Now fwift I wave my faulchion o'er the blood Back ftarted the pale throngs, and trembling flood. Round the black trench the gore untafted flows, Till awful from the fhades Tirefias role.

There wandering through the gloom I fira fur-
vey'd,

New to the realms of death, Elpenor's fhade:
His cold remains all naked to the fky,
On diftant fhores unwept, unburied lie...
Sad at the fight. I ftand, deep fix'd in woe,
And ere I spoke the tears began to flow:

65

O fay what angry power kipenor led
To glide in fhades, and wander with the dead?
How could thy foul, by realnis and seas disjoin'd,
Out-fly the nimble fail, and leave the lagging
wind?'

The ghoft replied: To hell my doom I owe,
Dæmons accurit, dire minifters 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 recl'd I fell,

73

While yet he spoke, the Prophet obcy'd,
And in the fcabbard plung'd the glittering blade:
Eager he quaff'd the gore, and then expreit
Dark things to come, the counfels of his breaft: 125
Weary of light, Ulyffes here explores

A profperous voyage to his native fhores;
But know--by me unerring Fates difciofe :
New trains of dangers, and new fcenes of wees;
I fee! I fee thy bark by Neptune toft,

4

130

For injur'd Cyclop, and his eyeball loft!
Yet to thy woes the Gods decree an end,.
If Heaven thou pleafe, and how to please attend !,
Where on Trinacrian rocks the ocean roars,
Graze numerous herds along the verdant hores; 135
Though hunger prefs, yet fly the dangerous prey,
The herds are facred to the God of Dax, mural o!
Who all furveys with his extensive crev
Above, below, on earth, and in the iky!
Rob not the God; and fo propitious gales,
LAO
Attend thy voyage, and impel thy fails F
But, if his herds ye feize, beneath the waves,
I fee thy friends o'erwhelm'd in liquid graves!
The direful wreck Ulyffes fcarce furvives!

Lux'd the neck-joint-my foul defcends to hell. 80 Ulyffes at his country fcarce arrives!

But lend me aid, I now conjure thee lend
By the foft tie and facred name of friend!
By thy fond confort! by thy father's cares!
By lov'd Telemachus's blooming years!
For well I know that foon the heavenly Powers 85
Will give thee back to day, and Circe's fhores:
There picus on my cold remains attend,
There call to mind thy poor departed friend.
The tribute of a tear is all I crave,

And the poffeffion of a peaceful grave.

T

145

Strangers thy guides! nor there thy lahjours end,
New foes arife, domeftic ends attended ve
T'here foul adulterers to thy bride refort ♪ 15 10
And lordly gluttons riot in thy court!
But vengeance haftes amain! Thefe eyes behold
The deathful fcene, princes on princes roll'd
That done, a people far from fea explore, edt 1
Who ne'er knew falt, or heard the billows roat,
Or faw gay veffel fem the watery plain,vɔɔɔn":"
90 painted wonder flying on the main 455
Bear on thy back an oar: with ftrange amaze
A fhepherd meeting thee, the oar furveys,
And names a van there fix it on the plain,
To calm the God that holds the watery reigns
A three-fold offering to his altar bring,
A bull, a ram, a boar; and hail the Ocean-King..
But, home return'd, to each ethereal power or r
slay the due victim in the genial hour
So peaceful fhalt thou end thy blifsful days, ir ok
And fealthyself from life by flow decays 165
Unknown to pain, in age refign thy breath,
When late ftern Neptune points the shaft with
death:
3. T

But if, unheard, in vain compaflion plead,
Revere the Gods, the Gods avenge the dead!
A tomb along the watery margin raife,
The tomb with manly arms and trophies grace,
To fhew pofterity Elperor was,
There high in air, memorial of my name,
Fix the fmooth oar, and bid me live to fame."
To whore with tears: Thefe rites, O mournful
fhade,

Due to thy ghoft, fhall to thy gholt be paid.

95

Still as I fpoke, the phantom feem'd to moan, 100
Tear follow'd tear, and groan fucceeded groan.
But, as my waving fword the blood furrounds,
The fhade withdrew, and mutter'd empty founds.
There as the wondrous vifious furvey d,
All pale afcends my royal mother's fhade
A queen, to Troy fhe faw our legions pals;
Now a thin form is all Anticlea was!
Struck at the fight, I melt with filial woe,"
And down my cheek the pious forrows flow,
Yet as I fhook my faulchion o'er the blood,
Regardless of her fon the parent flood."

