Swift from above descends the royal fair;
(Her beauteous cheeks the blush of Venus wear,
Chasten'd with coy Diana's pensive air ;)
Hangs o'er her son; in his embraces dies;
Rains kisses on his neck, his face, his eyes:
Few words she spoke, though much she had to say;
And scarce those few, for tears, could force their
way.

"Light of my eyes! he comes! unhoped-for joy! Has heaven from Pylos brought my lovely boy? So snatch'd from all our cares!-Tell, hast thou known

Thy father's fate, and tell me all thy own."

"O dearest, most revered of womankind; Cease with those tears to melt a manly mind (Replied the prince ;) nor be our fates deplored, From death and treason to thy arms restored. Go bathe, and robed in white, ascend the towers; With all thy handmaids thank the immortal powers; To every god vow hecatombs to bleed, And call Jove's vengeance on their guilty deed: While to the assembled council I repair; A stranger sent by heaven attends me there; My new-accepted guest I haste to find, Now to Piraeus' honour'd charge consign'd."

The matron heard, nor was his word in vain.
She bathed; and robed in white with all her train,
To every god vow'd hecatombs to bleed,
And call'd Jove's vengeance on the guilty deed.
Arm'd with his lance the prince then pass'd the gate;
Two dogs behind, a faithful guard, await:
Pallas his form with grace divine improves;
The gazing crowd admires him as he moves.
Him gathering round, the haughty suitors greet
With semblance fair, but inward deep deceit.
Their false addresses generous he denied;
Pass'd on, and sat by faithful Mentor's side;
With Antiphus, and Halitherses sage,
(His father's counsellors, revered for age.)
Of his own fortunes, and Ulysses' fame,
Much ask'd the seniors; till Piraeus came.
The stranger-guest pursued him close behind;
Whom when Telemachus beheld, he join'd.
He (when Piræus ask'd for slaves to bring
The gifts and treasures of the Spartan king)
Thus thoughtful answer'd: "Those we shall not
move,

Dark and unconscious of the will of Jove;
We know not yet the full event of all:
Stabb'd in his palace if your prince must fall,
Us and our house if treason must o'erthrow,
Better a friend possess them, than a foe:

If death to these, and vengeance, heaven decree,
Riches are welcome then, not else, to me.
Till then, retain the gifts."-The hero said,
And in his hand the willing stranger led.
Then disarray'd, the shining bath they sought,
(With unguents smooth) of polish'd marble wrought.
Obedient handmaids with assistant toil
Supply the limpid wave and fragrant oil:
Then o'er their limbs refulgent robes they threw,
And fresh from bathing to their seats withdrew.
The golden ewer a nymph attendant brings,
Replenish'd from the pure translucent springs;
With copious streams that golden ewer supplies
A silver laver of capacious size.

They wash the table, in fair order spread,
Is piled with viands and the strength of bread.
Full opposite, before the folding gate,
The pensive mother sits in humble state.

Lowly she sat, and with dejected view
The fleecy threads her ivory fingers drew.
The prince and stranger shared the genial feast,
Till now the rage of thirst and hunger ceased.

When thus the queen:-"My son! my only
Say, to my mournful couch shall I ascend? [friend!
(The couch deserted now a length of years,
The couch for ever water'd with my tears)
Say wilt thou not (ere yet the suitor-crew
Return, and riot shake our walls anew)
Say wilt thou not the least account afford?
The least glad tidings of my absent lord?"

To her the youth: "We reach'd the Pylian plains,
Where Nestor, shepherd of his people, reigns.
All arts of tenderness to him are known,
Kind to Ulysses' race as to his own;
No father with a fonder grasp of joy
Strains to his bosom his long-absent boy.
But all unknown, if yet Ulysses breathe,
Or glide a spectre in the realms beneath:
For further search, his rapid steeds transport
My lengthen'd journey to the Spartan court.
There Argive Helen I beheld; whose charms
(So heaven decreed) engaged the great in arms.
My cause of coming told, he thus rejoin'd;
And still his words live perfect in my mind:
"Heavens! would a soft, inglorious, dastard train
An absent hero's nuptial joys profane?
So with her young, amid the woodland shades,
A timorous hind the lion's court invades,
Leaves in that fatal lair her tender fawns,
And climbs the cliff, or feeds along the lawns;
Meantime returning, with remorseless sway
The monarch savage rends the panting prey.
With equal fury, and with equal fame,
Shall great Ulysses reassert his claim.

