"A port there is, inclosed on either side, Where ships may rest, unanchor'd and untied; Till the glad mariners incline to sail, And the sea whitens with the rising gale, High at the head, from out the cavern'd rock, In living rills a gushing fountain broke: Around it, and above, for ever green, The busy alders form'd a shady scene; Hither some favouring god, beyond our thought, Through all surrounding shade our navy brought; For gloomy night descended on the main, Nor glimmer'd Phoebe in the ethereal plain: But all unseen the clouded island lay, And all unseen the surge and rolling sea, Till safe we anchor'd in the shelter'd bay: Our sails we gather'd, cast our cables o'er, And slept secure along the sandy shore. Soon as again the rosy morning shone, Reveal'd the landscape and the scene unknown, With wonder seized, we view the pleasing ground, And walk delighted, and expatiate round. Roused by the woodland nymphs at early dawn, The mountain goats came bounding o'er the lawn: In haste our fellows to the ships repair, For arms and weapons of the sylvan war; Straight in three squadrons all our crew we part, And bend the bow, or wing the missile dart; The bounteous gods afford a copious prey, And nine fat goats each vessel bears away: The royal bark had ten. Our ships complete We thus supplied (for twelve were all the fleet).

"Here, till the setting sun roll'd down the light, We sat indulging in the genial rite: Nor wines were wanting; those from ample jars We drain'd, the prize of our Ciconian wars. The land of Cyclops lay in prospect near: The voice of goats and bleating flocks we hear, And from their mountains rising smokes appear. Now sunk the sun, and darkness cover'd o'er The face of things: along the sea-beat shore Satiate we slept: but, when the sacred dawn Arising glitter'd o'er the dewy lawn, I call'd my fellows, and these words address'd 'My dear associates, here indulge your rest; While, with my single ship, adventurous, I Go forth, the manners of you men to try; Whether a race unjust, of barbarous might, Rude and unconscious of a stranger's right; Or such who harbour pity in their breast, Revere the gods, and succour the distress'd,'

"This said, I climb'd my vessel's lofty side; My train obey'd me, and the ship untied. In order seated on their banks, they sweep Neptune's smooth face, and cleave the yielding deep. When to the nearest verge of land we drew, Fast by the sea a lonely cave we view, High, and with darkening laurels covered o'er; Were sheep and goats lay slumbering round the shore Near this, a fence of marble from the rock, Brown with o'eraching pine and spreading oak. A giant shepherd here his flock maintains Far from the rest, and solitary reigns, In shelter thick of horrid shade reclined; And gloomy mischiefs labour in his mind. A form enormous! far unlike the race Of human birth, in stature, or in face; As some lone mountain's monstrous growth he stood, Crown'd with rough thickets, and a nodding wood. I left my vessel at the point of land, And close to guard it, gave our crew command: With only twelve, the boldest and the best, I seek the adventure, and forsake the rest. Then took a goatskin fill'd with precious wine, The gift of Maron of Evantheus' line (The priest of Phoebus at the Ismarian shrine). In sacred shade his honour'd mansion stood Amidst Apollo's consecrated wood; Him, and his house, Heaven moved my mind to save, And costly presents in return he gave; Seven golden talents to perfection wrought, A silver bowl that held a copious draught, And twelve large vessels of unmingled wine, Mellifluous, undecaying, and divine! Which now, some ages from his race conceal'd, The hoary sire in gratitude reveal'd. Such was the wine: to quench whose fervent steam Scarce twenty measures from the living stream To cool one cup sufficed: the goblet crown'd Breathed aromatic fragrances around. Of this an ample vase we heaved aboard, And brought another with provisions stored. My soul foreboded I should find the bower Of some fell monster, fierce with barbarous power; Some rustic wretch, who lived in Heaven's despite, Contemning laws, and trampling on the right. The cave we found, but vacant all within (His flock the giant tended on the green): But round the grot we gaze; and all we view, In order ranged our admiration drew: The bending shelves with loads of cheeses press'd, The folded flocks each separate from the rest (The larger here, and there the lesser lambs, The new-fallen young here bleating for their dams: The kid distinguish'd from the lambkin lies); The cavern echoes with responsive cries. Capacious chargers all around were laid. Full pails, and vessels of the milking trade. With fresh provisions hence our fleet to store My friends advise me, and to quit the shore. Or drive a flock of sheep and goats away, Consult our safety, and put off to sea. Their wholesome counsel rashly I declined, Curious to view the man of monstrous kind, And try what social rites a savage lends: Dire rites, alas! and fatal to my friends

"Then first a fire we kindle, and prepare For his return with sacrifice and prayer; The loaden shelves afford us full repast; We sit expecting. Lo! he comes at last, Near half a forest on his back he bore, And cast the ponderous burden at the door. It thunder'd as it fell. We trembled then, And sought the deep recesses of the den. New driven before him through the arching rock, Came tumbling, heaps on heaps, the unnumber'd flock. Big-udder'd ewes, and goats of female kind (The males were penn'd in outward courts behind); Then, heaved on high, a rock's enormous weight To the cave's mouth he roll'd, and closed the gate (Scarce twenty four-wheel'd cars, compact and strong, The massy load could bear, or roll along). He next betakes him to his evening cares, And, sitting down, to milk his flocks prepares; Of half their udders eases first the dams, Then to the mother's teat submits the lambs; Half the white stream to hardening cheese be press'd, And high in wicker-baskets heap'd: the rest, Reserved in bowls, supplied his nightly feast. His labour done, he fired the pile, that gave A sudden blaze, and lighted all the cave. We stand discover'd by the rising fires; Askance the giant glares, and thus inquires:

"'What are ye, guests? on what adventure, say, Thus far ye wander through the watery way? Pirates perhaps, who seek through seas unknown The lives of others, and expose your own?'

"His voice like thunder through the cavern sounds; My bold companions thrilling fear confounds, Appall'd at sight of more than mortal man! At length, with heart recover'd, I began:

"'From Troy's famed fields, sad wanderers o'er the main, Behold the relics of the Grecian train: Through various seas, by various perils toss'd, And forced by storms, unwilling on your coast; Far from our destined course and native land, Such was our fate, and such high Jove's command! Nor what we are befits us to disclaim, Atrides' friends (in arms a mighty name), Who taught proud Troy and all her sons to bow; Victors of late, but humble suppliants now! Low at thy knee thy succour we implore; Respect us, human, and relieve us, poor. At least, some hospitable gift bestow; 'Tis what the happy to the unhappy owe; 'Tis what the gods require: those gods revere; The poor and stranger are their constant care; To Jove their cause, and their revenge belongs, He wanders with them, and he feels their wrongs."

"'Fools that ye are (the savage thus replies, His inward fury blazing at his eyes), Or strangers, distant far from our abodes, To bid me reverence or regard the gods. Know then, we Cyclops are a race above Those air-bred people, and their goat-nursed Jove; And learn, our power proceeds with thee and thine, Not as he wills, but as ourselves incline. But answer, the good ship that brought ye o'er, Where lies she anchor'd? near or off the shore?'

"Thus he. His meditated fraud I find (Versed in the turns of various human-kind): And, cautious thus: 'Against a dreadful rock, Fast by your shore the gallant vessel broke. Scarce with these few I 'scaped; of all my train, Whom angry Neptune, whelm'd beneath the main, The scattered wreck the winds blew back again.'