To whom unmov'd: If this the Gods prepare ;
What Heaven ordain, the wife with courage beur.
But fay, why yonder on the lonely strands,
11 Unmindful of her fon, Anticlea flands?

ΤΟ

75

Why to the ground the bends her downcall eyes
Why is the filent, while her Yon is nigh
The latent caufe, O facred feet, reveal cho
Nor this, replies the feer, will conceal.
Know, to the fpectres, that thy beverage tafle, 180
The fcenes of life recur, and actions paft:
They, feal'd with truth, return the fure reply
The reft, repeli'd, a train oblivious fly
The phantoni-prophet ceas'd, and funk from
To the black place of eternal night. A Light
Still in the dark abodes of dete
When near Antice mov

the blood

210 Daughters and wives of heroes, and of kings;
Thick and more thick they gather round the blood,
Ghost throng'd on ghost (a dire affembly) ftood!
Dauntless my fword 1 feize: the airy crew,
Swift as it flafh'd along the gloom, withdrew:
215 Then fhade to fhade in mutual forms fucceeds,
Her tace recounts, and their illuftrious deeds. 280
Tyro began, whom great Salmoneus bred;
The royal partner of fam'd Cretheus' bed.
For fair Enipeus, as from fruitful urns
He pours his watery ftore, the virgin burns;
Smooth flows the gentle stream with wanton pride,
And in foft mazes rolls a filver tide.

Grac'd with fuch honours as become the great. 225 In her Enipeus' form and borrow'd charms,

8

335

345

350

The Gods and men the dire offence deteft,
The Gods with all their furies rend his breast:
In lofty Thebes he wore th' imperial crown,
A pompous wretch! accurs'd upon a throne.
The wife felf-murder'd from a beam depends;'
And her foul foul to blackest hell defcends;
Thence to her fon the choiceft plagues she brings,
And his fiends haunt him with a thousand ftings. 340
And now the beauteous Chloris I defcry,
A lovely shade, Amphion's youngest joy!"
With gifts unnumber'd Neleus fought her arms,
Nor paid too dearly for unequal'd charms;
Great in Orchomenos, in Pylos great,
He fway'd the fceptre with imperial state.
Three gallant fons the joyful monarch told,
Sage Neftor, Periclimenus the bold,
And Chromius laft; but of the fofter race,
One nymph alone, a miracle of grace.
Kings on their thrones for lovely Pero burn;
The fire denies, and kings rejected mourn.
To him alone the beauteous prize he yields,
Whofe arm should ravish from Phylacian fields
The herds of Iphiclus, detain'd in wrong;
Wild, furious herbs, unconquerably strong!
This dares a feer, but nought a feer prevails,
beauty's caufe illuftriously he fails;
Twelve moons the foe the captive youth detains
In painful dungeons, and coercive chains';
The for at laft, from durance where he lay,
His art revering, gave him back to day;
Won by prophetic knowledge, to fulfil
The ftedfaft purpose of th' Almighty will.
With grateful port advancing now I spy'd
Leda the fair, the godlike Tyndar's bride :
Hence Pollux fprung, who wields with furious
The deathful gauntlet matchless in the fray;
And Caftor glorious on th' embattled plain
Curbs the proud steed, reluctant to the rein:
By turns they visit this æthereal sky,
And live alternate, and alternate die :
In hell beneath, on earth, in heaven above,
Reign the twin gods, the favourite fons of Jove.

355

The wonderous 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 fhoulders spread.
Proud of their strength and more than mortal fize
The Gods they challenge, and affect the skies:
Heav'd on Olympus tottering Offa stood;
On Offa, Pelion nods with all his wood:
Such were they youths had they to manhood
grown,

Almighty Jove had trembled on his throne. 390
But, ere the harveft of the beard began

To bristle on the chin, and promise man,
His fhafts Apollo aim'd; at once they found,
And ftretch the giant monsters o'er the ground.
There mournful Phædra with fad Procris

Both beauteous fhades, both hapless in their loves;
And near them walk'd, with folemn pace and flow,
Sad Ariadne, partner of their woe;

The royal Minos Ariadne bred,

She Thefeus lov'd; from Crete with Thefeusfled; 400
Swift to the Dian ifle the hero flies,

405

And tow'rds his Athens bears the lovely prize;
There Bacchus with fierce rage Diana fires,
The Goddess aims her shaft, the nymph expires."
There Clymenè and Mera I behold:
There Eriphylè weeps, who loosely fold
Her lord, her honour, for the luft of gold.1
But fhould I all recount, the night would fail,
Unequal to the melancholy tale :

And all-compofing reft my nature craves,
Here in the court, or yonder on the waves;
In you I trust, and in the heavenly powers,
To land Ulyffes on his native fhores.

}

410"

He ceas'd: but left fo charming on their ear
His voice, that listening still they feem'd to hear. 415
Till, rifing up, Aretè filence broke,

Stretch'd out her fnowy hand, and thus fhe spoke :
What wonderous man Heaven fends us in our

gueft!

Through all his woes the hero fhines confeft

His comely port, his ample frame exprefs

A manly air, majestic in diftrefs.

He, as my gueft, is my peculiar care,

360

365

1

fway

You fhare the pleafure, then in bounty fhare;
To worth in mifery a reverence pay,

420

425

And with a generous hand reward his stay;
For, fince kind Heaven with wealth our realm has

bleit,

Give it to Heaven, by aiding the distrest.

Then fage Echeneus, whofe grave reverend brow
The hand of time had silver'd o'er with flow,
Mature in wisdom rofe: Your words, he cries, 430 ·
Demand obedience, for your words are wife.
370 But let our king direct the glorious way
To generous act; our part is to obey.
While life informs these limbs, (the king reply'd)
Well to deferve be all my cares employ'd :
But here this night the royal guest detain,
Till the fun flames along th' æthereal plain :
Be it my task to fend with ample stores
The stranger from our hofpitable shores :
Tread you my steps! 'Tis mine to lead the race, 440
The firft in glory as the first in placa.

There Ephimedia trod the gloomy plain, 375
Who charm'd the Monarch of the boundlefs main;
Hence Ephialtes, hence ftern Otus fprung,
Morc fierce than giants, more than giants ftrong;
The earth o'er burthen'd groan'd beneath
weight,

None but Orion c'er furpafs'd their height 2.

their

435

To whom the prince: This night with joy I stay, 3800, monarch great in virtue as in fway !

455

O king! for fuch thou art, and fure thy blood 450
Through veins (he cry'd) of royal fathers flow'd;
Unlike thofe vagrants who on falfehood live,
Skill'd in smooth tales, and artful to deceive;
Thy better foul abhors the liar's part,
Wife is thy voice, and noble is thy heart;
Thy words like music every breast control,
Steal through the ear, and win upon the foui;
Soft, as fome fong divine, thy ftory flows,
Nor better could the Mufe record thy woes.
But fay, upon the dark and difmal coaft,
Saw'ft thou the worthies of the Grecian host?
The godlike leaders who, in battle flain,
Fell before Troy, and nobly prest the plain?
And, lo! a length of night behind remains,
The evening ftars ftill mount th' ethereal plains.
Thy tale with raptures I could hear thee tell,
Thy woes on earth, the wondrous fcenes in hell,
Till in the vault of Heaven the stars decay.
And the sky reddens with the rifing day.

460

Thus by the gory arm of flaughter falls
The ftately ox, and bleeds within the ftalls.
But not with me the direful murder ends,
Thefe, thefe expir'd! their crime, they were my
friends!

Thick as the boars, which fome luxurious lord
Kills for the feast, to crown the nuptial board.
When war has thunder'd with its loudeft ftorms,515
Death thou haft feen in all her ghaftly forms;
In duel met her, on the lifted ground,
When hand to hand they wound return for wound,
But never have thy eyes aftonish'd view'd
So vile a deed, fo dire a fcene of blood.
Ev'n in the flow of joy, when now the bowl
Glows in our veins, and opens every foul,

520

525

530

We groan, we faint; with blood the dome is dy'd,
And o'er the pavement floats the dreadful tide
Her breaft all gore, with lamentable cries,
The bleeding innocent Caffandra dies!
Then though pale death froze cold in every vein,
My fword I strive to wield, but strive in vain ;
Nor did my traitrefs wife thefe eye-lids close,
Or decently in death my timbs compofe.
O woman, woman, when to i'l thy mind
Is bent, all hell contains no fouler fiend:
And fuch was mine! who bafely plung'd her sword
479 Thro' the fond bofom where the reign'd ador'd!
Alas! I hop'd, the toils of war o'ercome,
To meet foft quiet and repofe at home;
Delutive Hope! O wife, thy deeds difgrace
The perjur'd fex, and blacken all the race;
475 And fhould posterity one virtuous find,
Name Clytemnestra, they will curfe the kind. 540
O injur'd fhade, I cry'd, what mighty woes
To thy imperial race from woman rofe!
By woman here thou tread'it this mournful ftrand
And Greece by woman lies a defert land.

O worthy of the power the Gods affign'd
(Ulyffes thus replies) a king in mind!
Since yet the early hour of night allows
Time for difcourfe, and time for foft repose,
If fcenes of mifery can entertain,
Woes I unfold, of woes a difmal train.
Prepare to hear of murder and of blood:
Of godlike heroes who uninjur'd food
Amidt a war of fpears in foreign lands,
Yet bled at home, and bled by female hands.
Now fummon'd Proferpine to hell's black hall 480
The heroine fhades; they vanish'd at her call.

ગ્

When, lo! advanc'd the forms of heroes flain
By ftern gifthus, a majefic train ;
And high above the rett, Atrides preft the plain.
He quaff'd the gore: and straight his foldier

knew,

485

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 fubftance vanish'd, and his strength decay'd,
Now all Atrides is an empty fhade.

490

Mov'd at the fight, I for a space refign'd
To foft affliction all my manly mind;
At laft with tears-O what relentless doom,
Imperial phantom, bow'd thee to the tomb?
Say, while the fea, and while the tempelt raves, 495
Has fate opprefs'd thee in the roaring waves,
Or nobly feiz'd thee in the dire alarms
Of war and flaughter, and the clash of arms?
The ghost returns: O chief of human-kind
For active courage and a patient mind;
Nor while the fa, nor while the tempest raves,
Has Fate opprefs'd me on the roaring waves!
Nor nobly fiz'd me in the dire alarms
Of war and flaughter, and the clash of arms.
Stabb'd by a murderous hand Atrides dy'd,
A foul adulterer, and a faithlefs bride;
Ev'n in my mirth and at the friendly feaft,
O'er the full bowl, the traitor ftabb'd his gueft;

500

505

535

550

Warn'd by my ills be ware, the shade replies, 545
Nor trust the fex that is fo rarely wife;
When earnest to explore thy fecret breast;
Unfold fome trifle, but conceal the rest.
But in thy confort cease to fear a foe,
For thee fhe feels fincerity of woe:
When Troy first bled beneath the Grecian arms,
She fhone unrival'd with a blaze of charms;
Thy infant fon her fragrant bofom prefs'd,
Hung at her knee, or wanton'd at her breaft;
But now the years a numerous train have ran; 555
The blooming boy is ripen'd into man;
Thy eyes fhall fee him burn with noble fire,
The fire fhall blefs his fon, the fon his fire:
But my Oreftes never met these eyes,
Without one look the murder'd father dies; 560
Then from a wretched friend this wisdom learn,
Ev'n to thy queen difguis'd, unknown, return;
For fince of womankind fo few are just,
Think all are falfe, not ev'n the faithful trust.
But fay, refides my fon in royal port,

In rich Orchomenus, or Sparta's court?
Or fay in Pyle? for yet he views the light,
Nor glides a phantom thro' the realms of night.
Then I thy fuit is vain, nor can I say

If yet he breathes in realms of cheerful day: 570
Or pale or wan beholds thefe nether skies:
Truth I revere for Wisdom never lies.

Thus in a tide of tears our furrows flow,
And add new horror to the realms of woe;

Till fide by fide along the dreary coaft
Advanc'd Achilles' and Patroclus' ghost,
A friendly pair! near these the + Pylian ftray'd,
And towering Ajax, an illuftrious fhade!
War was his joy, and pleas'd with loud alarms,
None but Pelides brighter fhone in arms.

640

645

When Ilion in the horse receiv'd her doom,`` And anfeen armies ambush'd in its womb; Greece gave her latent warriors to my care, 'Twas mine on Troy to pour th imprifon'd war Then when the boldest hosom beat with fear, 580 When the ftern eyes of heroes dropp'd a tear; knew,''Fierce is histook his ardent valour glow'd, br.Fluth'd in his cheek, or fallied in his bloodIndignant in the dark recefs he flands, Pants for the battle, and the war demands; His voice breath death, and with a martial air. He grafp'd his word, and hook his glittering' 2 Spear, [crown'd, And when them:Gods qur arms with conquest When Troy's proud bulwarks smok'd upon "the" groundi

655

i

Greece to reward her foldier's gallant toils,
Heap high his navy with unnumber'd spoils.
Thus great in glory from the din of war
Safe he retard withour one hoftile fear;
"595||Though fpears in iron tempeft rain'd around, r
doom. Yet innocent they play'd, and guiltless of a wound.”
While yet I spoke the shade with transport
glow'd, ad id be your praem
Rofe in his majefty, and nobler trod; 41:1-660
With haughty talk he fought the diftant glades› {"
Of warrior kings, and join'd th' illuftrious fhades...)
Now without number ghoit by ghost arose, sd7
Visa wailing with butterable woes...
Alone, apart, in difcontented mood,

6co

Thro' the thick gloom his friend Achilles And as he speaks the tears, defcend in dew. Com'ft they alive to view the Stygian bounds, Where the van spectres walk eternal rounds; Nor fear'ft the dark and dismal waste to treads: 585 Throng'd with pale ghosts familiar with the dead? To whom with ughs: I pass these, dreadful gates To fuck the Theban, and confult the Fates . : For till, diftreft, I rove from coalt to coal Loft to my friends, and to my country loft, in sigh0|| But fure the eye of Time beholde po namen v So bleft as thine in all the rolls of fame. Alive we hail'd thee with our guardian Gods, And dead, thou pulit a king in thefe bhodes: Talk not ruling in this dolorous gloom, Nor think vain words (he cried) can cafe my Rather I choose laboriously to bear po A weight of woes, and breathe the vital air, is A flave to fome poor hind that toils for bread Than reign the fceptred monarch of the dead. But fay, if in my steps my fon proceeds, And emulates his godlike father's deeds? If at the clash of arnisrand shout of foes,/! I Swells his bold heart, his hosem nobly glows by se Say, if my fire, the reverend Peleus, reigas,wi605 Great in his Phthia, and his throne maintbins i dt: Or, weak and old, my youthful armidemands, von To fix the fceptre fledfaft in his handsouci Oh might the lamp of difė rekindled burn, yar And death release me from the silent, urn! sto6100 why was victorious in the trife .. This arm, that thunder 'do'er the Phrygian plain, O dear bought honour with fo brave a life! stan And fwell'd the ground with mountains of the With him the ftrength of war, the foldier's pride, Should vindicate my injur'd father's fame, flain, Qur fecond hope to greath Achilles died kne Crush the proud rebel, and affert his claim. à buodTouch'd at the fight from tearsihfcarte reftain, // THuftrious fhade, (I tried) of Peleus' fates And tender forrow thrills in every noin; No circumstance the veice of Fame relates 112|Penfive and fad Iftanu, at length acco But hear with pleas'd attention the renown, ||With accents mild th' inexorable ghost. The wars and wildom of thy gallant fou: With me from Scyros to the field of fame to Kadiant in arms the blooofing hero came. When Greece affembled all her hundred fates To ripen counfels, and decide debates; .... Heavens! how he charm'd us with a flow fenfe,

1665

A gloomy shade, the fullen Ajax ftood; in 1 to T
For ever fad with proud disdain he pin'd, biļ
And the loft arms for ever stung his mind.;.com A.
Eequgh on the contefti Thetis gave the laws, de
And; Balias, by the Trojans, judg'd the cause. 670/

A H

Still burns thy sage and can brave fouls refent, T
Ev'n after death ?” Relens, greit shade, relent! 680
Perish those arms which by the Gods decrees 11t
Accurs'd our army with the lofs of thee! 1
With theb weifell; Orecce wept thy hapless fates a
of Aud fhook aftonish'd through her hundred states;
Not more, when great Achilles prefs'd the ground,
And breath'd his manly fpirit thro' the wound..
Oh, deem thy fall not ow'd to man's decree,"
Jove hated Greece, and punish'd Greece in thee!
Turn then, uh! peaceful turn, thy wrath control,
And calm the raging tempeft of thy foul.

Touch'd at his four retreat, thro' deepest night.
Thro' hell's black bounds I had pursued his flight,
And fore'd the ftubborn fpectre to reply;
But wondrous vifions drew my curious eye.

What foes were vanquish'd, and what numbersbligh on a throne, tremendous to behold,

How, loft thro' love, Eurypylus was flain, 635 [fell
And round him bled his bold Cerean traing, tako
To Troy no hero came of nobler line
Or if of nobler, Memnon, it was thine.

+ Antilochus.

VOL. VI.

645

Stora Minos waves a mace of burnish'd gold ;
Around ten thousand thousand spectres icand
Thro' the wide tome of Dis, a trembling band. 700
Still as they plead, the fatal lots he rolls,
Abfolves the juft, and dooms the guilty fouls.
Hih