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BOOK XV

THE RETURN OF TELEMACHUS

ARGUMENT

The Goddess Minerva commands Telemachus in a vision to return to Ithaca. Pisistratus and he take leave of Menelaüs, and arrive at Pylos, where they part; Telemachus sets sail, after having received on board Theoclymenus the soothsayer. The scene then changes to the cottage of Eumæus, who entertains Ulysses with a recital of his adventures. In the meantime Telemachus arrives on the coast, and, sending the vessel to the town, proceeds by himself to the lodge of Eumæus.

- Now had Minerva reach’d those ample plains,
- Famed for the dance, where Menelaüs reigns;
- Anxious she flies to great Ulysses’ heir,
- His instant voyage challenged all her care.
- Beneath the royal portico display’d,
- With Nestor’s son Telemachus was laid;
- In sleep profound the son of Nestor lies;
- Not thine, Ulysses! Care unseal’d his eyes:
- Restless he griev’d, with various fears oppress’d,
- And all thy fortunes roll’d within his breast.10
- When ‘O Telemachus!’ (the Goddess said)
- ‘Too long in vain, too widely hast thou stray’d,
- Thus leaving careless thy paternal right
- The robbers’ prize, the prey to lawless might.
- On fond pursuits neglectful while you roam,
- Ev’n now the hand of rapine sacks the dome.
- Hence to Atrides; and his leave implore
- To launch thy vessel for thy natal shore:
- Fly, whilst thy mother virtuous yet withstands
- Her kindred’s wishes, and her sire’s commands;20
- Thro’ both, Eurymachus pursues the dame,
- And with the noblest gifts asserts his claim.
- Hence therefore, while thy stores thy own remain;
- Thou know’st the practice of the female train;
- Lost in the children of the present spouse,
- They slight the pledges of their former vows;
- Their love is always with the lover past;
- Still the succeeding flame expels the last.
- Let o’er thy house some chosen maid preside,29
- Till Heav’n decrees to bless thee in a bride.
- But now thy more attentive ears incline,
- Observe the warnings of a Power divine;
- For thee their snares the suitor lords shall lay
- In Samos’ sands, or straits of Ithaca;
- To seize thy life shall lurk the murd’rous band,
- Ere yet thy footsteps press thy native land.
- No—sooner far their riot and their lust
- All-cov’ring earth shall bury deep in dust.
- Then distant from the scatter’d islands steer,
- Nor let the night retard thy full career;40
- Thy heav’nly guardian shall instruct the gales
- To smooth thy passage and supply thy sails:
- And when at Ithaca thy labour ends,
- Send to the town the vessel with thy friends;
- But seek thou first the master of the swine,
- (For still to thee his loyal thoughts incline);
- There pass the night; while he his course pursues
- To bring Penelope the wish’d-for news,
- That thou, safe sailing from the Pylian strand,
- Art come to bless her in thy native land.’50
- Thus spoke the Goddess, and resumed her flight
- To the pure regions of eternal light.
- Meanwhile Pisistratus he gently shakes,
- And with these words the slumb’ring youth awakes:
- ‘Rise, son of Nestor; for the road prepare,
- And join the harness’d coursers to the car.’
- ‘What cause,’ he cried, ‘can justify our flight
- To tempt the dangers of forbidding night?
- Here wait we rather, till approaching day
- Shall prompt our speed, and point the ready way.60
- Nor think of flight before the Spartan King
- Shall bid farewell, and bounteous presents bring;
- Gifts, which to distant ages safely stor’d,
- The sacred act of friendship shall record.’
- Thus he. But when the dawn bestreak’d the east,
- The King from Helen rose, and sought his guest.
- As soon as his approach the Hero knew,
- The splendid mantle round him first he threw,
- Then o’er his ample shoulders whirl’d the cloak,69
- Respectful met the Monarch, and bespoke:
- ‘Hail, great Atrides, favour’d of high Jove!
- Let not thy friends in vain for license move.