"He answer'd with his deed: his bloody hand Snatch'd two, unhappy! of my martial band; And dash'd like dogs against the stony floor: The pavement swims with brains and mingled gore. Torn limb from limb, he spreads his horrid feast, And fierce devours it like a mountain beast: He sucks the marrow, and the blood he drains, Nor entrails, flesh, nor solid bone remains. We see the death from which we cannot move, And humbled groan beneath the hand of Jove. His ample maw with human carnage fill'd, A milky deluge next the giant swill'd; Then stretch'd in length o'er half the cavern'd rock, Lay senseless, and supine, amidst the flock. To seize the time, and with a sudden wound To fix the slumbering monster to the ground, My soul impels me! and in act I stand To draw the sword; but wisdom held my hand. A deed so rash had finished all our fate, No mortal forces from the lofty gate Could roll the rock. In hopeless grief we lay, And sigh, expecting the return of day. Now did the rosy-fingered morn arise, And shed her sacred light along the skies; He wakes, he lights the fire, he milks the dams, And to the mother's teats submits the lambs. The task thus finish'd of his morning hours, Two more he snatches, murders, and devours. Then pleased, and whistling, drives his flock before, Removes the rocky mountain from the door, And shuts again: with equal ease disposed, As a light quiver's lid is oped and closed. His giant voice the echoing region fills: His flocks, obedient, spread o'er all the hills.

"Thus left behind, even in the last despair I thought, devised, and Pallas heard my prayer. Revenge, and doubt, and caution, work'd my breast; But this of many counsels seem'd the best: The monster's club within the cave I spied, A tree of stateliest growth, and yet undried, Green from the wood: of height and bulk so vast, The largest ship might claim it for a mast. This shorten'd of its top, I gave my train A fathom's length, to shape it and to plane; The narrower end I sharpen'd to a spire, Whose point we harden'd with the force of fire, And hid it in the dust that strew'd the cave, Then to my few companions, bold and brave, Proposed, who first the venturous deed should try, In the broad orbit of his monstrous eye To plunge the brand and twirl the pointed wood, When slumber next should tame the man of blood. Just as I wished, the lots were cast on four: Myself the fifth. We stand and wait the hour. He comes with evening: all his fleecy flock Before him march, and pour into the rock: Not one, or male or female, stayed behind (So fortune chanced, or so some god designed); Then heaving high the stone's unwieldy weight, He roll'd it on the cave and closed the gate. First down he sits, to milk the woolly dams, And then permits their udder to the lambs. Next seized two wretches more, and headlong cast, Brain'd on the rock; his second dire repast. I then approach'd him reeking with their gore, And held the brimming goblet foaming o'er; 'Cyclop! since human flesh has been thy feast, Now drain this goblet, potent to digest; Know hence what treasures in our ship we lost, And what rich liquors other climates boast. We to thy shore the precious freight shall bear, If home thou send us and vouchsafe to spare. But oh! thus furious, thirsting thus for gore, The sons of men shall ne'er approach thy shore, And never shalt thou taste this nectar more,'

"He heard, he took, and pouring down his throat, Delighted, swill'd the large luxurious draught, 'More! give me more (he cried): the boon be thine, Whoe'er thou art that bear'st celestial wine! Declare thy name: not mortal is this juice, Such as the unbless'd Cyclopaean climes produce (Though sure our vine the largest cluster yields, And Jove's scorn'd thunder serves to drench our fields); But this descended from the bless'd abodes, A rill of nectar, streaming from the gods.'

"He said, and greedy grasped the heady bowl, Thrice drained, and poured the deluge on his soul. His sense lay covered with the dozy fume; While thus my fraudful speech I reassume. 'Thy promised boon, O Cyclop! now I claim, And plead my title; Noman is my name. By that distinguish'd from my tender years, 'Tis what my parents call me, and my peers.

"The giant then: 'Our promis'd grace receive, The hospitable boon we mean to give: When all thy wretched crew have felt my power, Noman shall be the last I will devour.'

"He said: then nodding with the fumes of wine Droop'd his huge head, and snoring lay supine. His neck obliquely o'er his shoulders hung, Press'd with the weight of sleep that tames the strong: There belch'd the mingled streams of wine and blood, And human flesh, his indigested food. Sudden I stir the embers, and inspire With animating breath the seeds of fire: Each drooping spirit with bold words repair, And urged my train the dreadful deed to dare. The stake now glow'd beneath the burning bed (Green as it was) and sparkled fiery red, Then forth the vengeful instrument I bring; With beating hearts my fellows form a ring. Urged my some present god, they swift let fall The pointed torment on his visual ball. Myself above them from a rising ground Guide the sharp stake, and twirl it round and round. As when a shipwright stands his workmen o'er, Who ply the wimble, some huge beam to bore; Urged on all hands, it nimbly spins about, The grain deep-piercing till it scoops it out: In his broad eye he whirls the fiery wood; From the pierced pupil spouts the boiling blood; Singed are his brows; the scorching lids grow black; The jelly bubbles, and the fibres crack. And as when armourers temper in the ford The keen-edged pole-axe, or the shining sword, The red-hot metal hisses in the lake, Thus in his eye-ball hiss'd the plunging stake. He sends a dreadful groan, the rocks around Through all their inmost winding caves resound. Scared we recoiled. Forth with frantic hand, He tore and dash'd on earth and gory brand; Then calls the Cyclops, all that round him dwell, With voice like thunder, and a direful yell. From all their dens the one-eyed race repair, From rifted rocks, and mountains bleak in air. All haste assembled, at his well-known roar, Inquire the cause, and crowd the cavern door.

"'What hurts thee, Polypheme? what strange affright Thus breaks our slumbers, and disturbs the night? Does any mortal, in the unguarded hour Of sleep, oppress thee, or by fraud or power? Or thieves insidious thy fair flock surprise?' Thus they; the Cyclop from his den replies:

"'Friends, Noman kills me; Noman in the hour Of sleep, oppresses me with fraudful power.' 'If no man hurt thee, but the hand divine Inflict disease, it fits thee to resign: To Jove or to thy father Neptune pray.' The brethren cried, and instant strode away. "Joy touch'd my secret soul and conscious heart, Pleased with the effect of conduct and of art. Meantime the Cyclop, raging with his wound, Spreads his wide arms, and searches round and round: At last, the stone removing from the gate, With hands extended in the midst he sate; And search'd each passing sheep, and fell it o'er, Secure to seize us ere we reach'd the door (Such as his shallow wit he deem'd was mine); But secret I revolved the deep design: 'Twas for our lives my labouring bosom wrought; Each scheme I turn'd, and sharpen'd every thought; This way and that I cast to save my friends, Till one resolve my varying counsel ends.

"Strong were the rams, with native purple fair, Well fed, and largest of the fleecy care, These, three and three, with osier bands we tied (The twining bands the Cyclop's bed supplied); The midmost bore a man, the outward two Secured each side: so bound we all the crew, One ram remain'd, the leader of the flock: In his deep fleece my grasping hands I lock, And fast beneath, in wooly curls inwove, There cling implicit, and confide in Jove. When rosy morning glimmer'd o'er the dales, He drove to pasture all the lusty males: The ewes still folded, with distended thighs Unmilk'd lay bleating in distressful cries. But heedless of those cares, with anguish stung, He felt their fleeces as they pass'd along (Fool that he was.) and let them safely go, All unsuspecting of their freight below.

