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of this; but comforted in a dream | High on a massy vase of silver mould,
in the shape of her sister Ipthima.

The burnish'd laver flames with solid gold;
In solid gold the purple vintage flows,
And on the board a second banquet rose.
When thus the king with hospitable port :-
Accept this welcome to the Spartan court;

AND new proud Sparta with their wheels resounds, The waste of nature let the feast repair,

Sparta whose walls a range of hills surrounds :
At the fair dome the rapid labour ends;
Where sate Atrides 'midst his bridal friends,
With double vows invoking Hymen's power,
To bless his sons' and daughters' nuptial hour.
That day, to great Achilles' son resign'd,
Hermione, the fairest of the kind,
Was sent to crown the long-protracted joy,
Espous'd before the final doom of Troy :
With steeds and gilded cars, a gorgeous train
Attend the nymph to Phthia's distant reign.
Meanwhile 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 assign
Hermione, t' extend the regal line;
On whom a radiant pomp of graces wait,
Resembling Venus in attractive state.

While this gay friendly troop the king surround,
With festival and mirth the roofs resound:
A bard amid the joyous circle sings
High airs, attemper'd to the vocal strings;
Whilst, warbling to the varied strain, advance
Two sprightly youths to form the bounding dance.
'Twas then, that, issuing through the palace gate,
The splendid car roll'd slow in regal state:
On the bright eminence young Nestor shone,
And fast beside him great Ulysses' son:
Grave Eteoneus saw the pomp appear,
And, speeding, thus address'd the royal ear:
"Two youths approach, whose semblant features

prove

Their blood devolving from the source of Jove.
Is due reception deign'd, or must they bend
Their doubtful course to seek a distant friend?"

"Insensate," (with a sigh the king replies)
"Too long, misjudging, have I thought thee wise:
But sure relentless folly steels thy breast,
Obdurate to reject the stranger-guest;
To those dear hospitable rites a foe,
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 coursers from the car releast,
Conduct the youths to grace the genial feast."

The seneschal rebuk'd in haste withdrew;
With equal haste a menial train pursue:
Part led the coursers, from the car enlarg'd;
Each to a crib with choicest grain surcharg'd;
Part in a portico, profusely grac'd

With rich magnificence, the chariot plac'd:
Then to the dome the friendly pair invite,
Who eye the dazzling roofs with vast delight;
Resplendent as the blaze of summer-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 damsel-train attend the guests
With liquid odours, and embroider'd vests.
Refresh'd, they wait them to the bower of state,
Where circled with his peers Atrides sate:
Thron'd next the king, a fair attendant brings
The purest product of the crystal springs ;

Then your high lineage and your names declare :
Say from what scepter'd ancestry ye claim,
Recorded eminent in deathless fame?
For vulgar parents cannot stamp their race
With signatures of such majestic grace."

Ceasing, benevolent he straight assigns
The royal portion of the choicest chines
To each accepted friend: with grateful haste
They share the honours of the rich repast.
Suffic'd, soft-whispering thus to Nestor's son,
His head reclin'd, young Ithacus begun :

"View'st thou unmov'd, O ever-honour'd most!
These prodigies of art, and wondrous cost!
Above, beneath, around the palace shines
The sumless treasure of exhausted mines:
The spoils of elephants the roofs inlay,
And studded amber darts a golden ray:
Such, and not nobler, in the realms above,
My wonder dictates, is the dome of Jove.""
The monarch took the word, and grave reply'd :
Presumptuous are the vaunts, and vain the pride
Of man, who dares in pomp with Jove contest,
Unchang'd, immortal, and supremely blest!
With all my affluence, when my woes are weigh'd,
Envy will own the purchase dearly paid.
For eight slow-circling years by tempest tost,
From Cyprus to the far Phoenician coast
(Sidon the capital) I stretch'd my toil
Through regions fatten'd with the flows of Nile.
Next, Ethiopia's utmost bound explore,
And the parch'd borders of th' Arabian shore :
warp my voyage on the southern gales,
O'er the warm Libyan wave to spread my sails :
That happy clime! where each revolving year
The teeming ewes a triple offspring bear;
And two fair crescents of translucent horn

Then

The brows of all their young increase adorn;
The shepherd swains, with sure abundance blest,
On the fat flock and rural dainties feast;
Nor want of herbage makes the dairy fail,
But every season fills the foaming pail.
Whilst, heaping unwish'd wealth, I distant roam,
The best of brothers, at his natal home,
By the dire fury of a traitress wife,