O Jove! supreme! whom men and gods revere;
And thou, whose lustre gilds the rolling sphere!
With power congenial join'd, propitious aid
The chief adopted by the martial maid!
Such to our wish the warrior soon restore,
As when, contending on the Lesbian shore,
His prowess Philomelides confess'd,

And loud acclaiming Greeks the victor bless'd.
Then soon the invaders of his bed, and throne,
Their love presumptuous shall by death atone.
Now what you question of my ancient friend,
With truth I answer--thou the truth attend.
Learn what I heard the sea-born seer relate,
Whose eye can pierce the dark recess of fate.
Sole in an isle, imprison'd by the main,
The sad survivor of his numerous train,
Ulysses lies; detain'd by magic charms,
And press'd unwilling in Calypso's arms.
No sailors there, no vessels to convey,
Nor oars to cut the immeasurable way-'
This told Atrides, and he told no more.
Then safe I voyaged to my native shore."

He ceased; nor made the pensive queen reply,
But droop'd her head, and drew a secret sigh.
When Theoclymenus the seer began:
"O suffering consort of the suffering man! [tell;
What human knowledge could, those kings might
But I the secrets of high heaven reveal.
Before the first of gods be this declared,
Before the board whose blessings we have shared;
Witness the genial rites, and witness all
This house holds sacred in her ample wall!
Even now, this instant, great Ulysses laid
At rest, or wandering in his country's shade,

I see the smoke of sacrifice aspire,
And hear (what graces every feast) the lyre."
Then thus Eumæus :-" Judge we which were
Amidst yon revelers a sudden guest [best;
Choose you to mingle, while behind I stay?
Or I first entering introduce the way?
Wait for a space without; but wait not long.
This is the house of violence and wrong:
Some rude insult thy reverend age may bear;
For like their lawless lords, the servants are.'
"Just is, O friend! thy caution, and address'd
(Replied the chief) to no unheedful breast:
The wrongs and injuries of base mankind
Fresh to my sense, and always in my mind.
The bravely-patient to no fortune yields.
On rolling oceans, and in fighting fields,
Storms have I pass'd, and many a stern debate;
And now in humbler scene submit to fate.
What cannot want? the best she will expose;
And I am learn'd in all her train of woes.
She fills with navies, hosts, and loud alarms,
The sea, the land, and shakes the world with arms!"
Thus, near the gates conferring as they drew,
Argus, the dog, his ancient master knew;
He, not unconscious of the voice and tread,
Lifts to the sound his ear, and rears his head !—
Bred by Ulysses, nourish'd at his board;
But ah! not fated long to please his lord!
To him, his swiftness and his strength were vain;
The voice of glory call'd him o'er the main.
Till then in every sylvan chase renown'd,
With Argus, Argus, rung the woods around;
With him the youth pursued the goat or fawn,
Or traced the mazy leveret o'er the lawn.
Now left to man's ingratitude he lay,
Unhoused, neglected, in the public way;
And where on heaps the rich manure was spread,
Obscene with reptiles, took his sordid bed.

He knew his lord :--he knew, and strove to meet;
In vain he strove to crawl, and kiss his feet;
Yet (all he could) his tail, his ears, his eyes,
Salute his master, and confess his joys.
Soft pity touch'd the mighty master's soul:
Adown his cheek a tear unbidden stole ;
Stole unperceived; he turn'd his head, and dried
The drop humane:-then thus impassion'd cried:
"What noble beast in this abandon'd state
Lies here all helpless at Ulysses' gate!
His bulk and beauty speak no vulgar praise;
If, as he seems, he was in better days,
Some care his age deserves: or was he prized
For worthless beauty! therefore now despised?
Such dogs, and men there are; mere things of state,
And always cherish'd by their friends, the great."
"Not Argus so, (Eumæus thus rejoin'd)
But served a master of a nobler kind:
Who never, never, shall behold him more!
Long, long since perish'd on a distant shore!
O had you seen him, vigorous, bold, and young,
Swift as a stag, and as a lion strong!
Him no fell savage on the plain withstood,
None 'scaped him, bosom'd in the gloomy wood;
His eye how piercing, and his scent how true,
To wind the vapour in the tainted dew!
Such, when Ulysses left his natal coast;
Now years unnerve him, and his lord is lost!
The women keep the generous creature bare;
A sleek and idle race is all their care:
The master gone, the servants what restrains?
Or dwells humanity where riot reigns?

Jove fix'd it certain, that whatever day
Makes man a slave, takes half his worth away."
This said, the honest herdsman strode before:
The musing monarch pauses at the door;
The dog, whom fate had granted to behold
His lord, when twenty tedious years had roll'd,
Takes a last look, and, having seen him, dies;
So closed for ever faithful Argus' eyes!

