The spite of fortune too! her cruel hand
Snatch'd thee an infant from thy native land!
Snatch'd from thy parents' arms, thy parents'
To early wants! a man of miseries!
410 She then proceeds: Now let our compact made
Be nor by signal nor by word betray'd,
Nor near me any of your crew descried,
By road frequented, or by fountain side.
Be silence still our guard. The monarch's spies
(For watchful aid is ready to surmise)
Are still at hand; and this, reveal'd, must be
Death to yourselves, eternal chains to me.
Your vessel loaded, and your traffic past,
Dispatch a wary messenger with haste;
Then gold and costly treasures will I bring,
And more, the infant offspring of the king.
Him, child-like wandering forth, I lead away
(A noble prize!) and to your ship convey.
Thy whole sad story, from its first, declare:
Sunk the fair city by the rage of war,
Where once thy parents dwelt? or did they keep,
In humbler life, the lowing herds and sheep?
So left perhaps, to tend the fleecy train,
Rude pirates seized, and shipp'd thee o'er the main?
Doom'd a fair prize to grace some prince's board,
The worthy purchase of a foreign lord.
If then my fortunes can delight my friend,
A story fruitful of events attend:
Another's sorrow may thy ear enjoy,
And wine the lengthen'd intervals employ.
Long nights the now declining year bestows;
A part we consecrate to soft repose,
A part in pleasing talk we entertain;
For too much rest itself becomes a pain.
Let those, whom sleep invites, the call obey,
Their cares resuming with the dawning day:
*Here let us feast, and to the feast be join'd
Discourse, the sweeter banquet of the mind;
Review the series of our lives, and taste
The melancholy joy of evils past:
For he who much has suffer'd, much will know;
And pleased remembrance builds delight on woe.
Above Ortygia lies an isle of fame,
Far hence remote, and Syria is the name,
Thus spoke the dame, and homeward took the
road.
A year they traffic, and their vessel load.
Their stores complete, and ready now to weigh,
A spy was sent their summons to convey:
An artist to my father's palace came,
With gold and amber chains, elaborate frame:
430 Each female eye the glittering links employ;
They turn, review, and cheapen every toy.
He took the occasion, as they stood intent,
Gave her the sign and to his vessel went.
She straight pursued, and seized my willing arm;
I follow'd smiling, innocent of harm.
Three golden goblets in the porch she found,
(The guest not enter'd, but the table crown'd ;)
Hid in her fraudful bosom these she bore:
Now set the sun, and darken'd all the shore
(Their curious eyes, inscribed with wonder, trace 440 Arriving then, where tilting on the tides
The sun's diurnal, and his annual race;)
Not large, but fruitful; stored with grass, to keep
The bellowing oxen and the bleating sheep;
Her sloping hills the mantling vines adorn,
And her rich valleys wave with golden corn.
No want, no famine, the glad natives know,
Nor sink by sickness to the shades below;
But when a length of years unnerves the strong,
Apollo comes, and Cynthia comes along.
They bend the silver bow with tender skill,
And, void of pain, the silent arrows kill.
Two equal tribes this fertile land divide,
Where two fair cities rise with equal pride.
But both in constant peace one prince obey,
And Ctesius there, my father, holds the sway.
Freighted, it seems, with toys of every sort
A ship of Sidon anchor'd in our port;
What time it chanced the palace entertain'd,
Skill'd in rich works, a woman of their land:
This nymph, where anchor'd the Phoenician train,
To wash her robes descending to the main,
A smooth tongued sailor won her to his mind;
(For love deceives the best of womankind.)
A sudden trust from sudden liking grew;
She told her name, her race, and all she knew.
I too (she cried) from glorious Sidon came,
My father Arybas of wealthy fame:
But, snatch'd by pirates from my native place,
The Taphians sold me to this man's embrace.
Prepared to launch the freighted vessel rides,
Aboard they heave us, mount their decks, and sweep
With level oar along the grassy deep.
