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The English Works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury; Now First Collected and Edited by Sir William Molesworth, Bart., (London: Bohn, 1839-45). 11 vols. Vol. 10.

Author: Homer
Translator: Thomas Hobbes
Editor: Sir William Molesworth

Part of: The English Works of Thomas Hobbes, 11 vols.

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LIB. V.

The Gods in council command Calypso (by Mercury) to send away Ulysses on a raft of trees; and Neptune returning from Ethiopia, and seeing him on the coast of Phæacia, scattered his raft; and how, by the help of Ino, he swam ashore, and slept in a heap of dry leaves till the next day.

Up rose Aurora from Tithonus’ bed,
Before the Gods and men to bear her light.
The Gods were then to council gathered,
And Jove amongst them of the greatest might.
5And there before them Pallas open laid

The painful life Ulysses did endure.
O Jove, and all ye blessed Gods, she said,
Henceforth his people let no king enure
To gentle government, but keep them down,
10And to their honesty no longer trust,

That of Ulysses are forgetful grown,
Whose government so gentle was and just.
And now he pent up lieth in an isle
Where dwells Calypso; and to come away

Calypso sends away Ulysses on a raft of trees, &c.

15Has neither ship nor men, and all the while

Weeping for sorrow forc’d he is to stay.
The suitors also seek to kill his son,
And lie to meet him in his coming home;
For why, to Pyle and Sparta he is gone,
20To hear what of his father is become.

Why, child, said Jove, why say you this to me?
’Twas you that sent Telemachus away;
And you consenting were to our decree,
Ulysses should come back and th’ wooers slay.
25Go you and bring Telemachus from Pyle,

And send the suitors home that lie in’s way;
And Mercury, said he, go you the while
And tell the nymph Calypso what I say.
The Gods in council sitting order’d have,
30Ulysses shall return to Ithaca.

And first upon a raft himself shall save,
Without a convoy in Phæacia
In twenty days; and there be honoured,
And to his country richly sent away,
35With brass, and gold, and garments furnished,

More than his share had mounted to at Troy,
Though he had brought it thence all safely home;
For why, by destiny ordain’d it is
That to his friends he honourably come.
40No sooner Jupiter had spoken this,

But that his shoes upon his feet he binds,
Ambrosian, golden shoes, wherewith he flies
On land or water, swifter than the winds.
Then takes the rod wherewith upon the eyes
45Of mortals he lays on or takes off sleep,

And with his rod in hand jump’d down to th’ hill
Pierius, and thence into the deep;
And over the wide sea he passed, till
At last he was arrived at the isle
50Where was the nymph Calypso resident;

And like a cormorant was all this while
That hunts the fishes. Then ashore he went,
And coming to her rock found her within.
Upon the hearth a fire was of sweet wood,
55There did she sing, and as she sung did spin.

About the cave many fair trees there stood,
Beech, poplar, and the cyprus of sweet smell,
And many birds, hawks, and sea-crows, and owls,
Within their branches used were to dwell;
60And, such as haunt sea-water, other fowls.

The rock itself with vines was covered,
And grapes abundance hanging were thereon;
Four springs a-row four ways clear water spread.
Sweet meadows were about it many a one,
65Stuck full of violets and flowers gay,

Which, though a God, he saw with admiration,
And for a little while he there did stay,
Pleas’d with the beauty of the habitation,
And then into the spacious cave he goes.
70At the first sight Calypso knew him well,

For perfectly one God another knows,
How far soever they asunder dwell.
Ulysses now was gone out to the shore,
To look upon the sea that kept him in,
75To sigh and weep as he had done before;

At Hermes’ coming he was not within.
To Hermes, seated in a glistering chair,
The Goddess fair Calypso then began:
Tell me, beloved Hermes, your affair,
80If it be possible it shall be done.

Come nearer, and with food yourself restore.
Then sets she him a table, and lays on
Of nectar and ambrosia good store.
Then Hermes took his food, and having done,
85Goddess, said he, since me, a God, you ask,

You may be sure I tell you shall no lie.
Jove sent me ’gainst my will; for such a task
Who undertake would, think you, willingly?
For, first, a horrible long journey ’tis;
90And then no town to bait at by the way

On hecatomb or lesser sacrifice.
But what God is there dares Jove disobey?
There is, said Jove, a man that stay’d is here,
Of th’ Argives that besieged Ilium
95The most unhappy. There they stay’d nine year,

The tenth they took it, and were coming home;
But by the way they Pallas had offended,
And she against them raised stormy weather,
In which Ulysses’ mates their lives all ended,
100But he himself by storms was driven hither.

