Soon, with confummate joy to crown his prayer,
An omen'd voice invades his ravifh'd ear.
Beneath a pile, that close the dome adjoin'd,
Twelve female flaves the gift of Ceres grind;
Talk'd for the royal board to bolt the bran
From the pure flour (the growth and ftrength of
man),

Difcharging to the day the labour due,
Now early to repofe the reft withdrew;
One maid, unequal to the talk affign'd,

Still turn'd the toilfome mill with anxious
mind;

And thus in bitterness of foul divin'd:

Father of Gods and men; whole thunders roll O'er the cerulean vault, and shake the pole; Whoe er from Heaven has gain'd this rare oftent (Of granted vows a certain signal fent) In this bleft moment of accepted prayer, Piteous, regard a wretch confum'd with care! Initant, O Jove! confound the fuitor-train, For whom o'ertoil'd I grind the golden grain: Far from this dome the lewd devourers caft, And be this feftival decreed their last!

Big with their doom denounc'd in earth and sky, Ulyffes' heart dilates with fecret joy. Mean time the menial train with unctuous wood Heap'd high the genial hearth, Vulcanian food: When, early drefs'd, advanc'd the royal heir: With manly grafp he wav'd a martial spear, A radiant fabre grac'd his purple zone, And on his foot the golden fandal shone. His fteps impetuous to the portal prefs'd; And Euryclea thus he there addrefs'd:

Say thou, to whom my youth its nurture owes, Was care for due refection and repofe Beftow'd the ftranger-gueft? Or waits he griev'd, His age not honour'd, nor his wants reliev'd? Promifcuous grace on all the queen confers (In woes bewilder'd, oft' the wifeit errs). The wordy vagrant to the dole afpires, And modeft worth with noble fcorn retires.

She thus: Oh! ceafe that ever honour'd name To blemish now; it ill deferves your blame : A bowl of generous wine fuffic'd the guest; In vain the queen the night-refection prefs'd; Nor would he court repofe in downy state, Unblefs'd, abandon'd to the rage of Fate! A hide beneath the portico was spread, And fleecy fkins compos'd an humble bed; A downy carpet, caft with duteous care, Secur'd him from the keen nocturnal air.

His cornel javelin pois'd with regal port,
To the fage Greeks conven'd in Themis' court,
Forth-ifluing from the dome the prince re-
pair'd:

Two dogs of chafe, a lion-hearted guard,
Behind him fourly ftaik'd. Without delay
The danie divides the labour of the day;
Thus urging to the toil the menial train,
What marks of luxury the marble stain!
Its wonted luftre let the floor regain;
The feats with purple clothe in order due;
And let th' abfterfive fponge the board renew:
Let fome refresh the vale's fullied mold;
Some bid the goblets boaft their native gold:
Some to the fpring, with each a jar, repair,
And copious waters pure for bathing bear:

Difpatch! for foon the fuitors will affay The lunar feaft-rites to the God of day.

:

She faid with duteous haste a bevy fair Of twenty virgins to the spring repair: With varied toil the reft adorn the dome. Magnificent, and blithe, the fuitors come. Some wield the founding axe; the dodder'd oaks Divide, obedient to the forceful strokes. Soon from the fount, with each a brimming urn, (Eumæus in their train) the maids return. Three porkers for the feaft, all brawny-chin'd, He brought; the choiceft of the tufky kind: In lodgements firft fecure his care he view'd, Then to the king his friendly fpeech renew'd: Now fay fincere, my gueft! the suitor-train Still treat thy worth with lordly dull difdain; Or fpeaks their deed a bounteous mind humane?

Some pitying God (Ulyffes fad reply'd) With vollied vengeance blast their towering pride! No confcious blush, no sense of right, reftrains The tides of luft that fwell their boiling veins: From vice to vice their appetites are tout, All cheaply fated at another's coft!

While thus the chief his woes indignant told, Melanthius, master of the bearded fold, The goodlieft goats of all the royal herd Spontaneous to the fuitor's feaft preferr'd: Two grooms afiftant bore the victims bound; With quavering cries the vaulted roofs refound; And to the chief auftere, aloud began The wretch unfriendly to the race of man:

Here, vagrant, ftill? offenfive to my lords! Blows have more energy than airy words; These arguments I'll ufe: nor confcious flame, Nor threats, thy bold intrufion will reclaim. On this high teaft the meaneft vulgar boast A plenteous board! Hence! feek another hot! Rejoinder to the churl the king disdain'd; But fhook his head, and riling wrath restrain'd. From Cephalenia crofs the furgy main Philætius late arriv'd, a faithful (wain. A fteer ungrateful to the bull's embrace, And goats he brought, the pride of all their

race:

Imported in a fhallop not his own:

The dome re-echoed to their mingled moan.
Straight to the guardian of the bristly kind
He thus began, benevolent of mind:
What guest is he, of such majestic air?
His lineage and paternal clime declare:
Dim through th' eclipfe of Fate, the rays divine
Of fovereign state with faded splendour shine.
If monarchs by the Gods are plung'd in woe,
To what abyfs are we foredoom'd to go!
Then affable he thus the chief addrefs'd,
Whilft with pathetic warmth his hand he prefs'd:
Stranger! may Fate a milder aspect show,
And ipin thy future with a whiter clue!
O Jove, for ever deaf to human cries;
The Tyrant, not the Father of the skies!
Unpiteous of the race thy will began!
The fool of Fate, thy manufacture, man,
With penury, contempt, repulfe, and care,
The galling load of life is doom'd to bear.
Ulyffes from his ftate a wanderer still,
Upbraids thy power, thy wisdom, or thy will a

monarch ever dear!---O man of woe !---
Fresh flow my tears, and fhall for ever flow!
Like thee, poor ftranger-gueft, denied his home!
Like thee, in rags obfcene, decreed to roam !
Or, haply perish'd on some distant coast,
In Stygian gloom he glides a pensive ghoft!
Oh! grateful for the good his bounty gave,
I'll grieve, till forrow fink me to the grave!
His kind protecting hand my youth preferr'd,
The regent of his Cephalenian herd:

With vast increase beneath my care it spreads,
A ftately breed! and blackens far the meads.
Conftrain'd, the choiceft beeves I thence import
To cram thefe cormorants that crowd his court;
Who in partition feek his realm to share;
Nor human right, nor wrath divine revere.
Since here refolv'd oppreffive these refide,
Contending doubts my anxious heart divide:
Now to fome foreign clime inclin'd to fly,
And with the royal herd protection buy:
Then happier thoughts return the nodding scale,
Light mounts despair, alternate hopes prevail :
In opening profpects of ideal joy,

My king returns; the proud ufurpers die.

To whom the chief: In thy capacious mind Since daring zeal with cool debate is join'd; Attend a deed already ripe in Fate; Atteft, O Jove, the truth. I now relate! This facred truth atteft each genial Power, Who bless the board, and guard this friendly bower!

Before thou quit the dome (nor long delay)
Thy with produc'd in act, with pleas'd furvey,
Thy wondering eyes fhall view: his rightful
reign

By arms avow'd Ulyffes fhall regain,
And to the fhades devote the fuitor-train.

O Jove fupreme! the raptur'd fwain replies,
With deed confummate foon the promis'd joys!
Thefe aged nerves, with new-born vigour ftrung
In that bleft caufe fhould emulate the young---
Affents Eumæus to the prayer addrefs'd:
And equal ardours fire his loyal breast.

Mean time the fuitors urge the prince's fate, And deathful arts employ the dire debate: When, in his airy tour the bird of Jove Trufs'd with his finewy pounce a trembling dove: Sinifter to their hope! This omen ey'd Amphinomus, who thus prefaging cry'd:

The Gods from force and fraud the prince deO peers! the fanguinary fcheme fufpend: [fend; Your future thought let fable Fate employ; And give the present hour to genial joy. [ceas'd, From council ftraight th' affenting peerage And in the dome prepar'd the genial teaft. Difrob'd their vefts apart in order lay, Then all with speed fuccinct the victims flay: With theep and fhaggy goats the porkers bled, And the proud fteer was on the marble fpread. With fire prepar'd, they deal the morfels round, Wine rofy-bright the brimming goblets crown'd, By fage Eumæus borne: the purple tide Melanthius from an ample jar fupplied: High canifters of bread Philætius plac'd; And eager all devour the rich repaft. Difpos'd apart, Ulyffes fhares the treat! A privet-table, and ignobler seat,

The prince appoints; but to his fire affigns
The tafteful inwards, and nectareous wines.
Partake, my gueft, he cry'd, without control
The focial feaft, and drain the cheering bowl:
Dread not the railer's laugh, nor ruffian's rage;
No vulgar roof protects thy honour'd age:
This dome a refuge to thy wrongs shall be,
From my great fire too foon devolv'd to me!
Your violence and fcorn, ye fuitors, ceafe,
Left arms avenge the violated peace.

Aw'd by the prince, fo haughty, brave and young,

Rage gnaw'd the lip, amazement chain'd the tongue.

Be patient, peers! at length Antinous cries;
The threats of vain imperious youth defpife:
Would Joye permit the meditated blow,
That ftream of eloquence thould ceafe to flow.

Without reply vouchfaf'd Antinous ceas'd:
Mean while the pomp of feftival increas'd:
By herald's rank'd, in marthal'd order move
The city-tribes to pleas'd Apollo's grove:
Beneath the verdure of which awful fhade,
The lunar hecatomb they grateful laid;
Partook the facred feaft, and ritual honours paid.,
But the rich banquet in the dome prepar'd,
(And humble fide-board fet) Ulyffes fhar'd.
Obfervant of the prince's high beheft,
His menial train attend the ftranger-gueft:
Whom Pallas with unpardoning fury fir'd,
By lordly pride and keen reproach infpir'd.
A Samian peer, more ftudious than the rest
Of vice, who teem'd with many a dead-born jeft;
And urg'd, for title to a confort queen,
Uncumber'd acres arable and green
(Ctefippus nam'd); this lord Ulyffes ey'd,
And thus burst out th' impofthumate with pride
The fentence I propofe, ye peers, attend:
Since due regard muft wait the prince's friend,
Let each a token of efteem bestow;
This gift acquits the dear refpect I owe;
With which he nobly may difcharge his feat,
And pay the menials for the master's treat.

He laid and of the fteer before him plac'd, That finewy fragment at Ulyffes caft, Where to the paftern-bone by nerves combin'd," The well-horn'd foot indiffolubly join'd; Which whizzing high the wall unfeemly fign'd.. The chief indignant grins a ghaftly smile; Revenge and fcorn within his bolom boil: When thus the prince with pious rage inflam'd: Had not th' inglorious wound thy malice aim'd Fall'n guiltless of the mark, my certain spear Had made thee buy the brutal triumph dear: Nor fhould thy fire, a queen his daughter boat; The fuitor, now, had vanifh'd in a ghoit: No more, ye lewd compeers, with lawless power Invade my dome, my herds and flocks devour: For genuine worth of age mature to know My grape thall redden, and my harvest grow. Or, if each other's wrongs ye ftill fupport, With rapes and riot to profane my court; What fingle arm with numbers can contend? On me let all your lifted fwords defcend, And with my life fuch vile dishonours end. A long ceffation of difcourfe enfued, By gentler Agelaus thus rencw'd:

A just reproof, ye peers! your razè restrain
From the protected guest, and menial train:
And, prince! to flop the fource of future ill,
Affent yourself, and gain the royal will,
Whilft hope prevail'd to fee your fire reftor'd,
Of right the queen refus'd a fecond lord.
But who fo vain of faith, fo blind to fate,

To think he fill furvives to claim the ftate ?
Now press the fovereign dame with warm defire
To wed, as wealth or worth her choice inspire:
The lord felected to the nuptial joys,
Far hence will lead the long-contefted prize:
Whilft in paternal pomp, with plenty bleis'd,
You reign, of this imperial dome poflefs'd.

Sage and ferene Telemachus replies;
By him at whose beheft the thunder flies,
And by the name on earth I most revere,
By great Ulyffes and his woes, I fwear,
(Who never muft review his dear domain;
Inroll'd, perhaps in Pluto's dreary train !)
Whene'er her choice the royal dame avows,
My bridal gifts fhall load the future spouse:
But from this dome my parent queen to chafe !
From me, ye Gods! avert fuch dire difgrace.

But Pallas clouds with intellectual gloom The fuitors' fouls, infenfate of their doom! A mirthful phrenzy feiz'd the fated crowd; The roofs refound with caufeleis laughter loud: Floating in gore, portentous to furvey! In each difcolour'd vafe the viands lay; Then down each cheek the tears ípontaneous flow, And fudden fighs precede approaching woe. In vifion rapt; the * Hyperefian feer Uprofe, and thus divin'd the vengeance near:

Oh race to death devote! with Stygian fhade Each deftin'd peer impending Fates invade: With tears your wan diftorted cheeks are drown'd; With fanguine drops the walls are rubied rourd: Thick fwarms the fpacious hall with howling To people Orcus and the burning coafts! ghofts Theocly menus.

Nor gives the fun his golden otb to roll.
But univerfal night ufurps the pole !

Yet warn'd in vain, with laughter loud elate
The peers reproach the fure divine of Fate;
And thus Eurymachus: The dotard's mind
To every fenfe is loft, to reafon blind:
Swift from the dome conduct the flave away;
Let him in open air behold the day.

Tax not (the Heaven-illumin'd feer rejoin'd)
Of rage, or folly, my prophetic mind.
No clouds of error dim th' ethereal rays,
Her equal power each faithful fente obeys.
Unguided hence my trembling fteps I bend,
Far hence, before yon hovering deaths defcend;
Left, the ripe barveft of revenge begun,
I fhare the doom ye fuitors cannot fhun.
This faid, to fage Piræus fped the feer,
His honour'd hoft, a welcome inmate there.
O'er the protracted feast the fuitors fit,
And aim to wound the prince with pointless wit
Cries one, with fcornful leer and mimic voice,
Thy charity we praife, but not thy choice;
Why fuch profufion of indulgence shown
To this poor, timorous, toil-detefting drone?
That other feeds on planetary schemes,
And pays his hoft with hideous noon-day dreams.
But, prince! for once, at leaft, believe a friend,
To fome Sicilian mart these courtiers fend,
Where, if they yield their freight across the main
Dear fell the flaves! demand no greater gain.

Thus jovial they but nought the prince reFull on his fire he roll'd his ardent eyes; [plies; Impatient ftraight to flesh his virgin-fword, From the wife chief he waits the deathful word. Nigh in her bright alcove, the penfive queen To fee the circlet fate, of all unfeen. Sated at length they rife, and bid prepare An eve-repait, with equal coft and care: But vengeful Pallas, with preventing speed, A feaft proportion'd to their crimes decreed; A feaft of death! the feafters doom'd to bleed',

AND Pallas now, to raife the rival fires,
With her own art Penelope infpires:
Who now can bend Ulyffes' bow, and wing
The well-aim'd arrow through the diftant ring,
Shall end the ftrife, and win th' imperial dame;
But difeord and black death await the game!

The prudent queen the lofty flair afcends, At diftance due a virgin-train attends; A brazen key fhe held, the handle turn'd, With feel and polifh'd elephant adorn'd: Swift to the inmoft room the bent her way, Where fafe repos'd the royal treafures lay;

[trod,

There hone high-heap'd the labour'd brafs and ore,
And there the bow which great Ulyffes hore;
And there the quiver, where now guiltless slept
Those winged deaths that many a matron wept.
This gift, long fince when Sparta's fhores he
On young Ulyffes Iphitus bestow'd:
Beneath Orfilochus's roof they met ;
One lofs was private, one a public debt;
Meffena's ftate from Ithaca detains
Three hundred theep, and all the shepherd-fwains;
And to the youthful prince to urge the laws,
The king and elders truft their common caufe.
But Iphitus, employ'd on other cares,

Search'd the wide country for his wandering

mares,

And mules, the ftrongeft of the labouring kind;
Haplefs to fearch! more hapless still to find!
For journeying on to Hercules, at length
That lawless wretch, that man of brutal strength,
Deaf to Heaven's voice, the focial rite tranfgreis'd;
And for the beauteous mares deftroy'd his gueft:
He gave the bow! and on Ulyffes' part
Receiv'd a pointed fword and missle dart:
Of luckle's friendship on a foreign shore
Their firft, laft pledges; for they met no more!
The bow, bequeath'd by this unhappy hand,
Ulyffes bore not from his native land;
Nor in the front of battle taught to bend,
But kept, in dear memorial of his friend.

Now gently winding up the fair ascent,
By many an easy step, the matron went;
Then o'er the pavements glides with grace divine,
(With polish'd oak the level pavements thine)
The folding gates a dazzling light difplay'd,
With pomp of various architrave o'erlaid.
The bolt, obedient to the filken string,
Forfakes the ftaple as the pulls the ring;
The wards refpondent to the key turn round:
The bars fall back; the flying valves refound;
Loud as a bull makes hill and valley ring,
So roar'd the lock when it releas'd the fpring.
She moves majestic through the wealthy room,
Where treafur'd garments caft a rich perfume;
There from the column where aloft it hung,
Reach'd, in its fplendid cafe, the bow, unftrung;
Across her knees fhe laid the well-known bow,
And penfive fate, and tears began to flow.
To full fatiety of grief the mourns,
Then filent to the joyous hall returns,
To the proud fuitors bears in penfive state
Th' unbended bow, and arrows wing'd with fate.
Behind, her train the polish'd coffer brings,
Which held th' alternaté brafs and filver rings,
Full in the portal the chafte queen appears,
And with her veil conceals the coming tears:
On either fide awaits a virgin fair;
While thus the matron, with majestic air:

Say you, whom these forbidden walls enclose, For whom my victims bleed, my vintage flows; If these neglected, faded charms can move? Or is it but a vain pretence, you love? If I the prize, if me you seek to wife, Hear the conditions, and commence the ftrife: Who fir Ulyffes' wondrous bow fhall bend, And through twelve ringlets the fleet arrow fend, Him will I follow, and forfake my home, For him forfake this lov'd, this wealthy deme,

Long, long the scene of all my paft delight, And still to laft, the vifion of my night!

Graceful the faid, and bade Eumæus fhow The rival peers the ringlets and the bow. From his full eyes the tears unbidden spring, Touch'd at the dear memorials of his king. Philætius too relents, but fecret shed The tender drops. Antinous faw, and said:

}

Hence to your fields, you ruftics! hence away, Nor ftain with grief the pleasures of the day; Nor to the royal heart recall in vain The fad remembrance of a perish'd man. Enough her precious tears already flow--Or fhare the feast with due respect, or go To weep abroad, and leave us to the bow: No vulgar talk! Ill fuits this courtly crew That stubborn horn which brave Ulyffes drew. I well remember (for I gaz'd him o'er While yet a child) what majefty he bore! And still (all infant as I was) retain The port, the ftrength, the grandeur of the man. He faid, but in his foul fond joys arife, And his proud hopes already win the prize. To speed the flying shaft through every ring, Wretch is not thine! the arrows of the king Shall end those hopes, and Fate is on the wing

Then thus Telemachus: Some God, I find, With pleafing phrenzy has poffefs'd my mind; When a lov'd mother threatens to depart, Why with this ill-tim'd gladness leaps my heart Come then, ye fuitors! and dispute a prize Richer than all th' Acaian state supplies, Than all proud Argos, or Mycæna knows, Than all our ifles or continents enclose : A woman matchless, and almost divine, Fit for the praise of every tongue but mine, No more excufes then, no more delay, Hafte to the trial---Lo! I lead the way. I too may try, and if this arm can wing The feather'd arrow through the destin'd ring. Then if no happier knight the conquest boast, I fhall not forrow for a mother loft; But, bleft in her, poffefs these arms alone, Heir of my father's ftrength, as well as throne. He spoke then, rifing, his broad fword un bound,

And caft his purple garment on the ground.
A trench he open'd; in a line he plac'd
The level axes, and the points made fast
(His perfect skill the wondering gazers cy'd,
The game as yet unfeen, as yet untry'd.)
Then, with a manly pace, he took his ftand;
And grafp'd the bow, and twang'd it in his hand.
Three times, with beating heart, he made efsay;
Three times, unequal to the task, gave way:
A modeft boldness on his cheek appear'd:
And thrice he hop'd, and thrice again he fear'd,
The fourth had drawn it. The great fire with joy
Beheld, but with a fign forbade the boy.
His ardour straight th' obedient prince suppress'd,
And, artful, thus the fuitor-train addrefs'd:

Oh, lay the cause on youth yet immature!
(For Heaven forbid fuch weakness should endure!)
How ball this arm, unequal to the bow,
Retort an infult, or repel a foe?

But you! whom Heaven with better nerves has Accept the trial, and the prize contest. [blet

He caft the bow before him, and apart Against the polish'd quiver propt the dart. Refuming then his feat, Epitheus' fon The bold Antinous to the reft begun : "From where the goblet first begins to flow, "From right to left, in order take the bow; And prove your several strengths"---The princes heard,

And first Leiodes, blameless priest, appear'd:
The eldest born of Oenops' noble race,
Who next the goblet heid his holy place:
He, only he, of all the fuitor throng,
Their deeds detefted, and abjur'd the wrong.
With tender hands the stubborn horn he strains,
The ftubborn horn refifted all his pains!
Already in defpair he gives it o'er :

Take it who will, he cries, I strive no more.
What numerous deaths attend his fatal bow!
What fouls and spirits shall it fend below!
Better, indeed to die, and fairly give
Nature her debt, than disappointed live,
With each new fun to fome new hope a prey,
Yet ftill to-morrow falfer than to-day.
How long in vain Penelope we fought;
This bow thall eafe us of that idle thought,
And fend us with fome humbler wife to live,
Whom gold fhall gain, or destiny thall give.

Thus ípeaking, on the floor the bow he plac'd,
(With rich inlay the various floor was grac'd)
At diftance far the feather'd fhaft he throws,
And to the feat returns from whence he rose.
To him Antinous thus with fury said:
What words ill-omen'd from thy lips have fled!
Thy coward-function ever is in fear;
Thofe arms are dreadful which thou canst not bear.
Why should this bow be fatal to the brave?
Because the priest is born a peaceful slave.
Mark then what others can---He ended there,
And bade Melanthius a valt pile prepare;
He gives it inftant flame: then faft befide
Spreads o'er an ample board a bullock's hide.
With melted lard they foak the weapon o'er,
Chafe every knot, and fupple every pore.
Vain all their art, and all their ftrength as vain;
The bow inflexible refifts their pain.
The force of great Eury machus alone
And bold Antinous, yet untry'd, unknown;
Thafe only now remain'd; but thofe confefs'd
Of all the train the mightieft and the best.

Then from the hall, and from the noily crew, The mafters of the herd and flock withdrew. The king obferves them: he the hall forfakes And, pait the limits of the court, o'ertakes. Then thus with accent mild Ulysses spoke : Ye faithful guardians of the herd and flock! Shall I the fecret of my breast conceal, Or (as my foul now dictates) shall I tell? Say, fhould fome favouring God rettore again The loft Ulyffes to his native reign? How beat your hearts? what aid would you afTo the proud fuitors, or your ancient lord?

[ford,

Philætius thus: Oh were thy word not vain! Would mighty Jove restore that man again! Thefe aged finews with new vigour ftrung In his bleft caufe fhould emulate the young. With equal vows Eumæus too implor'd

Each Power above, with wishes for his lord.

He faw their fecret fouls, and thus began:
Thofe vows the Gods accord: behold the man!
Your own Ulyffes! twice ten years detain'd
By woes and wanderings from this hapless land:
At length he comes; but comes defpis'd, un-
known,

And finding faithful you, and you alone.
All elfe have caft him from their very thought,
Ev'n in their wishes, and their prayers forgot!
Hear then, my friends: If Jove this arm fuc-
ceed,

And give yon impious revellers to bleed,
My care fhall be, to bless your future lives
With large poffeffions, and with faithful wives;
Faft by my palace fhall your domes afcend,
And each on young Telemachus attend,
And each be call'd his brother, and my friend.
To give you firmer faith, now truft your eye;
Lo! the broad fcar indented on my thigh,
When with Autolycus's fons, of yore,
On Parnafs' top I chas'd the tuíky boar.
His ragged veft then drawn afide disclos'd
The fign confpicuous, and the fear expos'd:
Eager they view'd; with joy they stood amaz'd ;
With tearful eyes o'er all their master gaz'd:
Around his neck their longing arms they caft,
His head, his fhoulders, and his knees embrac'd:
Tears follow'd tears; no word was in their pow.
In folemn filence fell the kindly shower.
[er:
The king too weeps, the king too grafps their
hands,

And movelefs as a marble fountain ftands.

Thus had their joy wept down the setting fun, But first the wife man ceas'd, and thus begun: Enough---on other cares your thought employ, For danger waits on all untimely joy.

Full many foes, and fierce, obferve us near:
Some may betray, and yonder walls may hear.
Re-enter then, not all at once, but stay
Some moments you, and let me lead the way.
To me, neglected as I am, I know
The haughty fuitors will deny the bow:
But thou, Eumæus, as 'tis borne away,
Thy mafter's weapon to his hand convey.
At every portal let fome matron wait,

And each lock faft the well-compacted gate:
Close let them keep, whate'er invades their ear;
Though arms, or shouts, or dying groans, they

hear.

To thy ftrict charge, Philætius, we confign The court's main gate: to guard that pass be thine.

This faid, he first return'd: the faithful fwains At distance follow, as their king ordains. Before the flame Eurymachus now stands, And turns the bow, and chafes it with his hands: Still the tough bow unmov'd. The lofty man Sigh'd from his mighty foul, and thus began:

I mourn the common caufe: for, oh, my friends!

On me, on all, what grief, what shame attends!
Not the loft nuptials can affect me more,
(For Greece has beauteous dames on every shore)
But baffled thus: confefs'd fo far below
Ulyffes' ftrength, as not to bend his bow!
How shall all ages our attempt deride!

Our weakness fcorn! Antinous thus reply'd: