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Devour the grazing ox, and browzing 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 sneezed aloud;
Constrain'd, his nostrils echo'd through the crowd.
The smiling queen the happy omen blest:
"So may these impious fall, by Fate opprest!"
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;

620 Till now, declining toward the close of day,
The sun obliquely shot his dewy ray.

630

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.

BOOK XVIII.

WHILE fix'd in thought the pensive hero sate,
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

640 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;
650 See how with nods assent you 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: O 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?
660 Know, from the beauteous 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,
670 Gird well thy loins, approach, and feel my might;
Sure of defeat, before the peers engage;
Unequal fight, when youth contends with age!
Thus in a wordy war their tongues display
More fierce intents, preluding to the fray;
Antinous hears, and in a jovial vein,
Thus with loud laughter to the suitor-train.

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 human kind.
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 sate

And fed recumbent on a chair of state.

Then instant rose, and as he moved along,

'Twas riot all amid the suitor throng.

This happy day in mirth, my friends, employ,
And lo! the gods conspire to crown our joy.
See ready for the fight, and hand to hand,

10

20

30

40

680 Yon surly mendicants contentious stand:
Why urge we not to blows? Well pleased they spring
Swift from their seats, and thickening form a ring.
To whom Antinous. Lo! enrich'd with blood,
A kid's well-fatted entrails (tasteful food)
On glowing embers lie; on him bestow

They feast, they dance, and raise the mirthful song, The choicest portion who subdues his foe;

50

Grant him unrivall'd in these walls to stay,
The sole attendant on the genial day.

60

The lords applaud: Ulysses then with art,
And fears well feign'd, disguised his dauntless heart:
Worn as I am with age, decay'd with woe;
Say, is it baseness to decline the foe?
Hard conflict! when calamity and
With vigorous youth, unknown to cares, engage!
Yet, fearful of disgrace, to try the day,
Imperious hunger bids, and I obey;
But swear, impartial arbiters of right,

age

Swear to stand neutral, while we cope in fight.
The peers assent; when straight his sacred head
Telemachus upraised, and sternly said:

Stranger, if prompted to chastise the wrong
Of this bold insolent, confide, be strong?
The injurious Greek that dares attempt a blow,
That instant makes Telemachus his foe;
And these my friends* shall guard the sacred ties
Of hospitality, for they are wise.

Then, girding his strong loins, the king prepares
To close in combat, and his body bares:
Broad spread his shoulders, and his nervous thighs
By just degrees, like well-turn'd columns, rise;
Ample his chest, his arms are round and long,
And each strong joint Minerva knits more strong
(Attendant on her chief:) the suitor-crowd
With wonder gaze, and gazing speak aloud;

Then dragg'd along, all bleeding from the wound,
His length of carcase trailing prints the ground; 121
Raised on his feet, again he reels, he falls,
Till propp'd, reclining on the palace walls;
Then to his hand a staff the victor gave,
And thus with just reproach address'd the slave.
There terrible, affright the dogs, and reign
A dreaded tyrant o'er the bestial train!
But mercy to the poor and stranger show,
Lest heaven in vengeance send some mightier woe.
Scornful he spoke, and o'er his shoulder flung 130
The broad patch'd scrip; the scrip in tatters hung,
Ill join'd, and knotted to a twisted thong.
Then, turning short, disdain'd a further stay;
But to the palace measured back the way.
There as he rested, gathering in a ring,

70 The peers with smiles addrest their unknown king:
Stranger, may Jove and all the aërial powers,
With every blessing crown thy happy hours!
Our freedom to thy prowess'd arm we owe
From bold intrusion of thy coward foe;
Instant the flying sail the slave shall wing
To Echetus, the monster of a king.

While pleased he hears, Antinous bears the
food,

A kid's well-fatted entrails, rich with blood:
80 The bread from canisters of shining mould
Amphinomus; and wines that laugh in gold:
And oh! (he mildly cries) may heaven display
A beam of glory o'er thy future day!
Alas, the brave too oft is doom'd to bear
The gripes of poverty and stings of care.

