Let no such thought (with modest grace rejoin'd
The prudent Greek) possess the royal mind.
Alas! a mortal, like thyself, am I;
No glorious native of yon azure sky:

In form, ah how unlike their heavenly kind! 220 How much inferior in the gifts of mind!

Alas, a mortal! most oppress'd of those Whom Fate has ioaded with a weight of woes; By a sad train of miseries alone Distinguish'd long, and second now to none! By heaven's high will compell'd from shore to shore; With heaven's high will prepared to suffer more. What histories of toil could I declare! But still long-wearied nature wants repair; Spent with fatigue, and shrunk with pining fast, 230 My craving bowels still require repast.

The assembled peers with general praise approved
His pleaded reason, and the suit he moved.
Each drinks a full oblivion of his cares,
And to the gifts of balmy sleep repairs.
Ulysses in the regal walls alone
Remain'd: beside him, on a splendid throne,
Divine Aretè and Alcinous shone.

The queen, on nearer view, the guest survey'd, Robed in the garments her own hands had made; Not without wonder seen. Then thus began, 250 Her words addressing to the godlike man.

Camest thou not hither, wondrous stranger! say,
From lands remote, and o'er a length of sea?
Tell, then, whence art thou? whence that princely air?
And robes like these, so recent and so fair?

Hard is the task, oh princess! you impose,
(Thus sighing spoke the man of many woes,)
The long, the mournful series to relate
Of all my sorrows sent by Heaven and Fate!
Yet what you ask, attend. An island lies
260 Beyond these tracts, and under other skies,
Ogygia named, in Ocean's watery arms,
Where dwells Calypso, dreadful in her charms!

Remote from gods or men she holds her reign, 330] Whate'er is honest, stranger, I approve,

310

400

And would to Phoebus, Pallas and to Jove,
Such as thou art, thy thought and mine were one,
Nor thou unwilling to be call'd my son.
In such alliance couldst thou wish to join,
A palace stored with treasures should be thine
But if reluctant, who shall force thy stay?
Jove bids to set the stranger on his way,
And ships shall wait thee with the morning ray
Till then, let slumber close thy careful eyes;
The wakeful mariners shall watch the skies,
And seize the moment when the breezes rise:
Then gently waft thee to the pleasing shore,
Where thy soul rests, and labour is no more.
Far as Euboea though thy country lay,
Our ships with ease transport thee in a day.
Thither of old, earth's giant son* to view,
On wings of winds with Rhadamanth they flew;
This land, from whence their morning course begun;
Saw them returning with the setting sun.

350 Your eyes shall witness and confirm my tale,
Our youth how dextrous and how fleet our sail,
When justly timed with equal sweep they row,
And ocean whitens in long tracks below.

Amid the terrors of the rolling main.
Me, only me, the hand of fortune bore,
Unbless'd! to tread that interdicted shore ·
When Jove tremendous in the sable deeps
Launch'd his red lightning at our scatter'd snips;
Then, all my fleet, and all my followers lost,
Sole on a plank, on boiling surges toss'd,
Heaven drove my wreck the Ogygian isle to find,
Full nine days floating to the wave and wind.
Met by the goddess there with open arms,
She bribed my stay with more than human charms;
Nay, promised, vainly promised, to bestow
Immortal life, exempt from age and woe:
But all her blandishments successless prove,
To banish from my breast my country's love.
I stay reluctant seven continued years,
And water her ambrosial couch with tears.
The eighth she voluntary moves to part,
Or urged by Jove, or her own changeful heart.
A raft was formed to cross the surging sea;
Herself supplied the stores and rich array,
And gave the gales to waft me on the way.
In seventeen days appear'd your pleasing coast,
And woody mountains half in vapours lost.
Joy touch'd my soul: my soul was joy'd in vain ;
For angry Neptune roused the raging main;
The wild winds whistle, and the billows roar;
The splitting raft the furious tempest tore;
And storms vindictive intercept the shore.
Soon as their rage subsides, the seas I brave
With naked force, and shoot along the wave,
To reach this isle; but there my hopes were lost,
The surge impelled me on a craggy coast.
I chose the safer sea, and chanced to find
A river's mouth impervious to the wind,
And clear of rocks. I fainted by the flood;
Then took the shelter of the neighbouring wood.
'Twas night, and cover'd in the foliage deep,
Jove plunged my senses in the death of sleep.
All night I slept, oblivious of my pain:
Aurora dawn'd and Phoebus shined in vain;
Nor, till oblique he sloped his evening ray,
Had Somnus dried the balmy dews away.
Then female voices from the shore I heard
A maid amidst them, goddess-like appear'd;
To her I sued, she pitied my distress;
Like thee in beauty, nor in virtue less.

