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An artist to my father's palace came,
With gold and amber chains, elaborate frame
Each female eye the glittering links employ,
They turn, review, and cheapen every toy,
He took th' occafion as they stood intent,
Gave her the fign, and to his veffel went.
She ftraight purfued, and feiz'd my willing arm;
follow'd failing, innocent of harm.
Three golden goblets in the porch the found
(The gucits not enter'd, but the table crown'd;
Hid in her fraudful befom, these she bore:
Now fet the fun, and darkened all the fhore,
Arriving then, where tilting on the tides
Prepar'd to launch the freighted veffel rides;
Aboard they heave us, mount their decks, and
sweep

With level oar along the glaffy deep.

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Six calmy days and fix fmooth nights we fail,
And conftant Jove fupplied the gentle gale.
The feventh, the fraudful wretch, (no cause def
cried

Touch'd by Diana's vengeful arrow,

died. Down dropp'd the caitiff-corfe, a worthless load Down to the deep; there roll'd, the future food Of fierce fea-wolves, and monfters of the flood. An helpless infant, I remain'd behind; Thence borne to Ithaca by wave and wind; 455 Sold to Laertes by divine command,

For he who much has fuffer'd, much will know;
And pleas'd remembrance builds de'ight on woe.
Above Ortygia lies an ifle of fame,
Far hence remote, and Syria is the name
(There curious eyes infcrib'd with wonder trace
The fun's diurnal, and his annual race);
Not large, but fruitful; flor'd with grafs, to keep
The bellowing oxen, and the bleating sheep;
Her floping hills the mantling vines adorn,
And her rich valleys wave with golden corn.
No want, no famine, the glad natives know.
Nor fink by fickness to the fhades below;
But when a length of years unnerves the ftrong,
Apollo comes, and Cynthia comes along.
They bend the fiiver bow with tender skill,
And, void of pain, the Gilent arrows kill.
Two equal tribes this fertile land divide,
Where two fair cities rife with equal pride.
But both in conftant peace one prince obey,
And Ctefius there, my father, holds the fway.
Freighted, it seems, with toys of every fort
Afhip of Sidon anchor'd in our port;
What time it chanc'd the palace crtertain'd,
Skill'd in rich works, a woman of their land:
This nymph, where anchor'd the Phenician train
To wash her robes descending to the main,
Afmooth-tongued failor won her to his mind
For love deceives the best of woman-kind).
A fudden truft from fudden liking grew;
She told her name, her race, and all the knew. 455
I too (fhe cried) from glorious Sidon came,
My father Arybas, of wealthy fame;
But, fnatch'd by pirates from my native place,
The Taphians fold me to this man's embrace.

Hafte then (the falfe defigning youth reply'd)
Hafte to thy country; love fhall be thy guide;
Hafte to thy father's houfe, thy father's breast,
For ftill he lives, and lives with riches bleft,

475

And now adopted to a foreign land.

To him the king: Reciting thus thy cares,
My facred foul in all thy forrows shares :
But one choice bleffing (fuch is Jove's high will)
Has fweeten'd all thy bitter draught of ill:
Torn from thy country to no hapless end,
The Gods, have in a mafter, given a friend.
Whatever frugal nature needs is thine,
(For fhe needs little) daily bread and wine.
While I, fo many wanderings paft and woes,
Live but on what thy poverty bestows.

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525

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So pafe'd in pleafing dialogue away
The night; then down to fhort repofe they lay;
Till radiant rofe the meffenger of day,
While in the port of Ithaca, the band
Of young Telemachus approach'd the land;
Their fails they loos'd, they lafh'd the mat
afide,

535

And caft their anchors, and the cables tied:
Then on the breezy fhore defcending join
In grateful banquet o'er the rofy wine.
When thas the prince: Now each his courfe pur-
I to the fields, and to the city you.