- Swift let us measure back the wat’ry way,
- Nor check our speed, impatient of delay.’
- ‘If with desire so strong thy bosom glows,
- Ill,’ said the King, ‘should I thy wish oppose:
- For oft in others freely I reprove
- The ill-timed efforts of officious love;
- Who love too much, hate in the like extreme,79
- And both the golden mean alike condemn.
- Alike he thwarts the hospitable end,
- Who drives the free, or stays the hasty friend:
- True friendship’s laws are by this rule express’d,
- Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest.
- Yet stay, my friends, and in your chariot take
- The noblest presents that our love can make;
- Meantime commit we to our women’s care
- Some choice domestic viands to prepare;
- The trav’ler, rising from the banquet gay,
- Eludes the labours of the tedious way.90
- Then if a wider course shall rather please,
- Thro’ spacious Argos and the realms of Greece,
- Atrides in his chariot shall attend;
- Himself thy convoy to each royal friend.
- No Prince will let Ulysses’ heir remove
- Without some pledge, some monument of love:
- These will the cauldron, these the tripod give; }
- From those the well-pair’d mules we shall receive, }
- Or bowl emboss’d whose golden figures live.’ }
- To whom the youth, for prudence famed, replied:100
- ‘O Monarch, Care of Heav’n! thy people’s pride!
- No friend in Ithaca my place supplies,
- No powerful hands are there, no watchful eyes:
- My stores exposed and fenceless house demand
- The speediest succour from my guardian hand;
- Lest, in a search too anxious and too vain
- Of one lost joy, I lose what yet remain.’
- His purpose when the gen’rous Warrior heard,
- He charged the household cates to be prepared.
- Now with the dawn, from his adjoining home,110
- Was Bœthœdes Eteoneus come;
- Swift at the word he forms the rising blaze,
- And o’er the coals the smoking fragments lays.
- Meantime the King, his son, and Helen went
- Where the rich wardrobe breathed a costly scent.
- The King selected from the glitt’ring rows
- A bowl; the Prince a silver beaker chose.
- The beauteous Queen revolv’d with careful eyes
- Her various textures of unnumber’d dyes,
- And chose the largest; with no vulgar art120
- Her own fair hands embroider’d every part:
- Beneath the rest it lay divinely bright,
- Like radiant Hesper o’er the gems of night.
- Then with each gift they hasten’d to their guest,
- And thus the King Ulysses’ heir address’d:
- ‘Since fix’d are thy resolves, may thund’ring Jove
- With happiest omens thy desires approve!
- This silver bowl, whose costly margins shine
- Enchased with gold, this valued gift be thine;
- To me this present, of Vulcanian frame,130
- From Sidon’s hospitable Monarch came;
- To thee we now consign the precious load,
- The pride of Kings, and labour of a God.’
- Then gave the cup, while Megapenthe brought
- The silver vase with living sculpture wrought.
- The beauteous Queen, advancing next, display’d
- The shining veil, and thus endearing said:
- ‘Accept, dear youth, this monument of love,
- Long since, in better days, by Helen wove:
- Safe in thy mother’s care the vesture lay,140
- To deck thy bride, and grace thy nuptial day.
- Meantime may’st thou with happiest speed regain
- Thy stately palace, and thy wide domain.’
- She said, and gave the veil; with grateful look
- The Prince the variegated present took.
- And now, when thro’ the royal dome they pass’d,
- High on a throne the King each stranger placed.
- A golden ewer th’ attendant damsel brings,
- Replete with water from the crystal springs;
- With copious streams the shining vase supplies150
- A silver laver of capacious size.
- They wash. The tables in fair order spread,
- The glitt’ring canisters are crown’d with bread;
- Viands of various kinds allure the taste,
- Of choicest sort and savour; rich repast!
- Whilst Eteoneus portions out the shares,
- Atrides’ son the purple draught prepares.
- And now (each sated with the genial feast,
- And the short rage of thirst and hunger ceas’d),
- Ulysses’ son, with his illustrious friend,160
- The horses join, the polish’d car ascend.
