Nor fits my age to till the labour'd lands,
Or stoop to tasks a rural lord demands.
Adieu! but since this ragged garb can bear
So ill the inclemencies of morning air,
A few hours space permit me here to stay;
My steps Eumæus shall to town convey,
With riper beams when Phoebus warms the day." 30
Thus he nor aught Telemachus replied,
But left the mansion with a lofty stride:
Schemes of revenge his pondering breast elate,
Revolving deep the suitors' sudden fate.
Arriving now before the imperial hall,
He props his spear against the pillar'd wall;
Then like a lion o'er the threshold bounds;
The marble pavement with his step resounds:
His eye first glanced where Euryclea spreads
With furry spoils of beasts the splendid beds:
She saw, she wept, she ran with eager pace,
And reach'd her master with a long embrace.
All crowded round the family appears
With wild entrancement, and ecstatic tears.
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
"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
Thy father's fate, and tell me all thy own."
"Oh dearest! most revered of woman kind! 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; 60
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 Peiræus' 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 Peiræus came.
The stranger guest pursued him close behind;
Whom when Telemachus beheld, he join❜d.
He (when Peiræus ask'd for slaves to bring
The gifts and treasures of the Spartan king)
Thus thoughtful answer'd: "Those we shall not
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; 105
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 friend!
Say, to my mournful couch shall I ascend?
(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 shakes 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 farther 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. 135
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, 140
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.
Oh 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: 155
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 seaborn 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, 170
But droop'd her head, and drew a secret sigh.
When Theoclymenus the seer began:
"Oh suffering consort of the suffering man! What human knowledge could, those kings might tell;
But I the secrets of high Heaven reveal.
Before the first of gods be this declared,
Before the board whose blessing we have shared ;
Witness the genial rites, and witness all
This house holds sacred in her ample wall!
Ev'n now, this instant, great Ulysses, laid
At rest, or wandering in his country's shade,
Their guilty deeds, in hearing, and in view,
Secret revolves; and plans the vengeance due.
Of this sure auguries the gods bestow'd,
When first our vessel anchor'd in your road."
"Succeed those omens, Heaven!" the queen re-
join'd,
"So shall our bounties speak a grateful mind;
And every envied happiness attend
The man who calls Penelope his friend."
Thus communed they while in the marble court (Scene of their insolence) the lords resort; Athwart the spacious square each tries his art, To whirl the disk or aim the missile dart.
Now did the hour of sweet repast arrive,
And from the field the victim flocks they drive: 195
Medon the herald, (one who pleased them best,
And honour'd with a portion of their feast,)
To bid the banquet, interrupts their play :
Swift to the hall they haste; aside they lay
Their garments, and succinct the victims slay.
Then sheep, and goats, and bristly porkers bled,
And the proud steer was o'er the marble spread.
While thus the copious banquet they provide,
Along the road conversing side by side,
Proceed Ulysses and the faithful swain:
When thus Eumæus, generous and humane:
"To town, observant of our lord's behest,
Now let us speed; my friend, no more my guest!
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