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"Swear firft (fae cry'd) ye failors! to restore
"A wretch in fafety to her native fhore."
Swift as the afk'd, the ready failors (wore.
She then proceeds: Now let our compact made
Be nor by figual nor by word betray'd,
Nor near me any of your crew defcried
By road frequented, nor by fountain fide.
Be filence fill our guard. The monarch's fpics
(For watchful age is ready to furmife)
Are ftill at hand; and this, reveal'd, muft be
Death to yourselves, eternal chains to me.
Your veffel loaded, and your traffic pall,
Difpatch a wary meffenger with hafte :
Then gold and coftly treasures will I bring,
And more, the infant offspring of the king.
Him, child-like wandering forth, I'll lead away,
(A noble prize!) and to your ship convey.
Thus poke the dame, and homeward took the
A year they traffic, and their vefiel load,
Their flores complete, and ready now to weigh,
A spy was feat their fummons to convey:

550

Long abfent hence, I dedicate this day
My fwains to vifit, and the works furvey,
Expect me with the morn, to pay the fkies
Our debt of fafe return, in feaft and facrifice.
Then Theoclymenus: But who fhall lend,
Mean time, protection to thy ftranger-friend?
485 Straight to the queen and palace fhall I fly,
Or, yet more diftant, to fome lord apply?
The prince return'd; Renown'd in days of yore
Has flood our father's hofpitable door;
No other roof a stranger fhould receive,
No other hands than ours the welcome give.
But in my abfence riot fills the place,
Nor bears the modeft queen a ftranger's face;
From noifeful revel far remote the flies,
But rarely fecu, or feen with weeping eyes.

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No-let Eurymachus receive my guest,
Of nature courteous, and by far the best ;
He wooes the queen with more respectful flame,
And emulates her former husband's fame :
With what fuccefs, 'tis Jove's alone to know,
And the hop'd ruptials turn to joy or woe.
Thus fpeaking, on the right up-foar'd in air
The hawk, Apollo's fwift-wing'd meffenger;
His deathful pounces tore a trembling dove;
The clotted feathers, fcatter'd from above,
Between the hero and the veffel pour
Thick plumage, mingled with a fanguine fhower.
Th' obferving augur took the prince alide,
Seiz'd by the hand, and thus prophetic cried :
Yon bird that dexter cuts th' acrial road,
Rofe ominous, nor flies without a God:
No race but thine fhall Ithaca obey.
To thine, for ages, Heaven decrees the fway.
Succeed the omen, Gods! (the youth rejoin'd)
Soon fhall my bounties fpeak a grateful mind,

With that their anchors he commands to weight,
Mount the tall bark, and launch into the fea. $90
All with obedient hafte forfake the thores,
And, plac'd in order, fpread their equal oars.
Then from the deck the prince his faudals takes;
Pois'd in his hand the pointed javelin shakes.
575 They part; while leffening from the hero's view,
Swift to the town the well-row'd galley flew :
The hero trod the margin of the main,
And reach'd the manfion of his faithful fwain.

BOOK XVI.

THE ARGUMENT.

The Discovery of Ulyffes to Telemachus.

Telemachus arriving at the lodge of Eumaus fends him to curry Penelope the news of his return. Minersa appearing to Ulyffes, commands bim to difcover bimfelf to his fon. The princes, who had lain in ambush to intercept Telemachus in bis way, their project being defeated, return to Itbaca.

OON as the morning blush'd along the plains
Ulyffes and the monarch of the fwains
Awake the fleeping fires, their meal prepare,
And forth to pafture fend the briftly care,
The princes near approach the dogs defary,
And fawning round his feet confels their joy.
Their gentle blandishment the king fürvey'd,
Heard his refounding step, and inftant faid:
Some well known friend, Eumzus, bends this
His fteps I hear; the dogs familiar play. To [way;
While yet he fpake, the prince advancing drew
Nigh to the lodge, and now appear'd in view.
Tranfported from his feat Eumæus fprung,
Dropp'd the full bowl, and round his bofom hung;
Killing his cheek, his hand, while from his eye 15
The tears rain'd copious in a fhower of joy.
As fome fond fire, who ten long winters grieves,
From foreign climes an only fou receives,
(Child of his age) with strong paternal juy
Forward he fprings, and clafps the favourite boy:
So round the youth his arms Eumeus fpread,
Asif the grave had given him from the dead.
And is it thou! my ever dear delight!
Oh, art thou come to blefs my long ng fight!
Never, I never hop'd to view this day,

25

When o'er the waves you plough'd the defperate
way.

Enter, my child! beyond my hopes reftor'd,
Oh give these eyes to fealt upon their lord!
Enter, oh feldom feen! for lawless powers
Te much detain thee from thy fylvan bowers.

The prince replied: Eumæus, I obey;
To feek thee, friend, I hither took my way.
But fay, if in the court the queen refide,
Severely chafte, or if commenc'd a bride?