"The master ram at last approach'd the gate, Charged with his wool, and with Ulysses' fate. Him while he pass'd, the monster blind bespoke: 'What makes my ram the lag of all the flock? First thou wert wont to crop the flowery mead, First to the field and river's bank to lead, And first with stately step at evening hour Thy fleecy fellows usher to their bower. Now far the last, with pensive pace and slow Thou movest, as conscious of thy master's woe! Seest thou these lids that now unfold in vain? (The deed of Noman and his wicked train!) Oh! did'st thou feel for thy afflicted lord, And would but Fate the power of speech afford. Soon might'st thou tell me, where in secret here The dastard lurks, all trembling with his fear: Swung round and round, and dash'd from rock to rock, His battered brains should on the pavement smoke No ease, no pleasure my sad heart receives, While such a monster as vile Noman lives.'

"The giant spoke, and through the hollow rock Dismiss'd the ram, the father of the flock. No sooner freed, and through the inclosure pass'd, First I release myself, my fellows last: Fat sheep and goats in throngs we drive before, And reach our vessel on the winding shore. With joy the sailors view their friends return'd, And hail us living whom as dead they mourn'd Big tears of transport stand in every eye: I check their fondness, and command to fly. Aboard in haste they heave the wealthy sheep, And snatch their oars, and rush into the deep. "Now off at sea, and from the shallows clear, As far as human voice could reach the ear, With taunts the distant giant I accost: 'Hear me, O Cyclop! hear, ungracious host! 'Twas on no coward, no ignoble slave, Thou meditatest thy meal in yonder cave; But one, the vengeance fated from above Doom'd to inflict; the instrument of Jove. Thy barbarous breach of hospitable bands, The god, the god revenges by my hands.'

"These words the Cyclop's burning rage provoke; From the tall hill he rends a pointed rock; High o'er the billows flew the massy load, And near the ship came thundering on the flood. It almost brush'd the helm, and fell before: The whole sea shook, and refluent beat the shore, The strong concussion on the heaving tide Roll'd back the vessel to the island's side: Again I shoved her off: our fate to fly, Each nerve we stretch, and every oar we ply. Just 'scaped impending death, when now again We twice as far had furrow'd back the main, Once more I raise my voice; my friends, afraid, With mild entreaties my design dissuade: 'What boots the godless giant to provoke, Whose arm may sink us at a single stroke? Already when the dreadful rock he threw, Old Ocean shook, and back his surges flew. The sounding voice directs his aim again; The rock o'erwhelms us, and we 'scaped in vain.'

"But I, of mind elate, and scorning fear, Thus with new taunts insult the monster's ear: 'Cyclop! if any, pitying thy disgrace. Ask, who disfigured thus that eyeless face? Say 'twas Ulysses: 'twas his deed declare, Laertes' son, of Ithaca the fair; Ulysses, far in fighting fields renown'd, Before whose arm Troy tumbled to the ground.'

"The astonished savage with a roar replies: 'Oh heavens! oh faith of ancient prophecies! This, Telemus Eurymedes foretold (The mighty seer who on these hills grew old; Skill'd the dark fates of mortals to declare, And learn'd in all wing'd omens of the air); Long since he menaced, such was Fate's command; And named Ulysses as the destined hand. I deem'd some godlike giant to behold, Or lofty hero, haughty, brave, and bold; Not this weak pigmy wretch, of mean design, Who, not by strength subdued me, but by wine. But come, accept our gifts, and join to pray Great Neptune's blessing on the watery way; For his I am, and I the lineage own; The immortal father no less boasts the son. His power can heal me, and relight my eye; And only his, of all the gods on high.' "'Oh! could this arm (I thus aloud rejoin'd) From that vast bulk dislodge thy bloody mind, And send thee howling to the realms of night! As sure as Neptune cannot give thee sight.' "Thus I; while raging he repeats his cries, With hands uplifted to the starry skies? 'Hear me, O Neptune; thou whose arms are hurl'd From shore to shore, and gird the solid world; If thine I am, nor thou my birth disown, And if the unhappy Cyclop be thy son, Let not Ulysses breathe his native air, Laertes' son, of Ithaca the fair. If to review his country be his fate, Be it through toils and sufferings long and late; His lost companions let him first deplore; Some vessel, not his own, transport him o'er; And when at home from foreign sufferings freed, More near and deep, domestic woes succeed!' With imprecations thus he fill'd the air, And angry Neptune heard the unrighteous prayer, A larger rock then heaving from the plain, He whirl'd it round: it sung across the main; It fell, and brush'd the stern: the billows roar, Shake at the weight, and refluent beat the shore. With all our force we kept aloof to sea, And gain'd the island where our vessels lay. Our sight the whole collected navy cheer'd. Who, waiting long, by turns had hoped and fear'd. There disembarking on the green sea side, We land our cattle, and the spoil divide; Of these due shares to every sailor fall; The master ram was voted mine by all; And him (the guardian of Ulysses' fate) With pious mind to heaven I consecrate. But the great god, whose thunder rends the skies, Averse, beholds the smoking sacrifice; And sees me wandering still from coast to coast, And all my vessels, all my people, lost! While thoughtless we indulge the genial rite, As plenteous cates and flowing bowls invite; Till evening Phoebus roll'd away the light; Stretch'd on the shore in careless ease we rest, Till ruddy morning purpled o'er the east; Then from their anchors all our ships unbind, And mount the decks, and call the willing wind. Now, ranged in order on our banks we sweep. With hasty strokes the hoarse-resounding deep; Blind to the future, pensive with our fears, Glad for the living, for the dead in tears."



BOOK X.

ARGUMENT.

ADVENTURES WITH AEOLUS, THE LAESTRYGONS, AND CIRCE.

Ulysses arrives at the island of AEolus, who gives him prosperous winds, and incloses the adverse ones in a bag, which his companions untying, they are driven back again and rejected. Then they sail to the Laestrygons, where they lose eleven ships, and, with only one remaining, proceed to the island of Circe. Eurylochus is sent first with some companions, all which, except Eurylochus, are transformed into swine. Ulysses then undertakes the adventure, and, by the help of Mercury, who gives him the herb Moly, overcomes the enchantress, and procures the restoration of his men. After a year's stay with her, he prepares, at her instigation, for his voyage to the infernal shades.



"AT length we reach'd AEolias's sea-girt shore, Where great Hippotades the sceptre bore, A floating isle! high-raised by toil divine, Strong walls of brass the rocky coast confine. Six blooming youths, in private grandeur bred, And six fair daughters, graced the royal bed; These sons their sisters wed, and all remain Their parents' pride, and pleasure of their reign. All day they feast, all day the bowls flow round, And joy and music through the isle resound; At night each pair on splendid carpets lay, And crown'd with love the pleasures of the day. This happy port affords our wandering fleet A month's reception, and a safe retreat. Full oft the monarch urged me to relate The fall of Ilion, and the Grecian fate; Full oft I told: at length for parting moved; The king with mighty gifts my suit approved. The adverse winds in leathern bags he braced, Compress'd their force, and lock'd each struggling blast. For him the mighty sire of gods assign'd The tempest's lood, the tyrant of the wind; His word alone the listening storms obey, To smooth the deep, or swell the foamy sea. These in my hollow ship the monarch hung, Securely fetter'd by a silver thong: But Zephyrus exempt, with friendly gales He charged to fill, and guide the swelling sails: Rare gift! but O, what gift to fools avails!