360

410

420

Thus he. No word the experienced man replies,
But thus to heaven (and heavenward lifts his eyes :)
Oh Jove! oh father! what the king accords
Do thou make perfect! sacred be his words!
Wide o'er the world Alcinous glory shine!
Let fame be his, and ah! my country mine!
Meanwhile Aretè, for the hour of rest,
Ordains the fleecy couch and covering vest;
Bids her fair train the purple quilts prepare,
And the thick carpets spread with busy care.
With torches blazing in their hands they past,
And finish'd all their queen's command with haste;
Then gave the signal to the willing guest:
He rose with pleasure, and retired to rest.
There, soft-extended to the murmuring sound
Of the high porch, Ulysses sleeps profound!
370 Within, released from cares Alcinous lies:
And fast beside were closed Aretè's eyes.

Who from such youth could hope considerate care?
In youth and beauty wisdom is but rare!
She gave me life, relieved with just supplies
My wants, and lent these robes that strike your

eyes.

This is the truth: and oh, ye powers on high!
Forbid that want should sink me to a lie.

To this the king: Our daughter but express'd
Her cares imperfect to our godlike guest.
Suppliant to her, since first he chose to pray,
Why not herself did she conduct the way,
And with her handmaids to our court convey?
Hero and king! (Ulysses thus replied)
Nor blame her faultless, nor suspect of pride:
She bade me follow in the attendam train;
But fear and reverence did my steps detain,
Lest rash suspicion might alarm thy mind:
Man's of a jealous and mistaking kind.

Far from my soul (he cried) the gods efface
All wrath ill-grounded, and suspicion base!

380

390

BOOK VIII.

ARGUMENT.

430

Alcinous calls a council, in which it is resolved to transport Ulysses into his country. After which, splendid entertainments are made, where the celebrated musi cian and poet Demodocus plays and sings to the guests. They next proceed to the games, the race, the wrestling, the discus, &c. where Ulysses casts a prodigious length, to the admiration of all the spectators. They return again to the banquet, and Demodocus sings the loves of Mars and Venus. Ulysses, after a compliment to the poet, desires him to sing the introduction of the wooden horse into Troy: which subject provoking his tears, Alcinous inquires of his guest his name, parentage, and fortunes.

BOOK VIII.

Now fair Aurora lifts her golden ray,
And all the ruddy orient flames with day:
Alcinous, and the chief, with dawning light,
Rose instant from the slumbers of the night!
Then to the council seat they bend their way,
And fill the shining thrones along the bay.

* Tity us.

Meanwhile Minerva, in her guardian care,
Shoots from the starry vault through fields of air;
In form a herald of the king, she flies
From peer to peer, and thus incessant cries.

Nobles and chiefs who rule Phracia's states,
The king in council your attendance waits;
A prince of grace divine your aid implores,
O'er unknown seas arrived from unknown shores.
She spoke, and sudden with tumultuous sounds
Of thronging multitudes the shore rebounds:
At once the seats they fill; and every eye
Gazed, as before some brother of the sky.
Pallas with grace divine his form improves,
More high he treads, and more enlarged he moves;
She sheds celestial bloom, regard to draw,
And gives a dignity of mien to awe :
With strength the future prize of fame to play,
And gather all the honours of the day.