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Thus he, and thus the monarch of the swaine :
Severely chafte Penelope remains;
But, loft to every joy, fhe waftes the day
In tedious cares, and weeps the night away.
He ended; and (receiving as they pafs
The javelin, pointed with a star of brafs)
They reach'd the dome; the dome with marble
His feat Ulyffes to the prince refign'd. [thin'd.
Not fo-(exclaim'd the prince with decent grace)
For me, this houfe fhall find an humbler place:
T' ufurp the honours due to filver hairs.
And reverend strangers, modeft youth forbears.
Inftant the fwain the fpoils of beafts fupplics,
And bids the rural throne with oziers rife.
There fate the prince: the feaft Eumæus spread,
And heap'd the fhining canisters with bread.
Thick o'er the board the plenteous viands lay,
The frugal remtauts of the former day.
Then in a bowl he tempers generous wines,
Around whofe verge a mimicivy twines.
And now, the rage of thirst and hunger filed,
Thus young Ulyffes to Lumæus faid:
Whence, father, from what there this ftran-
ger, fay,

What veifel bore him o'er the watery way?
To human step our land impervious lies,
30 Andround the coaft circumê caL OCCASIO

$

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65

70

Th' imperial fceptre, and the regal bed:
The queen, averfe to love, yet aw'd by power, 135
Seems half to yield, yet flies the bridal hour!
Mean time their licence uncentrol'd I bear;
Ev'n now they erivy me the vital air:
But Heaven wili fare revenge, and Gods there)
But go, Eumaus! to the queen impart

75. Our fate return, and cafe a mother's heart.
Yet fecret go; for numerous are my foes,
And here at least I may in peace repofe.

Yet, bufied with his flaves to ease his woe, 85 He drefs'd the vine, and bade the garden blow, Nor food nor wine refus'd: but fince the day That you to Pylos plough'd the watery way, Nor wine nor food he tates; bu funk in woes, Wild fprings the vine, no more the garden blows;

Youth flush'd his reddening cheek, and from his brows

190

A length of hair in fable ringlets flows;
His blackening chin receives a deeper fhade;
Then from his eyes upfprung the Warrior Maid.
The hero re-afceuds: the prince o'er aw'd
Scarce lifts his eyes, and bows as to a God. 195
Then with furprife (furprise chati-'d by fears)

Wrapp'd in th' embrace of fleep, the faithful train
O'er eas convey'd me to my native reign:
Embroider'd veitures, gold, and brafs, are laid 255
Conceal'd in caverns in the fylvan fhade.
Hither, intent the rival rout to flay,

And plan the scene of death, I bend my way:
So Pallas wills-but thou, my fon, explain
The names and numbers of th' audacious train; 260*

How art thou chang'd! (he cry'd) a God appears!|'Tis mine to judge if better to employ

Far other veits thy limbs majestic grace,
Far other glories lighten from thy face!
If Heaven be thy abode, with pious care
Lo! I the ready facrifice prepare:

1

Lo gifts of labour'd gold adorn thy fhrine,

To win thy grace: Oh fave us, Power Divine!
Few are my days, Ulyffes made reply,
Nor I, alas! defcendant of the sky.

Affiftant force, or fingly to destroy.

265

O'er earth (returns the prince) refounds thy name,
200 Thy well-tried wifdom, and thy martial fame,
Yet at thy words I start, in wonder loft;
Can we engage, nor decades, but an hoft?
Can we alone in furious battle fland,
Against that numerous and determin'd band?
205 Hear then their numbers: from Dulichium came
Twice twenty-fix, all peers of mighty name, 270°
Six are their menial train: twice twelve the boat
Of Samos: twenty from Zacynthus' coaft:
And twelve our country's pride; to these belong
Medon and Phemius fkill'd in heavenly fong.
Two fewers from day to day the revels wait, 275
Exact of tafte, and ferve the feast in state.
With fuch a foe th' unequal fight to try,
Were by falfe courage unreveng'd to die.
Then what affiftant powers you boaft, relate,
Ere yet we mingle in the frern debate.

I am thy father. Oh my fon! my son!
That father. for whofe fake thy days have run
One fcene of woe: to endless cares confign'd,
And outrag'd by the wrongs of hafe mankind.
Then rushing to his arms, he kifs'd his boy
With the ftrong raptures of a parent's joy.
Tears bathe his cheek, and tears the ground be-
dew:

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He ftrain'd him clofe, as to his breaft he grew.
Ah me! (exclaims the prince with fond defire)
Thou art-no, thou can't not be my fire
Heaven fuch illufion only can impofe,
By the falle joy to aggravate my wocs.
Who but a God can change the general doom,
And give to wither'd age a youthful bloom?
Late, worn with years, in weeds obfcene you
trod;

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Now, cloth'd in majefty, you move a God!
Forbear, he cry'd; for Heaven referve that name,
Give to thy father, but a father's claim
Other Ulyffes fhalt thou never fee,
am Ulyffes, I (my fon) am he.
Twice ten fad years o'er earth and ocean toft,
'Tis given at length to view my native coaft,
Pallas, unconquer'd Maid, my frame furrounds
With grace divine; her power admits no bounds:
She c'er my limbs old age and wrinkles fhed;
Now, ftrong as youth, magnificent I tread.
The Gods with eafe frail man deprefs or raife,
Exalt the lowly, or the proud debafe.

He spoke, and fate. The prince with tranfport Яew, [dew 235 Hung round his neck, while tears his check beNor lefs the father pour'd a focial flood! They wept abundant, and they wept aloud. As the bold eagle with fierce forrow ftung, Or parent vulture, mourns her ravish'd young; They cry, they fcream, their unfledg'd brood a prey 240

245

To fome rude churl, and borne by stealth away;
So they aloud: and tears in tides had run,
Their grief unfinish'd with the fetting fun :
But checking the full torrent in its flow,
The prince thus interrupts the folemn woe.
What ship tranfported thee, O father, Tay,
And what blofs'd hands have our'd thee on the way?
All, all (Ulyffes inftant made reply)
I tell thee all, my child, my only joy!
Phæacians bore me to the port aflign'd,
A nation ever to the ftrenger kind;

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290

Mark well my voice, Ulyffes ftraight replies:
What need of aids, if favour'd by the fkies?
If fhielded to the dreadful fight we move,
By mighty Pallas, and by thundering Jove.
Sufficient they (Telemachus rejoin'd)
Against the banded powers of all mankind:
They, high enthron'd above the rolling clouds,
Wither the ftrength of man, and awe the Gods.
Such aids expect, he cries, when strong in might
We rife terrific to the task of fight.
But thou, when morn falutes th' aerial plain,
The court revifit and the lawless train:
Me thither in difguife Eumæus leads,
An aged mendicant in tatter'd weeds.
There, if base feorn infult my reverend age;
Bear it, my fon! reprefs thy rifing rage.
If outrag'4, crafe that outrage to repel;
Bear it, my fon! howe'er thy heart rebel.
Yet frive by prayer and counfel to restrain
Their lawless infults, though thon ftrive in vain: 300
For wicked ears are deaf to Wifdon's call,
And vengeance strikes whom heaven has doom'd
to fall.
[spires

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325

"Oft ready fwords in luckless hour incite
"The hand of wrath, and arm it for the fight."
Such be the plea, and by the plea deceive:
For Jove infatuates all, and all believe.
Yet leave for each of us a fword to wield,
A pointed javelin, and a fenceless fhield.
But by my blood that in thy bofom glows,
By that regard, a fon his father owes;
The fecret, that thy father lives, retain
Lock'd in thy bofom from the household train;
Hide it from all; even from Eumæus hide,
From my dear father, and my dearer bride.
One care remains, to note the loyal few
Whofe faith yet lafts among the menial crew;
And, nothing, ere we rife in vengeance, prove
Who loves his prince: for fure you merit love.
To whom the youth: To emulate I aim
The brave and wife, and my great father's fame.
But re-confider, fince the wifeit err,
Vengeance refolv'd, 'tis dangerous to defer.
What length of time must we confume in vain,
Too curious to explore the menial train?
While the proud foes, induftrious to destroy
Thy wealth in riot, the delay enjoy.
Suffice it in this exigence alone

