-confidering, as he stands, debates;
Distant his mournful story to declare,
Or proftrate at her knee addrefs the prayer.
But fearful to offend, by Wifdom fway'd,
At awful distance he accufts the maid:
If from the skies a Goddess, or if earth
(Imperial virgin) boaft thy glorious birth,
To thee I bend! if in that bright disguise
Thou visit earth, a daughter of the skies,
Hail, Dian, hail! the huntress of the groves
So fhines majestic, and so stately moves,
So breathes an air divine! But if thy race
Be mortal, and this earth thy native place,
Bleft is the father from whofe loins you fprung
Bleft is the mother at whofe breast you hung,
Bleft are the brethren who thy blood divide, 185
To fuch a miracle of charms ally'd:
Joyful they fee applauding princes gaze,
When ftately in the dance you fwim th' harmo-
But bleft o'er all, the youth with heavenly charms!
Who clafps the bright perfection in his arms! 190
Never, I never view'd till this bleft hour
Such finish'd grace! I gaze, and I adore!
Thus feems the palm with ftately honours crown'd
By Phoebus' altars; thus o'erlooks the ground;
The pride of Delos. (By the Delian coaft,
I voyag'd, leader of a warrior-holt,
But ah, how chang'd! from thence my forrow
O fatal voyage, fource of all my woes)!
Raptur'd I flood, and, as this hour amaz'd,
With reverence at the lofty wonder gaz'd;
Kaptur'd I ftand! for earth ne'er knew to bear
A plant fo stately, or a nymph fo fair.
Aw'd from accefs, I lift my fuppliant hands;
For mifery, O queen, before thee ftands!
Twice ten tempestuous nights I roll'd, refign'd 205
To roaring billows, and the warring wind;
Heaven bade the deep to fpare! but Heaven, my
Spares only to inflict fome mightier woe!
Inur'd to care, to death in all its forms;
Outcast Irove, familiar with the ftorms!
Once more I view the face of human-kind :
Oh, let foft pity touch thy generous mind!
Unconfcious of what air I breathe, I ftand
Naked, defencclefs, on a foreign land.
Propitious to my wants a veft fupply
To guard the wretched from th' inclement sky :
So may the Gods, who heaven and earth control,
Crown the chafte wishes of thy virtuous foul,
On thy foft hours their choiceft bleffings faed;
Bleft with a husband be thy bridal bed:
Bleft be the husband with a blooming race,
And lafting union crown your blissful days.
The Gods, when they fupremely blefs, beftow
Firm union on their favourites below:
Then envy grieves, with inly-pining hate;
The good exult, and Heaven is in our state.
To whom the nymph: O ftranger, cease thy Wife is thy foul, Lut man is born to bear : [care;
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