Here paus'd the God; and penfive thus replies 55 Minerva, graceful with her azure eyes:

O thou! from whom the whole creation springs,
The fource of power on earth deriv'd to kings!
His death was equal to the direful deed;

So

may the man of blood be doom'd to bleed!
But grief and rage alternate wound. my breaft
For brave Ulyffes, ftill by Fate opprest.
Amidft an ifle, around whose rocky shore
The forefts murmur, and the surges roar,
The blameless hero from his wifh'd-for home
A goddefs guards in her inchanted dome :
(Atlas her fire, to whose far-piercing eye.
The wonders of the deep expanded Jie ;

Th' eternal columns which on earth he rears
End in the ftarry vault, and prop the spheres.)
By his fair daughter is the chief confin'd,
Who foothes to dear delight his anxious mind ...
Succefslefs all her foft careffes prove,

To banish from his breast his country's love;
To see the smoke from his lov'd palace rise,
While the dear ifle in diftant prospect lies,
With what contentment could he close his eyes?
And will Omnipotence neglect to save

The fuffering virtue of the wife and brave?
Muft he, whofe altars on the Phrygian fhore
With frequent rites, and pure, avow'd thy power,
Be doom'd the worst of human ills to prove,
Unblefs'd, abandon'd to the wrath of Jove?

Daughter

Daughter! what words have pafs'd thy lips un

weigh'd?

(Reply'd the Thunderer to the martial maid)
Deem not unjustly by my doom oppreft

Of human race the wifeft and the best.
Neptune, by prayer repentant rarely won,
Afflicts the chief, t' avenge his giant-fon,
Whose visual orb Ulyffes robb'd of light!
Great Polypheme, of more than mortal might!
Him young Thoöfa bore (the bright increase
Of Phorcys, dreaded in the sounds and feas):
Whom Neptune ey'd with bloom of beauty blest,
And in his cave the yielding nymph comprest.
For this, the God conftrains the Greek to roam,
A hopeless exile from his native home,
From death alone exempt-but cease to mourn!
Let all combine t' atchieve his wifh'd return:
Neptune aton'd, his wrath fhall now refrain,
Or thwart the fynod of the Gods in vain.
Father and king ador'd! Minerva cry'd,
Since all who in th' Olympian bower refide
Now make the wandering Greek their public care,
Let Hermes to th' Atlantick* ifle repair;
Bid him, arriv'd in bright Calypfo's court,
The fanction of th' affembled powers report :
That wife Ulyffes to his native land
Must speed, obedient to their high command.
Meantime Telemachus, the blooming heir
Of fea-girt Ithaca, demands my care:

• Ogygia.

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'Tis mine, to form his green, unpractis'd years,
In fage debates; furrounded with his peers,
To fave the state; and timely to restrain

The bold intrufion of the fuiter-train:

Who croud his palace, and with lawless power
His herds and flocks in feastful rites devour.
To distant Sparta, and the spacious waste
Of fandy Pyle, the royal youth fhall hafte.
There, warm with filial love, the cause enquire
That from his realm retards his god-like fire:
Delivering early to the voice of fame

The promise of a great, immortal name.

She faid the fandals of celeftial mould,

Fledg'd with ambrofial plumes, and rich with gold,
Surround her feet; with thefe fublime fhe fails
Th' aerial space, and mounts the winged gales
O'er earth and ocean wide prepar'd to foar,
Her dreaded arm a beamy javelin bore,
Ponderous and vaft; which, when her fury burns,
Proud tyrants humbles, and whole hofts o'erturns.
From high Olympus prone her flight the bends,
And in the realm of Ithaca defcends.
Her lineaments divine, the grave disguise
Of Mentes' form conceal'd from human eyes
(Mentes, the monarch of the Taphian land) :
A glittering fpear wav'd awful in her hand.
There in the portal plac'd, the heaven-born maid
Enormous riot and mif-rule furvey’d.

On hides of beeves, before the palace gate,
(Sad spoils of luxury) the fuitors fate.

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With rival art, and ardour in their mien,
At chefs they vie, to captivate the queen;
Divining of their loves. Attending nigh,
A menial train the flowing bowl supply:
Others, apart, the spacious hall prepare,
And form the coftly feaft with busy care.
There young Telemachus, his bloomy face
Glowing celestial fweet, with god-like grace
Amid the circle fhines: but hope and fear
(Painful viciffitude!) his bosom tear.
Now, imag'd in his mind, he fees restor'd
In peace and joy, the people's rightful lord;
The proud oppreffors fly the vengeful fword.
While his fond foul these fancied triumphs fwell'd ;
The ftranger guest, the royal youth beheld:
Griev'd that a visitant so long should wait
Unmark'd, unhonour'd, at a monarch's gate;

Inftant he flew with hospitable hafte,

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And the new friend with courteous air embrac'd. 160

1

Stranger whoe'er thou art, fecurely reft,

Affianc'd in my faith, a friendly guest:

Approach the dome, the focial banquet share,
And then the purpose of thy foul declare.

Thus affable and mild, the prince precedes,
And to the dome th' unknown Celestial leads.
The fpear receiving from her hand, he plac'd
Against a column, fair with fculpture grac'd;
Where feemly rang'd in peaceful order stood.
Ulyffes' arms, now long difus'd to blood.
He led the Goddess to the fovereign.feat,
Her feet supported with a stool of state

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A pur

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(A purple carpet spread the pavement wide);
Then drew his feat, familiar to her fide;
Far from the fuitor-train, a brutal crowd,
With infolence, and wine, elate and loud :
Where the free guest, unnoted, might relate,
If haply conscious, of his father's fate.
The golden ewer a maid obfequious brings,
Replenish'd from the cool, translucent springs ;
With copious water the bright vase supplies
A filver laver, of capacious fize:
They wash. The tables in fair order fpread,
They heap the glittering canisters with bread:
Viands of various kinds allure the tafte,
Of choiceft fort and favour, rich repast!
Delicious wines th' attending herald brought;
The gold gave luftre to the purple draught.
Lur'd with the vapour of the fragrant feast,
In rufh'd the fuitors with voracious hafte :
Marshal'd in order due, to each a fewer
Prefents, to bathe his hands, a radiant ewer.
Luxurious then they feaft. Obfervant round
Gay ftripling youths the brimming goblets crown'd.
The rage of hunger quell'd, they all advance,
And form to measur'd airs the mazy dance :
To Phemius was confign'd the chorded lyre,
Whose hand reluctant touch'd the warbling wire :
Phemius, whofe voice divine could sweetest fing
High ftrains, responsive to the vocal string.
Meanwhile, in whifpers to his heavenly guest
His indignation thus the prince exprest:

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Indulge