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Perform'd their office, or his weight upheld:
His swoln heart heaved; his bloated body swell'd:
From mouth and nose the briny torrent ran;
And lost in lassitude lay all the man,
Deprived of voice, of motion, and of breath;
The soul scarce waking, in the arms of death.
Soon as warm life its wonted office found,
The mindful chief Leucothea's scarf unbound;
Observant of her word, he turn'd aside
His head, and cast it on the rolling tide.
Behind him far, upon the purple waves
The waters waft it, and the nymph receives.

Now parting from the stream, Ulysses found
A mossy bank with pliant rushes crown'd;
The bank he press'd, and gently kiss'd the ground;
Where on the flowery herb as soft he lay,
Thus to his soul the sage began to say→

'What will ye next ordain, ye powers on high! And yet, ah yet, what fates are we to try? Here by the stream, if I the night outwear, Thus spent already, how shall nature bear The dews descending, and nocturnal air; Or chilly vapours, breathing from the flood When morning rises?— -If I take the wood, And in thick shelter of innumerous boughs Enjoy the comfort gentle sleep allows; [pass'd, Though fenced from cold, and though my toil be What savage beasts may wander in the waste! Perhaps I yet may fall a bloody prey To prowling bears, or lions in the way.' Thus long debating in himself he stood: At length he took the passage to the wood, Whose shady horrors on a rising brow Waved high, and frown'd upon the stream below.

There grew two olives, closest of the grove,
With roots entwined, and branches interwove;
Alike their leayes, but not alike they smiled
With sister-fruits; one fertile, one was wild.
Nor here the sun's meridian rays had power,
Nor wind sharp piercing, nor the rushing shower;
The verdant arch so close its texture kept:
Beneath this covert great Ulysses crept.
Of gather'd leaves an ample bed he made
(Thick strown by tempest through the bowery
shade),

Where three at least might winter's cold defy,
Though Boreas raged along the' inclement sky.
This store, with joy the patient hero found,
And, sunk amidst them, heap'd the leaves around.
As some poor peasant, fated to reside
Remote from neighbours in a forest wide,
Studious to save what human wants require,
In embers heap'd, preserves the seeds of fire;
Hid in dry foliage thus Ulysses lies,

Till Pallas pour'd soft slumbers on his eyes;
And golden dreams (the gift of sweet repose)
Lull'd all his cares, and banish'd all his woes.

BOOK VI.

The Argument.

Pallas appearing in a dream to Nausicaa (the daughter of Alcinous king of Phæacia) commands her to descend to the river, and wash the robes of state, in preparation to her nuptials. Nausicaa goes with her handmaids to the river; where, while the garments are spread on the bank, they divert themselves in sports. Their voices awake Ulysses, who, addressing himself to the princess, is by her relieved and clothed, and receives directions in what manner to apply to the king and queen of the island.

WHILE thus the weary wanderer sunk to rest,
And peaceful slumbers calm'd his anxious breast,
The martial maid from heaven's aerial height
Swift to Phæacia wing'd her rapid flight.
In elder times the soft Phæacian train
In ease possess'd the wide Hyperian plain;
Till the Cyclopean race in arms arose,
A lawless nation of gigantic foes;

Then great Nausithous from Hyperia far,
Through seas retreating from the sound of war,
The recreant nation to fair Scheria led,

Where never science rear'd her laurel'd head:
There, round his tribes a strength of wall he raised;
To heaven the glittering domes and temples blazed;
Just to his realms, he parted grounds from grounds,
And shared the lands, and gave the lands their
bounds.

Now in the silent grave the monarch lay,
And wise Alcinous held the regal sway.
To his high palace through the fields of air
The goddess shot: Ulysses was her care.
There as the night in silence roll'd away,
A heaven of charms divine Nausicaa lay:

Through the thick gloom the shining portals blaze: Twonymphs the portals guard, each nymph a grace. Light as the viewless air, the warrior maid Glides through the valves, and hovers round her head;

A favourite virgin's blooming form she took, From Dymas sprung, and thus the vision spoke— 'Oh indolent! to waste thy hours away! And sleep'st thou careless of the bridal day? Thy spousal ornament neglected lies;

Arise, prepare

the bridal train, arise! A just applause the cares of dress impart, And give soft transport to a parent's heart. Haste, to the limpid stream direct thy way, When the gay morn unveils her smiling ray: Haste to the stream! companion of thy care, Lo, I thy steps attend, thy labours share. Virgin, awake! the marriage hour is nigh, See! from their thrones thy kindred monarchs The royal car at early dawn obtain, And order mules obedient to the rein; For rough the way, and distant rolls the wave, Where their fair vests Phæacian virgins lave. In pomp ride forth; for pomp becomes the great, And majesty derives a grace from state.'

[sigh!

Then to the palaces of heaven she sails, Incumbent on the wings of wafting gales: The seat of gods! the regions mild of peace, Full joy, and calm eternity of ease.

rise;

There no rude winds presume to shake the skies,
No rains descend, no snowy vapours
But on immortal thrones the bless'd repose!
The firmament with living splendours glows.
Hither the goddess wing'd the' aerial way, [day,
Through heaven's eternal gates that blazed with

Now from her rosy car Aurora shed The dawn, and all the orient flamed with red. Uprose the virgin with the morning light, Obedient to the vision of the night. [stow'd The queen she sought the queen her hours beIn curious works; the whirling spindle glow'd With crimson threads, while busy damsels cull The snowy fleece, or twist the purpled wool, Meanwhile Phæacia's peers in council sat: From his high dome the king descends in state, Then with a filial awe the royal maid Approach'd him passing, and submissive said

:

Will my dread sire his ear regardful deign, And may his child the royal car obtain? Say, with thy garments shall I bend my way Where through the vales the mazy waters stray? A dignity of dress adorns the great, And kings draw lustre from the robe of state. Five sons thou hast three wait the bridal day, And spotless robes become the young and gay: So when with praise amid the dance they shine, By these my cares adorn'd, that praise is mine.' Thus she: but blushes, ill restrain'd, betray Her thoughts intentive on the bridal day. The conscious sire the dawning blush survey'd, And smiling thus bespoke the blooming maidMy child, my darling joy, the car receive; That, and whate'er our daughter asks, we give.' Swift at the royal nod the' attending train The car prepare, the mules incessant rein. The blooming virgin with dispatchful cares Tunics, and stoles, and robes imperial bears. The queen, assiduous, to her train assigns The sumptuous viands, and the flavorous wines.

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