Him Jupiter would have you send away;
For he is destin’d not to die from home,
Nor any longer from his friends to stay,
But back unto his house and country come.
105Calypso, troubled at it, answered:

Malicious ye Gods, and jealous are,
That think much Goddesses should mortals wed.
See but how hardly did Orion fare,
After Aurora was become his wife.
110How angry at him, O ye Gods, were you,

Until Diana took away his life,
With shafts invisible before ’twas due.
And so when Ceres with Iäsion
Themselves delighted with the gift of love,
115How soon it was by th’ other Gods made known,

And with a thunder-bolt he slain by Jove!
And now they angry are with me. And why?
Because I taken have a man to bed
Who in the sea had perish’d, had not I
120Receiv’d him in my house and cherished.

For when his ship with thunder Jove had split,
And all his company away were cast,
Him on the mast unto the rudder knit,
The wind and waves brought hither at the last;
125And here I him receiv’d and loved well,

And meant to give him immortality.
But since Jove will not let him with me dwell,
And I cannot resist him, farewell he.
But o’er the sea I shall not him convoy,
130For in my power I have no ship, nor men

That have the art to walk in liquid way;
Prompt him I will how to get home again.
’Tis well, said Mercury; send him now hence;
The manner how, is left unto your will.
135Be wise, and do not Jupiter incense,

Lest he upon you bring a greater ill.
This said, away went Mercury. And she
Unto Ulysses went to the sea-side.
Himself lamenting sitting there was he,
140And when she came his eyes were not yet dried.

For now he lov’d the nymph less than before,
And lay with her a-nights unwillingly;
A-days he weeping sat upon the shore,
And on th’ unbounded sea oft cast his eye.
145Then to him said the nymph: Poor man, alas!

No longer weep, but fall your work unto;
For on a raft you are the sea to pass,
And I will tell you what you are to do.
Cut down great trees, and them together join
150With bands of brass; and on them make a deck;

And on it I will lay both bread and wine,
And water fresh, hunger and thirst to check.
And garments I will give you, and a wind,
That you may safe go home and speedily;
155Unless the Gods be of another mind,

For stronger they and wiser are than I.
At this Ulysses troubled was, and said,
I looked for a convoy me to waft;
For on this sea a man would be afraid
160Though in a ship; much more upon a raft.

I will not therefore pass upon a raft,
Unless to do me no more hurt you swear.
And when he had said that, Calypso laugh’d,
And of his head she stroked down the hair.
165You are, she said, a true bird of the nest,

As by your answer very well I see:
By Heaven and by Earth I do protest,
And Styx, which is the greatest oath can be,
I’ll never anything hereafter do
170That shall procure you hurt in any case;

And what at present I advise you to,
I would myself do, were I in your place:
For why, the Fates I also must obey,
And in my breast no iron heart I bear.
175This said, she turn’d and homeward took her way,

And on her steps Ulysses follow’d her.
When they were come together in the cave,
She made him sit where Hermes sat before,
And meat and wine, the best that mortals have,
180The maids upon the table laid good store;

Before Calypso they laid other meat,
Ambrosia and nectar, food divine;
There face to face they sit and drink and eat.
When she refresh’d him had with meat and wine,
185Noble Ulysses, said she, that long so

To see your house and wife without delay,
If what you were to suffer you did know
Before you there arrived, you would stay
And live with me here, and immortal be.
190Nor than that wife, for whom you take such care,

Less fairer or less wise can you think me;
Women with Goddesses cannot compare.
Goddess, said he again, I know all this.
Penelope I not compare with you
195In form or stature. For she mortal is,

And you immortal. Yet, though this be true,
I cannot chuse but wish myself at home.
And though I were to perish in the deep
By th’ anger of the Gods, and never come,
200I’d rather suffer that, than always weep.

For patience long since I learned have
Sufficiently in tempest and in fight.
This said, they both in one part of the cave
To sleep went, where in love they took delight.
205And when the morning was again display’d,

Ulysses cloth’d himself with cloak and coat;
The nymph herself in a great robe array’d
Of dainty stuff with gold all over wrought,
Which on her loins a golden girdle tied,
210And cover’d with a golden scarf her head.

And how Ulysses o’er sea so wide
Should safely pass, she there considered.
Then puts a plainer and an axe in’s hand,
Two-edged, with a haft of olive-tree.
215Then show’d him where the greatest trees did stand,

And all the way before him walked she.
And when they were arrived at the wood,
Beeches they find, poplars, and fir-trees high,
Already dry, that lie light on the flood.
220Calypso to her cavern back did hie.

Meanwhile Ulysses twenty trees brought low,
And hewed them, and plain’d them skilfully,
And laid them on the ground all in a row,
At corners square, and of one length they lie.
225And then with wimbles back Calypso came;

Then pierced them, and set them one to one,
And with strong joints and nails fast bound the same.
And by the time that all this he had done,
As a good ship as broad it was and long.
230Then for his decks he placed stoops upright

On every side, and many to be strong;
And laid upon them planks at equal height.
Then made his mast, and set it up on end,
His rudder, and a place to sit and guide,
235And laid on boughs from waves it to defend,

And all his cordage made of good cow-hide,
And then with levers set his raft afloat.
Four days in making of the raft he spent;
When he had done, and all his work had wrought,
240Upon the fifth the nymph away him sent.

