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BOOK XVII

ARGUMENT

Telemachus, returning to the city, relates to Penelope the sum of his travels. Ulysses is conducted by Eumæus to the palace, where his old dog Argus acknowledges his master, after an absence of twenty years, and dies with joy. Eumæus returns into the country, and Ulysses remains among the Suitors, whose behaviour is described.

- Soon as Aurora, Daughter of the Dawn,
- Sprinkled with roseate light the dewy lawn,
- In haste the Prince arose, prepared to part;
- His hand impatient grasps the pointed dart;
- Fair on his feet the polish’d sandals shine,
- And thus he greets the master of the swine:
- ‘My friend, adieu! let this short stay suffice; }
- I haste to meet my mother’s longing eyes, }
- And end her tears, her sorrows, and her sighs, }
- But thou, attentive, what we order heed:10
- This hapless stranger to the city lead:
- By public bounty let him there be fed,
- And bless the hand that stretches forth the bread;
- To wipe the tears from all afflicted eyes,
- My will may covet, but my power denies.
- If this raise anger in the stranger’s thought,
- The pain of anger punishes the fault:
- The very truth I undisguised declare;
- For what so easy as to be sincere?’
- To this Ulysses: ‘What the Prince requires20
- Of swift removal, seconds my desires.
- To want like mine the peopled town can yield
- More hopes of comfort than the lonely field:
- Nor fits my age to till the labour’d lands,
- Or stoop to tasks a rural lord demands.
- Adieu! but since this ragged garb can bear
- So ill th’ inclemencies of morning air,
- A few hours’ space permit me here to stay: }
- My steps Eumæus shall to town convey, }
- With riper beams when Phœbus warms the day.’30 }
- Thus he; nor aught Telemachus replied,
- But left the mansion with a lofty stride:
- Schemes of revenge his pond’ring breast elate,
- Revolving deep the suitors’ sudden fate.
- Arriving now before th’ imperial hall,
- He props his spear against the pillar’d wall;
- Then like a lion o’er the threshold bounds;
- The marble pavement with his step resounds;
- His eye first glanc’d where Euryclea spreads
- With furry spoils of beasts the splendid beds:40
- She saw, she wept, she ran with eager pace,
- And reach’d her master with a long embrace.
- All crowded round the family appears
- With wild entrancement, and ecstatic tears.
- Swift from above descends the royal Fair }
- (Her beauteous cheeks the blush of Venus wear, }
- Chasten’d with coy Diana’s pensive air); }
- Hangs o’er her son, in his embraces dies;
- Rains kisses on his neck, his face, his eyes:
- Few words she spoke, tho’ much she had to say:50
- And scarce those few, for tears, could force their way.
- ‘Light of my eyes! he comes! unhoped-for joy!
- Has Heav’n from Pylos brought my lovely boy?
- So snatch’d from all our cares!—Tell, hast thou known
- Thy father’s fate, and tell me all thy own.’
- ‘Oh dearest! most revered of womankind!
- Cease with those tears to melt a manly mind’
- (Replied the Prince); ‘nor be our fates deplor’d,
- From death and treason to thy arms restor’d.
- Go, bathe, and robed in white ascend the towers;60
- With all thy handmaids thank th’ immortal Powers:
- To ev’ry God vow hecatombs to bleed,
- And call Jove’s vengeance on the guilty deed.
- While to th’ assembled council I repair;
- A stranger sent by Heav’n attends me there;
- My new accepted guest I haste to find,
- Now to Peiræus’ honour’d charge consign’d.’
- The matron heard, nor was his word in vain.
- She bathed; and, robed in white, with all her train,
- To ev’ry God vow’d hecatombs to bleed,70
- And call’d Jove’s vengeance on the guilty deed.
- Arm’d with his lance, the Prince then pass’d the gate;
- Two dogs behind, a faithful guard, await;
- Pallas his form with grace divine improves:
- The gazing crowd admires him as he moves:
- Him, gath’ring round, the haughty suitors greet
- With semblance fair, but inward deep deceit.
- Their false addresses gen’rous he denied,
- Pass’d on, and sate by faithful Mentor’s side;
- With Antiphus, and Halitherses sage,80
- His father’s counsellors, revered for age.
- Of his own fortunes, and Ulysses’ fame,
- Much ask’d the seniors; till Peiræus came.
- The stranger-guest pursued him close behind;
- Whom when Telemachus beheld, he join’d.
- He (when Peiræus ask’d for slaves to bring
- The gifts and treasures of the Spartan King)
- Thus thoughtful answer’d: ‘Those we shall not move,
- Dark and unconscious of the will of Jove:
- We know not yet the full event of all;90
- Stabb’d in his palace if your Prince must fall.
- Us, and our house, if treason must o’erthrow,
- Better a friend possess them than a foe;
- If death to these, and vengeance, Heav’n decree,
- Riches are welcome then, not else, to me.
- Till then retain the gifts.’—The hero said,
- And in his hand the willing stranger led.
- Then, disarray’d, the shining bath they sought
- (With unguents smooth) of polish’d marble wrought;
- Obedient handmaids with assistant toil100
- Supply the limpid wave, and fragrant oil;
- Then o’er their limbs refulgent robes they threw,
- And fresh from bathing to their seats withdrew.
- The golden ewer a nymph attendant brings,
- Replenish’d from the pure translucent springs:
- With copious streams that golden ewer supplies
- A silver laver of capacious size.
- They wash: the table, in fair order spread,
- Is piled with viands and the strength of bread.
- Full opposite, before the folding gate,110
- The pensive mother sits in humble state;
- Lowly she sate, and with dejected view
- The fleecy threads her iv’ry fingers drew.
- The Prince and stranger shared the genial feast,
- Till now the rage of thirst and hunger ceas’d.
- When thus the Queen: ‘My son! my only friend!
- Say, to my mournful couch shall I ascend
- (The couch deserted now a length of years;
- The couch for ever water’d with my tears)?
- Say, wilt thou not (ere yet the suitor crew
- Return, and riot shakes our walls anew),121
- Say, wilt thou not the least account afford?
- The least glad tidings of my absent lord?’
- To her the youth: ‘We reach’d the Pylian plains,
- Where Nestor, shepherd of his people, reigns.
- All arts of tenderness to him are known,
- Kind to Ulysses’ race as to his own:
- No father with a fonder grasp of joy
- Strains to his bosom his long-absent boy.
- But all unknown, if yet Ulysses breathe,130
- Or glide a spectre in the realms beneath:
- For farther search, his rapid steeds transport
- My lengthen’d journey to the Spartan court.
- There Argive Helen I beheld, whose charms
- (So Heav’n decreed) engaged the great in arms.
- My cause of coming told, he thus rejoin’d;
- And still his words live perfect in my mind:
- ‘ “Heav’ns! would a soft, inglorious, dastard train
- An absent hero’s nuptial joys profane!
- So with her young, amid the woodland shades,140
- A tim’rous hind the lion’s court invades,
- Leaves in that fatal lair her tender fawns,
- And climbs the cliffs, or feeds along the lawns;
- Meantime returning, with remorseless sway
- The monarch savage rends the panting prey:
- With equal fury, and with equal fame,
- Shall great Ulysses reassert his claim.
- O Jove! Supreme! whom men and Gods revere;
- And thou, whose lustre gilds the rolling sphere!
- With power congenial join’d, propitious aid150
- The Chief adopted by the Martial Maid!
- Such to our wish the warrior soon restore,
- As when, contending on the Lesbian shore,
- His prowess Philomelides confess’d,
- And loud acclaiming Greeks the victor bless’d:
- Then soon th’ invaders of his bed and throne,
- Their love presumptuous shall by death atone.
- Now what you question of my ancient friend,
- With truth I answer; thou the truth attend.
- Learn what I heard the sea-born seer relate,160
- Whose eye can pierce the dark recess of fate.
- Sole in an isle, imprison’d by the main,
- The sad survivor of his numerous train,
- Ulysses lies; detain’d by magic charms,
- And press’d unwilling in Calypso’s arms.
- No sailors there, no vessels to convey,
- No oars to cut th’ immeasurable way.”
- This told Atrides, and he told no more.
- Then safe I voyaged to my native shore.’
- He ceas’d; nor made the pensive Queen reply,170
- But droop’d her head, and drew a secret sigh.
- When Theoclymenus the seer began:
- ‘O suff’ring consort of the suff’ring man!
- What human knowledge could, those Kings might tell,
- But I the secrets of high Heav’n reveal.
- Before the first of Gods be this declared,
- Before the board whose blessings we have shared;
- Witness the genial rites, and witness all
- This house holds sacred in her ample wall!
- Ev’n now, this instant, great Ulysses, laid180
- At rest, or wand’ring in his country’s shade,
- Their guilty deeds, in hearing, and in view,
- Secret revolves; and plans the vengeance due.
- Of this sure auguries the Gods bestow’d,
- When first our vessel anchor’d in your road.’
- ‘Succeed those omens, Heav’n!’ (the Queen rejoin’d)
- ‘So shall our bounties speak a grateful mind:
- And every envied happiness attend
- The man who calls Penelope his friend.’
- Thus communed they: while in the marble court190
- (Scene of their insolence) the lords resort;
- Athwart the spacious square each tries his art,
- To whirl the disk, or aim the missile dart.
- Now did the hour of sweet repast arrive,
- And from the field the victim flocks they drive:
- Medon the Herald (one who pleas’d them best,
- And honour’d with a portion of their feast),
- To bid the banquet, interrupts their play: }
- Swift to the hall they haste; aside they lay }
- Their garments, and succinct the victims slay.200 }
- Then sheep, and goats, and bristly porkers bled,
- And the proud steer was o’er the marble spread.
- While thus the copious banquet they provide,
- Along the road, conversing side by side,
- Proceed Ulysses and the faithful swain:
- When thus Eumæus, gen’rous and humane:
- ‘To town, observant of our lord’s behest,
- Now let us speed: my friend, no more my guest!
- Yet like myself I wish thee here preferr’d,
- Guard of the flock, or keeper of the herd.210
- But much to raise my master’s wrath I fear;
- The wrath of Princes ever is severe.
- Then heed his will, and be our journey made }
- While the broad beams of Phœbus are display’d, }
- Or ere brown ev’ning spreads her chilly shade.’ }
- ‘Just thy advice’ (the prudent Chief rejoin’d),
- ‘And such as suits the dictate of my mind.
- Lead on: but help me to some staff to stay
- My feeble step, since rugged is the way.’
- Across his shoulders then the scrip he flung,220
- Wide-patch’d, and fasten’d by a twisted thong.
- A staff Eumæus gave. Along the way
- Cheerly they fare: behind, the keepers stay;
- These with their watchful dogs (a constant guard)
- Supply his absence, and attend the herd.
- And now his city strikes the Monarch’s eyes,
- Alas! how changed! a man of miseries;
- Propp’d on a staff, a beggar old and bare,
- In rags dishonest flutt’ring with the air!
- Now, pass’d the rugged road, they journey down230
- The cavern’d way descending to the town,
- Where, from the rock, with liquid drops distils
- A limpid fount, that, spread in parting rills,
- Its current thence to serve the city brings;
- A useful work, adorn’d by ancient kings.
- Neritus, Ithacus, Polyctor, there,
- In sculptured stone immortalized their care;
- In marble urns receiv’d it from above,
- And shaded with a green surrounding grove;239
- Where silver alders, in high arches twin’d,
- Drink the cool stream, and tremble to the wind.
- Beneath, sequester’d to the nymphs, is seen
- A mossy altar, deep embower’d in green;
- Where constant vows by travellers are paid,
- And holy horrors solemnize the shade.
- Here, with his goats (not vow’d to sacred flame,
- But pamper’d luxury), Melanthius came:
- Two grooms attend him. With an envious look
- He eyed the stranger, and imperious spoke:
- ‘The good old proverb how this pair fulfil!250
- One rogue is usher to another still.
- Heav’n with a secret principle endued
- Mankind, to seek their own similitude.
- Where goes the swineherd with that ill-look’d guest?
- That giant glutton, dreadful at a feast!
- Full many a post have those broad shoulders worn,
- From ev’ry great man’s gate repuls’d with scorn:
- To no brave prize aspired the worthless swain,
- ’T was but for scraps he ask’d, and ask’d in vain.259
- To beg, than work, he better understands;
- Or we perhaps might take him off thy hands.
- For any office could the slave be good,
- To cleanse the fold, or help the kids to food,
- If any labour those big joints could learn,
- Some whey, to wash his bowels, he might earn.
- To cringe, to whine, his idle hands to spread,
- Is all by which that graceless maw is fed.
- Yet hear me! if thy impudence but dare
- Approach yon walls, I prophesy thy fare:
- Dearly, full dearly, shalt thou buy thy bread270
- With many a footstool thund’ring at thy head.’
- He thus: nor insolent of word alone,
- Spurn’d with his rustic heel his King unknown;
- Spurn’d, but not mov’d: he like a pillar stood,
- Nor stirr’d an inch, contemptuous, from the road:
- Doubtful, or with his staff to strike him dead,
- Or greet the pavement with his worthless head.
- Short was that doubt; to quell his rage inured,
- The hero stood self-conquer’d, and endured.279
- But hateful of the wretch, Eumæus heav’d
- His hands obtesting, and this prayer conceiv’d:
- ‘Daughters of Jove! who from th’ ethereal bowers
- Descend to swell the springs, and feed the flowers!
- Nymphs of this fountain! to whose sacred names
- Our rural victims mount in blazing flames!