"Nine prosperous days we plied the labouring oar; The tenth presents our welcome native shore: The hills display the beacon's friendly light, And rising mountains gain upon our sight. Then first my eyes, by watchful toils oppress'd, Complied to take the balmy gifts of rest: Then first my hands did from the rudder part (So much the love of home possess'd my heart): When lo! on board a fond debate arose; What rare device those vessels might inclose? What sum, what prize from AEolus I brought? Whilst to his neighbour each express'd his thought:

"'Say, whence ye gods, contending nations strive Who most shall please, who most our hero give? Long have his coffers groan'd with Trojan spoils: Whilst we, the wretched partners of his toils, Reproach'd by want, our fruitless labours mourn, And only rich in barren fame return. Now AEolus, ye see, augments his store: But come, my friends, these mystic gifts explore,' They said: and (oh cursed fate!) the thongs unbound! The gushing tempest sweeps the ocean round; Snatch'd in the whirl, the hurried navy flew, The ocean widen'd and the shores withdrew. Roused from my fatal sleep I long debate If still to live, or desperate plunge to fate; Thus doubting, prostrate on the deck I lay, Till all the coward thoughts of death gave way.

"Meanwhile our vessels plough the liquid plain, And soon the known AEolian coast regain; Our groan the rocks remurmur'd to the main. We leap'd on shore, and with a scanty feast Our thirst and hunger hastily repress'd; That done, two chosen heralds straight attend Our second progress to my royal friend; And him amidst his jovial sons we found; The banquet steaming, and the goblets crown'd; There humbly stoop'd with conscious shame and awe, Nor nearer than the gate presumed to draw. But soon his sons their well-known guest descried, And starting from their couches loudly cried: 'Ulysses here! what demon could'st thou meet To thwart thy passage, and repel thy fleet? Wast thou not furnish'd by our choicest care For Greece, for home and all thy soul held dear?' Thus they, In silence long my fate I mourn'd; At length these words with accents low return'd: 'Me, lock'd in sleep, my faithless crew bereft Of all the blessing of your godlike gift! But grant, oh grant, our loss we may retrieve; A favour you, and you alone can give.'

"Thus I with art to move their pity tried, And touch'd the youths; but their stern sire replied: 'Vile wretch, begone! this instant I command Thy fleet accursed to leave our hallow'd land. His baneful suit pollutes these bless'd abodes, Whose fate proclaims him hateful to the gods.'

"Thus fierce he said: we sighing went our way, And with desponding hearts put off to sea. The sailors spent with toils their folly mourn, But mourn in vain; no prospect of return Six days and nights a doubtful course we steer, The next proud Lamos' stately towers appear, And Laestrygonia's gates arise distinct in air. The shepherd, quitting here at night the plain, Calls, to succeed his cares, the watchful swain; But he that scorns the chains of sleep to wear, And adds the herdsman's to the shepherd's care, So near the pastures, and so short the way, His double toils may claim a double pay, And join the labours of the night and day.

"Within a long recess a bay there lies, Edged round with cliffs high pointing to the skies; The jutting shores that swell on either side Contract its mouth, and break the rushing tide. Our eager sailors seize the fair retreat, And bound within the port their crowded fleet: For here retired the sinking billows sleep, And smiling calmness silver'd o'er the deep. I only in the bay refused to moor, And fix'd without, my halsers to the shore.

"From thence we climb'd a point, whose airy brow Commands the prospect of the plains below; No tracks of beasts, or signs of men, we found, 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 show'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 struck 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 Aeaean bay, Where Circe dwelt, the daughter of the Day! Her mother Perse, of old Ocean's strain, Thus from the Lun descended, and the Main (From the same lineage stern Aeaetes came, The far-famed brother of the enchantress dame); Goddess, the 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, 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 our 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 With weighty steps, till at the ship I threw The welcome burden, and bespoke my crew:

"'Cheer up, my friends! it is not yet our fate To glide with ghosts through Pluto's gloomy gate. Food in the desert land, behold! is given! Live, and enjoy the providence of heaven.'

"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 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! 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. 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, And all around it only seas and skies!'

"With broken hearts my sad companions stood, Mindful of Cyclops and his human food, And horrid Laestrygons, the men of blood. Presaging tears apace began to rain; 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; He march'd with twice eleven in his train; Pensive they march, and pensive we remain.

"The palace in a woody vale they found, 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. 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; 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):

"'What voice celestial, chanting to the loom (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.

"The goddess, rising, asks her guests to stay, Who blindly follow where she leads the way. Eurylochus alone of all the band, 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 Pramnian 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. 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 and cornel, as their feast, around; Now prone and grovelling on unsavoury ground.

"Eurylochus, with pensive steps and slow. Aghast returns; the messenger of woe, 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 through the dome, 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 shoulder 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 from the shore My haughty step, I stalk'd the valley o'er. Till now approaching nigh the magic bower, 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! 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 show'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 ethereal 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. I took, and quaff'd it, confident in heaven. Then waved the wand, and then the word was given. 'Hence to thy fellows! (dreadful she began:) Go, be a beast!'—I heard, and yet was man.

"Then, sudden whirling, like a waving flame, My beamy falchion, I assault the dame. Struck with unusual fear, she trembling cries, She faints, she falls; she lifts her weeping eyes.

"'What art thou? say! from whence, from whom you came? O more than human! tell thy race, thy name. Amazing strength, these poisons to sustain! Not mortal thou, nor mortal is thy brain. Or art thou he, the man to come (foretold By Hermes, powerful with the wand of gold), The man from Troy, who wander'd ocean round; The man for wisdom's various arts renown'd, Ulysses? Oh! thy threatening fury cease; Sheathe 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) 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; 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 tied, Swear, in thy soul no latent frauds remain, Swear by the vow which never can be vain.'

"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; Nymphs sprung from fountains, or from shady woods, Or the fair offspring of the sacred floods. One 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 smoking 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, 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; With copious water the bright vase supplies A silver laver of capacious size. 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 absorb'd in care; While scenes of woe rose anxious in my breast, The queen beheld me, and these words address'd:

"'Why sits Ulysses silent and apart, 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 answered: 'Goddess! human is my breast, 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. Me would'st thou please? for them thy cares employ, 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, Urged forth, and drove the bristly herd before; Unwieldy, out they rush'd with general cry, Enormous beasts, dishonest to the eye. Now touch'd by counter-charms they change again, And stand majestic, and recall'd to men. Those hairs of late that bristled every part, Fall off, miraculous effect of art! Till all the form in full proportion rise, More young, more large, more graceful 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'er, And sobs of joy re-echoed through the bower; E'en Circe wept, her adamantine heart Felt pity enter, and sustain'd her part.

"'Son of Laertes! (then the queen began) Oh much-enduring, much experienced man! 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 arms,'

"She said. Obedient to her high command I quit the place, and hasten to the strand, My sad companions on the beach I found, 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, 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 cheerful: '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, Or 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, 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' 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 mind 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.'

"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:

"'Is this, Ulysses, our inglorious lot? 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 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? Around their lord my sad companions mourn, Each breast beats homeward, anxious to return: If but a moment parted from thy eyes, Their tears flow round me, and my heart complies.'

