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Faft to his feet the golden pinions binds,
That high through fields of air his flight fuftain
O'er the wide earth, and o'er the boundlefs main.
He grafps the wand that caufes fleep to fly,
Or in foft flumbers feals the wakeful eye:
Then fhoots from heaven to high Pieria's fteep,
And ftoops incumbent on the rolling deep.
So watry fowl, that feck their fifhy food,
With wings expanded o'er the foaming flood,
Now failing fmooth the level furface fweep,
Now dip their pinions in the briny deep.
Thus o'er the world of waters Hermes flew,
Till now the diftant ifland rofe in view:
Then fwift afcending from the azure wave,
He took the path that winded to the cave.
Large was the grot in which the nymph he found
(Thefair-hair'dnymphwithevery beautycrown'd).
She fat and fung; the rocks refound her lays;
The cave was brighten'd with a rifing blaze:
Cedar and frankincenfe, an od'rous pile,
Flam'd on the hearth, and wide perfum'd the ifle:
While the with work and fong the time divides,
And thro' the loom the golden fhuttle guides.
Without the grot a various fylvan fcene
Appear'd around, and groves of living green;
Poplars and alders ever quiv'ring play'd,
And nodding cyprefs form'd a fragrant fhade;
On whofe high branches, waving with the ftorm,
The birds of broadeft wing their mansion form,

The chough, the fea-mew, the loquacious crow,
A id fcream aloft, and fkim the deeps below.
Depending vines the fhelving cavern screen,
With purple clufters blufhing thro' the green.
Four limpid fountains from the cliff diftil,
And ev'ry fountain pours a fev'ral rill,
In mazy windings wand ring down the hill:
Where blooming meads with vivid greens were
crown'd,

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And glowing violets threw odours round.
A fcene where if a god fhould caft his fight,
A god might gaze, and wander with delight!
Joy touch'd the metlenger of heaven: he stay'd,
Entranc'd, and all the blifsful haunt furvey d.
Him, ent' ing in the cave, Calypfo knew,
For ow'rs celeftial to each other's view
Stand still confeft, tho' diftant far they lie,
Or habitants of earth, or fea, or sky.
But fad Ulyffes, by himfelf apart,
Pour'd the big forrows of his fwelling heart;
All on the lonely thore he fat to weep,

And roll'd his eyes around the restless deep;
Tow'rd his lov'd coaft he roll'd his eyes in vain,
Till, dimm'd with rifing grief, they ftream'd again.

§ 20. The Confequences of Senfuality pointed out by the Story of Circe's feafting the Companions of Ulyffes, and turning them into Swine. COON in the luscious feaft themselves they loft,

And drank oblivion of their native coaft.

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Their fong is death, and makes destruction please.
Unbleft the man whom mufic wins to stay
Nigh the curff thore, and liften to the lay;
No more that wretch fhall view the joys of life,
His blooming offspring, or his beauteous wife!
In verdant meads they fport, and wide around
Lic human bones that whiten all the ground;
The ground polluted floats with human gore,
And human carnage taints the dreadful fhore.
Fly fwift the dang rous coaft; let every ear
Be ftopp'd against the fong! 'tis death to hear:
Firm to the maft with chains thyfelf be bound,
Nor trust thy virtue to th' enchanting found.
If, mad with transport, freedom thou demand,
Be every fetter ftrain'd, and added band to band.

§ 22. The Song which the Sivens address to Ul: fost OH tay, O pride of Greece! Ulyffes, ftay!

Oh ceafe thy courfe, and liften to our lay ! Bleft is the man ordain'd our voice to hear, The fong inftructs the foul, and charms the ear. Approach thy foul fhall into raptures rife! Approach and learn new wifdom from the wife! We know whate'er the kings of mighty name Achiev'd at Ilion in the field of fame; Whatc'er beneath the fun's bright journey lies. O ftay, and learn new wifdom from the wife i

8 23. Relation of the Dog Argus, with the Circumflances of his knowing the Voice of Ulyffes.

