And common turf, lie naked on the plain,
Or doom'd to welter in the whelming main. 210
Should he return, that troop fo blithe and bold,
With purple robes inwrought, and stiff with gold,
Precipitant in fear would wing their flight,
And curfe their cumbrous pride's unwieldy weight.
But, ah, I dream!-th' appointed hour, is fled !
And hope, too long with vain delufion fed,
Deaf to the rumour of fallacious fame,
Gives to the roll of death his glorious name!
With venial freedom let me now demand
Thy name, thy lineage, and paternal land:
Sincere, from whence began thy course, recite,
And to what ship I owe the friendly freight ?
Now firft to me this vifit doft thou deign,
Or number'd in my father's focial train?
All who deferv'd his choice he made his own, 225
And, curious much to know, he far was known.
My birth I boast (the blue-ey'd virgin cries)
From great Anchialus, renown'd and wife:
Mentes my name; I rule the Taphian race,
Whose bounds the deep circumfluent waves em-
brace :
But, parting then for that detefted fhore,
Our eyes, unhappy! Rever greeted more.
To prove a genuine birth (the prince replies)
On female truth affenting faith relies:
Thus manifeft of right, I build my claim
Sure-founded on a fair maternal fame,
Ulyffes' fon: bat happier he, whom fate
Hath plac'd beneath the ftorms which tofs the
280
great!
Happier the fon, whofe hoary fire is bleft
With humble affluence, and domestic rest!
Happier than I, to future empire born,
But doom'd a father's wretched fate to mourn!
To whom, with afpect mild, the gueft divine:
Oh true defcendant of a scepter'd line!
The Gods a glorious fate from anguish free
To chafte Penelope's increafe decree.
But fay, yon joyful troop fo gaily dreft,
Is this a bridal or a friendly feast!
Or from their deed I rightlier may divine,
Unfeemly flown with infolence and wine;
Unwelcome revellers, whofe lawless joy
Pains the fage ear, and hurts the fober eye?
Magnificence of old (the prince replied)
Beneath our roof with virtue could refide;
Unblum'd abundance crown'd the royal board,
What time this dome rever'd her prudent lord;
235 Who now (fo heaven decrces) is doom'd to mourn,
Bitter constraint! erroneous aud forlorn.
Better the chief, on Ilion's hoftile plain,
Had fall'n furrounded with his warlike train;
Or fafe return'd, the race of glory past,
New to his friend's embrace, had breath'd his
[raile
Then grateful Gresce with ftreaming eyes would
Hiftoric marbles, to record his praise;
His praife, eternal on the faithful ftone,
Had with tranfmiffive honour grac'd his fon.
Now fnatch'd by harpies to the dreary coast,
Sunk is the hero, and his glory loft :
Vanish'd at once! unheard-of and unknown!
And I his heir in mifery alone.
Nor for a dear, loft father only flow
The filial tears, but woe fucceeds to woe:
A duteous people, and industrious isle,
To naval arts inur'd, and stormy toil.
Freighted with iron from my native land,
Ifteer my voyage to the Brutian strand;
To gain by commerce for the labour'd mafs,
A juft proportion of refulgent brass.
Far from your capital my hip refides
At Reithrus, and fecure at anchor rides ;
Where waving groves on airy Neion grow,
Supremely tall, and fhade the deeps below.
Thence to revifit your imperial dome,
An old hereditary gueft i come :
Your father's friend, Laertes can relate
Our faith unfpotted, and its early date;
Who, preft with heart-corroding grief and years,
To the gay court a rural fhade prefers,
Where, fole of all his train, a matron fage
Supports with homely food his drooping age,
With feeble fteps from marshalling his vines
Returning fad, when toilfome day declines.
With friendly fpeed, induc'd by erring fame,
To hail Ulyffes' fafe return, I came;
But still the frown of some celestial Power
With envious joy retards the blissful hour.
Let not your foul be funk in fad despair :
He lives, he breathes this heavenly vital air,
Among a favage race, whofe fhelly bounds
With ceaseless roar the foaming deep furrounds.
The thoughts which roll within my ravifh'd
breast,
To me, no feer, th' infpiring Gods fuggeft;
Nor fkill'd, nor ftudious, with prophetic eye
To judge the winged omens of the sky,
Yet hear this certain fpeech, nor deem it vain;
Though adamantine bonds the chief restrain,
The dire reftraint his wifdom will defeat,
And foon restore him to his regal feat.
But, generous youth! fincere and free declare,
Are you, of manly growth, his royal heir?
