Seiz’d by the hand, and thus prophetic cried:
‘Yon bird, that dexter cuts th’ aërial road,
Rose ominous, nor flies without a God:
No race but thine shall Ithaca obey; 575
To thine, for ages, Heav’n decrees the sway.’
‘Succeed the omens, Gods!’ (the youth rejoin’d)
‘Soon shall my bounties speak a grateful mind,
And soon each envied happiness attend
The man who calls Telemachus his friend.’ 580
Then to Peiræus: ‘Thou whom time has prov’d
A faithful servant, by thy Prince belov’d!
Till we returning shall our guest demand,
Accept this charge with honour, at our hand.’
To this Peiræus: ‘Joyful I obey, 585
Well pleas’d the hospitable rites to pay.
The presence of thy guest shall best reward
(If long thy stay) the absence of my lord.’
With that, their anchors he commands to weigh,
Mount the tall bark, and launch into the sea. 590
All with obedient haste forsake the shores,
And, placed in order, spread their equal oars.
Then from the deck the Prince his sandals takes;
Pois’d in his hand the pointed jav’lin shakes.
They part; while, less’ning from the hero’s view, 595
Swift to the town the well-row’d galley flew:
The hero trod the margin of the main,
And reach’d the mansion of his faithful swain.
Odyssey Book XVII
THE ARGUMENT
Telemachus, returning to the city, relates to Penelope the sum of his travels. Ulysses is conducted by Eumæus to the palace, where his old dog Argus acknowledges his master, after an absence of twenty years, and dies with joy. Eumæus returns into the country, and Ulysses remains among the Suitors, whose behaviour is described.
SOON as Aurora, Daughter of the Dawn,
Sprinkled with roseate light the dewy lawn,
In haste the Prince arose, prepared to part;
His hand impatient grasps the pointed dart;
Fair on his feet the polish’d sandals shine, 5
And thus he greets the master of the swine:
‘My friend, adieu! let this short stay suffice;
I haste to meet my mother’s longing eyes,
And end her tears, her sorrows, and her sighs,
But thou, attentive, what we order heed: 10
This hapless stranger to the city lead:
By public bounty let him there be fed,
And bless the hand that stretches forth the bread;
To wipe the tears from all afflicted eyes,
My will may covet, but my power denies. 15
If this raise anger in the stranger’s thought,
The pain of anger punishes the fault:
The very truth I undisguised declare;
For what so easy as to be sincere?’
To this Ulysses: ‘What the Prince requires 20
Of swift removal, seconds my desires.
To want like mine the peopled town can yield
More hopes of comfort than the lonely field:
Nor fits my age to till the labour’d lands,
Or stoop to tasks a rural lord demands. 25
Adieu! but since this ragged garb can bear
So ill th’ inclemencies of morning air,
A few hours’ space permit me here to stay:
My steps Eumæus shall to town convey,
With riper beams when Phœbus warms the day.’ 30
Thus he; nor aught Telemachus replied,
But left the mansion with a lofty stride:
Schemes of revenge his pond’ring breast elate,
Revolving deep the suitors’ sudden fate.
Arriving now before th’ imperial hall, 35
He props his spear against the pillar’d wall;
Then like a lion o’er the threshold bounds;
The marble pavement with his step resounds;
His eye first glanc’d where Euryclea spreads
With furry spoils of beasts the splendid beds: 40
She saw, she wept, she ran with eager pace,
And reach’d her master with a long embrace.
All crowded round the family appears
With wild entrancement, and ecstatic tears.
Swift from above descends the royal Fair 45
(Her beauteous cheeks the blush of Venus wear,
Chasten’d with coy Diana’s pensive air);
Hangs o’er her son, in his embraces dies;
Rains kisses on his neck, his face, his eyes:
Few words she spoke, tho’ much she had to say: 50
And scarce those few, for tears, could force their way.
‘Light of my eyes! he comes! unhoped-for joy!
Has Heav’n from Pylos brought my lovely boy?
So snatch’d from all our cares! — Tell, hast thou known
Thy father’s fate, and tell me all thy own.’ 55
‘Oh dearest! most revered of woman-kind!
Cease with those tears to melt a manly mind’
(Replied the Prince); ‘nor be our fates deplor’d,
From death and treason to thy arms restor’d.
Go, bathe, and robed in white ascend the towers; 60
With all thy handmaids thank th’ immortal Powers:
To ev’ry God vow hecatombs to bleed,
And call Jove’s vengeance on the guilty deed.
While to th’ assembled council I repair;
A stranger sent by Heav’n attends me there; 65
My new accepted guest I haste to find,
Now to Peiræus’ honour’d charge consign’d.’
The matron heard, nor was his word in vain.
She bathed; and, robed in white, with all her train,
To ev’ry God vow’d hecatombs to bleed, 70
And call’d Jove’s vengeance on the guilty deed.
Arm’d with his lance, the Prince then pass’d the gate;
Two dogs behind, a faithful guard, await;
Pallas his form with grace divine improves:
The gazing crowd admires him as he moves: 75
Him, gath’ring round, the haughty suitors greet
With semblance fair, but inward deep deceit.
