From thence we climb'd a point, whose airy brow
Commands the prospect of the plains below:
No tracts of beasts, or signs of men, we found,

200

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115

But smoky volumes rolling from the ground.
Two with our herald thither we command,
With speed to learn what men possess'd the land.
They went, and kept the wheel's smooth beaten road
Which to the city drew the mountain wood;
When lo! they met beside a crystal spring,
The daughter of Antiphates the king:
She to Artacia's silver streams came down
(Artacia's streams alone supply the town):
The damsel they approach, and ask'd what race
The people were? who monarch of the place?
With joy the maid the unwary strangers heard,
And shew'd them where the royal dome appear'd.
They went; but, as they entering saw the queen
Of size enormous, and terrific mien

(Not yielding to some bulky mountain's height),
A sudden horror struck their aching sight.
Swift at her call her husband scour'd away
To wreak his hunger on the destined prey;
One for his food the raging glutton slew,
But two rush'd out, and to the navy flew.

Balk'd of his prey, the yelling monster flies,
And fills the city with his hideous cries;
A ghastly band of giants hear the roar,

And, pouring down the mountains, crowd the shore.
Fragments they rend from off the craggy brow,
And dash the ruins on the ships below:
The crackling vessels burst; hoarse groans arise,
And mingled horrors echo to the skies;
The men, like fish, they stuck upon the flood,
And cramm'd their filthy throats with human food.
Whilst thus their fury rages at the bay,
My sword our cables cut, I call'd to weigh;
And charged my men, as they from fate would fly,
Each nerve to strain, each bending oar to ply.
The sailors catch the word, their oars they seize,
And sweep with equal strokes the smoky seas:
Clear of the rocks the impatient vessel flies;
Whilst in the port each wretch encumber'd dies.
With earnest haste my frighted sailors press,
While kindling transports glow'd at our success;
But the sad fate that did our friends destroy
Cool'd every breast, and damp'd the rising joy.

Now dropp'd our anchors in the mean bay,
Where Circe dwelt, the daughter of the Day!
Her mother Persè, of old Ocean's strain,
Thus from the Sun descended, and the Main
(From the same lineage stern ætes came,
The far-famed brother of the enchantress dame),
Goddess, and queen, to whom the powers belong
Of dreadful magic, and commanding song.
Some god directing to this peaceful bay
Silent we came, and melancholy lay,

The joyful crew survey his mighty size,
And on the future banquet feast their eyes,
As huge in length extended lay the beast;
Then wash their hands, and hasten to the feast
There, till the setting sun roll'd down the light,
They sate indulging in the genial rite.
When evening rose, and darkness cover'd o'er
120 The face of things, we slept along the shore.

But when the rosy morning warm'd the east,
My men I summon'd, and these words address'd.
Followers and friends! attend what I propose:
Ye sad companions of Ulysses' woes!

.25 We know not here what land before us lies,
Or to what quarter now we turn our eyes,
Or where the sun shall set, or where shall rise.
Here let us think (if thinking be not vain)
If any counsel, any hope remain.

130 Alas! from yonder promontory's brow
I view'd the coast, a region flat and low:
An isle encircled with the boundless flood;
A length of thickets, and entangled wood.
Some smoke I saw amid the forest rise,

135 And all around it only seas and skies!

With broken hearts my sad companions stood,
Mindful of Cyclops and his human food,
And horrid Læstrigons, the men of blood.
Presaging tears apace began to rain;
110 But tears in mortal miseries are vain.
In equal parts I straight divide my band,
And name a chief each party to command;
I led the one, and of the other side
Appointed brave Eurylochus the guide.
Then in the brazen helm the lots we throw,
And fortune casts Eurylochus to go:

145

He march'd with twice eleven in his train;
Pensive they march, and pensive we remain.
The palace in a woody vale they found,
150 High raised of stone; a shaded space around;
Where mountain wolves and brindled lions roam,
(By magic tamed) familiar to the dome.
With gentle blandishment our men they meet,
And wag their tails, and fawning lick their feet.
155 As from some feast a man returning late,
His faithful dogs all meet him at the gate,
Rejoicing round, some morsel to receive
(Such as the good man ever used to give).
Domestic thus the grisly beasts drew near:
160 They gaze with wonder not unmix'd with fear.
Now on the threshold of the dome they stood,
And heard a voice resounding through the wood:
Placed at her loom within, the goddess sung:
The vaulted roofs and solid pavement rung.
O'er the fair web the rising figures shine,
Immortal labour! worthy hands divine.
Polites to the rest the question moved
(A gallant leader, and a man I loved).