And now Telemachus, the first of all,
Observed Eumæus entering in the hall:
Distant he saw, across the shady dome;
Then gave a sign, and beckon'd him to come.
There stood an empty seat, where late was placed,
In order due, the steward of the feast,
(Who now was busied carving round the board ;)
Eumæus took, and placed it near his lord.
Before him instant was the banquet spread,
And the bright basket piled with loaves of bread.
Next came Ulysses, lowly at the door,
A figure despicable, old, and poor,
In squalid vest, with many a gaping rent,
Propp'd on a staff, and trembling as he went.
Then, resting on the threshold of the gate,
Against a cypress pillar lean'd his weight,
(Smooth'd by the workman to a polish'd plain ;)
The thoughtful son beheld, and call'd his swain.
"These viands, and this bread, Eumæus, bear,
And let yon mendicant our plenty share:
Then let him circle round the suitors' board,
And try the bounty of each gracious lord.
Bold let him ask, encouraged thus by me;
How ill, alas! do want and shame agree.'

His lord's command the faithful servant bears; The seeming beggar answers with his prayers. "Bless'd be Telemachus! in every deed Inspire him, Jove! in every wish succeed!" This said, the portion from his son convey'd, With smiles receiving, on his scrip he laid. Long as the minstrel swept the sounding wire, He fed; and ceased when silence held the lyre. Soon as the suitors from the banquet rose, Minerva prompts the man of mighty woes To tempt their bounties with a suppliant's art, And learn the generous from the ignoble heart; (Not but his soul, resentful as humane, Dooms to full vengeance all the offending train.) With speaking eyes, and voice of plaintive sound, Humble he moves, imploring all around. The proud feel pity, and relief bestow, With such an image touch'd of human woe; Inquiring all, their wonder they confess, And eye the man, majestic in distress.

66

[eyes,

While thus they gaze, and question with their The bold Melanthius to their thought replies: My lords! this stranger of gigantic port The good Eumæus usher'd to your court. Full well I mark'd the features of his face, Though all unknown his clime, or noble race."

"And is this present, swincherd! of thy hand? Bring'st thou these vagrants to infest the land? (Returns Antinous with retorted eye) Objects uncouth! to check the genial joy. Enough of these our court already grace; Of giant stomach, and of famish'd face. Such guests Eumæus to his country brings, To share our feast, and lead the life of kings!" To whom the hospitable swain rejoin'd:

66

Thy passion, prince, belies thy knowing mind. Who calls from distant nations to his own The poor, distinguish'd by their wants alone?

Round the wide world are sought those men divine
Who public structures raise, or who design;
Those to whose eyes the gods their ways reveal,
Or bless with salutary arts to heal;
But chief to poets such respect belongs;
By rival nations courted for their songs:
These states invite, and mighty kings admire,
Wide as the sun displays his vital fire.
It is not so with want!-how few that feed
A wretch unhappy, merely for his need?
Unjust to me and all that serve the state,
To love Ulysses is to raise thy hate.
For me, suffice the approbation won
Of my great mistress, and her godlike son."
To him Telemachus ;-" No more incense
The man by nature prone to insolence :
Injurious minds just answers but provoke-"
Then turning to Antinous, thus he spoke :
"Thanks to thy care! whose absolute command
Thus drives the stranger from our court and land.
Heaven bless its owner with a better mind!
From envy free, to charity inclined.
This both Penelope and I afford :

Then, prince! be bounteous of Ulysses' board.
To give another's is thy hand so slow?

So much more sweet, to spoil, than to bestow?"
"Whence, great Telemachus! this lofty strain?
(Antinous cries with insolent disdain)
Portions like mine if every suitor gave,

Our walls this twelvemonth should not see the slave."

He spoke; and lifting high above the board His ponderous footstool, shook it at his lord. The rest with equal hand conferr'd the bread: He fill'd his scrip, and to the threshold sped; But first before Antinous stopp'd and said: "Bestow, my friend!—thou dost not seem the worst Of all the Greeks, but princelike and the first: Then as in dignity, be first in worth ;

[days;

And I shall praise thee through the boundless earth.
Once I enjoy'd, in luxury of state,
Whate'er gives man the envied name of great.
Wealth, servants, friends, were mine in better
And hospitality was then my praise;
In every sorrowing soul I pour'd delight,
And poverty stood smiling in my sight.
But Jove, all-governing, whose only will
Determines fate, and mingles good with ill,
Sent me (to punish my pursuit of gain)
With roving pirates o'er the Egyptian main:
By Egypt's silver flood our ships we moor:
Our spies commission'd straight the coast explore;
But impotent of mind, with lawless will
The country ravage, and the natives kill.
The spreading clamour to their city flies,
And horse and foot in mingled tumult rise:
The reddening dawn reveals the hostile fields
Horrid with bristly spears, and gleaming shields:
Jove thunder'd on their side: our guilty head
Weturn'd to flight; the gathering vengeance spread
On all parts round, and heaps on heaps lay dead.
Some few the foes in servitude detain;
Death ill exchanged for bondage and for pain!
Unhappy me a Cyprian took aboard;
And gave to Dmetor, Cyprus' haughty lord:
Hither, to 'scape his chains, my course I steer;
Still cursed by fortune, and insulted here!"