- Along the court the fiery steeds rebound,
- And the wide portal echoes to the sound.
- The King precedes; a bowl with fragrant wine
- (Libation destin’d to the Powers divine)
- His right hand held: before the steeds he stands,
- Then, mix’d with prayers, he utters these commands:
- ‘Farewell, and prosper, Youths! let Nestor know
- What grateful thoughts still in this bosom glow,
- For all the proofs of his paternal care,170
- Thro’ the long dangers of the ten years’ war.’
- ‘Ah! doubt not our report’ (the Prince rejoin’d)
- ‘Of all the virtues of thy gen’rous mind.
- And oh! return’d might we Ulysses meet!
- To him thy presents show, thy words repeat:
- How will each speech his grateful wonder raise!
- How will each gift indulge us in thy praise!’
- Scarce ended thus the Prince, when on the right
- Advanc’d the bird of Jove: auspicious sight!
- A milk-white fowl his clinching talons bore,180
- With care domestic pamper’d at the floor.
- Peasants in vain with threat’ning cries pursue,
- In solemn speed the bird majestic flew
- Full dexter to the car: the prosp’rous sight
- Fill’d ev’ry breast with wonder and delight.
- But Nestor’s son the cheerful silence broke,
- And in these words the Spartan Chief bespoke:
- ‘Say if to us the Gods these omens send,
- Or fates peculiar to thyself portend?’
- Whilst yet the Monarch paus’d, with doubts oppress’d,190
- The beauteous Queen reliev’d his lab’ring breast:
- ‘Hear me’ (she cried), ‘to whom the Gods have given
- To read this sign, and mystic sense of Heav’n.
- As thus the plumy sov’reign of the air
- Left on the mountain’s brow his callow care,
- And wander’d thro’ the wide ethereal way
- To pour his wrath on yon luxurious prey;
- So shall thy godlike father, toss’d in vain
- Thro’ all the dangers of the boundless main,
- Arrive (or is perchance already come),200
- From slaughter’d gluttons to release the dome.’
- ‘Oh! if this promis’d bliss by thund’ring Jove’
- (The Prince replied) ‘stand fix’d in Fate above;
- To thee, as to some God, I’ll temples raise,
- And crown thy altars with the costly blaze.’
- He said; and, bending o’er his chariot, flung
- Athwart the fiery steeds the smarting thong;
- The bounding shafts upon the harness play,
- Till night descending intercepts the way.
- To Diocles at Pheræ they repair,210
- Whose boasted sire was sacred Alpheus’ heir;
- With him all night the youthful strangers stay’d,
- Nor found the hospitable rites unpaid.
- But soon as Morning from her orient bed
- Had tinged the mountains with her earliest red,
- They join’d the steeds, and on the chariot sprung;
- The brazen portals in their passage rung.
- To Pylos soon they came; when thus begun
- To Nestor’s heir Ulysses’ godlike son:219
- ‘Let not Pisistratus in vain be press’d,
- Nor unconsenting hear his friend’s request;
- His friend by long hereditary claim,
- In toils his equal, and in years the same.
- No farther from our vessel, I implore,
- The coursers drive; but lash them to the shore.
- Too long thy father would his friend detain;
- I dread his proffer’d kindness urged in vain.’
- The Hero paus’d, and ponder’d this request,
- While love and duty warr’d within his breast.
- At length resolv’d, he turn’d his ready hand,230
- And lash’d his panting coursers to the strand.
- There, while within the poop with care he stor’d
- The regal presents of the Spartan lord,
- ‘With speed begone’ (said he); ‘call every mate,
- Ere yet to Nestor I the tale relate:
- ’T is true, the fervour of his gen’rous heart
- Brooks no repulse, nor couldst thou soon depart:
- Himself will seek thee here, nor wilt thou find,
- In words alone, the Pylian Monarch kind.
- But when, arrived, he thy return shall know,240
- How will his breast with honest fury glow!’