- To whom Ulysses’ piety preferr’d
- The yearly firstlings of his flock, and herd;
- Succeed my wish, your votary restore:
- Oh, be some God his convoy to our shore!
- Due pains shall punish then this slave’s offence,290
- And humble all his airs of insolence,
- Who, proudly stalking, leaves the herds at large,
- Commences courtier, and neglects his charge.’
- ‘What mutters he?’ (Melanthius sharp rejoins)
- ‘This crafty miscreant big with dark designs?
- The day shall come; nay, ’t is already near,
- When, slave! to sell thee at a price too dear
- Must be my care; and hence transport thee o’er,
- A load and scandal to this happy shore.
- Oh that as surely great Apollo’s dart,300
- Or some brave suitor’s sword, might pierce the heart
- Of the proud son, as that we stand this hour
- In lasting safety from the father’s power!’
- So spoke the wretch, but, shunning farther fray,
- Turn’d his proud step, and left them on their way.
- Straight to the feastful palace he repair’d,
- Familiar enter’d, and the banquet shared;
- Beneath Eurymachus, his patron lord,
- He took his place, and plenty heap’d the board.
- Meantime they heard, soft-circling in the sky,310
- Sweet airs ascend, and heav’nly minstrelsy
- (For Phemius to the lyre attuned the strain):
- Ulysses hearken’d, then address’d the swain:
- ‘Well may this palace admiration claim,
- Great, and respondent to the master’s fame!
- Stage above stage th’ imperial structure stands,
- Holds the chief honours, and the town commands:
- High walls and battlements the courts inclose,
- And the strong gates defy a host of foes.
- Far other cares its dwellers now employ;320
- The throng’d assembly and the feast of joy:
- I see the smokes of sacrifice aspire,
- And hear (what graces ev’ry feast) the lyre.’
- Then thus Eumæus: ‘Judge we which were best:
- Amidst yon revellers a sudden guest
- Choose you to mingle, while behind I stay?
- Or I first ent’ring introduce the way?
- Wait for a space without, but wait not long;
- This is the house of violence and wrong:
- Some rude insult thy rev’rend age may bear;330
- For like their lawless lords the servants are.’
- ‘Just is, O Friend! thy caution, and address’d’
- (Replied the Chief) ‘to no unheedful breast:
- The wrongs and injuries of base mankind
- Fresh to my sense, and always in my mind.
- The bravely-patient to no fortune yields:
- On rolling oceans, and in fighting fields,
- Storms have I pass’d, and many a stern debate;
- And now in humbler scene submit to Fate.
- What can not Want? The best she will expose,340
- And I am learn’d in all her train of woes;
- She fills with navies, hosts, and loud alarms
- The sea, the land, and shakes the world with arms!’
- Thus near the gates conferring as they drew,
- Argus, the dog, his ancient master knew;
- He, not unconscious of the voice and tread,
- Lifts to the sound his ear, and rears his head;
- Bred by Ulysses, nourish’d at his board,
- But ah! not fated long to please his lord!
- To him, his swiftness and his strength were vain;350
- The voice of glory call’d him o’er the main.
- Till then in ev’ry sylvan chase renown’d,
- With Argus, Argus, rung the woods around:
- With him the youth pursued the goat or fawn,
- Or traced the mazy lev’ret o’er the lawn.
- Now left to man’s ingratitude he lay,
- Unhous’d, neglected in the public way;
- And where on heaps the rich manure was spread,
- Obscene with reptiles, took his sordid bed.
- He knew his lord; he knew, and strove to meet;360
- In vain he strove to crawl and kiss his feet;
- Yet (all he could) his tail, his ears, his eyes
- Salute his master, and confess his joys.
- Soft pity touch’d the mighty master’s soul;
- Adown his cheek a tear unbidden stole,
- Stole unperceiv’d; he turn’d his head and dried
- The drop humane; then thus impassion’d cried:
- ‘What noble beast in this abandon’d state
- Lies here all helpless at Ulysses’ gate?
- His bulk and beauty speak no vulgar praise:370
- If, as he seems, he was in better days,
- Some care his age deserves; or was he prized
- For worthless beauty? therefore now despised:
- Such dogs and men there are, mere things of state:
- And always cherish’d by their friends, the great.’
- ‘Not Argus so’ (Eumæus thus rejoin’d),
- ‘But serv’d a master of a nobler kind,
- Who never, never shall behold him more!
- Long, long since perish’d on a distant shore!
- Oh had you seen him, vig’rous, bold, and young,380
- Swift as a stag, and as a lion strong:
- Him no fell savage on the plain withstood,
- None ’scaped him bosom’d in the gloomy wood:
- His eye how piercing, and his scent how true,
- To wind the vapour in the tainted dew!
- Such, when Ulysses left his natal coast;
- Now years unnerve him, and his lord is lost!
- The women keep the gen’rous creature bare,
- A sleek and idle race is all their care:
- The master gone, the servants what restrains?390
- Or dwells humanity where riot reigns?
- Jove fix’d it certain, that whatever day
- Makes man a slave, takes half his worth away.’
- This said, the honest herdsman strode before:
- The musing Monarch pauses at the door:
- The dog, whom Fate had granted to behold
- His lord, when twenty tedious years had roll’d,
- Takes a last look, and, having seen him, dies:
- So closed for ever faithful Argus’ eyes!
- And now Telemachus, the first of all,400
- Observ’d Eumæus ent’ring in the hall;
- Distant he saw, across the shady dome;
- Then gave a sign, and beckon’d him to come.
- There stood an empty seat, where late was placed,
- In order due, the steward of the feast
- (Who now was busied carving round the board);
- Eumæus took, and placed it near his lord.
- Before him instant was the banquet spread,
- And the bright basket piled with loaves of bread;
- Next came Ulysses lowly at the door,410
- A figure despicable, old, and poor,
- In squalid vests, with many a gaping rent,
- Propp’d on a staff, and trembling as he went.
- Then resting on the threshold of the gate,
- Against a cypress pillar lean’d his weight
- (Smooth’d by the workman to a polish’d plane);
- The thoughtful son beheld, and call’d his swain:
- ‘These viands, and this bread, Eumæus! bear,
- And let yon mendicant our plenty share:
- Then let him circle round the suitors’ board,420
- And try the bounty of each gracious lord.
- Bold let him ask, encouraged thus by me;
- How ill, alas! do want and shame agree!’
- His lord’s command the faithful servant bears:
- The seeming beggar answers with his prayers:
- ‘Bless’d be Telemachus! in ev’ry deed
- Inspire him, Jove! in ev’ry wish succeed!’
- This said, the portion from his son convey’d
- With smiles receiving on his scrip he laid.
- Long as the minstrel swept the sounding wire,430
- He fed, and ceas’d when silence held the lyre.