Six calmy days, and six smooth nights we sail,
And constant Jove supplied the gentle gale.
The seventh, the fraudful wretch (no cause de-
scried,)
Touch'd by Diana's vengeful arrow, died.
Down dropp'd the caitiff-corse, a worthless load,
450 Down to the deep; there roll'd, the future food
Offierce sea-wolves, and monsters of the flood.
An helpless infant I remain'd behind;
Thence borne to Ithaca by wave and wind;
Sold to Laërtes by divine command,
And now adopted to a foreign land.
To him the king. Reciting thus thy cares,
My secret sou! in all thy sorrow shares ;
But one choice blessing (such is Jove's high will)
Has sweeten'd all thy bitter draught of ill:
Torn from thy country to no hapless end,
The gods have, in a master, given a friend.
Whatever frugal nature needs is thine
(For she needs little,) daily bread and wine.
While I, so many wanderings past, and woes,
Live but on what thy poverty bestows.
So pass'd in pleasing dialogue away
The night; then down to short repose they lay;
Till radiant rose the messenger of day.
While in the port of Ithaca the band
Haste then (the false designing youth replied,) 470 Of young Telemachus approach'd the land:
Haste to thy country: love shall be thy guide:
Haste to thy father's house, thy father's breast;
For still he lives, and lives with riches bless'd.
"Swear first (she cried) ye sailors! to restore
A wretch in safety to her native shore."
Swift as she ask'd, the ready sailors swore.
Their sails they loosed, they lash'd the mast aside,
And cast their anchors, and the cables tied:
Then on the breezy shore descending, join
In grateful banquet o'er the rosy wine.
When thus the prince: Now each his course pursue;
I to the fields, and to the city you.
Long absent hence, I dedicate this day
My swains to visit, and the works survey.
Expect me with the morn, to pay the skies
Our debt of safe return in feast and sacrifice.
Then Theoclymenus. But who shall lend,
Meantime protection to thy stranger friend?
Straight to the queen and palace shall I fly,
Or yet more distant, to some lord apply?
The prince. Renown'd in days of yore
Has stood our father's hospitable door;
No other roof a stranger should receive,
Nor other hands than ours the welcome give.
But in my absence riot fills the place,
Nor bears the modest queen a stranger's face;
From noiseful revel far remote she flies,
But rarely seen, or seen with weeping eyes.
No-let Eurymachus receive my guest,
Of nature courteous, and by far the best;
He woos the queen with more respectful flame,
And emulates her former husband's fame:
With what success, 'tis Jove's alone to know,
And the hoped nuptials turn to joy or woe.
Thus speaking, on the right up-soar'd in air
The hawk, Apollo's swift-wing'd messenger:
His deathful pounces tore a trembling dove;
The clotted feathers, scatter'd from above,
Between the hero and the vessel pour
Soon as the morning blush'd along the plains,
Ulysses and the monarch of the swains,
Awake the sleeping fires, their meal prepare,
And forth to pasture send the bristly care.
The prince's near approach the dogs descry,
550 And fawning round his feet confess their joy.
Their gentle blandishment the king survey'd,
Heard his resounding step, and instant said:
Some well-known friend (Eumæus) bends this way:
10
His steps I bear; the dogs familiar play.
While yet he spoke, the prince advancing drew
Nigh to the lodge, and now appear'd in view.
Transported from his seat Eumæus sprung,
Dropp'd the full bowl, and round his bosom hung;
Kissing his cheek, his hand, while from his eye
560 The tears rain'd copious in a shower of joy.
As some fond sire who ten long winters grieves,
From foreign climes an only son receives
(Child of his age,) with strong paternal joy
Forward he springs, and clasps the favourite boy: 20
So round the youth his arms Eumæus spread,
As if the grave had given him from the dead.
And is it thou? my ever dear delight!
Oh art thou come to bless my longing sight!