Then from his glittering throne Alcinois rose:
Attend, he cried, while we our will disclose.
Your present aid this godlike stranger craves,
Toss'd by rude tempest through a war of waves:
Perhaps from realms that view the rising day,
Or nations subject to the western ray.
Then grant, what here all sons of woe obtain;
(For here afiliction never pleads in vain :)
Be chosen youths prepared, expert to try
The vast profound, and bid the vessel fly:
Launch the tall bark, and order ever oar;
Then in our court indulge the genial hour:
Instant, you sailors, to this task attend;
Swift to the palace, all ye peers, ascend;
Let none to strangers honours due disclaim:
Be there Demodocus, the bard of fame,
Taught by the gods to please, when high he sings
The vocal lay, responsive to the strings.

For neaven foretold the contest, when he trod
The marble threshold of the Delphic god,
Curious to learn the counsels of the sky,
10 E'er yet he loosed the rage of war on Troy.
Touch'd at the song, Ulysses straight resign'd
To soft affliction all his manly mind:
Before his eyes the purple vest he drew,
Industrious to conceal the falling dew:
But when the music paused, he ceased to shed
The flowing tear, and raised his drooping head;
And, lifting to the gods a goblet crown'd,

21

He pour'd a pure libation to the ground.

90

Transported with the song, the listening train
Again with loud applause demand the strain:
Again Ulysses veil'd his pensive head,
Again unmann'd, a shower of sorrow shed;
Conceal'd he wept: the king observed alone
The silent tear and heard the secret groan;
Then to the bard aloud-O cease to sing;
Dumb be thy voice, and mute the harmonious string,
Enough the feast has pleased, enough the power
Of heavenly song has crown'd the genial hour!
Incessant in the games your strength display,
30 Contest, ye brave, the honours of the day;
That pleased the admiring stranger may proclaim
In distant regions the Phæacian fame:
None wield the gauntlet with so dire a sway,
Or swifter in the race devour the way;
None in the leap spring with so strong a bound,
Or firmer, in the wrestling, press the ground.

Thus spoke the king: the attending peers obey;
In state they move, Alcinous leads the way:
His golden lyre Demodocus unstrung,
40 High on a column in the palace hung;
And, guided by a herald's guardian cares,
Majestic to the lists of fame repairs.

Thus spoke the prince: the attending peers obey;
In state they move; Alcinous leads the way:
Swift to Demodocus the herald flies,
At once the sailors to their charge arise;
They launch the vessel, and unfurl the sails,
And stretch the swelling canvas to the gales;
Then to the palace move: a gathering throng,
Youth, and white age, tumultuous pour along.
Now all accesses to the dome are fill'd;

Now swarms the populace: a countless throng,
Youth and hoar age; and man drives man along.
The games begin: ambitious of the prize,
Acroneus, Thoon, and Eretmeus rise;
The prize Ocyalus and Prymneus claim,
Anchialus and Ponteus, chiefs of fame.
There Proreus, Nantes, Eratreus, appear,
50 And famed Amphialus, Polyneus' heir;
Euryalus, like Mars terrific rose,

100

110

When clad in wrath he withers hosts of foes; 120
Naubolides with grace unequall'd shone,

Or equall'd by Laodamas alone.

With these came forth Ambasineus the strong;
And three brave sons, from great Alcinous sprung.
Ranged in a line the ready racers stand,
Start from the goal, and vanish o'er the strand:
Swift as on wings of winds, upborne they fly,
60 And drifts of rising dust involve the sky.

Eight boars, the choicest of the herd, are kill'd!
Two beeves, twelve fatlings, from the flock they bring
To crown the feast; so wills the bounteous king.
The herald now arrives, and guides along
The sacred master of celestial song:
Dear to the Muse! who gave his days to flow
With mighty blessings, mix'd with mighty woe;
With clouds of darkness quench'd his visual ray,
But gave him skill to raise the lofty lay.
High on a radiant throne sublime in state,
Encircled by huge multitudes, he sate:
With silver shone the throne: his lyre well strung
To rapturous sounds, at hand Pontonous hung:
Before his seat a polish'd table shines,

And a full goblet foams with generous 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 sings
The mighty deeds of demigods and kings:
From that fierce wrath the noble song arose,
That made Ulysses and Achilles foes:
How o'er the feast they doom the fall of Troy:
The stern debate Atrides hears with joy:

Before the rest, what space the hinds allow
Between the mule and ox, from plough to plough, 130
Clytonius sprung: he wing'd the rapid way,
And bore the unrivall'd honours of the day.
With fierce embrace the brawny wrestlers join:
The conquest, great Euryalus, is thine.
Amphialus sprung forward with a bound,
Superior in the leap, a length of ground.
From Elatreus' strong arm the discus flies,

70 And sings with unmatch'd force along the skies.
And Laodam whirls high, with dreadful sway,
The gloves of death, victorious in the fray.
While thus the peerage in the games contends,
In act to speak Laodamas ascends.