"'Go then (she cried), ah go! yet think, not I, Not Circe, but the Fates, your wish deny. 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 Persephone, entire and whole, Gave to retain the unseparated soul: 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), ah, Circe! say, The dark descent, and who shall guide the way? 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! ask no mortal guide. Rear but the mast, the spacious sail display, 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: 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: 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: To all the shades around libations pour, 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, 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 holy 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 flame be cast, 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 unbidden ground: The sacred draught shall all the dead forbear, 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 remnant 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: A tiar wreath'd her head with many a fold; Her waist was circled with a zone of gold. Forth issuing then, from place to place I flew; Rouse man by man, and animate my crew. 'Rise, rise, my mates! 'tis Circe gives command: Our journey calls us; haste, and quit the land.' All rise and follow, yet depart not all, For Fate decreed one wretched man to fall.

"A youth there was, Elpenor was he named, Not much for sense, nor much for courage famed: The youngest of our band, a vulgar soul, Born but to banquet, and to drain the bowl. He, hot and careless, on a turret's height With sleep repair'd the long debauch of night: The sudden tumult stirred him where he lay, And down he hasten'd, but forgot the way; Full headlong from the roof the sleeper fell, And snapp'd the spinal joint, and waked in hell.

"The rest crowd round me with an eager look; I met them with a sigh, and thus bespoke: 'Already, friends! ye think your toils are o'er, Your hopes already touch your native shore: Alas! far otherwise the nymph declares, Far other journey first demands our cares; To tread the uncomfortable paths beneath, The dreary realms of darkness and of death; To seek Tiresias' awful shade below, And thence our fortunes and our fates to know.'

"My sad companions heard in deep despair; Frantic they tore their manly growth of hair; To earth they fell: the tears began to rain; But tears in mortal miseries are vain, Sadly they fared along the sea-beat shore; Still heaved their hearts, and still their eyes ran o'er. The ready victims at our bark we found, The sable ewe and ram together bound. For swift as thought the goddess had been there, And thence had glided, viewless as the air: The paths of gods what mortal can survey? Who eyes their motion? who shall trace their way?"



BOOK XI.

ARGUMENT.

THE DESCENT INTO HELL.

Ulysses continues his narration. How he arrived at the land of the Cimmerians, and what ceremonies he performed to invoke the dead. The manner of his descent, and the apparition of the shades: his conversation with Elpenor, and with Tiresias, who informs him in a prophetic manner of his fortunes to come. He meets his mother Anticles, from whom he learns the state of his family. He sees the shades of the ancient heroines, afterwards of the heroes, and converses in particular with Agamemnon and Achilles. Ajax keeps at a sullen distance, and disdains to answer him. He then beholds Tityus, Tantalus, Sisyphus, Hercules; till he is deterred from further curiosity by the apparition of horrid spectres, and the cries of the wicked in torments.



"Now to the shores we bend, a mournful train, Climb the tall bark, and launch into the main; At once the mast we rear, at once unbind The spacious sheet, and stretch it to the wind; Then pale and pensive stand, with cares oppress'd, And solemn horror saddens every breast. A freshening breeze the magic power supplied, While the wing'd vessel flew along the tide; Our oars we shipp'd; all day the swelling sails Full from the guiding pilot catch'd the gales.

"Now sunk the sun from his aerial height, And o'er the shaded billows rush'd the night; When lo! we reach'd old Ocean's utmost bounds, Where rocks control his waves with ever-during mounds.

"There in a lonely land, and gloomy cells, The dusky nation of Cimmeria dwells; The sun ne'er views the uncomfortable seats, When radiant he advances, or retreats: Unhappy race! whom endless night invades, Clouds the dull air, and wraps them round in shades.

"The ship we moor on these obscure abodes; Disbark the sheep, an offering to the gods; And, hellward bending, o'er the beach descry The doleful passage to the infernal sky. The victims, vow'd to each Tartarian power, Eurylochus and Perimedes bore.

"Here open'd hell, all hell I here implored, And from the scabbard drew the shining sword: 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, And on the surface shone the holy store.

"Now the wan shades we hail, the infernal gods, To speed our course, and waft us o'er the floods: So shall a barren heifer from the stall Beneath the knife upon your altars fall; 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 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, And all the dire assembly shriek'd around. Astonish'd at the sight, aghast I stood, And a cold fear ran shivering through my blood; Straight I command the sacrifice to haste, Straight the flay'd victims to the flames are cast, And mutter'd vows, and mystic song applied To grisly Pluto, and his gloomy bride.

"Now swift I waved my falchion o'er the blood; Back started the pale throngs, and trembling stood, Round the black trench the gore untasted flows, Till awful from the shades Tiresias rose.

"There wandering through the gloom I first survey'd, New to the realms of death, Elpenor's shade: His cold remains all naked to the sky On distant shores unwept, unburied lie. Sad at the sight I stand, deep fix'd in woe, And ere I spoke the tears began to flow.

"'O say what angry power Elpenor led To glide in shades, and wander with the dead? How could thy soul, by realms and seas disjoin'd, Outfly the nimble sail, and leave the lagging wind?

"The ghost replied: 'To hell my doom I owe, Demons accursed, dire ministers of woe! My feet, through wine unfaithful to their weight, Betray'd me tumbling from a towery height: Staggering I reel'd, and as I reel'd I fell, Lux'd the neck-joint—my soul descends to hell. But lend me aid, I now conjure thee lend, By the soft tie and sacred name of friend! By thy fond consort! by thy father's cares! By loved Telemachus' blooming years? For well I know that soon the heavenly powers Will give thee back to-day, and Circe's shores: There pious on my cold remains attend, There call to mind thy poor departed friend. The tribute of a tear is all I crave, And the possession of a peaceful grave. But if, unheard, in vain compassion plead, Revere the gods. The gods avenge the dead! A tomb along the watery margin raise, The tomb with manly arms and trophies grace, To show posterity Elpenor was. There high in air, memorial of my name, Fix the smooth oar, and bid me live to fame.'

"To whom with tears: 'These rites, O mournful shade, Due to thy ghost, shall to thy ghost be paid.'

"Still as I spoke the phantom seem'd to moan, Tear follow'd tear, and groan succeeded groan. But, as my waving sword the blood surrounds, The shade withdrew, and mutter'd empty sounds.

"There as the wondrous visions I survey'd, All pale ascends my royal mother's shade: A queen, to Troy she saw our legions pass; Now a thin form is all Anticlea was! Struck at the sight I melt with filial woe, And down my cheek the pious sorrows flow, Yet as I shook my falchion o'er the blood, Regardless of her son the parent stood.

"When lo! the mighty Theban I behold, To guide his steps he bore a staff of gold; Awful he trod; majestic was his look! And from his holy lips these accents broke:

"'Why, mortal, wanderest thou from cheerful day, To tread the downward, melancholy way? What angry gods to these dark regions led Thee, yet alive, companion of the deed? But sheathe thy poniard, while my tongue relates Heaven's steadfast purpose, and thy future fates.'

"While yet he spoke, the prophet I obey'd, And in the scabbard plunged the glittering blade: Eager he quaff'd the gore, and then express'd Dark things to come, the counsels of his breast.