But first she bath’d him, and with clothes array’d,
Fine and perfum’d. Then wine of pleasant taste
One goat-skin full upon the raft she laid,
And one of water, greater, by it plac’d;
245And sweetmeats, and good flesh of ev’ry kind.

And after he his sails had hoist and spread,
She fill’d them with a warm and cheerful wind.
Then he astern sat down and governed,
And on Bootes look’d, and Pleiades,
250And on the Bear, which people call the Wain,

Which dogs Orion rising from the seas,
But she herself ne’er dives into the main.
This Bear she bade him leave on the left hand.
Then sev’nteen days he sail’d, on th’ eighteenth day
255He came in sight of the Phœacian land,

In that part where it nearest to him lay,
Which look’d as ’twere upon the sea a skin.
But now by Neptune, who returning was,
Ulysses’ raft from Solymi was seen,
260For o’er those mountains Neptune was to pass;

Who, wounded at the sight, with anger keen,
Thus said unto himself: What, what, I find,
While I in Ethiopia have been,
The Gods about this man have chang’d their mind.
265The isle Phœacia is near at hand,

In which he destin’d is himself to save.
But yet, I think, before he be on land,
He struggle shall with many a lusty wave.
Then with his trident he the sea enraged,
270And made a night of clouds the sea upon,

And ’gainst Ulysses all the Winds engaged,
And from their quarters they came out each one,
Eurus, and Notus, Zephyr, Boreas,
Each one a mighty wave against him rolled.
275And then Ulysses’ heart near broken was,

And with himself, himself he thus condoled.
Ah me, what will become of me at last!
I fear the nymph Calypso all this knew,
Who told me then that as I homeward pass’d
280I should meet danger. Now I find it true.

With what thick clouds Jove cover’d has the sky!
In what a tumult is the sea! And how
On ev’ry side the winds the water ply
And storm! My death, I see, is certain now.
285Thrice, four times, Argives, happy were you, who

For Agamemnon’s sake were slain. Would I
At Troy in battle my life lost had too,
I’ th’ show’r of spears about Achilles’ body;
Then had I had a noble funeral,
290And great among the Greeks had been my fame.

But now a wretched death will me befal,
For ever will unheard of be my name.
This said, he dash’d was ’gainst a point of land,
Which with great force whirled the raft about.
295And then the rudder flew out of his hand;

And he into the water was cast out.
Of divers winds then followed one great blast,
And sail and tackle o’er-board far off bears,
And in the middle breaks in two the mast,
300While he was in the sea o’er head and ears;

At last he rais’d his head above the pickle,
(His heavy clothes awhile had hindered him),
Then from his hair into his mouth did trickle
The brine, which he spits out, and falls to swim.
305And when he had his raft recovered,

And plac’d himself i’ th’ midst, then both together
The wind uncertainly them carried
From place to place, now hither and now thither;
Just as the wind in harvest blows pease-straw
310Upon the plain field whilst it holds together;

So on the sea without a certain law
Ulysses’ raft was driven by the weather.
In this distress by Ino he was seen,
A sea-nymph and immortal she was then,
315Though woman, Cadmus’ daughter, she had been.

And now in figure of a water-hen
She sat upon the raft and to him spake.
What meaneth Neptune that he hates you so?
Do what he can your life he shall not take;
320Do what I bid you. Off your garments throw,

And quit the raft; and to Phœacia
Swim with your hands, and there you shall find rest.
For so it is ordain’d by fatal law.
Here, take this scarf; apply it to your breast,
325And fear not death. But when you come to land

Throw’t in the sea as far off as you can,
Then turn. This said, she put it in his hand,
And diving there alone she left the man.
Ulysses grieving to himself then says,
330What is it now I am advis’d unto!

Ah me! Some other God now me betrays
To quit my raft. I know what I will do.
For since my refuge is so near at hand,
Such counsel I will not too soon obey;
335But do what does with greatest reason stand.

Upon my raft I mean so long to stay
As it shall hold together and be one.
But when the wind has broken it in pieces
I’ll swim; since better counsel I have none.
340While with himself consulting was Ulysses,

Neptune with wind the water sets upright
Into a high and formidable wave,
And threw it on the raft with all his might,
Which all the parts thereof asunder drave.
345Just as the wind scatters a cock of hay,

So scatter’d was Ulysses’ raft of trees;
Whilst he on one of them astride did stay,
And of his garments there himself he frees.
Then Ino’s scarf applies he to his breast,
350And on the troubled sea himself he laid

With open arms. To swim he now thought best.
Which Neptune seeing, thus unto him said:
Go wander now upon the sea in woe,
And do not make account that this is all.
355This said, away to Ægæ did he go,

Where many men that need him on him call.
When he was gone Pallas the winds did lay,
All but a lusty gale of Boreas,
And broke the waves before him all the way,
360That to Phœacia he might safely pass.

Two nights and days perpetual he swam,
And was of drowning all the while afraid.
But when the morning of the third day came,
The air was calm, and all the winds allay’d.
365And now unto the isle he was so nigh,

That from a high wave he could see the shore,
And glad he was. As when about to die,
Lien has a man long time by sickness sore,
Is by the Gods recover’d suddenly,
370Glad are his children; so Ulysses was

To see the so-much wish’d-for land so nigh,
And thither made what haste he could to pass.
When he was gotten so near to the shore
That one might hear another when he calls,
375Torn by the rocks he heard the water roar.

(Loud is the sea when on hard rocks it falls.)
There neither haven was nor place to land,
But upright banks and cliffs and brows of stone.
And everywhere too deep it was to stand.
380And now again quite was his courage gone,

And speaking to himself he said: Ah me,
This is the island. Jove has brought me to’t,
That what must help me only I might see,
But not upon it ever set my foot.
385There is no landing here. Rocks high and steep,

And unaccessible are all about.
The sea below so rugged is and deep,
That from it there will be no getting out.
If I should try, some mighty wave, I fear,
390Against some rugged rock will carry me,

And make me find but woful landing there,
Amongst so many sharp stones as there be.
But if I swim along the coast to find
Some port or beach, though stormy, to land on,
395I fear I shall again by some great wind

Far off from shore into the sea be blown;
And there by some great fish devoured be
(For many such are fed by Amphitrite)
Which Neptune may command to swallow me;
400For well I am acquainted with his spite.

While he thus doubted, came a mighty wave
That cast him to the bank amongst sharp stones.
But for the counsel Pallas to him gave,
He torn his skin and broken had his bones.
405A rocher with his arms he then embrac’d,

And held it till the wave roll’d back again;
And thought the danger of it now was past,
But then the same wave bore him to the main.
As looks a polypus when he is dragg’d
410From out his hole, stuck full of stone and sands;

So, when Ulysses left his hold, were shagg’d
With broken skin all over both his hands.
And now, had not Athena giv’n him wit,
He perish’d had. For up his head he puts
415Above the briny sea, and having spit,

He with his stretched arms the water cuts,
And swam along the shore; but kept his eye
Continually upon the land, to see
If any landing place he could espy.
420At last before a river’s mouth came he;

And knew it was a river’s mouth. For there
Within the land smooth water might be seen,
And ’twixt the rocks a pause there did appear;
And here Ulysses thought fit to go in.
425And in his mind unto the River spake:

Hear me, O king, from Neptune’s rage I fly,
And of a man distress’d some pity take,
That at your knee and stream here prostrate lie;
Th’ immortal Gods their suppliants respect,
430When they before them humbly lay their want;

Whate’er your name be, do not me neglect
That am afflicted, and your suppliant.
This said, the stream stood still and sav’d the man.
But weary were his knees and arms, and brine
435Abundance from his mouth and nostrils ran,

And all his body swell’d was. And in fine,
Speechless and breathless was he, like one dead.
But when he came unto himself again,
The scarf he to the stream delivered,
440Which carried it again into the main.

And Ino took it then into her hand.
Then on a bulrush-bed himself he laid,
And, glad he had escaped, kiss’d the land.
But fearing still, unto himself he said,
445Ah me, what will become of me at length!

For in the river if I spend the night,
So much already wasted is my strength,
With frost and dew I shall be killed quite.
If up the hill I go into the wood,
450And in some thicket there lie warm and sleep,

I fear I shall for beasts and fowls be food.
At last concludes into some wood to creep.
A wood there was unto the river nigh;
Two thickets in it were; of olive one,
455The other was of Phylia close by,

So twin’d they were together that nor sun,
Nor wind, nor rain, to th’ ground could find a way.
Between them of dry leaves a bed made he,
And over head and ears there close he lay;
460For leaves there were enough for two or three,

To keep them warm although cold weather ’twere.
As when a man takes up a brand of fire
In country-house, few neighbours dwelling near,
To warm himself withal if need require;
465So buried in dry leaves Ulysses lay.

And then Athena closed up his eyes
With sound and gentle sleep to take away
Sad thoughts suggested by his miseries.

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LIB. V. - Homer, The English Works, vol. X (Iliad and Odyssey) [1839]

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Part of: The English Works of Thomas Hobbes, 11 vols.

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LIB. V.