Ends the sad evening of a stormy life:
Whence with incessant grief my soul annoy'd,
These riches are possess'd, but not enjoy'd !
My wars, the copious theme of every tongue,
To you, your fathers have recorded long:
How favouring Heaven repaid my glorious toils
With a sack'd palace, and barbaric spoils.
Oh! had the gods so large a boon deny'd,
And life, the just equivalent, supply'd
To those brave warriors, who, with glory fir'd,
Far from their country in my cause expir'd;
Still in short intervals of pleasing woe,
Regardful of the friendly dues I owe,
I to the glorious dead, for ever dear!
Indulge the tribute of a grateful tear.
But oh! Ulysses-deeper than the rest
That sad idea wounds my anxious breast!
My heart bleeds fresh with agonising pain;
The bowl and tasteful viands tempt in vain,

O'er the congenial dust injoin'd to shear
The graceful curl, and drop the tender tear.
Then, mingling in the mournful pomp with you,
I'll pay my brother's ghost a warrior's due,
And mourn the brave Antilochus, a name
Not unrecorded in the rolls of fame :
With strength and speed superior form'd in fight
To face the foe, or intercept his fight:
Too early snatch'd by fate, ere known to me!
I boast a witness of his worth in thee."

[rejoins,)

"Young and mature !" (the monarch thus
"In thee renew'd the soul of Nestor shines:
Form'd by the care of that consummate sage,
In early bloom an oracle of age.

Whene'er his influence Joye vouchsafes to shower
To bless the natal, and the nuptial hour;
From the great sire transmissive to the race,
The boon devolving gives distinguish'd grace.
Such, happy Nestor! was thy glorious doom;
Around thee, full of years, thy offspring bloom,
Expert of arms, and prudent in debate;
The gifts of Heaven to guard thy hoary state.
But now let each becalin his troubled breast,
Wash, and partake screne the friendly feast.
To move thy sait, Telemachus, delay,
Till Heaven's revolving lamp restores the day."
He said, Asphalion swift the laver brings;
Alternate all partake the grateful springs :
Then from the rites of purity repair,
And with keen gust the savory viands share.
Meantime, with genial joy to warm the soul,
Bright Helen mix'd a mirth-inspiring bowl:
Temper'd with drugs of sovereign use, t' assuage
The boiling bosom of tumultuous rage;
To clear the cloudy front of wrinkled care,
And dry the tearful sluices of despair:
Charm'd with that virtuous draught th' exalted
All sense of woe delivers to the wind.
Though on the blazing pile his parent lay,
Or a lov'd brother groan'd his life away,
Or darling son, oppress'd by ruffian-force,
Fell breathless at his feet, a mangled corse;
From morn to eve, impassive and serene,
The man entranc'd would view the deathful scene.
These drugs, so friendly to the joys of life,
Bright Helen learn'd from Thone's imperial wife;
Who sway'd the sceptre, where prolific Nile
With various simples clothes the fatten'd soil.
With wholesome herbage mix'd, the direful bane
Of vegetable venom taints the plain;
From Pæon sprung, their patron-god imparts
To all the Pharian race his healing arts.
The beverage now prepar'd t' inspire the feast,
The circle thus the beauteous queen addrest:

[mind

"Thron'd in omnipotence, supremest Jove
Tempers the fates of human race above;
By the firm sanction of his sovereign will,
Alternate are decreed our good and ill.
To feastful mirth be this white hour assign'd,
And sweet discourse, the banquet of the mind.
Myself, assisting in the social joy,
Will tell Ulysses' bold exploit in Troy:
Sole witness of the deed I now declare;
Speak you (who saw) his wonders in the war.
"Seam'd o'er with wounds, which his own sabre
In the vile habit of a village-slave,
The foe deceiv'd, he pass'd the tented plain,
In Troy to mingle with the hostile train.
In this attire secure from searching eyes,
Till haply piercing through the dark disguise

[gave,

The chief I challeng'd; he, whose practis'd wit
Knew all the serpent mazes of deceit,
Eludes my search: but when his form I view'd
Fresh from the bath with fragrant oils renew'd,
His limbs in military purple dress'd;
Each brightening grace the genuine Greek con-
fess'd.