"Weary of light, Ulysses here explores A prosperous voyage to his native shores; But know—by me unerring Fates disclose New trains of dangers, and new scenes of woes. I see, I see, thy bark by Neptune toss'd, For injured Cyclops, and his eyeball lost! Yet to thy woes the gods decree an end, If Heaven thou please: and how to please attend Where on Trinacrian rocks the ocean roars, Graze numerous herds along the verdant shores; Though hunger press, yet fly the dangerous prey, The herds are sacred to the god of day, Who all surveys with his extensive eye, Above, below, on earth, and in the sky! Rob not the god; and so propitious gales Attend thy voyage, and impel thy sails: But, if his herds ye seize, beneath the waves I see thy friends o'erwhelm'd in liquid graves! The direful wreck Ulysses scarce survives! Ulysses at his country scarce arrives! Strangers thy guides! nor there thy labours end; New foes arise; domestic ills attend! There foul adulterers to thy bride resort, And lordly gluttons riot in thy court. But vengeance hastes amain! These eyes behold The deathful scene, princes on princes roll'd! That done, a people far from sea explore, Who ne'er knew salt, or heard the billows roar, Or saw gay vessel stem the watery plain, A painted wonder flying on the main! Bear on thy back an oar: with strange amaze A shepherd meeting thee, the oar surveys, And names a van: there fix it on the plain, To calm the god that holds the watery reign; A threefold offering to his altar bring, A bull, a ram, a boar; and hail the ocean king. But home return'd, to each ethereal power Slay the due victim in the genial hour: So peaceful shalt thou end thy blissful days, And steal thyself from life by slow decays: Unknown to pain, in age resign thy breath, 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, O 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, O sacred seer, reveal!'

"'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.

"Still in the dark abodes of death I stood, When near Anticlea moved, and drank the blood. Straight all the mother in her soul awakes, And, owning her Ulysses, thus she speaks; 'Comest thou, my son, alive, to realms beneath, The dolesome realms of darkness and of death! Comest thou alive from pure, ethereal day? Dire is the region, dismal is the way! 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? Or say, since honour call'd thee to the field, Hast thou thy Ithaca, thy bride, beheld?'

"'Source of my life,' I cried, 'from earth I fly To seek Tiresias in the nether sky, To learn my doom; for, toss'd from woe to woe, In every land Ulysses finds a foe: Nor have these eyes beheld my native shores, Since in the dust proud Troy submits her towers.

"'But, when thy soul from her sweet mansion fled, Say, what distemper gave thee to the dead? Has life's fair lamp declined by slow decays, Or swift expired it in a sudden blaze? Say, if my sire, good old Laertes, lives? If yet Telemachus, my son, survives? Say, by his rule is my dominion awed, Or crush'd by traitors with an iron rod? Say, if my spouse maintains her royal trust; Though tempted, chaste, and obstinately just? Or if no more her absent lord she wails, But the false woman o'er the wife prevails?'

"Thus I, and thus the parent-shade returns: 'Thee, ever thee, thy faithful consort mourns: Whether the night descends or day prevails, Thee she by night, and thee by day bewails. Thee in Telemachus thy realm obeys; In sacred groves celestial rites he pays, And shares the banquet in superior state, Graced with such honours as become the great Thy sire in solitude foments his care: The court is joyless, for thou art not there! No costly carpets raise his hoary head, No rich embroidery shines to grace his bed; Even when keen winter freezes in the skies, Rank'd with his slaves, on earth the monarch lies: Deep are his sighs, his visage pale, his dress The garb of woe and habit of distress. And when the autumn takes his annual round, The leafy honours scattering on the ground, Regardless of his years, abroad he lies, His bed the leaves, his canopy the skies. Thus cares on cares his painful days consume, And bow his age with sorrow to the tomb!

"'For thee, my son, I wept my life away; For thee through hell's eternal dungeons stray: Nor came my fate by lingering pains and slow, Nor bent the silver-shafted queen her bow; No dire disease bereaved me of my breath; Thou, thou, my son, wert my disease and death; Unkindly with my love my son conspired, For thee I lived, for absent thee expired.'

"Thrice in my arms I strove her shade to bind, Thrice through my arms she slipp'd like empty wind, Or dreams, the vain illusions of the mind. Wild with despair, I shed a copious tide Of flowing tears, and thus with sighs replied:

"'Fliest thou, loved shade, while I thus fondly mourn! Turn to my arms, to my embraces turn! Is it, ye powers that smile at human harms! Too great a bliss to weep within her arms? Or has hell's queen an empty image sent, That wretched I might e'en my joys lament?'

"'O son of woe,' the pensive shade rejoin'd; 'O most inured to grief of all mankind! "'Tis not the queen of hell who thee deceives; All, all are such, when life the body leaves: No more the substance of the man remains, Nor bounds the blood along the purple veins: These the funereal flames in atoms bear, To wander with the wind in empty air: While the impassive soul reluctant flies, Like a vain dream, to these infernal skies. But from the dark dominions speed the way, And climb the steep ascent to upper day: To thy chaste bride the wondrous story tell, The woes, the horrors, and the laws of hell.'

"Thus while she spoke, in swarms hell's empress brings Daughters and wives of heroes and of kings; Thick and more thick they gather round the blood, Ghost thronged on ghost (a dire assembly) stood! Dauntless my sword I seize: the airy crew, Swift as it flash'd along the gloom, withdrew; Then shade to shade in mutual forms succeeds, Her race recounts, and their illustrious deeds.

"Tyro began, whom great Salmoneus bred; The royal partner of famed Cretheus' bed. For fair Enipeus, as from fruitful urns He pours his watery store, the virgin burns; Smooth flows the gentle stream with wanton pride, And in soft mazes rolls a silver tide. As on his banks the maid enamour'd roves, The monarch of the deep beholds and loves; In her Enipeus' form and borrow'd charms The amorous god descends into her arms: Around, a spacious arch of waves he throws, And high in air the liquid mountain rose; Thus in surrounding floods conceal'd, he proves The pleasing transport, and completes his loves. Then, softly sighing, he the fair address'd, And as he spoke her tender hand he press'd. 'Hail, happy nymph! no vulgar births are owed To the prolific raptures of a god: Lo! when nine times the moon renews her horn, Two brother heroes shall from thee be born; Thy early care the future worthies claim, To point them to the arduous paths of fame; But in thy breast the important truth conceal, Nor dare the secret of a god reveal: For know, thou Neptune view'st! and at my nod Earth trembles, and the waves confess their god.'

"He added not, but mounting spurn'd the plain, Then plunged into the chambers of the main,

"Now in the time's full process forth she brings Jove's dread vicegerents in two future kings; O'er proud Iolcos Pelias stretch'd his reign, And godlike Neleus ruled the Pylian plain: Then, fruitful, to her Cretheus' royal bed She gallant Pheres and famed Aeson bred; From the same fountain Amythaon rose, Pleased with the din of scar; and noble shout of foes.

"There moved Antiope, with haughty charms, Who bless'd the almighty Thunderer in her arms: Hence sprung Amphion, hence brave Zethus came, Founders of Thebes, and men of mighty name; Though bold in open field, they yet surround The town with walls, and mound inject on mound; Here ramparts stood, there towers rose high in air, And here through seven wide portals rush'd the war.

"There with soft step the fair Alcmena trod, Who bore Alcides to the thundering god: And Megara, who charm'd the son of Jove, And soften'd his stern soul to tender love.