Never, I never hoped to view this day,
Enter, my child! Beyond my hopes restored,
O give these eyes to feast upon their lord.
Enter, oh seldom seen! for lawless powers
Too much detain thee from these sylvan bowers. 30
The prince replied. Eumæus, I obey:
Thick plumage, mingled with a sanguine shower. 570 When o'er the waves you plough'd the desperate
The observing augur took the prince aside,
Seized by the hand, and thus, prophetic, cried:
Yon bird that dexter cuts the aërial road,
Rose ominous, nor flies without a god:
No race but thine shall Ithaca obey,
To thine for ages, heaven decrees the sway.
Succeed the omens, gods! (the youth rejoin'd ;)
Soon shall my bounties speak a grateful mind,
And soon each envied happiness attend
The man, who calls Telemachus his friend.
Then to Peiræus-Thou whom time has proved
A faithful servant, by thy prince beloved!
Till we returning shall our guest demand,
Accept this charge with honour at our hand.
To this Peiræus: Joyful I obey,
Well pleased the hospitable rites to pay.
The presence of thy guest shall best reward
(If long thy stay) the absence of my lord.
With that, their anchors he commands to weigh,
Mount the tall bark, and launch into the sea.
All, with obedient haste, forsake the shores,
And placed in order, spread their equal oars.
Then from the deck the prince his sandals takes;
Poised in his hand the pointed javelin shakes.
They part; while, lessening from the hero's view,
Swift to the town the well-row'd galley flew :
The hero trod the margin of the main,
And reach'd the mansion of his faithful swain.
To seek thee, friend, I hither took my way.
But say, if in the court the reside
Severely chaste, or if commenced a bride?
Thus he and thus the monarch of the swains : Severely chaste Penelope remains ;
But, lost to every joy, she wastes the day
In tedious cares, and weeps the night away.
He ended, and (receiving as they pass
The javelin, pointed with a star of brass,)
They reach'd the dome; the dome with marble
shined;
His seat Ulysses to the prince resign'd.
Not so-(exclaim'd the prince, with decent grace)
590 For me this house shall find an humbler place;
To usurp the honours due to silver hairs
And reverend strangers, modest youth forbears.
Instant the swain the spoils of beasts supplies,
And bids the rural throne with oziers rise.
There sate the prince: the feast Eumæus spread,
And heap'd the shining canisters with bread.
Thick o'er the board the plenteous viands lay,
The frugal remnants of the former day.
Then in a bowl he tempers generous wines,
Around whose verge a mimic ivy twines
And now, the rage of thirst and hanger fled,
Thus young Ulysses to Eumæus said:
Whence, father, from what shore this stranger, say?
What vessel bore him o'er the watery way?
To human step our land impervious lies,
And round the coast circumfluent oceans rise.
The swain returns. A tale of sorrows hear:
The Discovery of Ulysses to Telemachus. Telemachus arriving at the lodge of Eumæus, sends him to carry Penelope the news of his return. Minerva appearing to Ulysses, commands him to discover him. self to his son. The princes, who had lain in ambush In spacious Crete he drew his natal air; to intercept Telemachus in his way, their project Long doom'd to wander o'er the land and main, being defeated, return to Ithaca. For heaven has wove his thread of life with pain
Half-breathless 'scaping to the land he flew
From Threspot mariners, a murderous crew.
To thee, my son, the suppliant I resign;
I gave him my protection, grant him thine.
Hard task, he cries, thy virtue gives thy friend,
Willing to aid, unable to defend.
Can strangers safely in the court reside,
Midst the swell'd insolence of lust and pride?
Even I unsafe: the queen in doubt to wed,
Or pay due honours to the nuptial bed?
Perhaps she weds regardless of her fame,
Deaf to the mighty Ulyssean name:
However, stranger! from our grace receive
Such honours as befit a prince to give;
Sandals, a sword and robes, respect to prove,
And safe to sail with ornaments of love:
Till then, thy guest amid the rural train,
Far from the court, from danger far, detain.