THUS, near the gates conferring as they drew
Argus, the dog, his ancient mafter knew;
He, not unconfcious of the voice, and tread,
Lifts to the found his ear, and rears his head.
Bred by Ulyffes, nourish'd at his board,
But, ah! not fated long to picafe his lord'
To him, his fwiftnefs and his ftrength were vain;
The voice of glory call'd him o'er the main.
Till then in ev'ry fylvan chace renown'd,
With Argus, Argus, rung the woods around;
With him the youth purfued the goat or fawn,
Now left to man's ingratitude he lay,
Or trac'd the mazy lev'ret o'er the lawn.
Unhous'd, neglected, in the public way;
And where on heaps the rich manure was spread,
Obfcene with reptiles, took his fordid bed.

He

He knew his lord; he knew, and ftrove to meet, In vain he ftrove to crawl, and kifs his feet; Yet (all he could) his tail, his cars, his cyes Salute his mafter, and confefs his joys. Soft pity touch'd the mighty mafter's foul; And down his check a tear unbidden ftole, Stole unperceiv'd; he turn'd his head, and dried The drop humane: then thus impatiion'd cried: What noble beaft in this abandon'd ftate Lies here all helplefs at Ulyffes' gate? His bulk and beauty fpeak no vulgar praife; If as he feems he was in better days, Some care his age deferves: or was he priz'd For worthlefs beauty, therefore now defpis'd? Such dogs and men there are, mere things of state, And always cherish'd by their friends, the great.

Not Argus fo (Eumæus thus rejoin'd), But ferv'd a master of a nobler kind, Who never, never fhall behold him more! Long, long fince perifh'd on a diftant fhore! Oh had you feen him, vig'rous, boid, and young, Swift as a ftag, and as a lion ftrong; Him no fell favage on the plain withstood, None fcap'd him, bofom'd in the gloomy wood; His eye how piercing, and his fcent how truc To wind the vapour in the tainted dew! Such, when Ulyffes left his natal coaft; Now years unnerve him, and his lord is loft! The women keep the gen'rous creature bare, A fleek and idle race is all their care: The mafter gone, the fervants what restrains? Or dwells humanity where riot reigns? Jove fix'd it certain, that whatever day Makes man a flave, takes half his worth away.

This faid, the honeft herdfinan strode before: The mufing monarch pauses at the door: The dog whom fate had granted to behold His lord, when twenty tedious years had roll'd, Takes a laft look, and having feen him, dies; So clos'd for ever faithful Argus' eyes!

§ 24. Advice of Pallas to Ulyffes, before he goes to the Court of the Ph.cacians.

MY talk is done; the manfion you require

Appears before you enter and admire. High-thron'd and featting there thou fhalt behold The fcepter'd rulers. Fear not, but be bold: A decent boldnefs ever mects with friends, Succeeds, and even a ftranger recommends.

The branch here bends beneath the weighty pear;
And verdant olives flourish round the year.
The balmy fpirit of the weftern gale
Eternal breathes on fruits untaught to fail:
Each dropping pear a following pear supplies,
On apples apples, figs on figs arife;
The fame mild feafon gives the blooms to blow,
The buds to harden, and the fruits to grow.

Here order'd vines in equal ranks appear,
With all th' united labours of the year;
Some to unload the fertile branches run,
Some dry the black'ning clufters in the fun.
Others to tread the liquid harvest join,
The groaning p:effes foam with floods of wine.
Here are the vines in early flow'r defcried,
Here grapes difcolour'd on the funny-fide,
And there in autumn's richest purple dyed.
Beds of all various herbs, for ever green,
In beauteous order terminate the scene.

Two plenteous fountains the whole profpect This thro' the gardens leads its stream around, crown'd: Vifits each plant, and waters all the ground; While that in pipes beneath the palace flows, And thence its current on the town beftows: To various ufe their various ftreams they bring, The people one, and one fupplies the king.

§ 26. Ulyffes' artful Address to the Queen and Court of Alcinous.