"Sullen and sour, with discontented mien, Jocasta frown'd, the incestuous Theban queen; With her own son she join'd in nuptial bands, Though father's blood imbrued his murderous hands The gods and men the dire offence detest, The gods with all their furies rend his breast; In lofty Thebes he wore the imperial crown, A pompous wretch! accursed upon a throne. The wife self-murder'd from a beam depends, And her foul soul to blackest hell descends; Thence to her son the choicest plagues she brings, And the fiends haunt him with a thousand stings.

"And now the beauteous Chloris I descry, A lovely shade, Amphion's youngest joy! With gifts unnumber'd Neleus sought her arms, Nor paid too dearly for unequall'd charms; Great in Orchomenos, in Pylos great, He sway'd the sceptre with imperial state. Three gallant sons the joyful monarch told, Sage Nestor, Periclimenus the bold, And Chromius last; but of the softer race, One nymph alone, a myracle of grace. Kings on their thrones for lovely Pero burn; The sire denies, and kings rejected mourn. To him alone the beauteous prize he yields, Whose arm should ravish from Phylacian fields The herds of Iphyclus, detain'd in wrong; Wild, furious herds, unconquerably strong! This dares a seer, but nought the seer prevails, In beauty's cause illustriously he fails; Twelve moons the foe the captive youth detains In painful dungeons, and coercive chains; The foe at last from durance where he lay, His heart revering, give him back to day; Won by prophetic knowledge, to fulfil The steadfast purpose of the Almighty will.

"With graceful port advancing now I spied, Leda the fair, the godlike Tyndar's bride: Hence Pollux sprung, who wields the furious sway The deathful gauntlet, matchless in the fray; And Castor, glorious on the embattled plain, Curbs the proud steeds, reluctant to the rein: By turns they visit this ethereal sky, And live alternate, and alternate die: In hell beneath, on earth, in heaven above, Reign the twin-gods, the favourite sons of Jove.

"There Ephimedia trod the gloomy plain, Who charm'd the monarch of the boundless main: Hence Ephialtes, hence stern Otus sprung, More fierce than giants, more than giants strong; The earth o'erburden'd groan'd beneath their weight, None but Orion e'er surpassed their height: The wondrous youths had scarce nine winters told, When high in air, tremendous to behold, Nine ells aloft they rear'd their towering head, And full nine cubits broad their shoulders spread. Proud of their strength, and more than mortal size, The gods they challenge, and affect the skies: Heaved on Olympus tottering Ossa stood; On Ossa, Pelion nods with all his wood. Such were they youths I had they to manhood grown Almighty Jove had trembled on his throne, But ere the harvest of the beard began To bristle on the chin, and promise man, His shafts Apollo aim'd; at once they sound, And stretch the giant monsters o'er the ground.

"There mournful Phaedra with sad Procris moves, Both beauteous shades, both hapless in their loves; And near them walk'd with solemn pace and slow, Sad Adriadne, partner of their woe: The royal Minos Ariadne bred, She Theseus loved, from Crete with Theseus fled: Swift to the Dian isle the hero flies, And towards his Athens bears the lovely prize; There Bacchus with fierce rage Diana fires, The goddess aims her shaft, the nymph expires.

"There Clymene and Mera I behold, There Eriphyle weeps, who loosely sold Her lord, her honour, for the lust of gold. But should I all recount, the night would fail, Unequal to the melancholy tale: And all-composing rest my nature craves, Here in the court, or yonder on the waves; In you I trust, and in the heavenly powers, To land Ulysses on his native shores."

He ceased; but left so charming on their ear His voice, that listening still they seem'd to hear, Till, rising up, Arete silence broke, Stretch'd out her snowy hand, and thus she spoke:

"What wondrous man heaven sends us in our guest; Through all his woes the hero shines confess'd; His comely port, his ample frame express A manly air, majestic in distress. He, as my guest, is my peculiar care: You share the pleasure, then in bounty share To worth in misery a reverence pay, And with a generous hand reward his stay; For since kind heaven with wealth our realm has bless'd, Give it to heaven by aiding the distress'd."

Then sage Echeneus, whose grave reverend brow The hand of time had silvered o'er with snow, Mature in wisdom rose: "Your words (he cries) Demand obedience, for your words are wise. But let our king direct the glorious way To generous acts; our part is to obey."

"While life informs these limbs (the king replied), Well to deserve, be all my cares employed: But here this night the royal guest detain, Till the sun flames along the ethereal plain. Be it my task to send with ample stores The stranger from our hospitable shores: Tread you my steps! 'Tis mine to lead the race, The first in glory, as the first in place."

To whom the prince: "This night with joy I stay O monarch great in virtue as in sway! If thou the circling year my stay control, To raise a bounty noble as thy soul; The circling year I wait, with ampler stores And fitter pomp to hail my native shores: Then by my realms due homage would be paid; For wealthy kings are loyally obeyed!"

"O king! for such thou art, and sure thy blood Through veins (he cried) of royal fathers flow'd: Unlike those vagrants who on falsehood live, Skill'd in smooth tales, and artful to deceive; Thy better soul abhors the liar's part, Wise is thy voice, and noble is thy heart. Thy words like music every breast control, Steal through the ear, and win upon the soul; soft, as some song divine, thy story flows, Nor better could the Muse record thy woes.

"But say, upon the dark and dismal coast, Saw'st thou the worthies of the Grecian host? The godlike leaders who, in battle slain, Fell before Troy, and nobly press'd the plain? And lo! a length of night behind remains, The evening stars still mount the ethereal plains. Thy tale with raptures I could hear thee tell, Thy woes on earth, the wondrous scenes in hell, Till in the vault of heaven the stars decay. And the sky reddens with the rising day."

"O worthy of the power the gods assign'd (Ulysses thus replies), a king in mind: Since yet the early hour of night allows Time for discourse, and time for soft repose, If scenes of misery can entertain, Woes I unfold, of woes a dismal train. Prepare to heir of murder and of blood; Of godlike heroes who uninjured stood Amidst a war of spears in foreign lands, Yet bled at home, and bled by female hands.

"Now summon'd Proserpine to hell's black hall The heroine shades: they vanish'd at her call. When lo! advanced the forms of heroes slain By stern AEgysthus, a majestic train: And, high above the rest Atrides press'd the plain. He quaff'd the gore; and straight his soldier knew, And from his eyes pour'd down the tender dew: His arms he stretch'd; his arms the touch deceive, Nor in the fond embrace, embraces give: His substance vanish'd, and his strength decay'd, Now all Atrides is an empty shade.

"Moved at the sight, I for a apace resign'd To soft affliction all my manly mind; At last with tears: 'O what relentless doom, Imperial phantom, bow'd thee to the tomb? Say while the sea, and while the tempest raves, Has Fate oppress'd thee in the roaring waves, Or nobly seized thee in the dire alarms Of war and slaughter, and the clash of arms?'