165

170 (Or nymph, or goddess) echoes from the room?
Say, shall we seek access? With that they call;
And wide unfold the portals of the hall.

Spent and o'erwatch'd. Two days and nights roll'd on,
And now the third succeeding morning shone.
I climb'd a cliff, with spear and sword in hand,
Whose ridge o'erlook'd a shady length of land:
To learn if aught of mortal works appear,
Or cheerful voice of mortal strike the ear?
From the high point I mark'd, in distant view,
A stream of curling smoke ascending blue,
And spiry tops, the tufted trees above.
Of Circe's palace bosom'd in the grove.
Thither to haste, the region to explore,

Was first my thought: but speeding back to shore
I deem'd it best to visit first my crew,
And send out spies the dubious coast to view,
As down the hill I solitary go,

Some power divine, who pities human woe,
Sent a tall stag, descending from the wood,
To cool his fervour in the crystal flood;
Luxuriant on the wave-worn bank he lay,
Stretch'd forth and panting in the sunny ray.
I launch'd my spear, and with a sudden wound
Transpierced his back, and fix'd him to the ground.
He falls, and mourns his fate with human cries:
Through the wide wound the vital spirit flies.
I drew, and casting on the river's side
The bloody spear, his gather'd feet I tied
With twining osiers which the bank supplied.
An ell in length the pliant wisp I weaved,
And the huge body on my shoulders heaved:
Then leaning on my spear with both my hands,
Upbore my load, and press'd the sinking sands

The goddess rising, asks her guests to stay,
Who blindly follow where she leads the way.

175 Eurylochus alone of all the band,

210

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220

225

230

235

210

215

250

255

230

265

.80

190

Suspecting fraud, more prudently remain'd.
On thrones around with downy coverings graced,
With semblance fair the unhappy men she placed.
Milk newly press'd, the sacred flour of wheat,
And honey fresh, and Prammian wines the treat:
But venom'd was the bread, and mix'd the bowl,
With drugs of force to darken all the soul:
Soon in the luscious feast themselves they lost,
And drank oblivion of their native coast.
185 Instant her circling wand the goddess waves,
To hogs transforms them, and the sty receives.
No more was seen the human form divine;
Head, face, and members, bristle into swine:
Still cursed with sense, their minds remain alone,
And their own voice affrights them when they groan.
Meanwhile the goddess in disdain bestows
The mast and acorn, brutal food! and strows
The fruits of cornel, as their feast, around;
Now prone and groveling on unsavory ground.
Eurylochus, with pensive steps and slow,
Aghast returns; the messenger of woe,

270

275

290

285

195

And bitter fate. To speak he made essay,
In vain essay'd, nor would his tongue obey.
His swelling heart denied the words their way:
But speaking tears the want of words supply,
And the full soul bursts copious from his eye.
Affrighted, anxious for our fellows' fates,
We press to hear what sadly he relates.

We went, Ulysses! (Such was thy command!)
Through the lone thicket and the desert land.
A palace in a woody vale we found

Brown with dark forests, and with shades around.
A voice celestial echoed from the done,
Or nymph or goddess, chanting to the loom.
Access we sought, nor was access denied:
Radiant she came; the portals open'd wide:
The goddess mild invites the guests to stay:
They blindly follow where she leads the way..
I only wait behind of all the train:

I waited long, and eyed the doors in vain :
The rest are vanish'd, none repass'd the gate;
And not a man appears to tell their fate.

I heard, and instant o'er my shoulders flung
The belt in which my weighty falchion hung
(A beamy blade): then seized the bended bow,
And bade him guide the way, resolved to go.
He, prostrate falling, with both hands embraced
My knees, and weeping thus his suit address'd.