DAUGHTER of great Rhexenor! (thus began,
Low at her knees, the much enduring man)
To thee, thy confort, and his royal train,
To all that thare the bleffings of your reign,
A fuppliant bends: oh pity human woe!
"Tis what the happy to th unhappy owe.
A wretched exile to his country fend,
Long worn with griefs, and long without a friend.
may the gods your better days increase,
So reign for ever on your country's breaft,
And all your joys defcend on all your race;
Your people bleffing, by your people bleft!

So

Then to the genial earth he bow'd his face, And humbled in the afhes took his place.

Silence enfued. The cldeft firft began,
Echeneus fage, a venerable man!
Whofe well-taught mind the prefent age furpafs'd,
And join'd to that th' experience of the laft.
Fit words attended on his weighty fenfe,

$25. Pompous Defcription of the royal Garden And mild perfuafion flow'd in eloquence.

CLO

of the Phracians.

LOSE to the gates a fpacious garden lies, From ftorms defended and inclement skies: Four acres was th' allotted space of ground, Fenc'd with a green inclofure all around. Tall thriving trees confefs'd the fruitful mold; The redd'ning apple ripens here to gold; Here the blue fig with lufcious juice o'erflows; With deeper red the full pomegranate glows;

O fight (he cried) difhoneft and unjust! A gucft, a ftranger, feated in the duft! To raife a lonely fuppliant from the ground Befits a monarch. Lo! the peers around But wait thy word, the gentle gueft to grace, And feat him fair in fome distinguifh'd place. Let firft the herald due libation pay To Jove, who guides the wand'rer on his way; Then fet the genial banquet in his view, And give the ftranger-gueft a ftranger's due.

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$27.

§ 27. Ulyffes left feated with Alcinous and his Queen; be discovering the Garment that was Lent him by Nausicaa, questions bim on that Head; upon which be discloses the Truth; and while be praifes Nausicaa, atfully throws in a Compliment on her Maify; and concludes with a Sentence, in proof of bis Attachment to Truth, and bis Abborrence of a Lye.

THE queen, on nearer view, her gueft furvey'd Rob'd in the garments her own hands had made;

Not without wonder feen. Then thus began, Her words addreffing to the godlike man:

Cam'it thou not hither, wondrous stranger! say, From lands remote, and o'er a length of ica? Tell then whence art thou whence that princely And robes like thefe, fo recent and so fair? [air? Hard is the tafk, O princefs! you impofe, (Thus fighing fpoke the man of many woes) The long, the mournful feries to relate Of all my forrows, fent by Heaven and fate! Yet what you afk, attend. An illand lies Beyond thefe tracts, and under other skies, Ogygia nam'd in Ocean's wat ry arms, Where dwells Calypfo, dreadful in her charms! Remote from gods or men fhe holds her reign, Amid the terrors of the rolling main. Me, only me, the hand of fortune hore, Unblet! to tread that interdicted fhore : When Jove, tremendous in the fable deeps, Launch'd his red lightning at our scatter'd fhips: Then, all my fleet and all my foll'wers loft, Sole on a plank, on boiling furges toft, Heaven drove my wreck th' Ogygian ifle to find, Full nine days floating to the wave and wind. Met by the goddefs there with open arms, She brib'd my stay with more than human charms; Nay promis'd, vainly promis'd, to bestow Immortal life, exempt from age and woe. But all her blandithments fuccefslefs prove, To banish from my breaft my country's love. I ftay reluctant feven continued years, And water her ambrofial couch with tears. The eighth, the voluntary moves to part, Or urg'd by Jove, or her own changeful heart. A raft was form'd to cross the furging fea; Herfelf fupplied the ftores and rich array, And gave the gales to waft me on the way. In feventeen days appear'd your pleafing coaft, And woody mountains half in vapours loft. Joy touch'd my foul: : my foul was joy'd in vain, For angry Neptune rous'd the raging main; The wild winds whiftle, and the billows roar; The splitting raft the furious tempefts tore; And forms vindictive intercept the fhore. Soon as their rage fubfides, the feas I brave With naked force, and fhoot along the wave, To reach this ifle: but there my hopes were loft, The furge impell'd me on a craggy coaft. I chofe the fafer fea, and chanc'd to find A river's mouth imp rvious to the wind, And clear of recks. I fainted by the flood; Then took the shelter of the neighbouring wood.

'Twas night; and, cover'd in the foliage deep,
Jove plung'd my fenfes in the death of fleep.
All night I flept, oblivious of my pain;
Aurora dawn'd, and Phœbus fhin`d in vain :
Nor till oblique he flop'd his evening ray,
Had Somnus dried the balmy dews away.
Then female voices from the fhore I heard:
A maid ainidft them goddefs-like appear'd:
To her I fued, fhe pitied my diftrefs;
Like thee in beauty, nor in virtue lefs.
Who from fuch youth could hope confid rate care
In youth and beauty wisdom is but rare!
She gave me life, reliev'd with just supplies
My wants, and lent thofe robes that strike your

eyes.

This is the truth; and, O ye pow'rs on high! Forbid that want should fink me to a lye.

§ 28. Ulyffes at the Phaacian Games. NCENS'D Ulyffes with a frown replies,

O forward to proclaim thy foul unwife!
With partial hands the gods their gifts difpenfe:
Some greatly think, fome fpeak with manly fenfe;
Here Heaven an elegance of form denies,
But wifdom the defect of form fupplies:
This man with energy of thought controuls,
And steals with modeft violence our fouls;
He fpeaks referv'dly, but he speaks with force,
Nor can one word be chang'd but for a worse;
In public more than mortal he appears,
And as he moves the gazing crowd reveres.
While others, beauteous as th' ethereal kind,
The nobler portion want, a knowing mind.
In outward fhow Heaven gives thee to excel,
But Heaven denies the praise of thinking well.
Ill bear the brave a rude ungovern'd tongue,
And, youth, my gen'rous foul refents the wrong.
Skill'd in heroic exercife, I claim

A poft of honour with the fons of fame;
Such was my boaft, while vigour crown 'd my days;
Now care furrounds me, and my force decays;
Inur'd a melancholy part to bear,

In fcenes of death, by tempeft and by war.
Yet thus by woes impair'd, no more I wave
To prove the hero-flander ftings the brave.

Then, ftriding forward with a furious bound,
He wrench'd a rocky fragment to the ground :
By far more pond'rous, and more huge by far,
Than what Phæacia's fons difcharg'd in air.
Fierce from his arm th' enormous load he flings;
Sonorous thro' the fhaded air it fings;
Couch'd to the earth, tempeftuous as it flies,
The crowd gaze upwards while it cleaves the skies.
Beyond all marks with many a giddy round
Down-rufhing, it upturns a hill of ground.

Then thus aloud (elate with decent pride) Rife, ye l'hæacians, try your force, he cried; If with this throw the ftrongest cafter vie, Still, further ftill, I bid the difcus fly. Stand forth, ye champions who the gauntlet wield, Or you, the fwifteft racers of the field! Stand forth, ye wrestlers who these paftimes grace! I wield the gauntlet, and I run the race.

In fuch heroic games I yield to none,
Or yield to brave Laodamas alone:
Shall I with brave Laodamas contend?
A friend is facred, and I style him friend.
Ungen'rous were the man, and bafe of heart,
Who takes the kind, and pays th'ungrateful part:
Chiefly the man, in foreign realmns connin'd,
Bafe to his friend, to his own interest blind.

§ 29.

ΤΗ

Defcription of the ancient Hours zubich were conferred on Poetry and Mafic. HE herald now arrives, and guides along The facred mafter of celeftial fong, Dear to the mufe! who gave his days to flow With mighty bleffings, mix'd with mighty woe: With clouds of darknefs quench'd his vifual ray, But gave him kill to raife the lofty lay. High on a radiant throne fublime in ftate, Encircled by huge multitudes he fate: With filver thone the throne; his lyre, well ftrung To rapt'rous founds, at hand Pontonous hung: Before his feat a polish'd table shines ; And a full goblet foams with gen'rous wines! His food a herald bore; and now they fed; And now the rage of craving hunger fled.

Then fir'd by all the muse, aloud he fings The mighty deeds of demigods and kings: From that fierce wrath the noble fong arose, That made Ulyffes and Achilles foes: How o'er the feast they doom the fall of Troy; The ftern debate Atrides hears with joy : For Heaven foretold the conteft when he trod The marble threshold of the Delphic god, Curious to learn the counfels of the sky, Erc yet he loos'd the rage of war on Troy.

Touch'd at the fong, Ulyffes ftraight refign'd To foft affliction all his manly mind: Before his eyes the purple veft he drew, Induftrious to conceal the falling dew: But when the mufic paus'd, he ceas'd to shed The flowing tear, and rais'd his drooping head: And lifting to the gods a goblet crown'd, He pour'd a pure libation to the ground.

Tranfported with the fong, the lift'ning train Again with loud applaufe demand the ftrain: Again Ulyffes veil'd his pentive head; Again, unmann'd, a fhow'r of forrow fhed.

Now each partakes the feaft, the wine prepares, Portions the food, and each the portion fhares. The bard an herald guides: the gazing throng Pay low obeyfance as he moves along: Beneath a fculptur'd arch he fits enthron'd, The peers encircling form an awful round. Then from the chine Ulyffes carves with art Delicious food, an honorary part: This let the mafter of the lyre receive, A pledge of love! 'tis all a wretch can give. Lives there a man beneath the fpacious skies, Who facred honours to the bard denies ? The mufe the bard infpires, exalts his mind; The mufe indulgent loves th' harmonious kind.

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The herald to his hand the charge conveys, Not fond of flatt'ry, nor unpleas'd with praise. When now the rage of hunger was allay'd, Thus to the lyrift wife Ulyffes faid: O more than man! thy foul the mufe infpires, Or Phoebus animates with all his fires : For who, by Phobus uninform'd, could know The woe of Greece, and fing fo well the woe? Juft to the tale, as prefent at the fray, Or taught the labours of the dreadful day; The fong recals patt horror to my eyes, And bids proud Ilion from her afhes rife. Once more harmonious ftrike the founding ftring, Th' Epaan fabric, fiam'd by Pallas, fing: How ftern Ulyffes, furious to destroy, With latent heroes fack'd imperial Troy. If faithful thou record the tale of fame, The god himfelf infpires thy breaft with flame: And mine fhall be the talk henceforth to raife In ev'ry land thy monument of praife.

Full of the god he rais'd his lofty train, How the Greeks rush'd tumultuous to the main: How blazing tents illumin'd half the fkies, While from the fhores the winged navy flies: How even in Ilion's walls, in deathful bands, Came the ftern Greeks, by Troy's affifting hands: All Troy up-heav'd the fteed: of diff'ring mind, Various the Trojans counfell'd; part confign'd The monster to the fword, part fentence gave To plunge it headlong in the whelming wave: Th'unwife award to lodge it in the tow'rs, An off'ring facred to th' immortal pow'rs: Th'unwife prevail, they lodge it in the walls; And by the gods decree proud Ilion falls; Deftruction enters in the treach'rous wood, And vengeful flaughter, fierce for human blood. He fung the Greeks ftern-iffuing from the fteed; How Ilion burns, how all her fathers bleed: How to thy dome, Deiphobus! afcends, The Spartan king; how Ithacus attends, Horrid as Mars; and how with dire alarms He fights, fubdues; for Pallas ftrings his arms.

Thus, while he fung, Ulyffes 'griefs renew, Tears bathe his cheeks, and tears the ground bedew: Conceal'd he griev'd; the king obferv'd alone The filent tear, and heard the fecret groan: Then to the bard aloud: Oh ceafe to fing, Dumb be thy voice, and mute the tuneful tring; To ev'ry note his tears responsive flow, And his great heart heaves with tumultuous woe; Thy lay too deeply moves: then ccafe the lay, And o'er the banquet ev'ry heart be gay.