"The ghost returns: 'O chief of human kind For active courage and a patient mind; Nor while the sea, nor while the tempest raves Has Fate oppress'd me on the roaring waves! Nor nobly seized me in the dire alarms Of war and slaughter, and the clash of arms Stabb'd by a murderous hand Atrides died, A foul adulterer, and a faithless bride; E'en in my mirth, and at the friendly feast, O'er the full bowl, the traitor stabb'd his guest; Thus by the gory arm of slaughter falls The stately ox, and bleeds within the stalls. But not with me the direful murder ends, These, these expired! their crime, they were my friends: Thick as the boars, which some luxurious lord Kills for the feast, to crown the nuptial board. When war has thunder'd with its loudest storms, Death thou hast seen in all her ghastly forms: In duel met her on the listed ground, When hand to hand they wound return for wound; But never have the eyes astonish'd view'd So vile a deed, so dire a scene of blood. E'en in the flow of joy, when now the bowl Glows in our veins, and opens every soul, We groan, we faint; with blood the doom is dyed. And o'er the pavement floats the dreadful tide— Her breast all gore, with lamentable cries, The bleeding innocent Cassandra dies! Then though pale death froze cold in every vein, My sword I strive to wield, but strive in vain; Nor did my traitress wife these eyelids close, Or decently in death my limbs compose. O woman, woman, when to ill thy mind Is bent, all hell contains no fouler fiend: And such was mine! who basely plunged her sword Through the fond bosom where she reign'd adored! Alas! I hoped the toils of war o'ercome, To meet soft quiet and repose at home; Delusive hope! O wife, thy deeds disgrace The perjured sex, and blacken all the race; And should posterity one virtuous find, Name Clytemnestra, they will curse the kind.'

"Oh injured shade (I cried) what mighty woes To thy imperial race from woman rose! By woman here thou tread'st this mournful strand, And Greece by woman lies a desert land.'

"'Warn'd by my ills beware, (the shade replies,) Nor trust the sex that is so rarely wise; When earnest to explore thy secret breast, Unfold some trifle, but conceal the rest. But in thy consort cease to fear a foe, For thee she feels sincerity of woe; When Troy first bled beneath the Grecian arms, She shone unrivall'd with a blaze of charms; Thy infant son her fragrant bosom press'd, Hung at her knee, or wanton'd at her breast; But now the years a numerous train have ran; The blooming boy is ripen'd into man; Thy eyes shall see him burn with noble fire, The sire shall bless his son, the son his sire; But my Orestes never met these eyes, Without one look the murder'd father dies; Then from a wretched friend this wisdom learn, E'en to thy queen disguised, unknown, return; For since of womankind so few are just, Think all are false, nor e'en the faithful trust.

"'But, say, resides my son in royal port, In rich Orchomenos, or Sparta's court? Or say in Pyle? for yet he views the light, Nor glides a phantom through the realms of night.'

"Then I: 'Thy suit is vain, nor can I say If yet he breathes in realms of cheerful day; Or pale or wan beholds these nether skies; Truth I revere; for wisdom never lies.'

"Thus in a tide of tears our sorrows flow, And add new horror to the realms of woe; Till side by side along the dreary coast Advanced Achilles' and Patroclus' ghost, A friendly pair! near these the Pylian stray'd, And towering Ajax, an illustrious shade! War was his joy, and pleased with loud alarms, None but Pelides brighter shone in arms.

"Through the thick gloom his friend Achilles knew, And as he speaks the tears descend in dew.

"'Comest thou alive to view the Stygian bounds, Where the wan spectres walk eternal rounds; Nor fear'st the dark and dismal waste to tread, Throng'd with pale ghosts, familiar with the dead?'

"To whom with sighs: 'I pass these dreadful gates To seek the Theban, and consult the Fates; For still, distress'd, I rove from coast to coast, Lost to my friends, and to my country lost. But sure the eye of Time beholds no name So bless'd as thine in all the rolls of fame; Alive we hail'd thee with our guardian gods, And dead thou rulest a king in these abodes.'

"'Talk not of ruling in this dolorous gloom, Nor think vain words (he cried) can ease my doom. Rather I'd choose laboriously to bear A weight of woes, and breathe the vital air, A slave to some poor hind that toils for bread, Than reign the sceptred monarch of the dead. But say, if in my steps my son proceeds, And emulates his godlike father's deeds? If at the clash of arms, and shout of foes, Swells his bold heart, his bosom nobly glows? Say if my sire, the reverend Peleus, reigns, Great in his Phthia, and his throne maintains; Or, weak and old, my youthful arm demands, To fix the sceptre steadfast in his hands? O might the lamp of life rekindled burn, And death release me from the silent urn! This arm, that thunder'd o'er the Phrygian plain, And swell'd the ground with mountains of the slain, Should vindicate my injured father's fame, Crush the proud rebel, and assert his claim.'

"'Illustrious shade (I cried), of Peleus' fates No circumstance the voice of Fame relates: But hear with pleased attention the renown, The wars and wisdom of thy gallant son. With me from Scyros to the field of fame Radiant in arms the blooming hero came. When Greece assembled all her hundred states, To ripen counsels, and decide debates, Heavens! how he charm'd us with a flow of sense, And won the heart with manly eloquence! He first was seen of all the peers to rise, The third in wisdom, where they all were wise! But when, to try the fortune of the day, Host moved toward host in terrible array, Before the van, impatient for the fight, With martial port he strode, and stern delight: Heaps strew'd on heaps beneath his falchion groan'd, And monuments of dead deform'd the ground. The time would fail should I in order tell What foes were vanquish'd, and what numbers fell: How, lost through love, Eurypylus was slain, And round him bled his bold Cetaean train. To Troy no hero came of nobler line, Or if of nobler, Memnon, it was thine.

"When Ilion in the horse received her doom, And unseen armies ambush'd in its womb, Greece gave her latent warriors to my care, 'Twas mine on Troy to pour the imprison'd war: Then when the boldest bosom beat with fear, When the stern eyes of heroes dropp'd a tear, Fierce in his look his ardent valour glow'd, Flush'd in his cheek, or sallied in his blood; Indignant in the dark recess he stands, Pants for the battle, and the war demands: His voice breathed death, and with a martial air He grasp'd his sword, and shook his glittering spear. And when the gods our arms with conquest crown'd, When Troy's proud bulwarks smoked upon the ground, Greece, to reward her soldier's gallant toils, Heap'd high his navy with unnumber'd spoils.

"Thus great in glory, from the din of war Safe he return'd, without one hostile scar; Though spears in iron tempests rain'd around, Yet innocent they play'd, and guiltless of a wound.'

"While yet I spoke, the shade with transport glow'd, Rose in his majesty, and nobler trod; With haughty stalk he sought the distant glades Of warrior kings, and join'd the illustrious shades.

"Now without number ghost by ghost arose, All wailing with unutterable woes. Alone, apart, in discontented mood, A gloomy shade the sullen Ajax stood; For ever sad, with proud disdain he pined, And the lost arms for ever stung his mind; Though to the contest Thetis gave the laws, And Pallas, by the Trojans, judged the cause. O why was I victorious in the strife? O dear bought honour with so brave a life! With him the strength of war, the soldier's pride, Our second hope to great Achilles, died! Touch'd at the sight from tears I scarce refrain, And tender sorrow thrills in every vein; Pensive and sad I stand, at length accost With accents mild the inexorable ghost: 'Still burns thy rage? and can brave souls resent E'en after death? Relent, great shade, relent! Perish those arms which by the gods' decree Accursed our army with the loss of thee! With thee we fall; Greece wept thy hapless fates, And shook astonish'd through her hundred states; Not more, when great Achilles press'd the ground, And breathed his manly spirit through the wound. O deem thy fall not owed to man's decree, Jove hated Greece, and punish'd Greece in thee! Turn then; oh peaceful turn, thy wrath control, And calm the raging tempest of thy soul.'