- This said, the sounding strokes his horses fire,
- And soon he reach’d the palace of his sire.
- ‘Now’ (cried Telemachus) ‘with speedy care
- Hoist ev’ry sail, and ev’ry oar prepare!’
- Swift as the word his willing mates obey,
- And seize their seats, impatient for the sea.
- Meantime the Prince with sacrifice adores
- Minerva, and her guardian aid implores;
- When lo! a wretch ran breathless to the shore,250
- New from his crime; and reeking yet with gore.
- A seer he was, from great Melampus sprung,
- Melampus, who in Pylos flourish’d long,
- Till, urged by wrongs, a foreign realm he chose,
- Far from the hateful cause of all his woes.
- Neleus his treasures one long year detains:
- As long he groan’d in Phylacus’s chains:
- Meantime, what anguish and what rage combin’d,
- For lovely Pero rack’d his lab’ring mind!
- Yet ’scaped he death: and, vengeful of his wrong,260
- To Pylos drove the lowing herds along:
- Then (Neleus vanquish’d, and consign’d the fair
- To Bias’ arms) he sought a foreign air;
- Argos the rich for his retreat he chose;
- There form’d his empire: there his palace rose.
- From him Antiphates and Mantius came; }
- The first begot Oïcleus great in fame, }
- And he Amphiaraüs, immortal name! }
- The people’s saviour, and divinely wise, }
- Belov’d by Jove, and him who gilds the skies; 270 }
- Yet short his date of life! by female pride he dies. }
- From Mantius Clitus, whom Aurora’s love
- Snatch’d for his beauty to the thrones above;
- And Polyphides, on whom Phœbus shone
- With fullest rays, Amphiaraüs now gone;
- In Hyperesia’s groves he made abode,
- And taught mankind the counsels of the God.
- From him sprung Theoclymenus, who found
- (The sacred wine yet foaming on the ground)
- Telemachus: whom, as to Heav’n he press’d280
- His ardent vows, the stranger thus address’d:
- ‘O thou! that dost thy happy course prepare
- With pure libations and with solemn prayer;
- By that dread Power to whom thy vows are paid;
- By all the lives of these; thy own dear head,
- Declare sincerely to no foe’s demand
- Thy name, thy lineage, and paternal land.’
- ‘Prepare, then,’ said Telemachus, ‘to know
- A tale from falsehood free, not free from woe.
- From Ithaca, of royal birth I came,290
- And great Ulysses (ever-honour’d name!)
- Once was my sire, tho’ now for ever lost,
- In Stygian gloom he glides a pensive ghost!
- Whose fate inquiring thro’ the world we rove:
- The last, the wretched proof of filial love.’
- The stranger then: ‘Nor shall I aught conceal,
- But the dire secret of my fate reveal.
- Of my own tribe an Argive wretch I slew;
- Whose powerful friends the luckless deed pursue
- With unrelenting rage, and force from home300
- The blood-stain’d exile, ever doom’d to roam.
- But bear, oh bear me o’er yon azure flood;
- Receive the suppliant! spare my destin’d blood!’
- ‘Stranger’ (replied the Prince), ‘securely rest
- Affianc’d in our faith; henceforth our guest.’
- Thus affable, Ulysses’ godlike heir
- Takes from the stranger’s hand the glitt’ring spear:
- He climbs the ship, ascends the stern with haste,
- And by his side the guest accepted placed.
- The Chief his order gives: th’ obedient band310
- With due observance wait the Chief’s command.
- With speed the mast they rear, with speed unbind
- The spacious sheet, and stretch it to the wind.
- Minerva calls; the ready gales obey
- With rapid speed to whirl them o’er the sea.
- Crunus they pass’d, next Chalcis roll’d away,
- When thick’ning darkness closed the doubtful day;
- The silver Phæa’s glitt’ring rills they lost,
- And skimm’d along by Elis’ sacred coast.
- Then cautious thro’ the rocky reaches wind,320
- And, turning sudden, shun the death design’d.