Their false addresses gen’rous he denied,
Pass’d on, and sate by faithful Mentor’s side;
With Antiphus, and Halitherses sage, 80
His father’s counsellors, revered for age.
Of his own fortunes, and Ulysses’ fame,
Much ask’d the seniors; till Peiræus came.
The stranger-guest pursued him close behind;
Whom when Telemachus beheld, he join’d. 85
He (when Peiræus ask’d for slaves to bring
The gifts and treasures of the Spartan King)
Thus thoughtful answer’d: ‘Those we shall not move,
Dark and unconscious of the will of Jove:
We know not yet the full event of all; 90
Stabb’d in his palace if your Prince must fall.
Us, and our house, if treason must o’er-throw,
Better a friend possess them than a foe;
If death to these, and vengeance, Heav’n decree,
Riches are welcome then, not else, to me. 95
Till then retain the gifts.’ — The hero said,
And in his hand the willing stranger led.
Then, disarray’d, the shining bath they sought
(With unguents smooth) of polish’d marble wrought;
Obedient handmaids with assistant toil 100
Supply the limpid wave, and fragrant oil;
Then o’er their limbs refulgent robes they threw,
And fresh from bathing to their seats withdrew.
The golden ewer a nymph attendant brings,
Replenish’d from the pure translucent springs
: 105
With copious streams that golden ewer supplies
A silver laver of capacious size.
They wash: the table, in fair order spread,
Is piled with viands and the strength of bread.
Full opposite, before the folding gate, 110
The pensive mother sits in humble state;
Lowly she sate, and with dejected view
The fleecy threads her iv’ry fingers drew.
The Prince and stranger shared the genial feast,
Till now the rage of thirst and hunger ceas’d. 115
When thus the Queen: ‘My son! my only friend!
Say, to my mournful couch shall I ascend
(The couch deserted now a length of years;
The couch for ever water’d with my tears)?
Say, wilt thou now (ere yet the suitor crew 120
Return, and riot shakes our walls anew),
Say, wilt thou not the least account afford?
The least glad tidings of my absent lord?’
To her the youth: ‘We reach’d the Pylian plains,
Where Nestor, shepherd of his people, reigns. 125
All arts of tenderness to him are known,
Kind to Ulysses’ race as to his own:
No father with a fonder grasp of joy
Strains to his bosom his long-absent boy.
But all unknown, if yet Ulysses breathe, 130
Or glide a spectre in the realms beneath:
For farther search, his rapid steeds transport
My lengthen’d journey to the Spartan court.
There Argive Helen I beheld, whose charms
(So Heav’n decreed) engaged the great in arms. 135
My cause of coming told, he thus rejoin’d;
And still his words live perfect in my mind:
‘“Heav’ns! would a soft, inglorious, dastard train
An absent hero’d nuptial joys profane!
So with her young, amid the woodland shades, 140
A tim’rous hind the lion’s court invades,
Leaves in that fatal lair her tender fawns,
And climbs the cliffs, or feeds along the lawns;
Meantime returning, with remorseless sway
The monarch savage rends the panting prey: 145
With equal fury, and with equal fame,
Shall great Ulysses reassert his claim.
O Jove! Supreme! whom men and Gods rever;
And thou, whose lustre gilds the rolling sphere
With power congenial join’d, propitious aid 150
The Chief adopted by the Martial Maid!
Such to our wish the warrior soon restore,
As when, contending on the Lesbian shore,
His prowess Philomelides confess’d,
And loud acclaiming Greeks the victor bless’d: 155
Then soon th’ invaders of his bed and throne,
Their love presumptuous shall by death atone.
Now what you question of my ancient friend,
With truth I answer; thou the truth attend.
Learn what I heard the sea-born seer relate, 160
Whose eye can pierce the dark recess of fate.
Sole in an isle, imprison’d by the main,
The sad survivor of his numerous train,
Ulysses lies; detain’d by magic charms,
And press’d unwilling in Calypso’s arms. 165
No sailors there, no vessels to convey,
No oars to cut th’ immeasurable way.”
This told Atrides, and he told no more.
Then safe I voyaged to my native shore.’
He ceas’d; nor made the pensive Queen reply, 170
But droop’d her head, and drew a secret sigh.
When Theoclymenus the seer began:
‘O suff’ring consort of the suff’ring man!
What human knowledge could, those Kings might tell,
But I the secrets of high Heav’n reveal. 175
Before the first of Gods be this declared,
Before the board whose blessings we have shared;
Witness the genial rites, and witness all
This house holds sacred in her ample wall!
Ev’n now, this instant, great Ulysses, laid 180
At rest, or wand’ring in his country’s shade,
Their guilty deeds, in hearing, and in view,
Secret revolves; and plans the vengeance due.
Of this sure auguries the Gods bestow’d,
When first our vessel anchor’d in your road.’ 185
‘Succeed those omens, Heav’n!’ (the Queen rejoin’d)
‘So shall our bounties speak a grateful mind:
And every envied happiness attend
The man who calls Penelope his friend.’
Thus communed they: while in the marble court 190
(Scene of their insolence) the lords resort;
Athwart the spacious square each tries his art,
To whirl the disk, or aim the missile dart.
Now did the hour of sweet repast arrive,
And from the field the victim flocks they drive: 195
Medon the Herald (one who pleas’d them best,
And honour’d with a portion of their feast),
To bid the banquet, interrupts their play:
Swift to the hall they haste; aside they lay
Their garments, and succinct the victims slay. 200
Then sheep, and goats, and bristly porkers bled,
And the proud steer was o’er the marble spread.
While thus the copious banquet they provide,
Along the road, conversing side by side,
Proceed Ulysses and the faithful swain: 205
When thus Eumæus, gen’rous and humane:
‘To town, observant of our lord’s behest,
Now let us speed: my friend, no more my guest!
Yet like myself I wish thee here preferr’d,
Guard of the flock, or keeper of the herd. 210
But much to raise my master’s wrath I fear;
The wrath of Princes ever is severe.
Then heed his will, and be our journey made
While the broad beams of Phœbus are display’d,
Or ere brown ev’ning spreads her chilly shade.’ 215
‘Just thy advice’ (the prudent Chief rejoin’d),
‘And such as suits the dictate of my mind.
Lead on: but help me to some staff to stay
My feeble step, since rugged is the way.’
Across his shoulders then the scrip he flung, 220
Wide-patch’d, and fasten’d by a twisted thong.
A staff Eumæus gave. Along the way
Cheerly they fare: behind, the keepers stay;
These with their watchful dogs (a constant guard)
Supply his absence, and attend the herd. 225
And now his city strikes the Monarch’s eyes,
Alas! how changed! a man of miseries;
Propp’d on a staff, a beggar old and bare,
In rags dishonest flutt’ring with the air!
Now, pass’d the rugged road, they journey down 230
The cavern’d way descending to the town,
Where, from the rock, with liquid drops distils
A limpid fount, that, spread in parting rills,
Its current thence to serve the city brings;
A useful work, adorn’d by ancient kings. 235
Neritus, Ithacus, Polyctor, there,
In sculptured stone immortalized their care;
In marble urns receiv’d it from above,
And shaded with a green surrounding grove;
Where silver alders, in high arches twin’d, 240
Drink the cool stream, and tremble to the wind.
Beneath, sequester’d to the nymphs, is seen
A mossy altar, deep embower’d in green;
Where constant vows by travellers are paid,
And holy horrors solemnize the sha
de. 245
Here, with his goats (not vow’d to sacred flame,
But pamper’d luxury), Melanthius came:
Two grooms attend him. With an envious look
He eyed the stranger, and imperious spoke:
‘The good old proverb how this pair fulfil! 250
One rogue is usher to another still.
Heav’n with a secret principle endued
Mankind, to seek their own similitude.
Where goes the swineherd with that ill-look’d guest?
That giant glutton, dreadful at a feast! 255
Full many a post have those broad shoulders worn,
From ev’ry great man’s gate repuls’d with scorn:
To no brave prize aspired the worthless swain,
‘T was but for scraps he ask’d, and ask’d in vain.
To beg, than work, he better understands; 260
Or we perhaps might take him off thy hands.
For any office could the slave be good,
To cleanse the fold, or help the kids to food,
If any labour those big joints could learn,
Some whey, to wash his bowels, he might earn. 265
To cringe, to whine, his idle hands to spread,
Is all by which that graceless maw is fed.
Yet hear me! if thy impudence but dare
Approach yon walls, I prophesy thy fare:
Dearly, full dearly, shalt thou buy thy bread 270
With many a footstool thund’ring at thy head.’
He thus: nor insolent of word alone,
Spurn’d with his rustic heel his King unknown;
Spurn’d, but not mov’d: he like a pillar stood,
Nor stirr’d an inch, contemptuous, from the road: 275
Doubtful, or with his staff to strike him dead,
Or greet the pavement with his worthless head.
Short was that doubt; to quell his rage inured,
The hero stood self-conquer’d, and endured.
But hateful of the wretch, Eumæus heav’d 280
His hands obtesting, and this prayer conceiv’d:
‘Daughters of Jove! who from th’ ethereal bowers
Descend to swell the springs, and feed the flowers!
Nymphs of this fountain! to whose sacred names
Our rural victims mount in blazing flames! 285
To whom Ulysses’ piety preferr’d
The yearly firstlings of his flock, and herd;
Succeed my wish, your votary restore:
Oh, be some God his convoy to our shore!
Due pains shall punish then this slave’s offence, 290
And humble all his airs of insolence,
Who, proudly stalking, leaves the herds at large,
Commences courtier, and neglects his charge.’
‘What mutters he?’ (Melanthius sharp rejoins)
‘This crafty miscreant big with dark designs? 295
Alexander Pope - Delphi Poets Series Page 138