- Soon as the suitors from the banquet rose,
- Minerva prompts the man of mighty woes
- To tempt their bounties with a suppliant’s art,
- And learn the gen’rous from th’ ignoble heart
- (Not but his soul, resentful as humane,
- Dooms to full vengeance all th’ offending train);
- With speaking eyes, and voice of plaintive sound,
- Humble he moves, imploring all around.
- The proud feel pity, and relief bestow,440
- With such an image touch’d of human woe;
- Inquiring all, their wonder they confess,
- And eye the man, majestic in distress.
- While thus they gaze and question with their eyes,
- The bold Melanthius to their thought replies:
- ‘My lords! this stranger of gigantic port
- The good Eumæus usher’d to your court.
- Full well I mark’d the features of his face,
- Tho’ all unknown his clime, or noble race.’
- ‘And is this present, swineherd! of thy hand?450
- Bring’st thou these vagrants to infest the land?’
- (Returns Antinoüs with retorted eye)
- ‘Objects uncouth, to check the genial joy?
- Enough of these our court already grace,
- Of giant stomach, and of famish’d face.
- Such guests Eumæus to his country brings,
- To share our feast, and lead the life of Kings.’
- To whom the hospitable swain rejoin’d:
- ‘Thy passion, Prince, belies thy knowing mind.459
- Who calls, from distant nations to his own,
- The poor, distinguish’d by their wants alone?
- Round the wide world are sought those men divine
- Who public structures raise, or who design;
- Those to whose eyes the Gods their ways reveal,
- Or bless with salutary arts to heal;
- But chief to poets such respect belongs,
- By rival nations courted for their songs:
- These states invite, and mighty Kings admire,
- Wide as the sun displays his vital fire.469
- It is not so with want! how few that feed
- A wretch unhappy, merely for his need!
- Unjust to me, and all that serve the state,
- To love Ulysses is to raise thy hate.
- For me, suffice the approbation won
- Of my great mistress, and her godlike son.’
- To him Telemachus: ‘No more incense
- The man by nature prone to insolence;
- Injurious minds just answers but provoke:’
- Then, turning to Antinoüs, thus he spoke:
- ‘Thanks to thy care! whose absolute command480
- Thus drives the stranger from our court and land.
- Heav’n bless its owner with a better mind!
- From envy free, to charity inclin’d.
- This both Penelope and I afford:
- Then, Prince! be bounteous of Ulysses’ board.
- To give another’s is thy hand so slow?
- So much more sweet to spoil than to bestow?’
- ‘Whence, great Telemachus! this lofty strain?’
- (Antinoüs cries with insolent disdain)
- ‘Portions like mine if ev’ry suitor gave,490
- Our walls this twelvemonth should not see the slave.’
- He spoke, and lifting high above the board
- His pond’rous footstool, shook it at his lord.
- The rest with equal hand conferr’d the bread; }
- He fill’d his scrip, and to the threshold sped; }
- But first before Antinoüs stopp’d, and said: }
- ‘Bestow, my Friend! thou dost not seem the worst
- Of all the Greeks, but prince-like and the first;
- Then, as in dignity, be first in worth,
- And I shall praise thee thro’ the boundless earth.500
- Once I enjoy’d in luxury of state
- Whate’er gives man the envied name of great;
- Wealth, servants, friends, were mine in better days;
- And hospitality was then my praise;
- In ev’ry sorrowing soul I pour’d delight,
- And Poverty stood smiling in my sight.
- But Jove, all-governing, whose only will
- Determines Fate, and mingles good with ill,
- Sent me (to punish my pursuit of gain)509
- With roving pirates o’er th’ Ægyptian main:
- By Ægypt’s silver flood our ships we moor;
- Our spies commission’d straight the coast explore;
- But, impotent of mind, with lawless will
- The country ravage and the natives kill.
- The spreading clamour to their city flies,
- And horse and foot in mingled tumult rise:
- The redd’ning dawn reveals the hostile fields
- Horrid with bristly spears, and gleaming shields:
- Jove thunder’d on their side: our guilty head }
- We turn’d to flight; the gath’ring vengeance spread520 }
- On all parts round, and heaps on heaps lay dead. }
- Some few the foe in servitude detain;
- Death ill-exchanged for bondage and for pain!
- Unhappy me a Cyprian took aboard,
- And gave to Dmetor, Cyprus’ haughty lord:
- Hither, to ’scape his chains, my course I steer,
- Still curs’d by fortune, and insulted here!’
- To whom Antinous thus his rage express’d:
- ‘What God has plagued us with this gormand guest?
- Unless at distance, Wretch! thou keep behind,530 }
- Another isle, than Cyprus more unkind, }
- Another Ægypt, shalt thou quickly find. }
- From all thou begg’st, a bold audacious slave;
- Nor all can give so much as thou canst crave.
- Nor wonder I at such profusion shown;
- Shameless they give, who give what ’s not their own.’
- The Chief, retiring, ‘Souls, like that in thee,
- Ill suit such forms of grace and dignity.538
- Nor will that hand to utmost need afford
- The smallest portion of a wasteful board,
- Whose luxury whole patrimonies sweeps,
- Yet starving want, amidst the riot, weeps.’
- The haughty suitor with resentment burns,
- And, sourly smiling, this reply returns:
- ‘Take that, ere yet thou quit this princely throng; }
- And dumb for ever be thy sland’rous tongue!’ }
- He said, and high the whirling tripod flung. }
- His shoulder-blade receiv’d th’ ungentle shock:
- He stood, and moved not, like a marble rock;
- But shook his thoughtful head, nor more complain’d,550
- Sedate of soul, his character sustain’d,
- And inly form’d revenge: then back withdrew: }
- Before his feet the well-fill’d scrip he threw, }
- And thus with semblance mild address’d the crew: }
- ‘May what I speak your princely minds approve,
- Ye Peers and Rivals in this noble love!
- Not for the hurt I grieve, but for the cause.
- If, when the sword our country’s quarrel draws,
- Or if, defending what is justly dear, }
- From Mars impartial some broad wound we bear,560 }
- The gen’rous motive dignifies the scar. }
- But for mere want, how hard to suffer wrong!
- Want brings enough of other ills along!
- Yet, if unjustice never be secure,
- If fiends revenge, and Gods assert the poor,
- Death shall lay low the proud aggressor’s head,
- And make the dust Antinoüs’ bridal bed.’
- ‘Peace, wretch! and eat thy bread without offence’
- (The suitor cried), ‘or force shall drag thee hence,
- Scourge thro’ the public street, and cast thee there,570
- A mangled carcass for the hounds to tear.’
- His furious deed the gen’ral anger mov’d;
- All, ev’n the worst, condemn’d: and some reprov’d.
- ‘Was ever Chief for wars like these renown’d?
- Ill fits the stranger and the poor to wound.