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385

All night we watch'd, till with her orient wheels
Aurora flam'd above the eastern hills,
And from the lofty brow of rocks by day
Took in the ocean with a broad furvey:
Yet fafe he fails! the Powers celestial give
To fhun the hidden fnares of death, and live.
But die he fhall, and thus condemn'd to bleed.
Be now the fcene of inftant death decreed:
Hope ye fuccefs? undaunted crush the foe.
Is he not wife? know this, and strike the blow.390
Wait ye, till he to arms in council draws
The Greeks, averfe too justly to our caufe?
Strike ere, the ftates conven'd, the foe betray
Our murderous ambush on the watery way.
Or choose ye vagrant from their rage to fly 395
Outcafts of earth, to breathe an unknown fky?
The brave prevent misfortune; then be brave,
And bury future danger in his grave.
Returns he? ambush'd we'll his walk invade,
Or where he hides in folitude and fhade:
And give the palace to the queen a dower,
Or him the bleffes in the bridal hour.
But if fubmiflive you refign the fway,
340 Slaves to a boy; go, flatter and obey.
Retire we inftant to our native reign,
Nor be the wealth of Kings confum'd in vain ;
Then wed whom choice approves: the queen be
given
[ven.
To fome bleft prince, the prince decreed by Hea-
Abafh'd, the fuitor train his voice attends;
Till from his throne Amphinomus afcends,
Who o'er Dulicium ftretch'd his fpacious reign,
A land of plenty, bleft with every grain :
Chief of the numbers who the queen addrefs'd,
And though difpleafing, yet difpleafing least.
Soft were his words: his actions wifdom fway'd;
Graceful a while he paus'd, then mildly said:

335

To mark the damfels that attend the throne:
Difpers'd the youth refides; their faith to prove
Jove grants henceforth, if thou haft spoke from
Jove.

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350

While in debate they waste the hours away,
Th' affociates of the prince repafs'd the bay;
With speed they guide the veffel to the fhores;
With speed debarking land the naval ftores;
Then, faithful to their charge, to` Clytius bear,
And trust the prefents to his friendly care.
Swift to the queen a herald flies t'impart
Her fon's return, and eafe a parent's heart;
Left, a fad prey to ever-mufing cares,
Pale grief destroy what time a while forbears.
Th' uncautious herald with impatience burns, 355
And cries aloud: Thy fon, O Queen, returns:
Eumæus fage approach'd th' imperial throne,
And breath'd his mandate to her ear alone,
Then meafur'd back the way-The fuitor band,
Stung to the foul, abafh'd, confounded, stand; 360
And iffuing from the dome, before the gate,
With clouded looks, a pale affembly fate.

At length Eurymachus: Our hopes are vain;
Telemachus in triumph fails the main.
Hafte, rear the maft, the fwelling fhroud difplay;
Halte, to our ambush'd friends the news convey.
Scarce had he spoke, when, turning to the
ftrand,

Amphinomus furvey'd th' affociate band;
Full to the bay within the winding shores

400

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410

O friends, forbear! and be the thought withflood:

420

'Tis horrible to fhed imperial blood!
Confult we first th' all-feeing powers above,
And the fure oracies of righteous Jove.
If they affent, ev'n by this hand he dies;
If they forbid, I war not with the fkies.
He faid: The rival train his voice approv'd,
And rifing inftant to the palace mov'd.
Arriv'd, with wild tumultuous noise they fate, 425
Recumbent on the fhining throne of flate.

Then Medon, confcious of their dire debates,
The murderous council to the queen relates.
Touch'd at the dreadful story fhe defcends:
Her hafty fteps a dam:fel-train attends.
Full where the dome its fhining valves expands,
Sudden before the rival powers she ftands:
And, veiling decent with a modest shade

With gather'd fails they ftood, and lifted oars. 370 Her check, indignant to Antinous faid:

O friends! he cry'd, elate with rifing joy,
See to the port fecure the veffel fly!
Some God has told them, or themfelves furvey
The bark efcap'd; and measure back their way.

Swift at the word defcending to the fhores,
They moor the veffel and unlade the flores:
Then moving from the ftrand, apart they fate,
And full and frequent, form'd a dire debate.

375

Lives then the boy? he lives (Antinous cries) The care of Gods and favourite of the skies.

430

O void of faith! of all bad men the worst! 435
Renown'd for wifdom, by th' abuse accurs'd!
Miltaking fame proclaims thy generous mind!
Thy deeds denote thee of the basest kind.
Wretch! to deftroy a prince that friendship gives,
While in his guest his murderer he receives:
Nor dread fuperior Jove, to whom belong
'The caufe of fuppliants, and revenge of wrong.
Haft thou forget (ingrateful as thou art)
Who fav'd thy father with a friendly part?

440