While in the port of Ithaca, the band

Of young Telemachus approach'd the land;

Their fails they loos'd, they lafh'd the maft afide,

And caft their anchors, and the cables tied :
Then on the breezy fhore defcending join
In grateful banquet o'er the rofy wine.

When thus the prince: Now each his courfe purfue;
I to the fields, and to the city you.
Long abfent hence, I dedicate this day
My fwains to vifit, and the works furvey.
Expect me with the morn, to pay the skies
Our debt of fafe return, in feast and facrifice.
Then Theoclymenus: But who fhall lend,
Meantime, protection to thy ftranger-friend?
Straight to the queen and palace fhall I fly,
Or, yet more distant, to fome lord apply?

535

540

545

550

The prince return'd: Renown'd in days of yore

Has ftood 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 feen, or feen with weeping eyes.
No-let Eurymachus receive my guelt,
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 success, 'tis Jove's alone to know,
And the hop'd nuptials turn to joy or woe.
VOL. LI.

F

555

560

Thus

Thus fpeaking, on the right up-foar'd in air The hawk, Apollo's fwift-wing'd messenger; His deathful pounces tore a trembling dove; The clotted feathers, fcatter'd from above, Between the hero and the veffel pour

565

Thick plumage, mingled with a fanguine fhower. 570
Th' obferving augur took the prince afide,
Seiz'd by the hand, and thus prophetic cried:
Yon bird that dexter cuts th' aërial road,
Rofe ominous, nor flies without a God:
No race but thine fhall Ithaca obey,

575

To thine, for ages, Heaven decrees the fway.

Succeed the omen, Gods! (the youth rejoin'd)
Soon shall my bounties fpeak a grateful mind,
And foon each envied happiness attend

The man, who calls Telemachus his friend.

580

Then to Peiræus-Thou whom time has prov'd

A faithful fervant, by thy prince belov'd!

Till we returning fhall our gueft demand,
Accept this charge with honour at our hand.
To this Peiræus: Joyful I obey,

585

Well pleas'd the hofpitable rites to pay, The prefence of thy gueft fhall beft reward (If long thy ftay) the abfence of my lord.

With that their anchors he commands to weigh,

Mount the tall bark, and launch into the fea.

590

All with obedient hafte forfake the shores,
And, plac'd in order, fpread their equal oars.

Then from the deck the prince his fandals takes;

Pois'd in his hand the pointed javelin shakes.

They

They part; while, leffening from the hero's view, 600
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.

THE

SIXTEENTH

OF THE

BOOK

ODYSSEY.