- Unbless’d thy hand, if, in this low disguise,
- Wander, perhaps, some inmate of the skies:
- They (curious oft of mortal actions) deign
- In forms like these to round the earth and main,
- Just and unjust recording in their mind,580
- And with sure eyes inspecting all mankind.’
- Telemachus, absorb’d in thought severe,
- Nourish’d deep anguish, tho’ he shed no tear;
- But the dark brow of silent sorrow shook:
- While thus his mother to her virgins spoke:
- ‘On him and his may the bright God of Day
- That base inhospitable blow repay!’
- The nurse replies: ‘If Jove receives my prayer,
- Not one survives to breathe to-morrow’s air.’
- ‘All, all are foes, and mischief is their end;590
- Antinoüs most to gloomy death a friend’
- (Replies the Queen): ‘the stranger begg’d their grace,
- And melting pity soften’d ev’ry face;
- From ev’ry other hand redress he found,
- But fell Antinoüs answer’d with a wound.’
- Amidst her maids thus spoke the prudent Queen,
- Then bade Eumæus call the pilgrim in.
- ‘Much of th’ experienc’d man I long to hear,
- If or his certain eye, or list’ning ear,
- Have learn’d the fortunes of my wand’ring lord?’600
- Thus she, and good Eumæus took the word:
- ‘A private audience if thy grace impart,
- The stranger’s words may ease the royal heart.
- His sacred eloquence in balm distils,
- And the soothed heart with secret pleasure fills.
- Three days have spent their beams, three nights have run
- Their silent journey since his tale begun,
- Unfinish’d yet; and yet I thirst to hear!
- As when some Heav’n-taught poet charms the ear
- (Suspending sorrow with celestial strain610
- Breathed from the Gods to soften human pain),
- Time steals away with unregarded wing,
- And the soul hears him, tho’ he cease to sing.
- ‘Ulysses late he saw, on Cretan ground
- (His father’s guest), for Minos’ birth renown’d.
- He now but waits the wind, to waft him o’er,
- With boundless treasure, from Thesprotia’s shore.’
- To this the Queen: ‘The wand’rer let me hear,
- While yon luxurious race indulge their cheer,619
- Devour the grazing ox, and browsing goat,
- And turn my gen’rous vintage down their throat.
- For where ’s an arm, like thine, Ulysses! strong,
- To curb wild riot, and to punish wrong?’
- She spoke. Telemachus then sneez’d aloud;
- Constrain’d, his nostril echoed thro’ the crowd.
- The smiling Queen the happy omen bless’d:
- ‘So may these impious fall, by Fate oppress’d!’
- Then to Eumæus: ‘Bring the stranger, fly!
- And if my questions meet a true reply,
- Graced with a decent robe he shall retire,630
- A gift in season which his wants require.’
- Thus spoke Penelope. Eumæus flies
- In duteous haste, and to Ulysses cries:
- ‘The Queen invites thee, venerable Guest!
- A secret instinct moves her troubled breast,
- Of her long absent lord from thee to gain
- Some light, and soothe her soul’s eternal pain.
- If true, if faithful thou, her grateful mind
- Of decent robes a present has design’d:
- So finding favour in the royal eye,640
- Thy other wants her subjects shall supply.’
- ‘Fair truth alone’ (the patient man replied)
- ‘My words shall dictate, and my lips shall guide.
- To him, to me, one common lot was giv’n,
- In equal woes, alas! involv’d by Heav’n.
- Much of his fates I know: but check’d by fear
- I stand; the hand of violence is here:
- Here boundless wrongs the starry skies invade,
- And injured suppliants seek in vain for aid.
- Let for a space the pensive Queen attend,650
- Nor claim my story till the sun descend;
- Then in such robes as suppliants may require,
- Composed and cheerful by the genial fire,
- When loud uproar and lawless riot cease,
- Shall her pleas’d ear receive my words in peace.’
- Swift to the Queen returns the gentle swain:
- ‘And say’ (she cries), ‘does fear, or shame, detain
- The cautious stranger? With the begging kind
- Shame suits but ill.’ Eumæus thus rejoin’d:659
- ‘He only asks a more propitious hour,
- And shuns (who would not?) wicked men in power;
- At ev’ning mild (meet season to confer),
- By turns to question, and by turns to hear.’
- ‘Whoe’er this guest’ (the prudent Queen replies),
- ‘His ev’ry step and ev’ry thought is wise.
- For men like these on earth he shall not find
- In all the miscreant race of human kind.’
- Thus she. Eumæus all her words attends,
- And, parting, to the suitor powers descends;669
- There seeks Telemachus, and thus apart
- In whispers breathes the fondness of his heart:
- ‘The time, my lord, invites me to repair
- Hence to the lodge; my charge demands my care.
- These sons of murder thirst thy life to take;
- O guard it, guard it, for thy servants’ sake!’
- ‘Thanks to my friend’ (he cries); ‘but now the hour
- Of night draws on; go seek the rural bower:
- But first refresh; and at the dawn of day
- Hither a victim to the Gods convey.
- Our life to Heav’n’s immortal Powers we trust,680
- Safe in their care, for Heav’n protects the just.’
- Observant of his voice, Eumæus sate,
- And fed recumbent on a chair of state.
- Then instant rose, and, as he mov’d along, }
- ’T was riot all amid the suitor throng: }
- They feast, they dance, and raise the mirthful song. }
- Till now, declining toward the close of day,
- The sun obliquely shot his dewy ray.

BOOK XXI

THE BENDING OF ULYSSES’ BOW

ARGUMENT

Penelope, to put an end to the solicitations of the suitors, proposes to marry the person who shall first bend the bow of Ulysses, and shoot through the ringlets. After their attempts have proved ineffectual, Ulysses, taking Eumæus and Philætius apart, discovers himself to them; then returning, desires leave to try his strength at the bow, which, though refused with indignation by the suitors, Penelope and Telemachus cause to be delivered to his hands. He bends it immediately, and shoots through all the rings. Jupiter at the same instant thunders from heaven; Ulysses accepts the omen, and gives a sign to Telemachus, who stands ready armed at his side.

- And Pallas now, to raise the rivals’ fires,
- With her own art Penelope inspires:
- Who now can bend Ulysses’ bow, and wing
- The well-aim’d arrow thro’ the distant ring,
- Shall end the strife, and win th’ imperial dame;
- But discord and black death await the game!
- The prudent Queen the lofty stair ascends;
- At distance due a virgin-train attends:
- A brazen key she held, the handle turn’d,
- With steel and polish’d elephant adorn’d:10
- Swift to the inmost room she bent her way,
- Where, safe reposed, the royal treasures lay;
- There shone high heap’d the labour’d brass and ore,
- And there the bow which great Ulysses bore;
- And there the quiver, where now guiltless slept
- Those winged deaths that many a matron wept.
- This gift, long since when Sparta’s shores he trod,
- On young Ulysses Iphitus bestow’d:
- Beneath Orsilochus’s roof they met;
- One loss was private, one a public debt;20
- Messena’s state from Ithaca detains
- Three hundred sheep, and all the shepherd swains;
- And to the youthful Prince to urge the laws,
- The King and elders trust their common cause.
- But Iphitus, employ’d on other cares,
- Search’d the wide country for his wand’ring mares,
- And mules, the strongest of the lab’ring kind;
- Hapless to search! more hapless still to find!
- For journeying on to Hercules, at length
- That lawless wretch, that man of brutal strength,30
- Deaf to Heav’n’s voice, the social rite transgress’d;
- And for the beauteous mares destroy’d his guest.
- He gave the bow; and on Ulysses’ part
- Receiv’d a pointed sword, and missile dart:
- Of luckless friendship on a foreign shore
- Their first, last pledges! for they met no more.
- The bow, bequeath’d by this unhappy hand,
- Ulysses bore not from his native land;
- Nor in the front of battle taught to bend,
- But kept in dear memorial of his friend.40
- Now, gently winding up the far ascent,
- By many an easy step, the matron went;
- Then o’er the pavement glides with grace divine
- (With polish’d oak the level pavements shine);
- The folding gates a dazzling light display’d,
- With pomp of various architrave o’erlaid.
- The bolt, obedient to the silken string,
- Forsakes the staple as she pulls the ring;
- The wards respondent to the key turn round;
- The bars fall back; the flying valves resound;50
- Loud as a bull makes hill and valley ring,
- So roar’d the lock when it releas’d the spring.
- She moves majestic thro’ the wealthy room,
- Where treasured garments cast a rich perfume;
- There from the column, where aloft it hung,
- Reach’d, in its splendid case, the bow unstrung;
- Across her knees she laid the well-known bow,
- And pensive sate, and tears began to flow.
- To full satiety of grief she mourns,
- Then silent to the joyous hall returns;60
- To the proud suitors bears in pensive state
- Th’ unbended bow, and arrows wing’d with fate.
- Behind, her train the polish’d coffer brings,
- Which held th’ alternate brass and silver rings.
- Full in the portal the chaste Queen appears,
- And with her veil conceals the coming tears:
- On either side awaits a virgin fair;
- While thus the matron, with majestic air:
- ‘Say you, whom these forbidden walls inclose,
- For whom my victims bleed, my vintage flows,70
- 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 strife.
- Who first Ulysses’ wondrous bow shall bend,
- And thro’ twelve ringlets the fleet arrow send,
- Him will I follow, and forsake my home,
- For him forsake this lov’d, this wealthy dome,
- Long, long the scene of all my past delight,
- And still to last the vision of my night!’80
- Graceful she said, and bade Eumæus show
- 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 secret shed
- The tender drops. Antinoüs saw, and said:
- ‘Hence to your fields, ye Rustics! hence away,
- Nor stain with grief the pleasures of the day:
- Nor to the royal heart recall in vain
- The sad remembrance of a perish’d man.90
- Enough her precious tears already flow: }
- Or share the feast with due respect, or go }
- To weep abroad, and leave to us the bow: }
- No vulgar task! Ill suits this courtly crew
- That stubborn horn which brave Ulysses drew.
- I well remember (for I gazed him o’er
- While yet a child), what majesty he bore!
- And still (all infant as I was) retain
- The port, the strength, the grandeur of the man.’99
- He said, but in his soul fond joys arise,
- And his proud hopes already win the prize.
- To speed the flying shaft thro’ ev’ry 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 pleasing frenzy has possess’d my mind;
- When a lov’d mother threatens to depart,
- Why with this ill-timed gladness leaps my heart?
- Come then, ye suitors! and dispute a prize
- Richer than all th’ Achaian state supplies,110
- Than all proud Argos or Mycæne knows,
- Than all our isles or continents inclose:
- A woman matchless, and almost divine,
- Fit for the praise of ev’ry tongue but mine.
- No more excuses then, no more delay;
- Haste to the trial—Lo! I lead the way.
- ‘I too may try, and if this arm can wing
- The feather’d arrow thro’ the destin’d ring,
- Then, if no happier knight the conquest boast,
- I shall not sorrow for a mother lost;120
- But, bless’d in her, possess these arms alone,
- Heir of my father’s strength, as well as throne.’
- He spoke; then, rising, his broad sword unbound,
- And cast his purple garment on the ground.
- A trench he open’d; in a line he placed
- The level axes, and the points made fast.
- (His perfect skill the wond’ring gazers eyed,
- The game as yet unseen, as yet untried.)
- Then, with a manly pace, he took his stand,
- And grasp’d the bow, and twang’d it in his hand.130
- Three times, with beating heart, he made essay;
- Three times, unequal to the task, gave way;
- A modest boldness on his cheek appear’d;
- And thrice he hoped, and thrice again he fear’d.
- The fourth had drawn it. The great Sire with joy
- Beheld, but with a sign forbade the boy.
- His ardour straight th’ obedient Prince suppress’d,
- And, artful, thus the suitor-train address’d:
- ‘O lay the cause on youth yet immature
- (For Heav’n forbid such weakness should endure)!140
- How shall this arm, unequal to the bow,
- Retort an insult, or repel a foe?
- But you! whom Heav’n with better nerves has bless’d,
- Accept the trial, and the prize contest.’
- He cast the bow before him, and apart
- Against the polish’d quiver propp’d the dart.
- Resuming then his seat, Eupithes’ son,
- The bold Antinoüs, to the rest begun:
- ‘From where the goblet first begins to flow,
- From right to left in order take the bow;
- And prove your sev’ral strengths.’—The Princes heard,151
- And first Leiodes, blameless priest, appear’d:
- The eldest born of Œnops’ noble race,
- Who next the goblet held his holy place;
- He, only he, of all the suitor throng,
- Their deeds detested, and abjured the wrong.
- With tender hands the stubborn horn he strains,
- The stubborn horn resisted all his pains!
- Already in despair he gives it o’er:
- ‘Take it who will’ (he cries), ‘I strive no more.160
- What numerous deaths attend this fatal bow!
- What souls and spirits shall it send below!
- Better, indeed, to die, and fairly give
- Nature her debt, than disappointed live,
- With each new sun to some new hope a prey,
- Yet still to-morrow falser than to-day.
- How long in vain Penelope we sought!
- This bow shall ease us of that idle thought,
- And send us with some humbler wife to live,
- Whom gold shall gain, or destiny shall give.’170
- Thus speaking, on the floor the bow he placed
- (With rich inlay the various floor was graced);
- At distance far the feather’d shaft he throws,
- And to the seat returns from whence he rose.
- To him Antinoüs thus with fury said:
- ‘What words ill-omen’d from thy lips have fled?