A previous pledge of sacred faith obtain'd,
Till he the lines and Argive fleet regain'd,
To keep his stay conceal'd; the chief declar'd
The plans of war against the town prepar'd.
Exploring then the secrets of the state,

He learn'd what best might urge the Dardan fate;
And, safe returning to the Grecian host,
Sent many a shade to Pluto's dreary coast.
Loud grief resounded through the towers of Troy,
But my pleas'd bosom glow'd with secret joy:
For then, with dire remorse and conscious shame,
I view'd th' effects of that disastrous flame,
Which, kindled by th' imperious queen of love,
Constrain'd me from my native realm to rove
And oft in bitterness of soul deplor'd
My absent daughter, and my dearer lord,
Admir'd among the first of human race,
For every gift of mind, and manly grace."
"Right well," reply'd the king, "your speech
displays

The matchless merit of the chief you praise:
Heroes in various climes myself have found,
For martial deeds, and depth of thought renown'd:
But Ithacus, unrival'd in his claim,
May boast a title to the loudest fame:
In battle calm, he guides the rapid storm,
Wise to resolve, and patient to perform.
What wondrous conduct in the chief appear'd,
When the vast fabric of the steed we rear'd!
Some demon, anxious for the Trojan doom,
Urg'd you with great Deïphobus to come,
T'explore the fraud; with guile oppos'd to guile,
Slow-pacing thrice around th' insidious pile;
Each noted leader's name you thrice invoke,
Your accent varying as their spouses spoke.
The pleasing sounds each latent warrior warm'd,
But most Tydides' and my heart alarm'd:
To quit the steed we both impatient press,
Threatening to answer from the dark recess.
Unmov'd the mind of Ithacus remain'd:
And the vain ardours of our love restrain'd;
But Anticlus, unable to control,

Spoke loud the language of his yearning soul;
Ulysses straight, with indignation fir'd,
(For so the common care of Greece requir'd)
Firm to his lips his forceful hands apply'd,
Till on his tongue the fluttering murmurs dy'd.
Meantime Minerva, from the fraudful horse,
Back to the court of Priam bent your course."
"Inclement Fate!" Telemachus replies,
"Frail is the boasted attribute of wise:
The leader, mingling with the vulgar host,
Is in the common mass of matter lost!
But now let sleep the painful waste repair
Of sad reflection, and corroding care."

He ceas'd; the menial fair that round her wait,
At Helen's beck prepare the room of state;
Beneath an ample portico, they spread
The downy fleece to form the slumberous bed;
And o'er soft palls of purple grain, 'unfold
Rich tapestry, stiff with inwoven gold:
Then, through th' illumin'd dome, to balmy rest
Th' obsequious herald guides each princely guest:

While to his regal bower the king ascends,
And beauteous Helen on her lord attends.
Soon as the Morn, in orient purple drest,
Unbarr'd the portal of the roscate east,
The monarch rose; magnificent to view,
Th' imperial mantle o'er his vest he threw:
The glittering zone athwart his shoulder cast,
A starry falchion low-depending grac'd;
Clasp'd on his feet th' embroider'd sandals shine;
And forth he moves, majestic and divine:
Instant to young Telemachus he press'd,
And thus benevolent his speech address'd:
"Say, royal youth, sincere of soul, report
What cause hath led you to the Spartan court?
Do public or domestic cares constrain
This toilsome voyage o'er the surgy main ?"
"O highly-favour'd delegate of Jove!"
(Replies the prince) "inflam'd with filial love,
And anxious hope, to hear my parent's doom,
A suppliant to your royal court I come.
Our sovereign seat a lewd usurping race
With lawless riot and misrule disgrace;
To pamper'd insolence devoted fall

Prime of the flock, and choicest of the stall:
For wild ambition wings their bold desire,
And all to mount th' imperial bed aspire.
Bat prostrate I implore, oh king! relate
The mournful series of my father's fate:
Fach known disaster of the man disclose,
Born by his mother to a world of woes!
Recite them! nor in erring pity fear
To wound with storied grief the filial ear:
le'er Ulysses, to reclaim your right,
Avow'd his zeal in council or in fight,
If Phrygian camps the friendly toils attest,
To the sire's merit give the son's request."
Deep from his inmost soul Atrides sigh'd,
And thus indignant to the prince reply'd:
"Hearens! would a soft, inglorious dastard train
An absent hero's nuptial joys profane!
So with her young, amid the woodland shades,
A timorous hind the lion's court invades,
Leaves in that fatal lair the tender fawns,
Cimbs the green cliff, or feeds the flowery lawns:
Meantime return'd, with dire remorseless sway
The monarch savage rends the trembling prey.
With equal fury, and with equal fame,
Ulysses soon shall re-assert his claim.
O Jove, supreme, whom gods and men revere
And thou, to whom 'tis given to gild the sphere!
With power congenial join'd, propitious aid
The chief adopted by the martial maid!
Such to our wish the warrior soon restore,
As when contending on the Lesbian shore
His prowess Philomelidus confess'd,

!

And loud-acclaiming Greeks the victor bless'd:
Then soon th' invaders of his bed and throne
Their love presumptuous shall with life atone.
With patient ear, O royal youth! attend
The storied labours of thy father's friend :
Fruitful of deeds, the copious tale is long,
Bat truth severe shall dictate to my tongue:
Learn what I heard the sea-born seer relate,
Whose eye can pierce the dark recess of fate.
"Long on th' Ægyptian coast by calms confin'd,
Heaven to my fleet refus'd a prosperous wind:
No vows had we preferr'd, nor victim slain!
For this the gods each favouring gale restrain:

* Apollo.

Jealous, to see their high behests obey'd;
Severe, if men th' eternal rights evade.
High o'er the gulfy sea, the Pharian isle
Fronts the deep roar of disemboguing Nile:
Her distance from the shore, the course begun
At dawn, and ending with the setting Sun,
A galley measures; when the stiffer gales
Rise on the poop, and fully stretch the sails.
There, anchor'd vessels safe in harbour lie,
Whilst limpid springs the failing cask supply.
"And now the twentieth Sun, descending, laves
His glowing axle in the western waves;
Still with expanded sails we court in vain
Propitious winds, to waft us o'er the main :
And the pale mariner at once deplores
His drooping vigour, and exhausted stores,
When, lo! a bright cerulean form appears,
The fair Eidothea! to dispel my fears;
Proteus her sire divine. With pity press'd,
Me sole the daughter of the deep address'd;
What time, with hunger pin'd, my absent mates
Roam the wild isle in search of rural cates,
Bait the barb'd steel, and from the fishy flood
Appease th' afflictive fierce desires of food.

"Whoe'er thou art,' the azure goddess cries,
Thy conduct ill deserves the praise of wise:
Is death thy choice, or misery thy boast,
That here inglorious on a barren coast
Thy brave associates droop, a meagre train
With famine pale, and ask thy care in vain ?

"Struck with the kind reproach, I straight reply: 'Whate'er thy title in thy native sky,

A goddess sure! for more than mortal grace
Speaks the descendant of ethereal race:
Deem not, that here of choice my fleet remains;
Some heavenly power averse my stay constrains:
O, pitcous of my fate, vouchsafe to shew
(For what's sequester'd from celestial view?)
What power becalms th' innavigable seas?
What guilt provokes him, and what vows ap-
pease?'

"I ceas'd, when affable the goddess cry'd;
'Observe, and in the truths I speak confide:
Th' oraculous seer frequents the Pharian coast,
From whose high bed my birth divine I boast:
Proteus, a name tremendous o'er the main,
The delegate of Neptune's watery reign.
Watch with insidious care his known abode;
There fast in chains constrain the various god:
Who bound, obedient to superior force,
Unerring will prescribe your destin'd course.
If, studious of your realms, you then demand
Their state, since last you left your natal land;
Instant the god obsequious will disclose
Bright tracks of glory, or a cloud of woes.'

"She ceas'd, and suppliant thus I made reply:
"O goddess! on thy aid my hopes rely;
Dictate propitious to my duteous ear,
What arts can captivate the changeful seer?
For perilous th' assay, unheard the toil,
T'elude the prescience of a god by guile.'

"Thus to the goddess mild my suit I end.
Then she: Obedient to my rule, attend:
When through the zone of Heaven the mounted
Sun

Hath journey'd half, and half remains to run;
The seer, while zephyrs curl the swelling deep,
Basks on the breezy shore, in grateful sleep,
His oozy limbs. Emerging from the wave,
The phoca swift surround his rocky cave,