O king, beloved of Jove, thy servant spare,
And ah, thyself the rash attempt forbear!
Never, alas! thou never shalt return,
Or see the wretched for whose loss we mourn.
With what remains from certain ruin fly,
And save the few not fated yet to die.

I answer'd stern. Inglorious then remain,
Here feast and loiter, and desert thy train.
Alone, unfriended, will I tempt my way;
The laws of fate compel, and I obey.

This said, and scornful turning froif the shore

My haughty step, I stalk'd the valley o'er.
Till now approaching nigh the magic bower,

305 Ulysses? Oh! thy threatening fury cease,

395

400

Sheath thy bright sword, and join our hands in peace!
Let mutual joys our mutual trust combine.
And love, and love-born confidence, be thine.
And how, dread Circe! (furious I rejoin)
310 Can love, and love-born confidence be mine!
Beneath thy charms when my companions groan,
Transform'd to beasts, with accents not their own.
O thou of fraudful heart, shall I be led
To share thy feast-rites, or ascend thy bed;

315 That, all unarm'd, thy vengeance may have vent,
And magic bind me, cold and impotent?
Celestial as thou art yet stand denied ;

Or swear that oath by which the gods are tried,
Swear, in thy soul no latent frauds remain,

320 Swear by the vow which never can be vain.

330

335

The goddess swore then seized my hand, and led
To the sweet transports of the genial bed.
Ministrant to the queen, with busy care
Four faithful handmaids the soft rites prepare ;

325 Nymphs sprung from fountains, or from shady woods,
Or the fair offspring of the sacred floods.
Ore o'er the couches painted carpets threw,
Whose purple lustre glow'd against the view:
White linen lay beneath. Another placed
The silver stands, with golden flaskets graced :
With dulcet beverage this the beaker crown'd,
Fair in the midst, with gilded cups around;
That in the tripod o'er the kindled pile
The water pours; the bubbling waters boil;
An ample vase receives the smoaking wave;
And, in the bath prepared, my limbs I lave
Reviving sweets repair the mind's decay,
And take the painful sense of toil away.
A vest and tunic o'er me next she threw,
340 Fresh from the bath, and dropping balmy dew;
Then led and placed me on the sovereign seat,
With carpets spread; a footstool at my feet.
The golden ewer a nymph obsequious brings,
Replenish'd from the cool translucent springs
345 With copious water the bright vase supplies
A silver laver of capacious size.

Where dwelt the enchantress skill'd in herbs of power;
A form divine forth issued from the wood
(Immortal Hermes with the golden rod)
In human semblance. On his bloomy face
Youth smiled celestial, with each opening grace.
He seized my hand, and gracious thus began.
Ah whither roam'st thou, much-enduring man?
O blind to fate I what led thy steps to rove
The horrid mazes of this magic grove?
Each friend you seek in yon enclosure lies,
All lost their form, and habitants of sties.
Think'st thou by wit to model their escape?
Sooner shalt thou, a stranger to thy shape,
Fall prone their equal: first thy danger know,
Then take the antidote the gods bestow.
The plant I give, through all the direful bower
Shall guard thee, and avert the evil hour.
Now hear her wicked arts. Before thy eyes
The bowl shall sparkle, and the banquet rise;
Take this, nor from the faithless feast abstain,
For temper'd drugs and poison shall be vain
Soon as she strikes her wand, and gives the word,
Draw forth and brandish thy refulgent sword,
And menace death; those menaces shall move
Her alter'd mind to blandishment and love.
Nor shun the blessing proffer'd to thy arms,
Ascend her bed, and taste celestial charms:
So shall thy tedious toils a respite find,
And thy lost friends return to human-kind.
But swear her first by those dread oaths that tie
The powers below, the blessed in the sky;
Lest to thee naked secret fraud be meant,
Or magic bind thee cold and impotent.

Thus while he spoke, the sovereign plant he drew
Where on the all-bearing earth unmark'd it grew,
And shew'd its nature and its wondrous power:
Black was the root, but milky white the flower;
Moly the name, to mortals hard to find,
But all is easy to the etherial kind.
This Hermes gave, then, gliding off the glade,
Shot to Olympus from the woodland shade.
While, full of thought, revolving fates to come,
I speed my passage to the enchanted dome.
Arrived, before the lofty gates I stay'd;
The lofty gates the goddess wide display'd:
She leads before, and to the feast invites;
I follow sadly to the magic rites.
Radiant with starry studs, a silver seat
Received my limbs: a footstool eased my feet.
She mix'd the potion, fraudulent of soul;
The poison mantled in the golden bowl.

405

410

416

420

425

436

435

350

'355

I wash'd. The table in fair order spread,
They heap the glittering canisters with bread;
Viands of various kinds allure the taste,
Of choicest sort and savour, rich repast!
Circe in vain invites the feast to share ;
Absent I ponder, and absorpt in care:
While scenes of woe rose anxious in my breast,
The queen beheld me, and these words addrest.
Why sits Ulysses silent and apart,

440

415

360

Some hoard of grief close harbour'd at his heart?
Untouch'd before thee stand the cates divine,
And unregarded laughs the rosy wine.
Can yet a doubt or any dread remain,
When sworn that oath which never can be vain ?
I answer'd-Goddess! human is my breast,

450

By justice sway'd, by tender pity press'd:
Ill fits it me, whose friends are sunk to beasts,
To quaff thy bowls, or riot in thy feasts.

365 Me wouldst thou please? for them thy cares employ, 455 And them to me restore, and me to joy.

With that she parted; in her potent hand
She bore the virtue of the magic wand.
Then, hastening to the sties, set wide the door,

370 Urged forth, and drove the bristly herd before;
Unwieldy, out they rush'd with general cry,
Enormous beasts dishonest to the eye.

466

Now touch'd by counter-charms they change again,
And stand majestic, and recall'd to men.

375 Those hairs of late that bristled every part,
Fall off, miraculous effect of art!
Till all the form in full proportion rise

465

More young, more large, more grateful to my eyes.

They saw, they knew me, and with eager pace
Clung to their master in a long embrace:
Sad, pleasing sight! with tears each eye ran o'e",
And sobs of Joy re-echo'd through the bower:
Even Circe wept, her adamantine heart
Felt pity enter, and sustain'd her part.

Son of Laërtes! (then the queen began)
Oh much-enduring, much experienced inan!
Haste to thy vessel on the sea-beat shore,
Unload thy treasures, and the galley moor;
Then bring thy friends, secure from future harms,
And in our grottoes stow thy spoils and arm3.
She said. Obédient to her high command

I quit the place, and hasten to the strand.
My sad companions on the beach I found,

Is this, Ulysses, our inglorious lot?
470 And is the name of Ithaca forgot?

Shall never the dear land in prospect rise.
Or the loved palace glitter in our eyes ?
Melting I heard; yet till the sun's decline
Prolong'd the feast, and quaff'd the rosy wine:

475 But when the shades came on at evening hour,
And all lay slumbering in the dusky bower;
I came a suppliant to fair Circe's bed,
The tender moment seized, and thus I said.
Be mindful, goddess! of thy promise made;
Must sad Ulysses ever be delay'd?

480

485

Around their lord my sad companions mourn,

Each breast beats homeward, anxious to return:
If but a moment parted from thy eyes,

560

565

570

Their tears flow round me, and my heart complies. 575

Go then (she cried), al go! yet think, not I,

Not Circe, but the Fates, your wish deny.

Their wistful eyes in floods of sorrow drown'd.

As from fresh pastures and the dewy field
(When loaded cribs their evening banquet yield)
The lowing herds return; around them throng
With leaps and bounds their late imprison'd young,
Rush to their mothers with unruly joy,
And echoing hills return the tender cry:
So round me press'd, exulting at my sight,
With cries and agonies of wild delight,

490

Ah hope not yet to breathe thy native air!
Far other journey first demands thy care:
To tread the uncomfortable paths beneath,
And view the realms of darkness and of death.
There seek the Theban bard, deprived of sight;
Within, irradiate with prophetic light;
To whom Persephonè, entire and whole,
Gave to retain the unseparated soul:

The weeping sailors; nor less fierce their joy
Than if return'd to Ithaca from Troy.
Ah master! ever honour'd, ever dear!
(These tender words on every side I hear)
What other joy can equal thy return?
Not that loved country for whose sight we mourn,
The soil that nursed us, and that gave us breath:
But ah! relate our lost companions' death.

I answer'd cheerfully. Haste, your galley moor,
And bring our treasures and our arms ashore:
Those in yon hollow caverns let us lay;
Then rise and follow where I lead the way.
Your fellows live: believe your eyes, and come
To taste the joys of Circe's sacred dome.

With ready speed the joyful crew obey:
Alone Eurylochus persuades their stay.
Whither (he cried) ah whither will ye run?
Seek ye to meet those evils ye should shun?
Will you the terrors of the dome explore,
In swine to grovel, or in lions roar,
Gr wolf-like howl away the midnight hour
In dreadful watch around the magic bower?
Remember Cyclops, and his bloody deed;

The leader's rashness made the soldiers bleed.

I heard incensed, and first resolved to speed

My flying falchion at the rebel's head.
Dear as he was, by ties of kindred bound,

495 The rest are forms, of empty ether made;
Impassive semblance, and a flitting shade.
Struck at the word, my very heart was dead:
Pensive I sate; my tears bedew'd the bed;
To hate the light and life my soul begun,
And saw that all was grief beneath the sun.
Composed at length, the gushing tears suppress'd,
And my toss'd limbs now wearied into rest,
How shall I tread (I cried) al, Circe; say,
The dark descent, and who shall guide the way?
505 Can living eyes behold the realms below?
What bark to waft me, and what wind to blow?
Thy fated road (the magic power replied)
Divine Ulysses; asks no mortal guide.
Rear but the mast, the spacious sail display,
510 The northern winds shall wing thee on thy way.
Soon shalt thou reach old Ocean's utmost ends,
Where to the main the shelving shore descends;
The barren trees of Proserpine's black woods,
Poplars and willows trembling o'er the floods:

515 There fix thy vessel in the lonely bay,

And enter there the kingdoms void of day:
Where Phlegethon's loud torrents, rushing down,
Hiss in the flaming gulf of Acheron;
And where, slow rolling from the Stygian bed,
Cocytus' lamentable waters spread

521

Where the dark rock o'erhangs the infernal lake,
And mingling streams eternal murmurs make.
First draw thy falchion, and on every side
Trench the black earth a cubit long and wide:
525 To all the shades around libations pour,

This hand had stretch'd him breathless on the ground,
But all at once my interposing train
For mercy pleaded, nor could plead in vain.
Leave here the man who dares his prince desert,
Leave to repentance and his own sad heart,
To guard the ship. Seek we the sacred shades
Of Circe's palace, where Ulysses leads.

This with one voice declared, the rising train
Left the black vessel by the murmuring main.
Shame touch'd Eurylochus's alter'd breast,
He fear'd my threats, and follow'd with the rest.
Meanwhile the goddess, with indulgent cares
And social joys, the late transform'd repairs;
The bath, the feast, their fainting soul renews;
Rich in refulgent robes, and dropping balmy dews:
Brightening with joy their eager eyes behold
Each other's face, and each his story told;
Then gushing tears the narrative confound,
And with their sobs the vaulted roof resound.
When hush'd their passion, thus the goddess cries:
Ulysses, taught by labours to be wise,
Let this short memory of grief suffice.
To me are known the various woes ye bore,
In storms by sea, in perils on the shore;
Forget whatever was in Fortune's power,
And share the pleasures of this genial hour.
Such be your minds as ere ye left your coast,
Or learn'd to sorrow for a country lost.
Exiles and wanderers now, where'er ye go
Too faithful memory renews your woe:
The cause removed, habitual griefs remain,
And the soul saddens by the use of pain.

535

540

555

And o'er the ingredients strew the hallow'd flour:
New wine and milk, with honey-temper'd, bring;
And living water from the crystal spring.
Then the wan shades and feeble ghosts implore,
530 With promised offerings on thy native shore;
A barren cow, the stateliest of the isle.
And, heap'd with various wealth, a blazing pile
These to the rest; but to the seer must bleed
A sable ram, the pride of all thy breed.
These solemn vows and boly offerings paid
To all the phantom nations of the dead;
Be next thy care the sable sheep to place
Full o'er the pit, and hellward turn their face:
But from the infernal rite thine eye withdraw,
And back to Ocean glance with reverend awe.
Sudden shall skim along the dusky glades
Thin airy shoals, and visionary shades.
Then give command the sacrifice to haste,
Let the flay'd victims in the flames be cast,
545 And sacred vows and mystic song applied
To grisly Pluto and his gloomy bride.
Wide o'er the pool thy falchion waved around
Shall drive the spectres from forbidden ground:
The sacred draught shall all the dead forbear,
550 Till awful from the shades arise the seer.
Let him, oraculous, the end, the way,
The turns of all thy future fate, display,
Thy pilgrimage to come, and remuant of thy day.
So speaking, from the ruddy orient shone
The morn, conspicuous on her golden throne.
The goddess with a radiant tunic dress'd
My limbs, and o'er me cast a silken vest.
Long flowing robes, of purest white, array
The nymph, that added lustre to the day:

650

Her kind entreaty moved the general breast;
Tired with long toil, we willing sunk to rest.
We plied the banquet, and the bowl we crown'd,
Till the full circle of the year came round.
But when the seasons, following in their train,
Brought back the months, the days, and hours again;
As from a lethargy at once they rise,
And urge their chief with animating cries.

655 Unhappy race! whom endless night invades,
Clouds the dull air, and wraps them round in shades. 20
The ship we moor on these obscure-abodes:
Disbark the sheep, an offering to the gods;
And, hel!ward bending, o'er the beach descry
660 The doleful passage to the infernal sky.
The victims, vow'd to each Tartarean power,
Eurylochus and Derimedes bore.

Here open'd hell, all hell I here implored,
And from the scabbard drew the shining sword:
665 And trenching the black earth on every side,
A cavern form'd, a cubit long and wide.
New wine, with honey-temper'd milk, we bring,
Then living waters from the crystal spring:
O'er these was strew'd the consecrated flour,
670 And on the surface shone the holy store.

675 So in our palace, at our safe return,
Rich with unnumber'd gifts the pile shall burn:
So shall a ram, the largest of the breed,
Black as these regions, to Tiresias bleed.
Thus solemn rites and holy vows we paid

680 To all the phantom-nations of the dead,
Then died the sheep: a purple torrent flow'd,
And all the caverns smoked with streaming blood.
When lo! appear'd along the dusky coasts,
Thin, airy shoals of visionary ghosts:
Fair, pensive youths, and soft enamour'd maids:
And wither'd elders, pale and wrinkled shades;
Ghastly with wounds the forms of warriors slain
Stalk'd with majestic port, a martial train:
These and a thousand more swarm'd o'er the ground,

Who eyes their motion? who shall trace their way? 690 And all the dire assembly shriek'd around.

When late stern Neptune points the shaft with death:
To the dark grave retiring as to rest,
Thy people blessing, by thy people bless'd!
Unerring truths, oh man, my lips relate;

This is thy life to come, and this is fate.

To whom unmoved: If this the gods prepare,
What heaven ordains the wise with courage bear.
But say, why yonder on the lonely strands,
Unmindful of her son, Anticlea stands?
Why to the ground she bends her downcast eye?
Why is she silent while her son is nigh?
The latent cause, oh sacred seer, reveal!

Here lakes profound, there floods oppose their waves,
There the wide sea with all his billows raves !
Or (since to dust proud Troy submits her towers)
Comest thou a wanderer from the Phrygian shores?

Nor this, replies the seer, will I conceal. Know, to the spectres, that thy beverage taste, The scenes of life recur, and actions past: They, seal'd with truth, return the sure reply; The rest, repell'd, a train oblivious fly.

The phantom-prophet ceased, and sunk from sight To the black palace of eternal night.