"Tis mine with food the hungry to supply,
And clothe the naked from the inclement sky.
Here dwell in safety from the suitors' wrongs,
And the rude insults of ungovern'd tongues.
For shouldst thou suffer, powerless to relieve,
I must behold it, and can only grieve.
The brave encompass'd by an hostile train,
O'erpower'd by numbers, is but brave in vain.
To whom, while anger in his bosom glows,
With warmth replies the man of mighty woes:
Since audience mild is deign'd, permit my tongue
At once to pity and resent thy wrong.
My heart weeps blood to see a soul so brave
Live to base insolence of power a slave.
But tell me, dost thou, prince, dost thou behold,
And hear their midnight revels uncontroll'd?
Say, do thy subjects in bold faction rise,
Or priests in fabled oracles advise?
Or are thy brothers, who should aid thy power,
Turn'd mean deserters in the needful hour?
O that I were from great Ulysses sprung,
![[blocks in formation]](https://books.google.de/books/content?id=KS0hAAAAMAAJ&hl=de&output=html_text&pg=PA437&img=1&zoom=3&q=lord&cds=1&sig=ACfU3U16Y0lGeaXusLuDX9uQ637nEu1_GQ&edge=0&edge=stretch&ci=462,116,454,135)
But heaven will sure revenge, and gods there are.
But go, Eumaus! to the queen impart
140
Our safe return, and ease a mother's heart.
Yet secret go: for numerous are my foes,
And here at least I may in peace repose.
To whom the swain. I hear, and I obey:
But old Laërtes weeps his life away,
And deems thee lost: shall I my speed employ
To bless his age, a messenger of joy?
80 The mournful hour that tore his son away,
Sent the sad sire in solitude to stray:
Yet busied with his slaves, to ease his woe,
He dress'd the vine, and bade the garden blow,
Nor food nor wine refused: but since the day
That you to Pylos plough'd the watery way,
Nor wine nor food he tastes: but sunk in woes,
Wild springs the vine, no more the garden blows:
Shut from the walks of men, to pleasure lost,
Pensive and pale he wanders, half a ghost.
Wretched old man! (with tears the prince returns)
Yet cease to go-what man so bless'd but mourns?
Were every wish indulged by favouring skies,
This hour would give Ulysses to my eyes.
But to the queen with speed despatchful bear
Our safe return, and back with speed repair;
And let some handmaid of her train resort
To good Laërtes in his rural court.
Or that these wither'd nerves like thine were strung!
Or, heavens! might he return! and soon appear
(He shall, I trust; a hero scorns despair :)
Might he return, I yield my life a prey
To my worst foe, if that avenging day
Be not their last; but should I lose my life
Oppress'd by numbers in the glorious strife,
I choose the nobler part, and yield my breath,
Rather than bear dishonour worse than death;
Than see the hand of violence invade
The reverend stranger and the spotless maid;
Than see the wealth of kings consumed in waste,
The drunkards revel, and the gluttons feast.
Thus he, with anger flashing from his eye:
Sincère the youthful hero made reply:
Nor leagued in factious arms my subjects rise,
Nor priests in fabled oracles advise :
Nor are my brothers, who should aid my power,
Turn'd mean deserters in the needful hour.
Ah me! I boast no brother; heaven's dread king
Gives from our stock an only branch to spring:
Alone Laërtes reign'd Arcesius' heir,
While yet he spoke, impatient of delay,
He braced his sandals on, and strode away:
Then from the heavens the martial goddess flies,
Through the wide fields of air and cleaves the skies:
In form, a virgin in soft beauty's bloom,
Skill'd in the illustrious labours of the loom.
Alone to Ithaca she stood display'd,
But unapparent as a viewless shade
Escaped Telemachus: (the powers above,
Seen or unseen, o'er earth at pleasure move ;)
The dogs intelligent confess'd the tread
Of power divine, and howling, trembling, fled.