To whom Antinous thus his rage express'd :"What god has plagued us with this gormand guest?

Unless at distance, wreteh! thou keep behind,
Another isle, than Cyprus more unkind,
Another Egypt, shalt thou quickly find.
From all thou begg'st, a bold audacious slave,
Nor all can give so much as thou canst crave.
Nor wonder I at such profusion shown :-
Shameless they give, who give what's not their own."
The chief, retiring:- Souls like that in thee,
Ill suit such forms of grace and dignity.
Nor will that hand to utmost need afford
The smallest portion of a wasteful board,
Whose luxury whole patrimonies sweeps:--
Yet starving want amidst the riot weeps."

The haughty suitor with resentment burns;
And sourly smiling, this reply returns:
"Take that, ere yet thou quit this princely throng:
And dumb for ever be thy slanderous tongue !"
He said, and high the whirling tripod flung;
His shoulder-blade received the ungentle shock:
He stood, and moved not, like a marble rock;
But shook his thoughtful head: nor more com-
Sedate of soul, his character sustain'd, [plain'd;
And inly form'd revenge: then back withdrew;
Before his feet the well-fill'd scrip he threw,
And thus with semblance mild address'd the crew:
May what I speak your princely minds approve,
Ye peers and rivals in this noble love!
Not for the hurt I grieve, but for the cause.
If, when the sword our country's quarrel draws,
Or if defending what is justly dear,

From Mars impartial some broad wound we bear;
The generous motive dignifies the scar.
But for mere want, how hard to suffer wrong!
Want brings enough of other ills along!
Yet if injustice never be secure,

If fiends revenge, and gods assert the poor,
Death shall lay low the proud aggressor's head,
And make the dust Antinous' bridal bed."

"Peace, wretch; and eat thy bread without offence,

(The suitor cried) or force shall drag thee hence, Scourge through the public street, and cast thee there,

A mangled carcass for the hounds to tear."
His furious deed the general anger moved :
All, even the worst, condemn'd; and some reproved.
"Was ever chief for wars like these renown'd!
Ill fits the stranger and the poor to wound.
Unbless'd thy hand!-if in this low disguise
Wander, perhaps, some inmate of the skies;
They (curious oft of mortal actions) deign
In forms like these, to round the earth and main,
Just and unjust recording in their mind,
And with sure eyes inspecting all mankind.”

Telemachus, absorbed in thought severe,
Nourish'd deep anguish, though he shed no tear;
But the dark brow of silent sorrow shook :
While thus his mother to her virgins spoke :
"On him and his may the bright god of day
That base inhospitable blow repay!"

The nurse replies: "If Jove receives my prayer, Not one survives to breathe to-morrow's air."

"All, all are foes, and mischief is their end; Antinous most to gloomy death a friend (Replies the queen) the stranger begg'd their grace, And melting pity soften'd every face; From every other hand redress he found, But fell Antinous answer'd with a wound."

Amidst her maids thus spoke the prudent queen : Then bade Eumæus call the pilgrim in.

"Much of the experienced man I long to hear;
If or his certain eye, or listening ear,
Have learn'd the fortunes of my wandering lord."
Thus she;--and good Eumæus took the word :

"A private audience if thy grace impart,
The stranger's words may ease the royal heart.
His sacred eloquence in balm distils,
And the soothed heart with secret pleasure fills.
Three days have spent their beams, three nights have
Their silent journey, since his tale begun,
Unfinish'd yet; and yet I thirst to hear!

[run

As when some heaven-taught poet charms the ear,
(Suspending sorrow with celestial strain,
Breathed from the gods to soften human pain)
Time steals away with unregarded wing,
And the soul hears him, though he cease to sing.
"Ulysses late he saw, on Cretan ground,
(His father's guest) for Minos' birth renown'd.
He now but waits the wind, to waft him o'er,
With boundless treasure, from Thesprotia's shore."
To this the queen: "The wanderer let me hear,
While yon luxurious race indulge their cheer,
Devour the grazing ox, and browsing goat,
And turn my generous vintage down their throat.
For where's an arm like thine, Ulysses! strong,
To curb wild riot, and to punish wrong?"

She spoke :-Telemachus then sneez'd aloud;
Constrain'd, his nostril echoed through the crowd.
The smiling queen the happy omen bless'd :
"So may these impious fall, by fate oppress'd !”
Then to Eumæus: "Bring the stranger; fly!
And if my questions meet a true reply,
Graced with a decent robe he shall retire,
A gift in season which his wants require."
Thus spoke Penelope. Eumæus flies
In duteous haste, and to Ulysses cries:
"The queen invites thee, venerable guest!
A secret instinct moves her troubled breast,
Of her long absent lord from thee to gain
Some light, and soothe her soul's eternal pain.
If true, if faithful thou, her grateful mind
Of decent robes a present has design'd:
So finding favour in the royal eye,
Thy other wants her subjects shall supply."

Fair truth alone (the patient man replied) My words shall dictate, and my lips shall guide. To him, to me, one common lot was given, In equal woes, alas! involved by heaven. Much of his fates I know; but check'd by fear I stand-the hand of violence is here: Here boundless wrongs the starry skies invade, And injured suppliants seek in vain for aid. Let for a space the pensive queen attend, Nor claim my story till the sun descend; Then in such robes as suppliants may require, Composed and cheerful by the genial fire, When loud uproar and lawless riot cease, Shall her pleased ear receive my words in peace." Swift to the queen returns the gentle swain: "And say, (she cries) does fear, or shame, detain The cautious stranger? With the begging kind Shame suits but ill." Eumæus thus rejoin'd:

"He only asks a more propitious hour, And shuns (who would not?) wicked men in power; At evening mild, meet season to confer, By turns to question, and by turns to hear." "Whoe'er this guest (the prudent queen replies) His every step and every thought is wise. For men like these on earth he shall not find, In all the miscreant race of humankind,”

Thus she. Eumæus all her words attends, And, parting, to the suitor-powers descends: There seeks Telemachus; and thus apart In whispers breathes the fondness of his heart: "The time, my lord, invites me to repair Hence to the lodge; my charge demands my care. These sons of murder thirst thy life to take: O guard it, guard it, for thy servant's sake!" "Thanks to my friend (he cries) but now the hour Of night draws on: go, seek the rural bower: But first refresh: and at the dawn of day Hither a victim to the gods convey.

Our life to heaven's immortal powers we trust: Safe in their care; for heaven protects the just." Observant of his voice, Eumæus sat,

And fed recumbent on a chair of state;
Then instant rose, and as he moved along,
"Twas riot all amid the suitor-throng;

They feast, they dance, and raise the mirthful song,
Till now declining toward the close of day,
The sun obliquely shot his dewy ray.

BOOK XVIII.

ARGUMENT.

THE FIGHT OF ULYSSES AND IRUS.

The beggar Irus insults Ulysses; the suitors promote the quarrel, in which Irus is worsted, and miserably handled. Penelope descends, and receives the presents of the suitors. The dialogue of Ulysses with Eurymachus.

WHILE fix'd in thought the pensive hero sat,
A mendicant approach'd the royal gate;
A surly vagrant of the giant kind,
The stain of manhood, of a coward mind:
From feast to feast, insatiate to devour,
He flew, attendant on the genial hour.
Him on his mother's knees, when babe he lay,
She named Arnæus on his natal day:
But Irus his associates call'd the boy,
Practised, the common messenger, to fly ;
Irus, a name expressive of the employ.

From his own roof, with meditated blows,
He strove to drive the man of mighty woes.

"Hence, dotard, hence! and timely speed thy way, Lest dragg'd in vengeance thou repent thy stay; See how with nods assent yon princely train! But honouring age, in mercy I refrain. In peace away! lest, if persuasions fail, This arm with blows more eloquent prevail." To whom, with stern regard:-"Oh, insolence; Indecently to rail without offence !

What bounty gives, without a rival share:

I ask, what harms not thee, to breathe this air:
Alike on alms we both precarious live:
And canst thou envy when the great relieve?
Know from the bounteous heavens all riches flow;
And what man gives, the gods by man bestow.
Proud as thou art, henceforth no more be proud,
Lest I imprint my vengeance in thy blood;
Old as I am, should once my fury burn,
How wouldst thou fly, nor even in thought return!"
"Mere woman-glutton! (thus the churl replied)
A tongue so flippant, with a throat so wide!
Why cease I, gods! to dash those teeth away,
Like some vile boar's, that greedy of his prey
Uproots the bearded corn?-rise! try the fight;
Gird well thy loins; approach, and feel my might: