Though tempefts rage, though rolls the fwelling] But fay through what wafte regions haft thou
What customs noted, and what coafts furvey'd; Poffefs'd by wild barbarians fierce in arms,
Or men, whofe bofom tender pity warms? Say why the fate of Troy awak'd thy cares. Why heav'd thy bofom, and why flow'd thy tears? 630
Juft are the ways of Heaven: from Heaven proceed The woes of man; Heaven doom'd the Greeks to bleed:
A theme of future fong' Say then if flain
Some dear lov'd brother prefs'd the Phrygian plain?"
Or bled fome friend, who bore a brother's part, 635
And claim'd by merit, not by blood, the heart?
Uljes begins the relation of his adventures; bow, after the deftruction of Troy, be with bis companions made an incurfion on the Cicons, by whom they were repulsed; and meeting with a form, were driven to the coaft of the Lotopbagi. From thence they failed to the land of the Cyclops, whofe manners and fituation axe particularly cha ra&erifed. The giant Polypher bemus and his cave described; the usage Ulysses and bis companions met with there ; and luftly, the method and artifice by which he escaped.
HEN thus Ulyffes: Thon, whom first in sway, | As first in virtue, these thy realms obey ; How fweet the products of a peaceful reign! The heaven-taught poet, and enchanting strain; The well-fill'd palace, the perpetual feaft, A land rejoicing, and a people bleft! How goodly feems it ever to employ Man's focial days in union and in joy;
The plerteous board high-heap'd with cates divine,
And o'er the foaming bowl the laughing wine! 10
Admit thefe joys, why feeks thy mind to know
Th' unhappy feries of a wanderer's woe:
Remembrance fad, whofe image to review,
Alas! muft open all my wounds anew
And, oh! what firft, what last fhall I relate,
Of woes unnumber'd fent by Heaven and Fate?
Know firft the man (though now a wretch dif-
treft)
Who hopes thee, monarch, for his future gueft.
Behold Ulyffes! no ignoble name,
Earth founds my wildom, and high heaven my
My native foil is Ithaca the fair, [fame. 20
Where high Neritus waves his woods in air :
Dulichium, Samè and Zacynthus crown'd
With fhady mountains, fpread their ifles around
(Thefe to the north and night's dark regions run, 25
Thofe to Aurora and the rifing fun).
Low lies our ifle, yet blest in fruitful stores;
Strong are her fons, though rocky are her shores;
And none, ah! none fo lovely to my fight,
Of all the lands that Heaven o'erfpreads with
light!
VOL. IV.
In vain Calypfo long constrain'd my stay,
With fweet, reluctant, amorous delay;
With all her charms as vainly Circe ftrove,
And added magic, to fecure my love.
In pomps or joys, the palace or the grot,
My country's image never was forgot,
My abfent parents role before my fight,
And diftant lay contentment and delight.
Hear then the woes which mighty Jove ordain'd
To wait my paffage from the Trojan land.
The winds from lion to the Cicons' fhore,
Beneath cold finarus our Veffels bore.
We boldly landed on the hottile place,
And fack'd the city, and deftroy'd the race,
Their wives made captive, their poffeffions thar'd,
And every foldier found a like reward.
I then advis'd to fly; not fo the reft,
Who ftay'd to revel, and prolong the feaft:
The fatted sheep and fable bulls they flay,
And bowls flow round, and riot waftes the day. 50
Mean time the Cicons to their holds retir'd,
Call on the Cicons with new 'fury fir'd;
With early morn the gather'd country fwarms,
And all the continent is bright with arms;
Thick as the budding leaves or rifing flowers
O'erfpread the land, when fpring defcends in
fhowers :
All expert foldiers, skill'd on foot to dare,
Or from the hounding courfer urge the war.
Now fortune changes (fo the Fates ordain);
Our hour was come to tafte our fhare of pain. 60
By thefe no ftatutes and no rights are known,
No council held, go monarch fills the throne,
But high on hills, or airy cliffs they dwell,
Each rules his race, his neighbour not his care,
Or deep in caves whofe entrance leads to hell. 130
Heedlefs of others, to his own fevere,
Oppos'd to the Cyclopean coafts, there lay
An ifle, whofe hills their fubject fields furvey:
Its name Lachæa, crown'd with many a grove, 135
70 Where favage goats through pathless thickets rove
No needy mortals here, with hunger bold,
Or wretched hunters, through the wintery cold
Purfue their flight; but leave them fafe to bound
From hill to hill, o'er all the defert ground.