110 The goddess, beckoning, waves her deathless hands:
Dauntless the king before the goddess stands.
Then why (she said) O favour'd of the skies, 180
Why to thy godlike son this long disguise?
Stand forth reveal'd; with him thy cares employ
Against thy foes; be valiant and destroy.
Lo! I descend in that avenging hour,
To combat by thy side, thy guardian power.
She said, and o'er him waves her wand of gold;
Imperial robes his manly limbs infold;
At once with grace divine his form improves,
At once with majesty enlarged he moves ;
Youth flush'd his reddening cheek, and from his
brows
And lofty Zacinth crown'd with shady hills.
Far other glories lighten from thy face!
200 Hear then their numbers; from Dulichium came Twice twenty-six, all peers of mighty name;
Six are their menial train: twice twelve the boast 270
Of Samos; twenty from Zacynthus' coast;
And twelve our country's pride; to these belong
Medon and Phemius skill'd in heavenly song.
Two sewers from day to day the revels wait,
Exact of taste, and serve the feast in state.
With such a foe the unequal fight to try,
Were by false courage unrevenged to die.
210 Then what assistant powers you boast, relate,
Ere yet we mingle in the stern debate.
Mark well my voice, Ulysses straight replies;
What need of aids, if favour'd by the skies?
If shielded to the dreadful fight we move,
By mighty Pallas, and by thundering Jove?
Sufficient they (Telemachus rejoin'd)
Against the banded powers of all mankind:
They, high enthroned above the rolling clouds,
Wither the strength of man, and awe the gods.
Such aids expect, he cries, when strong in
might
We rise terrific to the task of fight.
Then rushing to his arms, he kiss'd his boy
With the strong raptures of a parent's joy.
Tears bathe his cheek, and tears the ground bedew:
He strain'd him close, as to his breast he grew.
(Ah me! exclaims the prince with fond desire)
Thou art not-no, thou canst not be my sire.
Heaven such illusion only can impose,
By the false joy to aggravate my woes
Who but a god can change the general doom,
And give to wither'd age a youthful bloom.
Late, worn with years, in weeds obscene you trod;
Now, cloth'd in majesty, you move a god!
Forbear, he cried; for heaven reserve that name,
Give to thy father but a father's claim
Other Ulysses shalt thou never see,
I am Ulysses, I, my son, am he.
Twice ten sad years o'er earth and ocean tost,
'Tis given at length to view my native coast.
Pallas, unconquer'd maid, my frame surrounds
With grace divine; her power admits no bounds;
She o'er my limbs old age and wrinkles shed;
Now strong as youth, magnificent I tread.
The gods with ease frail man depress or raise,
Exalt the lowly, or the proud debase.
He spoke, and sate. The prince with transport flew,
Hung round his neck, while tears his cheek bedew:
Nor less the father pour'd a social flood:
They wept abundant, and they wept aloud.
As the bold eagle with fierce sorrow stung,
Or parent vulture, mourns her ravish'd young;
They cry, they scream, their unfledged brood a prey
To some rude churl, and borne by stealth away: 241
So they aloud: and tears in tides had run,
Their grief unfinish'd with the setting sun;
But checking the full torrent in its flow,
The prince thus interrupts the solemn woe.
What ship transported thee, O father, say,
But thou, when morn salutes the aërial plain,
The court revisit and the lawless train:
Me thither in disguise Eumæus leads,
An aged medicant in tatter'd weeds.
There, if base scorn insult my reverend age,
Bear it, my son! repress thy rising rage.
If outraged, cease that outrage to repel:
Bear it, my son! howe'er thy heart rebel.
Yet strive by prayer and counsel to restrain
Their lawless insults, though thou strive in vain;
For wicked ears are deaf to wisdom's call,
And vengeance strikes whom heaven has doom'd
to fall,
Once more attend; when she* whose power inspires
The thinking mind, my soul to vengeance fires;
I give the sign; that instant, from beneath,
Aloft convey the instruments of death,
Armour and arms; and if mistrust arise,
Thus veil the truth in plausible disguise;
"These glittering weapons, ere he sail'd to Troy,
Ulysses view'd with stern heroic joy;
Then, beaming o'er the illumined wall they shone;
Now dust dishonours, all their lustre gone.
I bear them hence (so Jove my soul inspires,)
And what bless'd hands have oar'd thee on the way? From the pollution of the fuming fires;
All, all (Ulysses instant made reply)
I tell thee all, my child, my only joy!
Phracians bore me to the port assign'd,
A nation ever to the stranger kind;
Lest when the bowl inflames, in vengeful mood
Ye rush to arms, and stain the feast with blood:
250 Oft ready swords in luckless hour incite
The hand of wrath, and arm it for the fight."
Such be the plea, and by the plea deceive;
For Jove infatuates all, and all believe.
Yet leave for each of us a sword to wield,
A pointed javelin, and a fenceful shield.
But by my blood that in thy bosom glows,
By that regard a son his father owes;
The secret, that thy father lives, retain
Lock'd in thy bosom from the household train:
Hide it from all; even from Eumæus hide,
From my dear father, and my dearer bride.
One care remains, to note the loyal few
Whose faith yet lasts among the menial crew;
And noting, ere we rise in vengeance, prove
Who loves his prince; for sure you merit love.
Wrapp'd in the embrace of sleep, the faithful train
O'er seas convey'd me to my native reign:
Embroider'd vestures, gold, and brass, are laid
Conceal'd in caverns in the sylvan shade.
Hither, intent the rival route to slay,
And plan the scene of death, I bend my way:
So Pallas wills-but thou, my son, explain
The names and numbers of the audacious train
'Tis mine to judge if better to employ
Assistant force, or singly to destroy.
O'er earth (returns the prince) resounds thy name,
Thy well-tried wisdom, and thy martial fame,
Yet at thy words I start, in wonder lost:
Can we engage, not decads, but an host?
Can we alone in furious battle stand,
Against that numerous and determined band?
To whom the youth: To emulate I aim
The brave and wise, and my great father's fame.
But re-consider, since the wisest err,
Vengeance resolved, 'tis dangerous to defer.
What length of time must we consume in vain,
Too curious to explore the menial train?
While the proud foes, industrious to destroy
Thy wealth in riot, the delay enjoy.
Suffice it in this exigence alone
To mark the damsels that attend the throne:
Dispersed the youth reside; their faith to prove
Jove grants henceforth, if thou hast spoke from Jove.
While in debate they waste their hours away,
The associates of the prince repass'd the bay;
With speed they guide the vessel to the shores;
With speed debarking, land the naval stores:
Then, faithful to their charge, to Clytius bear,
And trust the presents to his friendly care.
Swift to the queen a herald flies to impart
Her son's return, and ease a parent's heart;
Lest a sad prey to ever-musing cares,
Pale grief destroy what time awhile forbears.
The uncautious herald with impatience burns,
And cries aloud: Thy son, oh queen, returns;
Eumæus sage approach'd the imperial throne,
And breath'd his mandate to her ear alone,
Then measured back the way.-The suitor band,
Stung to the soul, abash'd, confounded stand:
And issuing from the dome, before the gate,
With clouded looks, a pale assembly sate.
And give the palace to the queen a dower,
Or him she blesses in the bridal hour.
But if submissive you resign the sway,
Slaves to a boy, go, flatter and obey.
Retire we instant to our native reign,
Nor be the wealth of kings consumed in vain!
Then wed whom choice approves; the queen be given
To some blest prince, the prince decreed by heaven.
Abash'd, the suitor train his voice attends;
Till from his throne Amphinomus ascends,
Who o'er Dulichium stretch'd his spacious reign, 410
A land of plenty, bless'd with every grain;
Chief of the numbers who the queen address'd,
And though displeasing, yet displeasing least:
Soft were his words! his actions wisdom sway'd;
Graceful awhile he paused, then mildly said:
O friends, forbear! and be the thought withstood! 'Tis horrible to shed imperial blood!
