To th' Orphean lyre,
"He fung of Chaos and eternal night;
Taught by the heavenly Mufe to venture down "The dark defcent, and up to re-afcend,
WHEN fpeeding fea-ward, to the fleet we came
That anchor'd nigh the coaft, we launch'd our ship
Into the facred deep: the maft up-rear'd
Bore every fail expanded; whilst aboard.
We ftow'd devoted victims, and afcend
The veffel, inly griev'd, and filent fhowers
Fell from our drooping eyes. A friendly wind
Circe the fair, of human race divine,
Propitious fent; to ply the ftruggling oar
Small need remain'd, the freshening gale fuffic'd
Each bellying canvas,
Profperous; and when the fun careering prone
Sunk to the western ifles, and dewy shade
Sabled the pole, we tilting o'er the waves
On Ocean's utmost bound, approach the realms
Unblefs'd, where the Cimmerians darkling dwell;
(A lamentable race!) of heavenly light
Unvifited, and the fun's gladsome ray.
Mooring the veffel on that dreary beach
We take the deftin'd fheep, and flow fojourn
Along the marith, till the fated place
We found, which Circe will'd we should explore.
Eurylochus and Perimedes guard
The holy offerings; I meantime un sheath
My faulchion, and prepare t' intrench the ground
A cubit fquare, and there oblations pour
To reconcile the Shades; infufing milk
With honey temper'd sweet, and bowls of must
Pure from the mellowest grape, with added store
Of water; and with flower of wheat beftrow
The mix'd ingredients: to the feeble ghosts
Then vow'd, if heaven to my dear native land
Should favour my return, a barren cow
Of statelieft growth; and to th' oraculous * Seer
A ram of fable fleece, the leading pride
Of all my flocks. Thefe folemn rites perform'd
And vows prefer'd, the deftin'd sheep I flew :
Forth gufh'd the vital purple, and furcharg'd
The hollow'd trench; when lo! from the dun verge
Of Erebus, the ghosts promifcuous troop
Unnumber'd, youths and maidens immature
Cropt in their fpring, who wandering penfive wail'd
The shortness of their date : trembling, and hoar
With age, some flowly pace; others more fierce
Array'd in arms, enfanguin'd o'er with wounds
Receiv'd in battle, clamorous approach
To drink the reeking gore. Shuddering and pale
I ftood aftounded, but with quick dispatch
Bade burn the facrifice, a grateful team
To Proferpine, who there with Dis divides
The regency of night : fudden I wav'd
My glittering falchion, from the fanguine pool
Driving th' unbody'd hoft that round me fwarm'd ;
Nor deign'd to let them fip, before I faw
Th' oraculous feer. Foremost of all the crowd
Elpenor came, whofe unregarded corfe
Unwept, unbury'd, eager to pursue
Our voyage: Strait to tender pity mov'd,
With words diffolv'd in tears I cry'd, Relate,
Elpenor, how these rueful shades you reach'd
We left behind in Circe's fumptuous dome,
Sooner than I full-fail'd. He thus reply'd
In accents of much dolour; Me, O king,
The minifter of adverfe fate malign'd,
Unweeting of mishap; and wrought me doom,
Drench'd with excefs of wine: prone from the top
Of Circe's tower I fell, and the neck-bones
Disjointing dy'd. But to your pious care
Suppliant, I beg by those endearing names
Of parent, wife, and fon (though diftant, dear
your remembrance) when you re-afcend
To Circe's blissful ifle, to my remains
Discharge funereal rites; nor let me lie
Unwept, unbury'd there, left heaven avenge
The dire neglect. While the devouring flames
Confume my earthy, on the flagrant pile
My armour caft compleat; then raise a tomb
memorial on the foamy ftrand :
For my
And on it place that oar which erft I ply'd
With my affociates. Penfive I rejoin,
Poor Shade! I'll pay the decent rites you crave.
While with the friendly phantom I maintain'd
Such melancholy parly, with brandish'd ficel
Guarding the goary pool, I through th' obfcure
My mother view'd her lineage fhe deriv'd
From Maia's wingy fon, and ceas'd to breath
This vital air, fince I my legion led
To war on Ilium. From my pitying eyes
Abundant forrow ftream'd; but though regret
Wither'd my refolution, from the pool
I made the dear maternal form recede,
Till I fhould learn from the grave Theban feer
The fum of fate. The fage at length advanc'd
Bearing a golden fceptre, and began:
Son of Laertes, what misfortunes dire Compel your progrefs from th' all-chearing fun, And heavenly azure, in this feat of woe To roam among the dead? But from the pool
Withdraw, and sheath your faulchion, while I taste
That bloody beverage, then the fates decree
Inftant I'll utter. Sudden I withdrew,
Sheathing my faulchion whilft he drank the gore;
Then thus the feer pronounc'd the fates decree.
What means may best befit your wish'd return,
Illuftrious Greek! you'd know. The fovereign power
Whose strong earth-fhaking mace the floods revere,
Infidious waits a time to wreak revenge
For Polypheme, his fon; whofe visual orb
You late eclips'd with ever-during shade.
Howe'er you fafe may voyage, and avoid
Disasters various, if your mates refrain
From facrilegious spoil, when fafe they tread
Trinacria's her by foil: for there the flocks
And herds of Phoebus, o'er the verdurous lawn
Browze fattening pafture (he the world's great eye
Views all below his orient beam, nor ought
Can fhun his wakeful ear) with evil hand
If them they feize, unerring I foretell
An hideous wreck. Unequal to the storm
Your fhip, deep in the nether waves ingulft,
Shall perish with her crew: you shall regain
The dry, without furviving friend to cheer
Your pilgrim-steps; however late and hard,
You fhall revifit your lov'd natal shoar,
Transported in a vessel not your own.
Much of domestic damage, and mifrule,
Will fadden your return; for in your court
Suitors voluptuous fwarm; with amorous wiles
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