For fure Ulyffes in your look appears,
The fame his features, if the fame his years.
Such was that face, on which I dwelt with joy
Ere Greece affembled ftemm'd the tides
(For fo of old my father's court he grac'd,
When focial mirth unbent his ferious foul,
O'er the full banquet, and the sprightly bowl):
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For voyaging to learn the direful art
To taint with deadly drugs the barbed dart;
Obfervant of the Gods, and fternly juft,
Ilus refus'd t' impart the baneful truft:
With friendlier zeal my father's foul was fir'd,
The drugs he knew, and gave the boon defir'd. 345
Appear'd he now with fuch heroic port,
As then confpicuous at the Taphian court;
Soon fhould yon boafters cease their haughty ftrife,
Or each atone his guilty love with life.
But of his wifh'd return the care.refign,
Be future vengeance to the powers divine.
My fentence hear: with ftern distaste avow'd,
To their own diftricts drive the fuitor-crowd:
When next the morning warms the purple caft,
Convoke the peerage, and the Gods atteft:
The forrows of your inmost foul relate,
And form fure plans to fave the finking flate.
Should fecond love a pleafing flame infpire,
And the chaste queen connubial rites require;
Difmifs'd with honour, let her hence repair
To great Icarius, whofe paternal care
Will guide her paffion, and reward the choice
With wealthy dower, and bridal gifts of price.
Then let this dictate of my love prevail :
Inftant, to foreign realms prepare to fail,
To learn your father's fortunes: Fame may prove,
Or omen'd voice, (the meffenger of Jove)
Propitious to the fearch. Direct your toil
Through the wide ocean firft to fandy Pyle;
Of Neftor, hoary fage, his doom demand ;
Thence speed your voyage to the Spartan ftrand;
For young Atrides to th' Achaian coaft
Arriv'd the laft of all the victor host.
If yet Ulyffes views the light; forbear,
'Till the fleet hours reftore the circling year. 375
But if his foul hath wing'd the deftin'd flight,
Inhabitant of deep difaftrous night:
Homeward with pious fpeed repafs the main,
To the pale fhade funereal rites ordain,
Plant the fair column o'er the vacant grave,
A hero's honours let the hero have.
With decent grief the royal dead deplor'd,
For the chaite queen felect an equal lord.
Then let revenge your daring mind employ,
By fraud or force the fuitor-train deftroy, 385)
And, ftarting into manhood, fcorn the boy.
Haft thou not heard how young Oreftes, fir'd
With great revenge, immortal praise acquir'd?
His virgin-fword gyfthus' veins imbrued;
The murderer fell, and blood aton'd for blood.
O greatly blefs'd with every blooming grace ! 391
With equal fteps the paths of glory trace;
Join to that royal youth's your rival name,
And thine eternal in the sphere of Fanie.
But my affociates now my stay deplore,
Impatient on the hoarfe-refounding fhore.
Thou, heedful of advice, fecure proceed:
My praife the precept is, be thine the deed.
But, fince to part, for fweet refection due
The genial viands let my train renew;
And the rich pledge of plighted faith receive, 405
Worthy the heir of Ithaca to give.
Defer the promis'd boon, (the Goddess cries,
Celestial azure brightening in her eyes)
And let me now regain the Reithrian port:
From Temefé return'd, your royal court
I fhall revifit; and that pledge receive;
And gifts, memorial of our friendship, leave.
Abrupt, with eagle-fpeed fhe cut the sky;
Inftant invifible to mortal eye.
Then first he recogniz'd th' ætherial gueft; 415\
Wonder and joy alternate fire his breast:
Heroic thoughts, infus'd, his heart dilate;
Revolving much his father's doubtful fate,
At length, compos'd, he join'd the fuitor-throng;
Hufh'd in attention to the warbled fong.
His tender theme the charming lyrift chofe,
Minerva's anger, and the direful wots,
Which voyaging from Troy the victors børe,
While ftorms vindictive intercept the fhore.
The fhrilling airs the vaulted roof rebrunds, 425
Reflecting to the queen the silver sounds.
With grief renew'd the weeping fair defcends;
Their fovereign's flep a virgin train attends:
A veil, of richeft texture wrought, the wears,
And filent to the joyous hall repairs.
430
There from the portal, with her mild command,
Thus gently checks the minstrel's tuneful hand :
Phemius let acts of Gods, and heroes old,
What ancient bards in hall and bower have told,
Attemper'd to the lyre, your voice employ; 435
Such the pleas'd ear will drink with filent joy.
But, oh! forbear that dear difaftrous name,
To forrow facred, and fecure of fame :
My bleeding bofum fickens at the found,
And every piercing note inflicts a wound.
Why, dearest object of my duteous love,
(Reply'd the prince) will you the bard reprove?
Oft, Jove's æthereal rays (refiftlefs fire)
The chanter's foul and raptur'd fong infpire:
Inftinét divine! nor blame severe his choice, 445
Warbling the Grecian woes with harp and voice:
For novel lays attract our ravish'd ears;
But old, the mind with inattention hears;
Patient permit the fadly-pleafing strain ;
Familiar now with grief, your tears refrain, 450
And in the public woe forget your own;
You weep not for a perifh'd lord, alone.
What Greeks now wandering in the Stygian
gloom,
With your Ulyffes fhar'd an equal doom!
Your widow'd hours, apart, with female toil 455
And varicus labours of the loom, beguile;
There rule, from palace-cares remote and free;
That care to man belongs, and most to me.
Mature beyond his years the queen admires His fage reply, and with her train retires. 395 Then fwelling forrows burst their former bounds, With echoing grief afresh the dome refounds; Till Fallas, piteous of her plaintive cries, In flumber clos'd her filver-streaming eyes.
The counsel of my friend (the youth rejoin'd) Imprints conviction on my grateful mind. So fathers fpeak (persuasive speech and mild) Their fage experience to the favourite child.
Mean time, rekindled at the royal charms, 465 Tumultuous love each beating bofom warms; Intemperate rage a wordy war began ; But bold Telemachus affum'd the man.
Your private right should impious power invade, 470 The peers of Ithaca would arm in aid.
But lay, that stranger guest who late withdrew,
What and from whence? his name and lineage
His grave demeanour and majestic grace [fhew.
Speak him defcended of no vulgar race:
475 Did he fome loan of ancient right require,
Or came fore-runner of your fcepter'd fire? 520
Oh, fon of Polybus! the prince replies,
No more my fire will glad thefe longing eyes:
The queen's fond hope inventive rumour cheers,
Or vain diviners' dreams divert her fears.
That franger-guelt the Taphian realm obeys, 525
A realm defended with encircling feas,
Mentes, an ever-honour'd name of old
High in Ulyffes' focial lift enroll'd.
Inftant (he cry'd) your female discord end,
Ye deedlefs boafters! and the fong attend ;
Obey that sweet compulfion, nor profane
With diffonance the smooth melodious strain.
Pacific now prolong the jovial feast;
But when the dawn reveals the rofy east,
I, to the peers affembled, shall propose
The firm refolve, I here in few difclofe:
No longer live the cankers of my court;
All to your feveral ftates with speed refort;
Waste in wild riot what your land allows,
There ply the early feaft, and late carouse.
But if, to honour loft, 'tis ftill decreed,
For you my bowl fhall flow, my flocks fhall bleed;
Judge and revenge my right, impartial Jove!-
By him, and all th' immortal thrones above,
(Á facred oath) each proud oppreffor, flain, 485
Shall with inglorious gore this marble stain.
Aw'd by the prince, and haughty, bold, and
young,
[torgue.
Rage gnaw'd the lip, and wonder chain'd the
Silence at length the gay Antinous broke,
Conftrain'd a fmile, and thus ambiguous spoke: 490
What God to your untutor'd youth affords
This headlong torrents of amazing words?
May Jove delay thy reign, and cumber late
So bright a genius with the toils of ftate!
Thus he, though confcious of th' etherial guest,
Anfwer'd evafive of the fly request.
Mean time the lyre rejoins the sprightly lay;
Love-dittied airs, and dance, conclude the day.
But when the star of eve with golden light
Adorn'd the matron-brow of fable night;
The mirthful train difperfing quit the court, 530
And to their feveral domes to reft refort.
A towering ftructure to the palace join'd;
To this his steps the thoughtful prince inclin'd;
In his pavilion there, to fleep repairs;
The lighted torch, the fage Euryclea bears;
(Daughter of Ops, the juft Pifenor's fon,
For twenty beeves by great Laertes won;
In rofy prime with charms attractive grac'd,
Honour'd by him, a gentle lord and chaste,
With dear efteem: too wife, with jealous ftrife 545
500 To taint the joys of fweet connubial life.
Sole with Telemachus her fervice ends,
Thofe toils (Telemachus ferene replies)
Have charms, with all their weight, t' allure the
wife.
Faft by the throne obfequious Fame refides,
And wealth inceffant roils her golden tides.
Nor let Antinous rage, if strong defire
Of wealth and fame a youthful bofom fire;
Elect by Jove his delegate of fway,
With joyous pride the fummons I'd obey.
Whene'er Ulyffes roams the realm of night,
Should factious power difpute my lineal right,
Some other Greeks a fairer claim may plead;
To your pretence their title would precede.
At leaft, the fceptre loft, I ftill fhould reign
Sole o'er my vaffals, and domestic train.
To this Burymachus: To heaven alone
Refer the choice to fill the vacant throne.
Your patrimonial ftores in peace poffefs;
Undoubted, all your filial claim confefs:
A child the nurs'd him, and a man attends.)
Whilft to his couch the prince himself addreft,
The duteous dame receiv'd the purple veft:
The purple vest with decent care difpos'd,
The filver ring fhe pull'd, the door reclos'd;
The bolt, obedient to the filken cord,
To the ftrong ftaple's innoft depth reftor'd, [555
Secur'd the valves. There wrapt in filent shade,
510 Penfive, the rules the Goddefs gave, he weigh'd;
Stretch'd on the downy fleece, no rest he knows,
And in his raptur'd foul the vifion glows.
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Telemachus, in the affembly of the lords of Libaca, complains of the injuftice done bim by the fuiters, and infifts upon their departure from bis palace; appealing to the princes, and exciting the people to declare against them. The fuitors endeavour to justify their flay, at leaft till be full fend the queen to the court of Icarius ber father; which he refuses. There appears a prodigy of two eagles in the fey, which an Augur expounds to be the ruin of the fuitors. Telemachus then demands a veffel to carry bim to Pylos and Sparta, there to inquire of bis father's fortunes. Pallas, in the Shape of Mentor (an ancient friend of Ulyffes), helps him to a foip, affifts bim in preparing neceffaries for the voyage, and embarks with bim that night; which concludes the fecond day from the opening of the poem.
The Scene continues in the palace of Ulysses in Libaca,
Fow reddening from the dawn, the morning`ray
But come it will, the time when manhood grante More powerful advocates than vain complaints. Approach that hour! infufferable wrong Cries to the Gods, and vengeance fleeps too long. Rife then, ye Peers! with virtuous anger rife! Your fame revere, but most th'avenging skies. By all the deathless powers that reign above, By righteous Themis, and by thundering Jove, (Themis, who gives to councils, or denies, Succefs; and humbles, or confirms the wife.) 10 Rife in my aid! fuffice the tears that flow For my loft fire, nor add new woe to woe. If e'er he bore the fword to strengthen ill, Or, having power to wrong, betray'd the will, 80 On me, on me your kindled wrath affuage, And bid the voice of lawless riot rage.
Glow'd in the front of heaven, and gave the day.
The youthful hero, with returning light,
Rofe anxious from th' inquietudes of night.
A royal robe he wore with graceful pride,
A two-edg'd faulchion threaten'd by his fide,
Embroider'd fandals glitter'd as he trod,
And forth he mov'd majestic as a God.
Then by his heralds, restlefs of delay,
To council calls his peers: the peers obey.
Soon as in folemn form th' affembly fate,
From his high dome himself defcends in state.
Bright in his hand a ponderous javelin shin'd;
Two dogs, a faithful guard, attend behind;
Pallas with grace divine his form improves, 15
And gazing crowds admire him as he moves.
His father's throne he fill'd: while diftant food
The hoary peers, and aged wisdom bow'd.
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'Twas filence all. At laft Egyptius fpoke; Egyptius, by his age and forrows broke: A length of days his foul with prudence crown'd, A length of days had bent him to the ground. His eldest † hope in arms to Ilion came, By great Ulyffes taught the path to fame; But (haplefs youth) the hideous Cyclops tore His quivering limbs, and quaff'd his fpouting gore. Three fons remain'd; to climb with haughty fires The royal bed, Eurynomus afpires; The reft with duteous love his griefs affuage, And ease the fire of half the cares of age. Yet still his Antiphus he loves, he mourns, And, as he stood, he fpoke and wept by turns : Since great Ulyffes fought the Phrygian plains, Within thefe walls inglorious filence reigns. Say then, ye peers, by whofe commands we meet! Why here once more in folemn council fit? Ye young, ye old, the weighty caufe difclofe: Arrives fome message of invading foes? Or fay, does high neceflity of state Infpire fome patriot, and demand debate? The prefent fynod speaks its author wife; Aflift him, Jove, thou regent of the skies! He fpoke. Telemachus with transport glows, Embrac'd the omen, and majestic rofe (His royal hand, th' imperial fceptre fway'd); Then thus, addreffing to Egyptius, faid:
Reverend old man! lo here confeft he fands By whom ye meet; my grief your care demands. No ftory I unfold of public woes, Nor hear advices of impending foes: Peace the bleft land, and joys inceffant crown; Of all this happy realm, I grieve alone. For my loft fire continual forrows fpring, The great, the good; your father, and your king. Yet more; our houfe from its foundation bows, 55 Our foes are powerful, and your fons the foes; Hither, unwelcome to the queen, they come; Why feek they not the rich Icarian dome! If fhe muft wed, from other hands require The dowry is Telemachus her fire?
Yet through my court the noife of revel rings, And waste the wife frugality of kings.
If ruin to our royal race ye doom,
Be you the spoilers, and our wealth confume.
Then might we hope redrefs from juster laws, 85
And raife all Ithaca to aid our caufe :"
But while your fons commit th' unpunish'd wrong,
You make the arm of violence too strong.
While thus he fpoke, with rage and grief he frown'd,
And dafh'd the imperial fceptre to the ground. go
The big round tear nung trembling in his eye,
The fynod griev'd, and gave a pitying sigh,
Then filent fate-at length Antinous burns
With haughty rage, and fternly thus returns:
O infolence of youth! whofe tongue affords 95
Such railing eloquence, and war of words.
Studious thy country's worthies to defame,
Thy erring voice difplays thy mother's fhame.
Elufive of the bridal day, fhe gives
Fond hope to all, and all with hopes deceives. 100 Did not the fun, through heaven's wide azure
"Ceafe yet a while, to urge the bridal hour; "Ceafe, till to great Laërtes I bequeath "A task of grief, her ornaments of death; 110 "Left when the Fates his royal afhes claim, "The Grecian matrons taint my spotless fame; "When he, whom living mighty realms obey'd, "Shall want in death a throud to grace his shade."
Thus the at once the generous train complies, Nor fraud miftrufts in Virtue's fair disguise. 116 The work the ply'd; but, studious of delay, By night revers'd the labours of the day. While thrice the fun his annual journey made, The confcious lamp the midnight fraud fur vey'd;
Unheard, unfeen, three years her arts prevail;
The fourth her maid unfolds th' amazing tale.
We faw, as unperceiv'd we took our ftand,
The backward labours of her faithless hand.
Then urg'd, the perfects her illustrious toils; 125
A wonderous monument of female wiles!
But you, oh peers! and thou, oh prince! give ear
(1 fpeak aloud, that every Greek may hear) :
Difmifs the queen and if her fire approves,
Let him efpoufe her to the peer she loves;
Why cease we then the wrath of heaven to stay?
Be humbled all, and lead, ye Great! the way. 196
1351 fpeak from fcience, and the voice is fate.
For, lo! my words no fancy'd woes relate;
Bid inflant to prepare the bridal train,
Nor let a race of princes wait in vain.
Though with a grace divine her foul is bleft,
And all Minerva breathes within her breaft,
In wonderous arts than woman more renown'd,
And more than woman with deep wildom
crown'd;
Though Tyro nor Mycene match her name,
Nor great Alcmena (the proud boaft of Fame)
Yet, thus by heaven adorn'd, by heaven's decree,
She fhines with fatal excellence to thee:
With thee, the bowl we drain, indulge the feast,
140
Till righteous heaven reclaim her ftubborn breast.
What tho' from pole to pole refounds her name,
The fon's deftruction waits the mother's fame :
For, till fhe leaves thy court, it is decreed,
Thy bowl to empty, and thy flock to bleed.
While yet he speaks, Telemachus replies :
Ev'n nature ftarts, and what ye ask denies.
Thus, fhall I thus repay a mother's cares,
Who gave me life, and nurs'd my infant years?
While fad on foreign fhores Ulyffes treads,
Or glides a ghost with unapparent shades;
How to Icarius in the bridal hour
Shall I, by wafte undone, refund the dower?
How from my father should I vengeane: dread?155
How would my mother curfe my hated head?
And while in wrath to vengeful fiends the cries,
How from their hell would vengeful fiends arife?
Abhorr'd by all, accurs'd my name would grow,
The earth's difgrace, and human-kind my foe.160
If this difpleafe, why urge ye here your stay 1
Hafte from the court, ye fpoilers, hafte away:
Wafte in wild riot, what your land allows,
There ply the early feaft, and late carouse.
But if, to honour loft, 'tis ftill decreed
For you my bowls fball flow, my flocks fhall bleed;
Judge and affert my right, impartial Jove!
By him, and all th' immortal host above,
(A facred oath) if heaven the power supply, [270
Vengeance I vow, and for your wrongs ye die.
With that, two eagles from a mountain's height
By Jove's command direct their rapid flight;
Swift they defcend, with wing to wing conjoin'd,
Stretch their broad plumes, and float upon the
wind,
Above th' affembled peers they wheel on high 175
And clang their wings, and hovering beat the fky;
With ardent eyes the rival train they threat,
And, fhrieking loud, denounce approaching Fate,
They cuff, they tear; their cheeks and neck they
rend,
And from their plumes huge drops of blood de-
[fcend: 180
Then, failing o'er the domes and towers, they fly
Full tow'rd the caft, and mount into the sky.
The wondering rivals gaze with cares oppreft,
And chilling horrors freeze in every breast.
Till, big with knowledge of approaching woes,
The prince of augurs, Halitherfes, rofe:
Prefcient he view'd th' aërial tracks, and drew
A fure prefage from every wing that flew.
Ye fons (he cry'd) of Ithaca, give ear,
Hear all! but chiefly you, oh rivals! hear.
Destruction fure o'er all your heads impends;
Ulyffes comes, and death his steps attends.
Nor to the great alone is death decreed;
We and our guilty Ithaca muft bleed.
To fhake with war proud Ilion's lofty towers, 200
When great Ulyffes fought the Phrygian fhores !
Deeds then undone my faithful tongue foretold:
Heaven feal'd my words, and you thofe deeds be-
I fee his friends o'erwhelm'd beneath the main;
I fee (I cry'd) his woes, a countless train;
How twice ten years from shore to fhore he roams
[hold.
Now twice ten years are past, and now he comes !
To whom Eurymachus-Fly, dotard, fly!
With thy wife dreams, and fables of the sky.
Go prophecy at home; thy fons advise :
Here thou art fage in vain-1 better read the
Unnumber'd birds glide through th' aërial way,21 E
[fkies.
Vagrants of air, and unforeboding ftray.
Cold in the tomb, or in the deeps below,
Ulyffes lies: oh, wert thou laid as low!
Then would that bufy head no broils suggest, 215
Nor fire to rage Telemachus's breast.
From him fome bribe thy venal tongue requires,
And intereft, not the God, thy voice infpires.
Mifled fallacious into idle rage,
His guideless youth, if thy experienc'd age
Telemachus may bid the queen repair
Vengeance deferv'd thy malice fhall repress,
And but augment the wrongs thou wouldst re-
Will guide her paffion, and reward her choice, 225
To great lcarius, whofe paternal care
[drefs.
With wealthy dower, and bridal gifts of price.
Till the retires, determin'd we remain,
And both the prince and augur threat in vain:
His pride of words, and thy wild dream of fate,
Threat on, O Prince! elude the bridal day,
Move not the brave, or only move their hate. 239
Threat
In wealth and beauty worthy of our flames:
on, till all thy ftores in waste decay.
True, Greece affords a train of lovely dames,
For wealth and beauty lefs than virtue please.
But never from this nobler fuit we cease;
My numerous woes, in filence let them dwell.
But Heaven, and all the Greeks, have heard my
To whom the youth: Since then in vain I tell
To Heaven, and all the Greeks, redrefs belongs,
Yet this 1 afk, (nor be it afk'd in vain)
The realms of Pyle and Sparta to explore,
A bark to waft me o'er the rolling main;
And feek my royal fire from fhore to shore:
Or to be learn'd from oracles alone?
If, or to Fame his doubtful Fate be known, 245
If yet he lives; with patience I forbear,
Till the fleet hours reftore the circling year:
But if already wandering in the train
Of empty fhades; I measure back the main, 250
Plant the fair column o'er the mighty dead,
And yield his confort to the nuptial bed.
He ceas'd; and while the peers abafh'd attend,
190" My friend, (he cry'd) my palace be thy care;
Mentor arofe, Ulyffes' faithful friend;
(When fierce in arms he fought the fcenes of war,
[255
"Years roll'd on years my godlike fire decay.
"Guard thou his age, and his behefts obey.")
Stern as he rofe, he caft his eyes around, [frown'd;
That flash'd with rage; and as he spoke,
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