Nor knows the foil to feed the fleecy care,
Or feels the labours of the crooked share;
But uninhabited, untill'd, unfown
It lics, and breeds the bleating goat alone.
For there no veffel with vermillion prore,
Or bark of traffic glides from there to fhore;
The rugged race of favages, unfkill'd
The feas to traverse, or the ships to build,
Gaze on the coaft, nor cultivate the foil;
Unlearn'd in all th' induftrious arts of toil.
Yet here all products and all plants abound,
Sprung from the fruitful genius of the ground:
Fields waving high with heavy crops are seen,
And vines that flourish in eternal green,
Refreshing meads along the murmuring main, 155
And fountains streaming down the fruitful plain.
A port there is, enclos'd on either fide,
Where fhips may reft, unanchor'd and unty'd;
Till the glad mariners incline to fail,
And the fea whitens with the rifing gale.
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Clofe at the ships the bloody fight began,
Wounded they wound, and man expires on man.
Long as the morning fun increafing bright
O'er heavens pure azure spread the growing light,
Promifcuous death the form of war confounds,
Each adverfe battle gor'd with equal wounds:
But when his evening wheels o'erhung the main,
Then conqueft crown'd the fierce Ciconian train.
Six brave companions from each ship we loft,
The reft escape in hafte, and quit the coaft.
With fails outfpread we fly th'unequal frife,
Sad for their lufs, but joyful of our life,
Yet as we fled our fellows rites we paid,
And thrice we call'd on each unhappy fhade.
Mean while the God whofe hand the thunder
forms,
[ftorms
Drives clouds on clouds, and blackens Heaven with
Wide o'er the wafte the rage of Boreas fweeps,
And night rush'd headlong on the fhaded deeps.
Now here, now there, the giddy fhips are borne,
And all the rattling fhrouds in fragments torn.
We furl'd the fail, we ply'd the labouring oar,
Took down our mafis, and row'd our fhips to fhore.
Two tedious days and two long nights we lay,
O'erwatch'd and batter'd in the naked bay.
But the third morning when Aurora brings,
We rear the mafts, we fpread the canvas wings;
Refresh'd, and careless on the deck reclin'd,
We fit, and trust the pilot and the wind.
Then to my native country had I fail'd:
But the cape doubled, adverse winds prevail'd.
Strong was the tide, which, by the northern blaft
Impell'd, our veffels on Cythera caft.
Nine days our fleet th' uncertain tempeft bore
Far in wide ocean, and from fight of fhore;
The tenth we touch'd, by various errors toft,
The land of Lotos and the flowery coaft.
We climb the beach, and springs of water found,
Then fpread our hafty banquet on the ground.
Three men were fent deputed from the crew,
(An herald one) the dubious coaft to view,
And learn what habitants poffefs the place.
The went and found a hofpitable race;
Not prone to ill, nor ftrange to foreign guett,
They eat, they drink, and nature gives the feaft;
'The trees around them all their fruit produce; ics
Lotos, the name; divine, nectareous juice!
(Thence call'd Lotophagi) which whófo tastes,
Infatiate riots in the fweet repafts,
Nor other home, nor other care intends,
But quits his houfe, his country, and his friends: 110
The three we fent, from off th'enchanting ground
We dragg'd reluctant, and by force we bound:
The rest in hafte forfook the pleafing fhore,
Or, the charm tafted, had return'd no more.
Now plac'd in order on their banks, they fweep
The feas fmooth face, and cleave the hoary deep;
With heavy hearts we labour through the tide
To coafts unknown, and oceans yet untry'd.'
The land of Cyclops firit; a favage kind,
Nor tam'd by manners, nor by laws confin'd:
Untaught to plant, to turn the glebe and fow;
They all their products to free nature owe.
The foil untill'd a ready harveft yields,
With wheat and barley wave the golden fields,
Spontaneous wines from weighty clusters pour, 125
And Jove defcends in each prokúc thower.
In living rills a gushing fountain broke :
High at its head, from out the cavern'd rock
Around it, and above, for ever green,
The blufhing alders form a fhady scene.
Hither fome favouring God, beyond our thought,
Through all-furrounding fhade our navy brought;
For gloomy night defcended on the main,
Nor glimmer'd Phabe in the ethereal plain:
But all unfeen the clouded' ifland lay,
And all upfeen the furge and rolling fea,
Till fafe we anchor'd in the shelter'd bay:
Our fails we gather'd, caft our cables o'er,
And flept fecure along the fandy shore.
Soon as again the rofy morning fhone,
Reveal'd the landscape and the feene unknown, 175
With wonder feiz'd, we view the pleasing ground,
And walk delighted, and expatiate round.
Rous'd by the woodland nymphs, at early dawn,
The mountain goats come bounding o'er the lawn:
In hafte our fellows to the fhips repair,
For arms and weapons of the fylvan war;
Straight in three fquadrons all our crew we part,
And bend the bow, or wing the missile dart;
The bounteous God affords a copious prey,
And nine fat goats each veffel bears away:
The royal bark had ten. Our fhips complete
We thus fupply'd (for twelve were all the fleet).
Here, till the fetting fun roll'd down the light,
We fat indulging in the genial rite:
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Nor wines were wanting; thofe from ample
We drain'd, the prize of our Ciconian wars.
The land of Cyclops lay in profpe&t near;
The voice of goats and bleating flocks we hear.
Now funk the fun, and darkness cover'd o'er
The face of things along the fea-beat more.
Satiate we fleep but when the facred dawn
Arifing glitter'd o'er the dewy lawn,
I call'd my fellows, and thefe words addreft:
My dear affociates, here indulge your reft:
While, with my fingle hip, adventurous I
Go forth, the manners of yon men to try;
Whether a race unjust, of barbarous might,
Rude, and unconscious of a ftranger's right;
Or fuch who harbour pity in their breast,
Revere the Gods, and fuccour the diftreft?
This faid, I climb'd my veffel's lofty fide:
My train ohey'd me, and the hip unty'd.
In order feated on their banks, they fweep [deep.
Neptune's Imooth face, and cleave the yielding
When to the nearest verge of land we drew,
Faft by the fea a lonely cave we view,
High, and with darkening laurels cover'd o'er;
Where theep and goats lay lumbering round the
(The larger here, and there the leffer lambs,
The new-fall'n young here bleating for their dams
The kid diftinguifh'd from the lambkin lies):
The cavern echoes with refponfive cries.
Capacious chargers all around were laid,
Full pails, and veffels of the milking trade.
With fresh provifions hence our fleet to store
My friends advife me, and to quit the fhore; 265
Or drive a flock of fheep and goats away,
Confult our fafety, and put off to sea.
Their wholefome counsel rafhly I declin'd,
Curious to view the man of monstrous kind,
And try what focial rites a favage lends:
Dire rites, alas' and fatal to my friends!
Then first a fire we kindle, and prepare
For his return with facrifice and prayer.
The loaded shelves afford us full repast;
We fit expecting. Lo! he comes at last.
Near half a forest on his back he bore,
And caft the ponderous burden at the door,
It thunder'd as it fell. We trembled then,
And fought the deep receffes of the den. [rock, 280
Now driven before him, through the arching
Came tumbling, heaps on heaps, th' unnumber'd
Big-udder'd ewes, and goats of female kind (The males were penn'd in outward courts behind): Then, heav'd on high, a reck's enormous weight fo the cave's mouth he roll'd, and clos'd the gate 200 (Scarce twenty-four wheel'd cars compact and strong,
Near this, a fence of marble from the rock. 215
Brown with o'er-arching pine and fpreading oak,
A giant fhepherd here his flock maintains
Far from the reft, and folitary reigns,
In fhelter thick of horrid fhade reclin'd;
And gloomy mifchiefs labour in his mind.
A form enormous! far unlike the race
Of human birth, in ftature, or in face;
Asfome lone mountain's monftrous growth he stood,
Crown'd with rough thickets, and a nodding wood.
I left my veffel at the point of land,
225
And clofe to guard it, gave our crew command:
With only twelve, the boldeft and the best,
I feek th' adventure, and forfake the reft.
Then took a goatskin fill'd with precious wine,
The gift of Maron of Evantheus' line
(The priest of Phabus at th' Ifmarian fhrine).
In facred fhade his honour'd mansion stond
Amidt Apollo's confecrated wood;
Him, and his houfe, Heaven mov'd my mind to fave
And coftly prefents in return he gave;
Seven golden talents to perfection wrought,
A filver bowl that held a copious draught,
And twelve large veffels of upmingled wine,
Mellifluous, undecaying, and divine?
Which now, fome ages from his race conceal'd, 140
The hoary fire in gratitude reveal'd;
Such was the wine : to quench whose fervent steam,
Scarce twenty measures from the living ftream
To col one cup fuffic'd the goblet crown'd
Breath'd aromatic fragrancies around.
Of this an ample vafe we heav'd aboard,
And brought another with provifions stor'di
My foul foreboded I should find the bower
Of fome fell Monster, fierce with barbarous power,
Some ruftic wretch, who liv'd in Heaven's defpight,
Contemning laws, and trampling on the right.
The cave we found, but vacant all within
(His Bock the giant tended on the green):
But round the grot we gaze; and all we view,
In order rang'd, our admiration drew:
The bending shelves with loads of cheeses preft,
The folded flock, each feparate from the relt
The maffy load could bear, or roll along).
He next betakes him to his evening cares,
And, fitting down, to milk his flocks prepares;
Of half their udders eafes first the dams,
Then to the mother's teats submits the lambs.
Half the white ftream to hardening cheese het
And high in wicker-baskets heap'd the reft,
Referv'd in bowls, fupply'd the nightly fealt.
His labour done, he fir'd the pile, that gave 295
A fudden blaze, and lighted all the cave.
We stand difcover'd by the rifing fires;
Afkance the giant glares, and thus inquires:
What are ye, guests; on what adventure, fay,
Thus far ye wander through the watery way? 300
Pirates perhaps, who feek through feas unknown
The lives of others, and expofe your own?
His voice like thunder thro' the cavern founds:
My boid companions thrilling fear confounds,
Appail'd at fight of more than mortal man!
At length, with heart recover'd, I began :
From Troy's fam'd fields, fad wanderers o'er
the main,
Behold the relics of the Grecian train!
Through various feas by various perils toft,
And forc'd by storms, unwilling, on your coaft; 310
Far from our deftin'd course, and native land,
Such was our fate, and fuch high Jove's command!
Nor what we are befits us to difclaim,
Atrides friends (in arms a mighty name)
Who taught proud Troy and all her fons to bow; 315
Victors of late, but humble fuppliants now!
Low at thy knee thy fuccour we implore;
255, Respect us, human, and relieve us, poor.
At leaft fome hofpitable gift below;
'Tis what the happy to th'unhappy owe :
Fiz
'Tis what the Gods require: thofe Gods revere, The poor and stranger are their constant care; To Jove their caufe, and their revenge belongs, He wanders with them, and he feels their wrongs. Fools that ye are! (the favage thus replies, His inward fury blazing at his eyes) Or ftrangers, distant far from our abodes, To bid me reverence or regard the Gods. Know then, we, Cyclops, are a race above Thofe air-bred people, and their goat-nurs'd Jove: 330 [thine, And learn, our power proceeds with thee and Not as he wills, but as ourfelves incline. But anfwer, the good ship that brought ye o'er, Where lies the anchor'd? near or off the fhore? Thus he. His meditated fraud I find (Vers'd in the turns of various humau kind); And, cautious, thus: Against a dreadful rock, You Fat by opthore the gallant veffel broke,
Scarce with thefe few I 'fcap'd; of all my train, Whom angry Neptune whelm'd beneath the main;
The scatter'd wreck the winds blew back again.
He anfwer'd with his deed. His bloody hand
Shatch'd two, unhappy! of my martial band;
And dash'd like dogs against the ftony floor:
The pavement fwims with brains and mingled
gore.
345
Torn limb from limb, he fpreads his horrid feaft,
And fierce devours it like a mountain-beaft:
He fucks the marrow, and the blood he drains,
Nor entrails, filefh, nor folid bone remains.
We fee the death from which we cannot move, 350
And humbled groan beneath the hand of Jove.
His ample maw with human carnage fill'd,
A milky deluge next the giant fwill'd;
Then ftretch'd in length o'er half the cavern'd
Iay fenfelefs, and fupine, amidst the flock.
To feize the time, and with a sudden wound
To fix the flumbering monter to the ground,
My foul impels me; and in act I stand
This shorten'd of its top, I gave my train
A fathom's length, to fhape it and to plane; 38;
The narrower end I fharpen'd to a fpire;
Whofe point we harden'd with the force of fire,
And hid it in the duft that strew'd the cave.
Then to my few companions, bold and brave,
Propos'd, who first the venturous deed fhould try,
In the broad orbit of his monftrous eye
To plung the brand, and twirl the pointed wood,
When flumber next fhould tame the man of blood.
Juft as I wish'd, the lots were caft on four :
Myfelf the fifth. We ftand, and wait the hour,
He comes with evening: all his fleecy flock
Before him march, and pour into the rock :
Not one, or male or female flay'd behind
(So fortune chanc'd, or fo fome God defign'd);
Then heaving high the ftone's unwieldy weight,
He roll'd it on the cave, and clos'd the gate.
Firft down he fits, to milk the woolly dams,
And then permits their udder to the lambs.
Next feiz'd two wretches more, and headlong caft,
Brain'd on the rock; his fecond dire repaft. 405
I then approach'd him reeking with their gore,
And held the brimming goblet foaming o'er;
Cyclop fince human flesh has been' thy feaft,
Now drain this goblet, potent to digest:
Know hence what treafures in our fhip we loft, 410
And what rich liquors other climates boaft.
We to thy shore the precious freight shall bear,
If home thou fend us, and vouchfafe to fpare,
But oh! thus furious, thirfting thus for gore,
The fons of men fhall ne'er approach thy fhore,
And never fhalt thou taste this nectar more.
He heard, he took, and pouring down his throat,
Delighted, fwill'd the large luxurious draught.
More! give me more, he cry'd : the boon be thine,
Whoe'er thou art that bear'st celeftial wine!
Declare thy name; nor mortal is this juice,
Such as th' unbleft Cyclopean climes produce
(Though fure our vine the largest cluster yields,
And Jove's fcorn'd thunder ferves to drench our
A rill of nectar, streaming from the Gods.
To draw the fword; but wildom held my hand. A deep fo rafh had finifh'd all our fate,
But this defcended from the bleft abodes,
No mortal forces from the lofty gate
He wakes, he lights the fire, he milks the dams,
And to the mother's teats fubmits the lambs.'
The task thus finish'd of his morning hours,
Two more he fnatches, murders, and devours.
Then pleas'd, and whifling, drives his flock he-
fore:
Removes the rocky mountain from the door,
And fhuts again: with equal eafe difpos'd,
As a light quiver's lid is op'd and clos'd.
His giant voice the echoing region fills:
His flocks, obedient, spread o'er all the hills.
Thus left behind, ev'a in the last despair
I thought, devis'd, and Pallas heard my prayer.
Revenge, and doubt, and caution work'd my
But this of many counfels feem'd the best: [breat
The monster's club within the cave 1 'spy'd,
A tree of ftatelieft growth, and yet undry'd,
Green from the wood; of height and bulk fo vast,
The large hip might claini it for a malt.-
He faid, and greedy grafp'd the heady bowl, Thrice drain'd, and pour'd the deluge on his foul. His fenfe lay cover'd with the doży fume; While thus my fraudful fpeech I reaffume: Thy promis'd boon, O Cyclop! now 1 claim, And plead my title; Noman is my name. By that distinguish'd from my tender years, 'Tis what my parents call me, and my peers.
The giant then: Our promis'd grace receive, The hofpitable boon we mean to give": When all thy wretched crew have left my power, Numan fhall be the laft I will devour.
He faid then, nodding with the fumes of wine, Dropp'd his huge head, and fnoring lay fupine 440 His neck obliquely o'er his fhoulders hung, Prefs'd with the weight of fleep that tames the ftrong! [blood,
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As when a fhipwright ftands his workmen o'er,
Who ply the wimble, fome huge beam to bore;
Urg'd on all hands, it nimbly fpins about,
The grain deep-piercing till it fcoops it out:
In his broad eye fo whirls the fiery wood;
From their pierc'd pupil fpouts the boiling blood;
Sing'd are his brows; the fcorching lids grow
The jelly bubbles, and the fibres crack. [black,
And as when armourers temper in the ford 465
The keen-edg'd pole axe, or the fhining fword,
The red-hot metal hiffes in the lake,
Thus in his eye ball hifs'd the plunging stake.