- Meantime, the King, Eumæus, and the rest,
- Sate in the cottage, at their rural feast:
- The banquet pass’d, and satiate ev’ry man,
- To try his host, Ulysses thus began:
- ‘Yet one night more, my friends, indulge your guest;
- The last I purpose in your walls to rest;
- To-morrow for myself I must provide,
- And only ask your counsel, and a guide;
- Patient to roam the street, by hunger led,
- And bless the friendly hand that gives me bread.331
- There in Ulysses’ roof I may relate
- Ulysses’ wand’rings to his royal mate;
- Or, mingling with the suitors’ haughty train,
- Not undeserving some support obtain.
- Hermes to me his various gifts imparts,
- Patron of industry and manual arts:
- Few can with me in dext’rous works contend,
- The pyre to build, the stubborn oak to rend;
- To turn the tasteful viand o’er the flame;340
- Or foam the goblet with a purple stream.
- Such are the tasks of men of mean estate,
- Whom fortune dooms to serve the rich and great.’
- ‘Alas!’ (Eumæus with a sigh rejoin’d)
- ‘How sprung a thought so monstrous in thy mind?
- If on that godless race thou would’st attend,
- Fate owes thee sure a miserable end!
- Their wrongs and blasphemies ascend the sky,
- And pull descending vengeance from on high.
- Not such, my friend, the servants of their feast;350
- A blooming train in rich embroid’ry dress’d!
- With earth’s whole tribute the bright table bends,
- And smiling round celestial youth attends.
- Stay, then; no eye askance beholds thee here;
- Sweet is thy converse to each social ear:
- Well pleas’d, and pleasing, in our cottage rest,
- Till good Telemachus accepts his guest
- With genial gifts, and change of fair attires,
- And safe conveys thee where thy soul desires.’
- To him the man of woes: ‘O gracious Jove360
- Reward this stranger’s hospitable love!
- Who knows the son of sorrow to relieve,
- Cheers the sad heart, nor lets affliction grieve.
- Of all the ills unhappy mortals know,
- A life of wand’rings is the greatest woe:
- On all their weary ways wait Care and Pain,
- And Pine and Penury, a meagre train.
- To such a man since harbour you afford,
- Relate the farther fortunes of your lord;
- What cares his mother’s tender breast engage,370
- And sire forsaken on the verge of age;
- Beneath the sun prolong they yet their breath,
- Or range the house of darkness and of death?’
- To whom the swain: ‘Attend what you inquire;
- Laërtes lives, the miserable sire;
- Lives, but implores of ev’ry Power to lay
- The burden down, and wishes for the day.
- Torn from his offspring in the eve of life,
- Torn from th’ embraces of his tender wife,
- Sole, and all comfortless, he wastes away
- Old age, untimely posting ere his day.381
- She too, sad mother! for Ulysses lost
- Pined out her bloom, and vanish’d to a ghost
- (So dire a fate, ye righteous Gods! avert
- From ev’ry friendly, ev’ry feeling heart);
- While yet she was, tho’ clouded o’er with grief,
- Her pleasing converse minister’d relief:
- With Ctimene, her youngest daughter, bred,
- One roof contain’d us, and one table fed.
- But when the softly-stealing pace of time
- Crept on from childhood into youthful prime,391
- To Samos isle she sent the wedded fair;
- Me to the fields, to tend the rural care;
- Array’d in garments her own hands had wove,
- Nor less the darling object of her love.
- Her hapless death my brighter days o’ercast,
- Yet Providence deserts me not at last:
- My present labours food and drink procure,
- And more, the pleasure to relieve the poor.
- Small is the comfort from the Queen to hear400
- Unwelcome news, or vex the royal ear;
- Blank and discountenanc’d the servants stand,
- Nor dare to question where the proud command:
- No profit springs beneath usurping powers;
- Want feeds not there, where Luxury devours,
- Nor harbours charity where riot reigns:
- Proud are the Lords, and wretched are the Swains.’