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$32. Ulfes fpares the Life of Phemius. PHEMIUS alore the hand of Vengeance fpar'd, Phemius the fweet,the Heaven-inftructed bard. Befide the gate the rev'rend minstrel stands; The lyre, now filent, trembling in his hands; Dubious to fupplicate the chief, or fly, To Jove's inviolable altar nigh, Where oft Laertes holy vows had paid, And oft Ulyffes fmoaking victims laid. His honour'd harp with care he first fet down, Between the laver and the filver throne:

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Then proftrate ftretch'd before the dreadful man,

Perfuafive thus with accent foft began:

O king to mercy be thy foul inclin'd, And fpare the poet's ever-gentle kind. A deed like this thy future fame would wrong, For dear to gods and men is facred fong. Self-taught I fing; by Heaven, and Heaven alone, The genuine feeds of poefy are fown; And (what the gods bestow) the lofty lay To gods alone, and godlike worth, we pay. Save then the poet, and thyself reward; 'Tis thine to merit, mine is to record. That here I fung, was force, and not defire;, This hand reluctant touch'd the warbling wire: And let thy fon atteft, nor fordid pay Nor fervile flatt'ry stain'd the moral lay.

The moving words Telemachus attends, His fire approaches, and the bard defends: Oh mix not, father, with thofe impious dead The man divine; forbear that facred head; Medon the herald, too, our arms may fpare, Mcdon, who made my infancy his care. If yet he breathes, permit thy fon to give Thus much to gratitude, and bid him live. Beneath a table, trembling with dismay, Couch'd clofe to earth, unhappy Medon lay, Wrapp'd in a new-flain ox's ample hide; Swift at the word he caft his fcreen afide, Sprung to the prince, embrac'd his knee with tears, And thus with grateful voice address'd his cars:

O prince! O friend! lo here thy Medon stands, Ah ftop the hero's unrefifted hands, Incens'd too justly by that impious brood, Whofe guilty glories now are fet in blood.

To whom Ulyffes with a pleafing eye: Be bold, on friendship and my fon rely: Live, an example for the world to read, How much more fafe the good than evil deed.

§33. Ulyffes difcovered by Penelope. WHILE yet he fpeaks, her pow'rs of life decay, She fickens, trembles, falls, and faints away:

At length recov'ring, to his arms the flew,
And ftrain'd him clofe, as to his breaft the grew;
The tears pour'd down amain: and, Oh, fhe cries,
Let not against thy fpoufe thine auger rife!

vers'd in ev'ry turn of human art,

Forgive the weakness of a woman's heart!
The righteous pow'rs that mortal lots difpofe,
Decree us to fuftain a length of woes,
And from the flow'r of life, the blifs deny
To bloom together, fade away, and die.
Oh let me, let me not thine anger move,
That I forbore, thus, thus, to fpeak my love;
Thus in fond kiffes, while the tranfport warms,
Pour out my foul, and die within thy arms!
I dreaded fraud ! men, faithlefs men betray
Our eafy faith, and make the fex their prey:
Against the fonduefs of my heart I ftrove,
'Twas caution, O my lord! not want of love:
Like me had Helen fear'd, with wanton charms
Ere the fair mifchief fet two worlds in arms,
Thus had the fear'd, fhe had not gone altray.
Ere Greece rofe dreadful in th' avenging day,

But Heaven, averfe to Greece, in wrath decreed, That the fhould wander, and that Greece fhould bleed:

Blind to the ills that from injuftice flow,
She colour'd all our wretched lives with woe,
But why thefe forrows when my lord arrives?
I yield, I yield! my own Ulyffes lives!
The fecrets of the bridal bed are known
To thee, to me, to Actoris alone

(My father's prefent in the spousal hour,
The fole attendant on our genial bow'r);
Since what no eye hath feen, thy tongue reveal'd,
Hard and distrustful as I am, I yield.

Touch'd to the foul, the king withrapture hears, Hangs round her neck, and fpeaks his joy in tears.

§ 34. Ulyffes difcovers himself to his Faber. BUT all alone the hoary king he found;

His habit coarfe, but warmly wrapt around; His head, that bow'd with many a penfive care, Fenc'd with a double cap of geat-skin hair: His bufkin old, in former fervice torn, But well repair'd; and gloves against the thorn, In this array the kingly gard'ner stood, And clear'd a plant encumber'd with its wood, Beneath a neighb'ring tree, the chief divine Gaz'd o'er his fire, re-tracing ev'ry line,

The

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