- Thy coward-function ever is in fear;
- Those 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?180
- Mark then what others can.’ He ended there,
- And bade Melanthius a vast pile prepare;
- He gives it instant flame, then fast beside
- Spreads o’er an ample board a bullock’s hide.
- With melted lard they soak the weapon o’er,
- Chafe ev’ry knot, and supple ev’ry pore.
- Vain all their art, and all their strength as vain:
- The bow inflexible resists their pain.
- The force of great Eurymachus alone,189
- And bold Antinoüs, yet untried, unknown,
- Those only now remain’d; but those confess’d
- Of all the train the mightiest and the best.
- Then from the hall, and from the noisy crew,
- The masters of the herd and flock withdrew.
- The King observes them; he the hall forsakes,
- And past 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 secret of my breast conceal,199
- Or (as my soul now dictates) shall I tell?
- Say, should some fav’ring God restore again
- The lost Ulysses to his native reign,
- How beat your hearts? what aid would you afford
- To the proud suitors, or your ancient lord?’
- Philætius thus: ‘O were thy word not vain!
- Would mighty Jove restore that man again!
- These aged sinews, with new vigour strung,
- In his blest cause should emulate the young.’
- With equal vows Eumæus too implor’d
- Each power above, with wishes for his lord.210
- He saw their secret souls, and thus began:
- ‘Those vows the Gods accord; behold the man!
- Your own Ulysses! twice ten years detain’d
- By woes and wand’rings from this hapless land:
- At length he comes; but comes despised, unknown,
- And finding faithful you, and you alone.
- All else have cast him from their very thought,
- Ev’n in their wishes and their prayers forgot!
- Hear then, my friends: If Jove this arm succeed,
- And give you impious revellers to bleed,220
- My care shall be to bless your future lives
- With large possessions and with faithful wives:
- Fast by my palace shall your domes ascend, }
- And each on young Telemachus attend, }
- And each be call’d his brother and my friend. }
- To give you firmer faith, now trust your eye;
- Lo! the broad scar indented on my thigh,
- When with Autolycus’s sons, of yore,
- On Parnass’ top I chased the tusky boar.’
- His ragged vest then drawn aside, disclosed230
- The sign conspicuous, and the scar exposed;
- Eager they view’d; with joy they stood amazed;
- With tearful eyes o’er all their master gazed:
- Around his neck their longing arms they cast,
- His head, his shoulders, and his knees embraced;
- Tears follow’d tears; no word was in their power;
- In solemn silence fell the kindly shower.
- The King too weeps, the King too grasps their hands,
- And moveless, as a marble fountain, stands.
- Thus had their joy wept down the setting sun,240
- But first the wise 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, observe 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 suitors will deny the bow;
- But thou, Eumæus, as ’t is borne away,250
- Thy master’s weapon to his hand convey.
- At ev’ry portal let some matron wait,
- And each lock fast the well-compacted gate:
- Close let them keep, whate’er invades their ear;
- Tho’ arms, or shouts, or dying groans they hear.
- To thy strict charge, Philætius, we consign
- The court’s main gate; to guard that pass be thine.’
- This said, he first return’d; the faithful swains
- At distance follow, as their King ordains.
- Before the flame Eurymachus now stands,
- And turns the bow, and chafes it with his hands;261
- Still the tough bow unmov’d. The lofty man
- Sigh’d from his mighty soul, and thus began:
- ‘I mourn the common cause: for, oh my friends!
- On me, on all, what grief, what shame attends!
- Not the lost nuptials can affect me more
- (For Greece has beauteous dames on ev’ry shore),
- But baffled thus! confess’d so far below
- Ulysses’ strength, as not to bend his bow!
- How shall all ages our attempt deride!270
- Our weakness scorn!’ Antinoüs thus replied:
- ‘Not so, Eurymachus: that no man draws
- The wondrous bow, attend another cause.
- Sacred to Phœbus is the solemn day,
- Which thoughtless we in games would waste away;
- Till the next dawn this ill-timed strife forego,
- And here leave fix’d the ringlets in a row.
- Now bid the sewer approach, then let us join
- In due libations, and in rites divine;
- So end our night; before the day shall spring,280
- The choicest off’rings let Melanthius bring;
- Let then to Phœbus’ name the fatted thighs
- Feed the rich smokes, high curling to the skies.
- So shall the patron of these arts bestow
- (For his the gift) the skill to bend the bow.’
- They heard well pleas’d; the ready heralds bring
- The cleansing waters from the limpid spring;
- The goblet high with rosy wine they crown’d,
- In order circling to the peers around.
- That rite complete, uprose the thoughtful man,290
- And thus his meditated scheme began;
- ‘If what I ask your noble minds approve,
- Ye Peers and Rivals in the royal love!
- Chief, if it hurt not great Antinoüs’ ear
- (Whose sage decision I with wonder hear),
- And if Eurymachus the motion please,
- Give Heav’n this day, and rest the bow in peace.
- To-morrow let your arms dispute the prize,
- And take it he, the favour’d of the skies!
- But, since till then this trial you delay,300
- Trust it one moment to my hands to-day:
- Fain would I prove, before your judging eyes,
- What once I was, whom wretched you despise;
- If yet this arm its ancient force retain; }
- Or if my woes (a long-continued train) }
- And wants and insults, make me less than man.’ }
- Rage flash’d in lightning from the suitors’ eyes,
- Yet mix’d with terror at the bold emprise.
- Antinoüs then: ‘O miserable guest!
- Is common sense quite banish’d from thy breast?310
- Sufficed it not, within the palace placed,
- To sit distinguish’d, with our presence graced,
- Admitted here with Princes to confer,
- A man unknown, a needy wanderer?
- To copious wine this insolence we owe,
- And much thy betters wine can overthrow:
- The great Eurytion when this frenzy stung,
- Pirithoüs’ roofs with frantic riot rung;
- Boundless the Centaur raged; till one and all
- The heroes rose, and dragg’d him from the hall:320
- His nose they shorten’d, and his ears they slit,
- And sent him sober’d home, with better wit.
- Hence with long war the double race was curs’d
- Fatal to all, but to th’ aggressor first.
- Such fate I prophesy our guest attends,
- If here this interdicted bow he bends:
- Nor shall these walls such insolence contain;
- The first fair wind transports him o’er the main;
- Where Echetus to death the guilty brings
- (The worst of mortals, ev’n the worst of Kings).330
- Better than that, if thou approve our cheer,
- Cease the mad strife, and share our bounty here.’
- To this the Queen her just dislike express’d:
- ‘’T is impious, Prince, to harm the stranger-guest;
- Base to insult who bears a suppliant’s name,
- And some respect Telemachus may claim.
- What if th’ Immortals on the man bestow
- Sufficient strength to draw the mighty bow?
- Shall I, a Queen, by rival chiefs ador’d,
- Accept a wand’ring stranger for my lord?340
- A hope so idle never touch’d his brain:
- Then ease your bosom of a fear so vain.
- Far be he banish’d from this stately scene
- Who wrongs his Princess with a thought so mean.’
- ‘O Fair! and wisest of so fair a kind!’
- (Respectful thus Eurymachus rejoin’d)
- ‘Mov’d by no weak surmise, but sense of shame,
- We dread the all-arraigning voice of Fame:
- We dread the censure of the meanest slave,
- The weakest woman: all can wrong the brave.350
- “Behold what wretches to the bed pretend
- Of that brave Chief, whose bow they could not bend!
- In came a beggar of the strolling crew,
- And did what all those Princes could not do.”
- Thus will the common voice our deed defame,
- And thus posterity upbraid our name.’
- To whom the Queen: ‘If Fame engage your views,
- Forbear those acts which Infamy pursues;
- Wrong and oppression no renown can raise;
- Know, Friend! that virtue is the path to praise.360
- The stature of our guest, his port, his face,
- Speak him descended from no vulgar race.
- To him the bow, as he desires, convey;
- And to his hand if Phœbus give the day,
- Hence, to reward his merit, he shall bear
- A two-edg’d faulchion and a shining spear,
- Embroider’d sandals, a rich cloak and vest,
- And safe conveyance to his port of rest.’
- ‘O royal Mother! ever-honour’d name!
- Permit me’ (cries Telemachus) ‘to claim
- A son’s just right. No Grecian Prince but I371
- Has power this bow to grant, or to deny!
- Of all that Ithaca’s rough hills contain,
- And all wide Elis’ courser-breeding plain,
- To me alone my father’s arms descend;
- And mine alone they are, to give or lend.
- Retire, O Queen! thy household task resume,
- Tend, with thy maids, the labours of thy loom;
- The bow, the darts, and arms of chivalry,
- These cares to man belong, and most to me.’380
- Mature beyond his years, the Queen admired
- His sage reply, and with her train retired;
- There in her chamber as she sate apart,
- Revolv’d his words, and placed them in her heart.
- On her Ulysses then she fix’d her soul;
- Down her fair cheek the tears abundant roll,
- Till gentle Pallas, piteous of her cries,
- In slumber closed her silver-streaming eyes.
- Now thro’ the press the bow Eumæus bore,
- And all was riot, noise, and wild uproar.390
- ‘Hold! lawless rustic! whither wilt thou go?
- To whom, insensate, dost thou bear the bow?
- Exil’d for this to some sequester’d den,
- Far from the sweet society of men,
- To thy own dogs a prey thou shalt be made;
- If Heav’n and Phœbus lend the suitors aid.’
- Thus they. Aghast he laid the weapon down,
- But bold Telemachus thus urged him on:
- ‘Proceed, false slave, and slight their empty words;
- What! hopes the fool to please so many lords?400
- Young as I am, thy Prince’s vengeful hand
- Stretch’d forth in wrath shall drive thee from the land.
- Oh! could the vigour of this arm as well
- Th’ oppressive suitors from my walls expel!
- Then what a shoal of lawless men should go
- To fill with tumult the dark courts below!’
- The suitors with a scornful smile survey
- The youth, indulging in the genial day.
- Eumæus, thus encouraged, hastes to bring
- The strifeful bow, and gives it to the King.410
- Old Euryclea calling then aside,
- ‘Hear what Telemachus enjoins’ (he cried):
- ‘At ev’ry portal let some matron wait,
- And each lock fast the well-compacted gate;
- And if unusual sounds invade their ear,
- If arms, or shouts, or dying groans they hear,
- Let none to call or issue forth presume,
- But close attend the labours of the loom.’
- Her prompt obedience on his order waits;419
- Closed in an instant were the palace gates.
- In the same moment forth Philætius flies,
- Secures the court, and with a cable ties
- The utmost gate (the cable strongly wrought
- Of Byblos’ reed, a ship from Egypt brought);
- Then unperceiv’d and silent at the board
- His seat he takes, his eyes upon his lord.
- And now his well-known bow the Master bore,
- Turn’d on all sides, and view’d it o’er and o’er;
- Lest time or worms had done the weapon wrong,
- Its owner absent, and untried so long.430
- While some deriding: ‘How he turns the bow!
- Some other like it sure the man must know,
- Or else would copy; or in bows he deals;
- Perhaps he makes them, or perhaps he steals.’—
- ‘Heav’n to this wretch’ (another cried) ‘be kind! }
- And bless, in all to which he stands inclin’d, }
- With such good fortune as he now shall find.’ }
- Heedless he heard them: but disdain’d reply,
- The bow perusing with exactest eye.
- Then, as some heav’nly minstrel, taught to sing440
- High notes responsive to the trembling string,
- To some new strain when he adapts the lyre,
- Or the dumb lute refits with vocal wire,
- Relaxes, strains, and draws them to and fro;
- So the great master drew the mighty bow:
- And drew with ease. One hand aloft display’d
- The bending horns, and one the string essay’d.
- From his essaying hand the string let fly
- Twang’d short and sharp like the shrill swallow’s cry.
- A gen’ral horror ran thro’ all the race,450
- Sunk was each heart, and pale was ev’ry face.
- Signs from above ensued: th’ unfolding sky
- In lightning burst; Jove thunder’d from on high.
- Fired at the call of Heav’n’s almighty Lord,
- He snatch’d the shaft that glitter’d on the board
- (Fast by, the rest lay sleeping in the sheath,
- But soon to fly, the messengers of Death).
- Now, sitting as he was, the cord he drew,
- Thro’ every ringlet levelling his view;
- Then notch’d the shaft, releas’d, and gave it wing;460 }
- The whizzing arrow vanish’d from the string, }
- Sung on direct, and threaded ev’ry ring. }
- The solid gate its fury scarcely bounds;
- Pierc’d thro’ and thro’, the solid gate resounds.
- Then to the Prince: ‘Nor have I wrought thee shame;
- Nor err’d this hand unfaithful to its aim;
- Nor prov’d the toil too hard; nor have I lost
- That ancient vigour once my pride and boast.
- Ill I deserv’d these haughty Peers’ disdain;
- Now let them comfort their dejected train,470
- In sweet repast their present hour employ
- Nor wait till ev’ning for the genial joy:
- Then to the lute’s soft voice prolong the night;
- Music, the banquet’s most refin’d delight.’
- He said, then gave a nod; and at the word
- Telemachus girds on his shining sword.
- Fast by his father’s side he takes his stand:
- The beamy jav’lin lightens in his hand.

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BOOK XVII: BOOK XXI: THE BENDING OF ULYSSES’ BOW - Alexander Pope, The Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope [1903]

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BOOK XVII

ARGUMENT

BOOK XXI

THE BENDING OF ULYSSES’ BOW

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