Irus! alas! shall Irus be no more?
Black fate impends, and this the avenging hour!
Gods! how his nerves a matchless strength proclaim,
Swell o'er his well-strung limbs, and brace his frame!
Then pale with fears, and sickening at the sight,
They dragg'd the unwilling Irus to the fight;
From his blank visage fled the coward blood,
And his flesh trembled as aghast he stood:

O that such baseness should disgrace the light!
O hide it death, in everlasting night!
(Exclaims Antinous ;) can a vigorous foe
Meanly decline to combat age and woe?
But hear me, wretch! if recreant in the fray
That huge bulk yield this ill-contested day,
Instant thou sail'st to Echetus resign'd;
A tyrant, fiercest of the tyrant kind,
Who casts thy mangled ears and nose a prey
To hungry dogs, and lops the man away.

While with indignant scorn he sternly spoke,
In every joint the trembling Irus shook.

140

150

To whom with thought mature the king replies;
The tongue speaks wisely, when the soul is wise;
Such was thy father! in imperial state,
Great without vice, that oft attends the great;
90 Nor from the sire art thou, the son, declined;
Then hear my words, and grave them in thy mind!
Of all that breathes, or grov'ling creeps on earth,
Most man is vain! calamitous by birth:

100

Now front to front each frowning champion stands,
And poises high in air his adverse hands.
The chief yet doubts, or to the shades below
To fell the giant at one vengeful blow,
Or save his life; and soon his life to save
The king resolves, for mercy sways the brave.
That instant Irus, his huge arm extends,
Full on his shoulders the rude weight descends;
The sage Ulysses, fearful to disclose
The hero latent in the man of woes,
Check'd half his might; yet rising to the stroke,
His jaw-bone dash'd, the crashing jaw-bone broke :
Down dropt he stupid from the stunning wound;
His feet extended, quivering, beat the ground;
His mouth and nostrils spout a purple flood;
His teeth all shatter'd, rush inmix'd with blood.
The peers transported, as outstretch'd he lies,
With bursts of laughter rend the vaulted skies;

* Antinous and Eurymachus,

To-day, with power elate, in strength he blooms;
The haughty creature on that power presumes: 160
Anon from heaven a sad reverse he feels;
Untaught to bear, 'gainst heaven the wretch rebels;
For man is changeful, as his bliss or woe;
Too high when prosperous, when distrest too low.
There was a day, when with the scornful great
I swell'd in pomp and arrogance of state:
Proud of that power that to high birth belongs;
And used that power to justify my wrongs.
Then let not man be proud; but firm of mind,
Bear the best humbly, and the worst resign'd;
Be dumb when heaven afflicts! unlike yon train
Of haughty spoilers, insolently vain;

170

Who make their queen and all her wealth a prey:
But vengeance and Ulysses wing their way.
110 O may'st thou, favour'd by some guardian power,
Far, far be distant in that deathful hour!
For sure I am, if stern Ulysses breathe,
These lawless riots end in blood and death.
Then to the gods the rosy juice he pours,
And the drain'd goblet to the chief restores.
Stung to the soul, o'ercast with holy dread,
He shook the graceful honours of his head;
His boding mind the future woe forestalls,
In vain! by great Telemachus he falls,
For Pallas seals his doom: all sad he turns
To join the peers; resumes his throne, and mourns,

100

180

Meanwhile Minerva with instinctive fires
Thy soul, Penelope, from heaven inspires,
With flattering hopes the suitors to betray,
And seem to meet, yet fly, the bridal day;
Thy husband's wonder, and thy son's to raise;
And crown the mother and the wife with praise.
Then, while the streaming sorrow dins her eyes,
Thus with a transient smile the matron cries:

Euronyme! to go where riot reigns

Oh why, my son, why now,no more appears That warmth of soul that urged thy younger years? Thy riper days no growing worth impart,

190 A man in stature, still a boy in heart!

#

I feel an impulse, though my soul disdains;
To my loved son the snares of death to show,
And in the traitor-friend unmask the foe;
Who, smooth of tongue, in purpose insincere,
Hides fraud in smiles, while death is ambush'd there.
Go, warn thy son, nor be the warning vain, 201
(Replied the sagest of the royal train :)
But bathed, anointed, and adorn'd, descend;
Powerful of charms, bid every grace attend
The tide of flowing tears awhile suppress;
Tears but indulge the sorrow, not repress.
Some joy remains: to thee a son is given,
Such, as in fondness, parents ask of heaven.

Ah me! forbear, returns the queen, forbear,
Oh! talk not, talk not of vain beauty's care:
No more I bathe, since he no longer sees
Those charms, for whom alone I wish to please:
The day that bore Ulysses from this coast,
Blasted the little bloom these cheeks could boast.
But instant bid Autonoë descend,
Instant Hippodamè our steps attend;
Ill suits it female virtue, to be seen

Alone, indecent, in the walks of men.

Thy well-knit frame unprofitably strong,
Speaks thee a hero, from a hero sprung:
But the just gods in vain those gifts bestow,
O wise alone in form, and brave in show!
Heavens! could a stranger feel oppression's hand
Beneath thy roof, and couldst thou tamely stand?
If thou the stranger's righteous cause decline,
His is the sufferance, but the shame is thine.

To whom with filial awe, the prince returns :
That generous soul with just resentment burns;
Yet taught by time, my heart has learn'd to glow
For others' good and melt at others' woe;
But impotent these riots to repel,

I bear their outrage, though my soul rebel;
Helpless amid the snares of death I tread,
And numbers leagued in impious union dread
But now no crime is theirs: this wrong proceeds
From Irus, and the guilty Irus bleeds.

O would to Jove! or her whose arms display
210 The shield of Jove, or him who rules the day
That yon proud suitors, who licentious tread

Then while Euronymè the mandate bears,
From heaven Minerva shoots with guardian cares :
O'er all her senses, as the couch she prest,
She pours a pleasing, deep, and death-like rest,
With every beauty every feature arms,

221

260

270

These courts, within these courts like Irus bled: 280
Whose loose head tottering, as with wine opprest,
Obliquely drops, and nodding knocks his breast;
Powerless to move, his staggering feet deny
The coward wretch the privilege to fly.

Then to the queen Eurymachus replies:

O justly loved, and not more fair than wise!
Should Greece through all her hundred states survey,
Thy finish'd charms, all Greece would own thy sway:
In rival crowds, contest the glorious prize,
Dispeopling realms to gaze upon thy eyes:
O woman! loveliest of the lovely kind,

Bids her cheeks glow, and lights up all her charms, In body perfect, and complete in mind.

In her love-darting eyes awake the fires
(Immortal gifts! to kindle soft desires :)
From limb to limb an air majestic sheds,
And the pure ivory o'er her bosom spreads.
Such Venus shines, when with a measured bound
She smoothly gliding swims the harmonious round,
When with the Graces in the dance she moves, 231
And fires the gazing gods with ardent loves.

Then to the skies her flight Minerva bends,
And to the queen the damsel train descends :
Waked at their steps, her flowing eyes unclose;
The tear she wipes, and thus renews her woes.
Howe'er 'tis well; that sleep awhile can free
With soft forgetfulness, a wretch like me!
Oh! were it given to yield this transient breath,
Send, oh Diana! send the sleep of death!
Why must I waste a tedious life in tears,
Nor bury in the silent grave my cares?
O my Ulysses! ever-honour'd name!

For thee I mourn till death dissolves my frame.
Thus wailing, slow and sadly she descends,
On either hand a damsel train attends:
Full where the dome its shining valves expands,
Radiant before the gazing peers she stands ;
A veil translucent o'er her brow display'd,
Her beauty seems, and only seems to shade.
Sudden she lightens in their dazzled eyes,
And sudden flames in every bosom rise;
They send their eager souls with every look,
Till silence thus the imperial matron broke:

290

Ah me, returns the queen, when from this shore
Ulysses sail'd, then beauty was no more!
The gods decreed these eyes no more should keep
Their wonted grace, but only serve to weep.
Should he return whate'er my beauties prove,
My virtues last; my brightest charm is love.
Now, grief, thou all art mine! the gods o'ercast
My soul with woes, that long, ah long must last! 300
Too faithfully my heart retains the day
That sadly tore my royal lord away:

He grasp'd my hand, and, oh my spouse! I leave
Thy arms (he cried,) perhaps to find a grave:
Fame speaks the Trojans bold; they boast the skill
To give the feather'd arrow wings to kill,
To dart the spear, and guide the rushing car

240 With dreadful inroad through the walks of war.
My sentence is gone forth, and 'tis decreed
Perhaps by righteous heaven that I must bleed! 310
My father, mother, all I trust to thee;

To them, to them transfer the love of me:
But, when my son grows man, the royal sway
Resign, and happy be thy bridal day!
Such were his words; and Hymen now prepares
To light his torch, and give me up to cares;
The afflictive hand of wrathful Jove to bear:
A wretch the most complete that breathes the air!
Fall'n even below the rights to woman due!
Careless to please, with insolence ye woo!
The generous lovers studious to succeed,
Bid their whole herds and flocks in banquets bleed;

320

By precious gifts the vow sincere display:
You, only you, make her ye love your prey.
Well-pleased Ulysses hears his queen deceive
The suitor-train, and raise a thirst to give :
False hopes she kindles, but those hopes betray,
And promise, yet elude, the bridal day.

While yet she speaks, the gay Antinous cries,
Offspring of kings, and more than woman wise!
"Tis right: 'tis man's prerogative to give,
And custom bids thee without shame receive;
Yet never, never, from thy dome we move,
Till Hymen lights the torch of spousal love.

The peers despatch'd their heralds to convey
The gifts of love; with speed they take the way.
A robe Antinous gives of shining dyes,
The varying hues in gay confusion rise

330

340

Rich from the artist's hand! Twelve clasps of gold
Close to the lessening waist the vest infold;
Down from the swelling loins the vest unbound
Floats in bright waves redundant o'er the ground.
A bracelet rich with gold, with amber gay,
That shot effulgence like the solar ray,
Eurymachus presents; and ear-rings bright,
With triple stars, that cast a trembling light.
Pisander bears a necklace wrought with art:
And every peer, expressive of his heart,
A gift bestows: this done, the queen ascends,
And slow behind her damsel train attends.

Then to the dance they form the vocal strain,
Till Hesperus leads forth the starry train;
And now he raises, as the day-light fades,
His golden circlet in the deepening shades:
Three vases heap'd with copious fires display
O'er all the palace a fictitious day;

Then to the servile task the monarch turns
His royal hands: each torch refulgent burns
With added day: mean while in museful mood,
Absorpt in thought, on vengeance fix'd he stood.
And now the martial maid, by deeper wrongs
To rouse Ulysses points the suitor's tongues:
Scornful of age, to taunt the virtuous man,
Thoughtless and gay, Eurymachus began.

Hear me (he cries,) confederates and friends!
Some god, no doubt, this stranger kindly sends; 400
The shining baldness of his head survey,

It aids our torch-light, and reflects the ray.-
Then to the king that levell'd haughty Troy:
Say, if large hire can tempt thee to employ
Those hands in work; to tend the rural trade,
To dress the walk, and form the embowering shade?
So food and raiment constant will I give :
But idly thus thy soul prefers to live,
And starve by strolling, not by work to thrive.

To whom incensed: Should we, O prince, engage
In rival tasks beneath the burning rage

410

Of summer suns; were both constrain'd to wield
Foodless the scythe along the burden'd field;
Or should we labour while the ploughshare wounds,
With steers of equal strength, the allotted grounds;
Beneath my labours, how thy wondering eyes
Might see the sable field at once arise!

350 Should Jove dire war unloose, with spear and

From space to space the torch wide-beaming burns,
And sprightly damsels trim the rays by turns.

To whom the king: Ill suits your sex to stay
Alone with men! ye modest maids away!
Go, with the queen the spindle guide; or cull
(The partners of her cares) the silver wool;
Be it my task the torches to supply
Even till the morning lamp adorns the sky;
Even till the morning, with unwearied care,
Sleepless I watch; for I have learn'd to bear.
Scornful they heard: Melantho, fair and young,
(Melantho from the loins of Dolius sprung,
Who with the queen her years an infant led,
With the soft fondness of a daughter bred)
Chiefly derides; regardless of the cares
Her queen endures, polluted joys she shares
Nocturnal with Eurymachus: with eyes
That speak disdain, the wanton thus replies:
Oh! whither wanders thy distemper'd brain,
Thou bold intruder on a princely train?
Hence to the vagrant's rendezvous repair:
Or shun in some black forge the midnight air.
Proceeds this boldness from a turn of soul,
Or flows licentious from the copious bowl?
Is it that vanquish'd Irus swells thy mind?
A foe may meet thee of a braver kind,
Who, shortening with a storm of blows thy stay,
Shall send thee howling all in blood away!

360

shield,

And nodding helm, I tread the ensanguined field,
Fierce in the van: then wouldst thou,—say,-
Misname me glutton, in that glorious day?
No, thy ill-judging thoughts the brave disgrace;
'Tis thou injurious art, not I am base:
Proud to seem brave among a coward train!
But know, thou art not valorous, but vain.
Gods! should the stern Ulysses rise in might,
These gates would seem too narrow for thy flight.
While yet he speaks, Eurymachus replies,

With indignation flashing from his eyes:

420

Slave, I with justice might deserve the wrong, 430
Should I not punish that opprobrious tongue
Irreverent to the great, and uncontroll'd,
Art thou from wine, or innate folly, bold?
Perhaps, these outrages from Irus flow,
A worthless triumph o'er a worthless foe!

He said and with full force a footstool threw :
370 Whirl'd from his arm, with erring rage it flew;
Ulysses cautious of the vengeful foe,
Stoops to the ground and disappoints the blow.
Not so a youth who deals the goblet round,
Full on his shoulder it inflicts a wound,
Dash'd from his hand the sounding goblet flies,
He shrieks, he reels, he falls, and breathless lies.
Then wild uproar and clamour mount the sky,
Till mutual thus the peers indignant cry;
O had this stranger sunk to realms beneath,
380 To the black realms of darkness and of death,
Ere yet he trod these shores! to strife he draws
Peer against peer; and what the weighty cause?
A vagabond! for him the great destroy
In vile ignoble jars, the feast of joy?

To whom with frowns: O impudent in wrong!
Thy lord shall curb that insolence of tongue;
Know, to Telemachus I tell the offence;
The scourge, the scourge shall lash thee into sense.
With conscious shame they hear the stern rebuke,
Nor longer durst sustain the sovereign look.

To whom the stern Telemachus uprose;
Gods! what wild folly from the goblet flows!
Whence this unguarded openness of soul,
But from the licence of the copious bowl?
Or heaven delusion sends: but hence, away!
390 Force I forbear, and without force obey.

440

450

Silent, abash'd, they hear the stern rebuke,
Till thus Amphinomus the silence broke.

True are his words, and he whom truth offends,
Not with Telemachus, but truth contends;
Let not the hand of violence invade

The reverend stranger, or the spotless maid;
Retire we hence! but crown with rosy wine
The flowing goblet to the powers divine!
Guard he his guest beneath whose roof he stands:
This justice, this the social rite demands.

The peers assent; the goblet Mulius crown'd
With purple juice, and bore in order round;
Each peer successive his libation pours
To the blest gods who fill the aerial bowers;

461

He said; from female ken she strait secures
The purposed deed, and guards the bolted doors:
Auxiliar to his son, Ulysses bears

The plumy-crested helms and pointed spears,
With shields indented deep in glorious wars.
Minerva viewless on her charge attends,
And with her golden lamp his toil befriends.
Not such the sickly beams, which unsincere
Gild the gross vapour of this nether sphere!
A present deity the prince confess'd,
And rapt with exstacy the sire address'd:
What miracle thus dazzles with surprise!
470 Distinct in rows the radiant columns rise:
The walls, where'er my wondering sight I turn,

Then swill'd with wine, with noise the crowds obey, And roofs, amidst a blaze of glory burn!
And rushing forth tumultuous reel away.

BOOK XIX.

ARGUMENT.

The Discovery of Ulysses to Euryclea.

Some visitant of pure ethereal race,

With his bright presence deigns the dome to grace.
Be calm, replies the sire; to none impart,
But oft revolve the vision in thy heart:
Celestials, mantled in excess of light,
Can visit, unapproach'd by mortal sight.
Seek thou repose; whilst here I sole remain

With tapers flaming day his train attends,

Ulysses and his son remove the weapons out of the armory. Ulysses in conversation with Penelope, gives To explore the conduct of the female train : a fictitious account of his adventures; then assures The pensive queen, perchance, desires to know her he had formerly entertained her husband in The series of my toils, to soothe her woe. Crete; and describes exactly his person and dress, affirms to have heard of him in Phæacia and Thesprotia, and that his return is certain, and within a nonth. He then goes to bathe, and is attended by Euryclea, who discovers him to be Ulysses by the scar upon his leg, which he formerly received in hunting

the wild boar on Parnassus. The poet inserts a digression, relating that accident, with all its particulars.

BOOK XIX.

CONSULTING Secret with the blue-eyed maid,
Still in the dome divine Ulysses stay'd:
Revenge mature for act, inflamed his breast;
And thus the son the fervent sire addrest.

Instant convey those steely stores of war
To distant rooms, disposed with secret care :
The cause demanded by the suitor train,
To soothe their fears a specious reason feign:
Say, since Ulysses left his natal coast,
Obscene with smoke, their beamy lustre lost,
His arms deform the roof they wont adorn;
From the glad walls inglorious lumber torn.
Suggest that Jove the peaceful thought inspired,
Lest they by sight of swords to fury fired,
Dishonest wounds or violence of soul,
Defame the bridal feast and friendly bowl.
The prince obedient to the sage command,
To Euryclea thus: The female band

40

50

His bright alcove the obsequious youth ascends:
Soft slumberous shades his drooping eyelids close, 60
Till on her eastern shade Aurora glows.

While forting plans of death, Ulysses stay'd,
In council secret with the martial maid;
Attendant nymphs in beauteous order wait
The queen, descending from her bower of state.
Her cheeks the warmer blush of Venus wear,
Chasten'd with coy Diana's pensive air.
An ivory seat with silver ringlets graced,
By famed Icmalius wrought, the menials placed :
With ivory silver'd thick the footstool shone, 70
O'er which the panther's various hide was thrown
The sovereign seat with graceful air she press'd;
To different tasks their toil the nymphs address'd
The golden goblets some, and some restored
From stains of luxury the polish'd board:
These to remove the expiring embers came,
10 While those with unctuous fir foment the flame.
'Twas then Melantho with imperious mien
Renew'd the attack, incontinent of spleen:
Avaunt, she cried, offensive to my sight!
Deem not in ambush here to lurk by night,
Into the woman state a squint to pry;
A day-devourer, and an evening spy!
Vagrant, begone! before this blazing brand
Shall urge-and waved it hissing in her hand.
The insulted hero rolls his wrathful eyes,
20 And, why so turbulent of soul? he cries;
Can these lean shrivel'd limbs unnerved with age,
These poor but nonest rags enkindle rage?
In crowds we wear the badge of hungry fate;
And beg, degraded from superior state!
Constrain'd a rent-charge on the rich I live!
Reduced to crave the good I once could give:
A palace, wealth and slaves, I late possess'd,
And all that makes the great be call'd the bless'd;
My gate an emblem of my open soul,

In their apartments keep; secure the doors;
These swarthy arms among the covert stores
Are seemlier hid; my thoughtless youth they blame,
Imbrown'd with vapour of the smouldering flaine.
In happy hour, (pleased Euryclea cries,)
Tutor'd by early woes, grow early wise!
Inspect with sharpen'd sight and frugal care,
Your patrimonial wealth, a prudent heir;
But who the lighted taper will provide
(The female train retired) your toils to guide?
Without infringing hospitable right,

This guest (he cried) shall bear the guiding light: 30 Embraced the poor, and dealt a bounteous dole.

I cheer no lazy vagrants with repast;

They share the meal that earn it e'er they taste.

Scorn not the sad reverse, injurious maid!
'Tis Jove's high will, and be his well obey'd!

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