350 Consult we first the all-seeing powers above,
And the sure oracles of righteous Jove.
If they assent, even by this hand he dies;
If they forbid, I war not with the skies.
He said the rival train his voice approved,
And rising instant to the palace moved.
Arrived, with wild tumultuous noise they sate,
Recumbent on the shining thrones of state.
Then Medon conscious of their dire debates,
The murderous counsel to the queen relates.
360 Touch'd at the dreadful story she descends;
Her hasty steps a damsel train attends.
At length Eurymachus. Our hopes are vain;
Telemachus in triumph sails the main.
Haste, rear the mast, the swelling shroud display;
Haste, to our ambush'd friends the news convey!
Scarce had he spoke, when, turning to the strand,
Amphinomus survey'd the associate band;
Full to the bay within the winding shores
With gather'd sails they stood, and lifted oars.
O friends! he cried, elate with rising joy,
See to the port secure the vessel fly!
Some god has told them, or themselves survey
The bark escaped; and measure back their way.
Swift at the word descending to the shores,
They moor the vessel and unlade the stores:
Then moving from the strand, apart they sate,
And full and frequent form'd a dire debate.
Lives then the boy? he lives (Antinous cries)
The care of gods and favourite of the skies.
Full where the dome its shining valves expands, 430
Sudden before the rival powers she stands;
And veiling decent, with a modest shade,
Her cheek, indignant to Antinous said:
O void of faith; of all bad men the worst;
Renown'd for wisdom, by the abuse accursed;
Mistaking Fame proclaims thy generous mind;
Thy deeds denote thee of the basest kind.
370 Wretch to destroy a prince that friendship gives,
While in his guest his murderer he receives;
Nor dread superior Jove, to whom belong
The cause of suppliants, and revenge of wrong.
Hast thou forgot (ingrateful as thou art)
Who saved thy father with a friendly part?
Lawless he ravaged with his martial powers
The Taphian pirates on Thesprotia's shores;
Enraged, his life, his treasures they demand;
Ulysses saved him from the avenger's hand.
All night we watch'd, till with her orient wheels 380 And wouldst thou evil for his good repay?
Aurora flamed above the eastern hills,
And from the lofty brow of rocks by day
Took in the ocean with a broad survey:
Yet safe he sails! the powers celestial give
To shun the hidden snares of death, and live.
But die he shall, and thus condemn'd to bleed,
Be now the scene of instant death decreed.
Hope ye success? undaunted crush the foe,
Is he not wise? know this, and strike the blow.
Wait ye,
till he to arms in council draws
The Greeks, averse too justly to our cause?
Strike, ere, the states convened, the foe betray
Our murderous ambush on the watery way.
Or choose ye vagrant from their rage to fly
Outcasts of earth, to breathe an unknown sky?
The brave prevent misfortune; then be brave,
And bury future danger in his grave.
Returns he? ambush'd we'll his walk invade,
Or where he hides in solitude and shade;
His bed dishonour and his house betray?
Afflict his queen, and with a murderous hand
Destroy his heir ?-but cease, 'tis I command.
Far hence those fears, (Eurymachus replied,)
O prudent princess! bid thy soul confide.
Breathes there a man who dares that hero slay,
While I behold the golden light of day?
No: by the righteous powers of heaven I swear,
His blood in vengeance smokes upon my spear.
390 Ulysses, when my infant days I led,
With wine sufficed me, and with dainties fed:
My generous soul abhors the ungrateful part,
And my friend's son lives dearest to my heart:
Then fear no mortal arm; if heaven destroy,
We must resign: for man is born to die.
Thus smooth he ended, yet his death conspired: Then sorrowing, with sad step the queen retired, With streaming eyes, all comfortless deplored, Touch'd with the dear remembrance of her lord:
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