- The suff’ring Chief at this began to melt;
- And, ‘O Eumæus! thou’ (he cries) ‘hast felt
- The spite of Fortune too! her cruel hand410
- Snatch’d thee an infant from thy native land!
- Snatch’d from thy parents’ arms, thy parents’ eyes,
- To early wants! a man of miseries!
- The whole sad story, from its first, declare:
- Sunk the fair city by the rage of war,
- Where once thy parents dwelt? or did they keep,
- In humbler life, the lowing herds and sheep?
- So left perhaps to tend the fleecy train,
- Rude pirates seiz’d, and shipp’d thee o’er the main?
- Doom’d a fair prize to grace some Prince’s board,420
- The worthy purchase of a foreign Lord.’
- ‘If then my fortunes can delight my friend,
- A story fruitful of events attend:
- Another’s sorrow may thy ear enjoy,
- And wine the lengthen’d intervals employ.
- Long nights the now declining year bestows;
- A part we consecrate to soft repose,
- A part in pleasing talk we entertain;
- For too much rest itself becomes a pain.
- Let those, whom sleep invites, the call obey,430
- Their cares resuming with the dawning day:
- Here let us feast, and to the feast be join’d
- Discourse, the sweeter banquet of the mind;
- Review the series of our lives, and taste
- The melancholy joy of evils pass’d:
- For he who much has suffer’d, much will know,
- And pleas’d remembrance builds delight on woe.
- ‘Above Ortygia lies an isle of fame,
- Far hence remote, and Syria is the name
- (There curious eyes inscribed with wonder trace440
- The sun’s diurnal, and his annual race);
- Not large, but fruitful; stored with grass, to keep
- The bell’wing oxen and the bleating sheep;
- Her sloping hills the mantling vines adorn,
- And her rich valleys wave with golden corn.
- No want, no famine, the glad natives know,
- Nor sink by sickness to the shades below;
- But when a length of years unnerves the strong,448
- Apollo comes, and Cynthia comes along.
- They bend the silver bow with tender skill,
- And, void of pain, the silent arrows kill.
- Two equal tribes this fertile land divide,
- Where two fair cities rise with equal pride,
- But both in constant peace one Prince obey,
- And Ctesius there, my father, holds the sway.
- Freighted, it seems, with toys of ev’ry sort,
- A ship of Sidon anchor’d in our port;
- What time it chanc’d the palace entertain’d,
- Skill’d in rich works, a woman of their land:
- This nymph, where anchor’d the Phœnician train,460
- To wash her robes descending to the main,
- A smooth-tongued sailor won her to his mind
- (For love deceives the best of womankind).
- A sudden trust from sudden liking grew;
- She told her name, her race, and all she knew.
- “I too” (she cried) “from glorious Sidon came.
- My father Arybas, of wealthy fame;
- But, snatch’d by pirates from my native place,
- The Taphians sold me to this man’s embrace.”
- ‘ “Haste then” (the false designing youth replied),470
- “Haste to thy country; love shall be thy guide;
- Haste to thy father’s house, thy father’s breast,
- For still he lives, and lives with riches blest.”
- ‘ “Swear first” (she cried), “ye Sailors! to restore }
- A wretch in safety to her native shore.” }
- Swift as she ask’d, the ready sailors swore. }
- She then proceeds: “Now let our compact made
- Be nor by signal nor by word betray’d,
- Nor near me any of your crew descried,
- By road frequented, or by fountain side:480
- Be silence still our guard. The Monarch’s spies
- (For watchful age is ready to surmise)
- Are still at hand; and this reveal’d, must be
- Death to yourselves, eternal chains to me.
- Your vessel loaded, and your traffic pass’d,
- Despatch a wary messenger with haste;
- Then gold and costly treasures will I bring,
- And more, the infant-offspring of the King.
- Him, childlike wand’ring forth, I’ll lead away
- (A noble prize!) and to your ship convey.”
- ‘Thus spoke the dame, and homeward took the road.491
- A year they traffic, and their vessel load.