140

O friends, he cries, the stranger seems well skill'd To try the illustrious labours of the field:

Then striding forward with a furious bound, He wrench'd a rocky fragment from the ground, 210 I deem him brave: then grant the brave man's claim, By far more ponderous and more huge by far, Invite the hero to his share of fame.

What nervous arms he boasts! how firm his tread!
His limbs how turn'd! how broad his shoulders

spread!

By age unbroke!--but all-consuming care
Destroys perhaps the strength that time would

spare:

Dire is the ocean, dread in all its forms!
Man must decay, when man contends with storms.
Well hast thou spoke (Euryalus replies :)
Thine is the guest, invite him thou to rise.
Swift at the word, advancing from the crowd
He made obeisance, and thus spoke aloud:

Vouchsafes the reverend stranger to display
His manly worth, and share the glorious day?
Father, arise! for thee thy port proclaims
Expert to conquer in the solemn games.

To fame arise! for what more fame can yield
Than the swift race, or conflict in the field?
Steal from corroding care one transient day,
To glory give the space thou hast to stay;
Short is the time, and lo! even now the gales
Call thee aboard, and stretch the swelling sails.
To whom with sighs Ulysses gave reply:
Ah why the ill-suiting pastime must I try?
To gloomy care my thoughts alone are free:
Ill the gay sports with troubled hearts agree:
Sad from my natal hour my days have ran,
A much-afflicted, much-enduring man!
Who suppliant to the king and peers, implores
A speedy voyage to his native shores.

Wide wanders, Laodam, thy erring tongue,
The sports of glory to the brave belong,
(Retorts Euryalus :) he boasts no claim
Among the great, unlike the sons of Fame.
A wandering merchant he frequents the main
Some mean sea-farer in pursuit of gain;
Studious of freight, in naval trade well skill'd,
But dreads the athletic labours of the field
Incensed Ulysses with a frown replies-
O forward to proclaim thy soul unwise!
With partial hands the gods their gifts dispense;

150

Than what Phæacia's sons discharged in air.
Fierce from his arm the enormous load he flings;
Sonorous through the shaded air it sings;
Couch'd to the earth, tempestuous as it flies,
The crowd gaze upward while it cleaves the skies.
Beyond all marks, with many a giddy round
Down-rushing, it upturns a hill of ground.
That instant Pallas, bursting from a cloud,
Fix'd a distinguish'd mark, and cried aloud:
Even he who sightless wants his visual ray
May by his touch alone award the day:
Thy signal throw transcends the utmost bound
Of every champion by a length of ground:
Securely bid the strongest of the train
Arise to throw; the strongest throws in vain.

220

230

She spoke; and momentary mounts the sky:
160 The friendly voice Ulysses hears with joy;
Then thus aloud, (elate with decent pride,)
Rise, ye Phæacians, try your force, he cried;
If with this throw the strongest caster vie,
Still, further still, I bid the discus fly.
Stand forth, ye champions, who the gauntlet wield,
Or ye, the swiftest racers of the field!
Stand forth, ye wrestlers, who these pastimes grace!
I wield the gauntlet, and I run the race.
In such heroic games I yield to none,
170 Or yield to brave Laodamas alone:

Shall I with brave Laodamas contend?
A friend is sacred, and I style him friend.
Ungenerous were the man, and base of heart,
Who takes the kind, and pays the ungrateful part;
Chiefly the man, in foreign realms confined,
Base to his friend, to his own interest blind:
All, all your heroes I this day defy;

Give me a man, that we our might may try.
Expert in every art, I boast the skill

240

180 To give the feather'd arrow wings to kill:
Should a whole host at once discharge the bow,
My well-aim'd shaft with death prevents the foe: 250
Alone superior in the field of Troy,

190

Some greatly think, some speak with manly sense;
Here heaven an elegance of form denies,
But wisdom the defect of form supplies:
This man with energy of thought controuls,
And steals with modest violence our souls;
He speaks reservedly, but he speaks with force,
Nor can one word be changed but for a worse;
In public more than mortal he appears,
And, as he moves, the gazing crowd reveres.
While others, beauteous as the ethereal kind,
The nobler portion want, a knowing mind.
In outward show heaven gives thee to excel,
But heaven denies the praise of thinking well.
Ill bear the brave a rude ungovern'd tongue,

Great Philoctetes taught the shaft to fly.
From all the sons of earth unrivall'd praise

I justly claim; but yield to better days,

To those famed days when great Alcides rose,

And Eurytus, who bade the gods be foes:
(Vain Eurytus, whose art became his crime,
Swept from the earth, he perish'd in his prime;
Sudden the irremeable way he trod,
Who boldly durst defy the bowyer god.)
In fighting fields as far the spear I throw
As flies an arrow from the well-drawn bow.
Sole in the race the contest I decline,
Stiff are my weary joints, and I resign;
By storms and hunger worn: age well may fail,
When storms and hunger both at once assail.
Abash'd, the numbers hear the godlike man,

And, youth, my generous soul resents the wrong: 200 Till great Alcinous mildly thus began:
Skill'd in heroic exercise, I claim

A post of honour with the sons of Fame.
Such was my boast while vigour crown'd my days;
Now care surrounds me, and my force decays;
Inured a melancholy part to bear,

In scenes of death, by tempest and by war.
Yet thus by woes impair'd, no more I wave
To prove the hero-slander stings the brave

260

270

Well hast thou spoke, and well thy generous tongue
With decent pride refutes a public wrong:
Warm are thy words but warm without offence;
Fear only fools, secure in men of sense:
Thy worth is known. Then hear our country's claim,
And bear to heroes our heroic fame:
In distant realms our glorious deeds display,
Repeat them frequent in the genial day;

Full horrible he roars, his voice all heaven returns

When bless'd with ease thy woes and wanderings end, Arrived, he sees, he grieves, with rage he barns:
Teach them thy consort, bid thy sons attend;
How loved of Jove, he crown'd our sires with praise,
How we their offspring dignify our race.

280

O Jove, he cried, oh all ye powers above,
See the lewd dalliance of the queen of love!
Me, awkward me, she scorns; and yields her charms
To that fair lecher, the strong god of arms. 33
If I am lame, that stain my natal hour
By fate imposed; such me my parent bore.
Why was I born? See how the wanton lies!
Oh sight tormenting to an husband's eyes!
But yet I trust, this once even Mars would fly
His fair-one's arms-he thinks her, once, too nigh.
But there remain, ye guilty, in my power,
290 Till Jove refunds his shameless daughter's dower.
Too dear I prized a fair enchanting face:
|Beauty unchaste is beauty in disgrace.

300

Let other realms the deathful gauntlet wield,
Or boast the glories of the athletic field.
We in the course unrivall'd speed display,
Or through cærulean billows plough the way;
To dress, to dance, to sing, our sole delignt,
The feast or bath by day, and love by night:
Rise then, ye skill'd in measures; let him bear
Your fame to men that breathe a distant air;
And faithful say, to you the powers belong
To race, to sail, to dance, to chant the song.
But, herald, to the palace swift repair,
And the soft lyre to grace our pastimes bear.
Swift at the word, obedient to the king,
The herald flies the tuneful lyre to bring.
Up rose nine seniors, chosen to survey
The future games, the judges of the day.
With instant care they mark a spacious round,
And level for the dance the allotted ground;
The herald bears the lyre: intent to play,
The bard advancing meditates the lay.
Skill'd in the dance, tall youths, a blooming band,
Graceful before the heavenly minstrel stand:
Light-bounding from the earth, at once they rise,
Their feet half-viewless quiver in the skies:
Ulysses gazed, astonish'd to survey
The glancing splendors as their sandals play.
Meantime the bard, alternate to the strings,
The loves of Mars and Cytherea sings;
How the stern god, enamour'd with her charms,
Clasped the gay panting goddess in his arms,
By bribes seduced; and how the sun, whose eye
Views the broad heavens, disclosed the lawless joy.
Stung to the soul, indignant through the skies
To his black forge vindictive Vulcan flies:
Arrived, his sinewy arms incessant place
The eternal anvil on the massy base.
A wondrous net he labours, to betray
The wanton lovers, as entwined they lay,
Indissolubly strong! Then instant bears
To his immortal dome the finish'd snares.
Above, below, around, with art dispread,
The sure inclosure folds the genial bed;
Whose texture even the search of gods deceives,
Thin as the filmy threads the spider weaves.
Then, as withdrawing from the starry bowers,
He feigns a journey to the Lemnian shores,
His favourite isle; observant Mars descries
His wish'd recess, and to the goddess flies;
He glows, he burns, the fair-hair'd queen of love
Descends smooth gliding from the courts of Jove, 330
Gay blooming in full charms: her hand he press'd
With eager joy, and with a sigh address'd.

Come, my beloved! and taste the soft delights;
Come; to repose the genial bed invites:
Thy absent spouse, neglectful of thy charms,
Prefers his barbarous Sintians to thy arms!
Then, nothing loth, the enamour'd fair he led,
And sunk transported on the conscious bed.
Down rush'd the toils, inwrapping as they lay,
The careless lovers in their wanton play:
In vain they strive; the entangling snares deny
(Inextricably firm) the power to fly.

Warn'd by the god who sheds the golden day,
Stern Vulcan homeward treads the starry way:

310

360

Meanwhile the gods the dome of Vulcan throng;
Apollo comes, and Neptune comes along;
With these gay Hermes trod the starry plain;
But modesty withheld the goddess train.
All heaven beholds, imprison'd as they lie,
And unextinguish'd laughter shakes the sky.
Then mutual, thus they spoke: Behold, on wrong
Swift vengeance waits; and art subdues the strong!
Dwells there a god on all the Olympian brow
More swift than Mars, and more than Vulcan slow"
Yet Vulcan conquers, and the god of arms
Must pay the penalty for lawless charms.

Thus serious they: but he who gilds the skies,
The gay Apollo, thus to Hermes cries:
Wouldst thou enchain'd like Mars, oh Hermes, Le,
And bear the shame like Mars, to share the joy?
O envied shame! (the smiling youth rejoin'd ;)
Add thrice the chains, and thrice more firmly bind;
Gaze all ye gods, and every goddess gaze,
Yet eager would I bless the sweet disgrace.
Loud laugh the rest, even Neptune laughs aloud,
Yet sues importunate to loose the god:
And free, he cries, oh Vulcan! free from shame
Thy captives; I insure the penal claim.

Will Neptune (Vulcan then) the faithless trust?
He suffers who gives surety for th' unjust :
But say, if that lewd scandal of the sky,

320 To liberty restored, perfidious fly :
Say, wilt thou bear the mulet? He instant cries,
The mulct I bear, if Mars perfidious flies.

350

To whom, appeased: No more I urge delay;
When Neptune sues, my part is to obey.
Then to the snares his force the god applies;
They burst; and Mars to Thrace indignant flies:
To the soft Cyprian shores the goddess moves,
To visit Paphos and her blooming groves,
Where to the Power an hundred altars rise,
And breathing odours scent the balmy skies;
Conceal'd she bathes in consecrated bowers,
The Graces unguents shed, ambrosial showers, 400
Unguents that charm the gods! she last assumes
Her wondrous robes; and the full goddess blooms.
Thus sung the bard; Ulysses hears with joy,
And loud applauses rend the vaulted sky.

Then to the sports his sons the king commands,
Each blooming youth before the monarch stands,
In dance unmatch'd! A wondrous ball is brought
340 (The work of Polyphus, divinely wrought;)

This youth with strength enormous bids it fly,
And bending backward whirls it to the sky;
His brother, springing with an active bound,
At distance intercepts it from the ground

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