He fends a dreadful groan: the rocks around
Through all their inmoft winding caves refound.
Scar'd we receded. Forth, with frantic hand,
He tore, and dash'd on earth the gory brand:
Then calls the Cyclops, all that round him dwell,
With voice like thunder, and a direful yell.
From all their dens the one-ey'd race repair
From rifted rocks and mountains bleak in air.
All hafte affembled, at his well-known roar,
Inquire the caufe, and crowd the cavern-door.
What hurts thee, Polypheme? what ftrange af-
fright,
Thus breaks our flumbers, and disturbs the night?
Does any mortal, in th'unguarded hour
Of fleep, opprefs thee, or by fraud or power:
Or thieves infidious the fair flock furprise?
Thus they the Cyclop from his den replies:
Friends, Noman kills me; Noman in the hour
Of fleep, oppreffes me with fraudful power.
"If no man hurt thee, but the hand divine.
"Inflict difeafe, it fits thee to refign:
"To Jove or to thy father Neptune pray,"
The brethren cry'd, and inftant ftrode away.
Joy touch'd my fecret foul and conscious heart,
Pleas'd with th' effect of conduct and of art.
Mean time the Cyclop raging with his wound,
Spreads his wide arms, and fearches round
round:
One ram remain'd, the leader of the flock:
In his deep fleece my grafping hands I lock,
And faft beneath, in woolly curls inwove,
I cling implicit, and confide in Jove.
When rofy morning glimmer'd c'er the dales, 315
He drove to pafture all the lufty males:
The ewes ftill folded, with diftended thighs
Unmilk'd, lay bleating in diftressful cries.
But heedlefs of thofe cares, with anguish ftung,
He felt their fleeces as they pafs'd along,
(Fool that he was) and let them fafely go,
All unfufpecting of their freight below.
The mafter ram at laft approach'd the gate, Charg'd with his wool, and with Ulyffes fate; Him while he paft the monster blind bespoke: 525 What makes my ram the lag of all the flock? First thou wert wont to crop the flowery mead, First to the field and river's bank to lead, And firft with ftately step at evening hour Thy fleecy fellows ufher to their bower. Now far the last, with penfive pace and flow Thou mov't, as confcious of thy mafter's woe ! Secft thou thefe lids that now unfold in vain ? (The deed of Noman and his wicked train !) Oh! didst thou feel for thy afflicted lord, 535 And would but Fate the power of fpeech afford, Soos might'ft thou tell me, where in fecret here The daftard lurks, all trembling with his fear: Swung round and round, and dafh'd from rock to
His batter'd brains fhould on the pavement Imoke.
No eafe, no pleasure, my fad heart receives,
While fuch a monster as vile Noman lives.
The giant fpoke, and through the hollow rock
Difmifs'd the ram, the father of the flock.
No fooner freed, and through th' enclosure paft, 545-
First I release myself, my fellows laft:
Fat fheep and goats in throngs we drive before,
And reach our veffel on the winding shore.
With joy the failors view their friends return'd,
And hail us living whom as dead they mourn'd, 559
Big tears of tranfport ftand in every eye
I check their fondness, and command to fly. #277
Aboard in hafte they heave the wealthy fheep,
And fnatch their oars, and rush into the deep.
Now off at fea, and from the thallows clear, 555 As far as human voice could reach the ear: With taunts the diftant giant I accost: Hear me, O Cyclop! hear, ungracious hoft! 'Twas on no coward, no ignoble flave, Thou meditat'ft thy meal in yonder cave; But one, the vengeance fated from above Doom'd to inflict; the inftrument of Jove. Thy barbarous breach of hofpitable bands, The God, the God revenges by my hands. The words the Cyclop's burning rage provoke: From the tall hill he rends a pointed rock, High o'er the billows flew the maffy load, And near the hip came thundering on the flood. It almoft brufh'd the helm, and fell before : The whole sea shook, and refluent beat the fhore. The long concuffion on the heaving tide Roll'd back the veffel to the inland's fide: Again I fhov'd her off, our fate to fly, Each nerve we ftretch, and every oar we ply. Juft 'feap'd impending death, when now again $75 We twice as far had furrow'd back the main,
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