- Their stores complete, and ready now to weigh,
- A spy was sent their summons to convey:
- An artist to my father’s palace came,
- With gold and amber chains, elab’rate frame:
- Each female eye the glitt’ring links employ;
- They turn, review, and cheapen ev’ry toy.
- He took th’ occasion, as they stood intent,
- Gave her the sign, and to his vessel went.
- She straight pursued, and seiz’d my willing arm;501
- I follow’d smiling, innocent of harm.
- Three golden goblets in the porch she found
- (The guests not enter’d, but the table crown’d);
- Hid in her fraudful bosom these she bore:
- Now set the sun, and darken’d all the shore.
- Arriving then, where, tilting on the tides,
- Prepared to launch the freighted vessel rides,
- Aboard they heave us, mount their decks, and sweep
- With level oar along the glassy deep.510
- Six calmy days and six smooth nights we sail,
- And constant Jove supplied the gentle gale.
- The sev’nth, the fraudful wretch (no cause descried),
- Touch’d by Diana’s vengeful arrow, died.
- Down dropp’d the caitiff-corse, a worthless load, }
- Down to the deep; there roll’d, the future food }
- Of fierce sea-wolves, and monsters of the flood. }
- A helpless infant I remain’d behind;
- Thence borne to Ithaca by wave and wind;
- Sold to Laërtes by divine command,520
- And now adopted to a foreign land.’
- To him the King: ‘Reciting thus thy cares,
- My secret soul in all thy sorrow shares;
- But one choice blessing (such is Jove’s high will)
- Has sweeten’d all thy bitter draught of ill:
- Torn from thy country to no hapless end,
- The Gods have, in a master, giv’n a friend.
- Whatever frugal nature needs is thine
- (For she needs little), daily bread and wine.
- While I, so many wand’rings past and woes,530
- Live but on what thy poverty bestows.’
- So pass’d in pleasing dialogue away }
- The night; then down to short repose they lay; }
- Till radiant rose the messenger of day. }
- While in the port of Ithaca, the band
- Of young Telemachus approach’d the land;
- Their sails they loos’d, they lash’d the mast aside,
- And cast their anchors, and the cables tied:
- Then on the breezy shore, descending, join
- In grateful banquet o’er the rosy wine.540
- When thus the Prince: ‘Now each his course pursue:
- I to the fields, and to the city you.
- Long absent hence, I dedicate this day
- My swains to visit, and the works survey.
- Expect me with the morn, to pay the skies
- Our debt of safe return in feast and sacrifice.’
- Then Theoclymenus: ‘But who shall lend,
- Meantime, protection to thy stranger friend?
- Straight to the Queen and Palace shall I fly,549
- Or, yet more distant, to some Lord apply?’
- The Prince return’d: ‘Renown’d in days of yore
- Has stood our father’s hospitable door;
- No other roof a stranger should receive,
- No other hands than ours the welcome give.
- But in my absence riot fills the place,
- Nor bears the modest Queen a stranger’s face;
- From noiseful revel far remote she flies,
- But rarely seen, or seen with weeping eyes.
- No—let Eurymachus receive my guest,
- Of nature courteous, and by far the best;
- He woos the Queen with more respectful flame,561
- And emulates her former husband’s fame:
- With what success, ’t is Jove’s alone to know,
- And the hoped nuptials turn to joy or woe.’
- Thus speaking, on the right up-soar’d in air
- The hawk, Apollo’s swift-wing’d messenger:
- His deathful pounces tore a trembling dove;
- The clotted feathers, scatter’d from above,
- Between the hero and the vessel pour
- Thick plumage, mingled with a sanguine shower.570
- Th’ observing augur took the Prince aside,
- 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;
- 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 attend579
- The man who calls Telemachus his friend.’
- 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,
- 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,
- 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.

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BOOK XV: THE RETURN OF TELEMACHUS - Alexander Pope, The Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope [1903]

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BOOK XV

THE RETURN OF TELEMACHUS

ARGUMENT