ow reddening from the dawn, the morning-But come it will, the time when manhood grants
More powerful advocates than vain complaints.
Approach that hour! infufferable wrong [70
Cries to the Gods, and vengeance fleeps too long.
Rife then, ye Peers! with virtuous anger rife!
Your fame revere, but most th'avenging skies.
By all the deathless powers that reign above,
By righteous Themis, and by thundering Jove,
(Themis, who gives to councils, or denies,
Succefs; and humbles, or confirms the wife.)
10 Rife in my aid! fuffice the tears that flow
For my loft fire, nor add new woe to woe.
If e'er he bore the sword to strengthen ill,
Or, having power to wrong, betray'd the will, 80
On me, on me your kindled wrath afsuage,
And bid the voice of lawless riot rage.
Glow'd in the front of heaven, and gave the day.
The youthful hero, with returning light,
Rofe anxious from th' inquietudes of night.
A royal robe he wore with graceful pride,
A two-edg'd faulchion threaten'd by his fide,
Embroider'd fandals glitter'd as he trod,
And forth he mov'd majestic as a God.
Then by his heralds, reftlefs of delay,
To council calls his peers: the peers obey.
Soon as in folemn form th' affembly fate,
From his high dome himself defcends in state.
Bright in his hand a ponderous javelin shin'd;
Two dogs, a faithful guard, attend behind;
Pallas with grace divine his form improves, 15
And gazing crowds admire him as he moves.
His father's throne he fill'd: while diftant ftood
The hoary peers, and aged wisdom bow'd.
'Twas filence all. At laft Ægyptius fpoke; Egyptius, by his age and forrows broke: A length of days his foul with prudence crown'd, A length of days had bent him to the ground. His eldeft + hope in arms to Ilion came, By great Ulyffes taught the path to fame; But (hapless youth) the hideous Cyclops tore His quivering limbs, and quafi'd his fpouting gore. Three fons remain'd: to climb with haughty fires The royal bed, Eurynomus afpires; The reft with duteous love his griefs affuage, And eafe the fire of half the cares of age. Yet till his Antiphus he loves, he mourns, And, as he stood, he spoke and wept by turns: Since great Ulyffes fought the Phrygian plains, Within thefe walls inglorious filence reigns. [35 Say then, ye peers, by whofe commands we meet! Why here once more in folemn council fit? Ye young, ye old, the weighty cause disclose: Arrives fome meffage of invading focs? Or fay, docs high neceffity of ftate Infpire fome patriot, and demand debate? The prefent fynod speaks its author wife; Affift him, Jove, thou regent of the fkies!
He spoke. Telemachus with transport glows, Embrac'd the omen, and majestic rofe (His royal hand, th' imperial fceptre sway'd); 45 Then thus, addreffing to Egyptius, faid:
Reverend old man! lo herc confeft he ftands By whom ye meet; my grief your care demands. No ftory I unfold of public woes, Nor bear advices of impending foes: Peace the bleft land, and joys inceffant crown; Of all this happy realm, I grieve alone. For my loft fire continual forrows fpring, The great, the good; your father, and your king. Yet more; our house from its foundation bows, 55 Our foes are powerful, and your fons the foes; Hither, unwelcome to the queen, they come ; Why feek they not the rich Icarian dome! If the muft wed, from other hands require
If ruin to our royal race ye doom,
Be you the fpoilers, and our wealth confume.
Then might we hope redrefs from jufter laws, 85
And raise all Ithaca to aid our caufe:
But while your fons commit th' unpunish'd wrong,
You make the arm of violence too strong.
While thus he spoke, with rage and grief he
frown'd,
And dafh'd the imperial fceptre to the ground. 90
The big round tear hung trembling in his eye,
The fynod griev'd, and gave a pitying sigh,
Then filent fate-at length Antinous burns
With haughty rage, and fternly thus returns:
O infolence of youth! whofe tongue affords 95
Such railing eloquence, and war of words.
Studious thy country's worthies to defame,
Thy erring voice difplays thy mother's fhame.
Elufive of the bridal day, he gives
Fond hope to all, and all with hopes deceives. 100 Did not the fun, through heaven's wide azure roll'd,
For three long years the royal fraud behold?
While fhe, laborious in delufion spread
The fpacious loom, and mix'd the various thread:
Where as to life the wonderous figures rife, 105
Thus fpoke th' inventive queen, with artful fighs:
"Though cold in death Ulyffes breathes no
"Ceafe yet a while, to urge the bridal hour;
"Ceafe, till to great Laërtes I bequeath
"A talk of grief, her ornaments of death; 11Q
"Left when the Fates his royal ashes claim,
"The Grecian matrons taint my fpotless fame;
"When he, whom living mighty realms obey'd,
"Shall want in death a fhroud to grace his fhade."
Thus the at once the generous train complies,
Nor fraud miftrufts in Virtue's fair difguife. 116
The work the ply'd; but, ftudious of delay,
By night revers'd the labours of the day.
While thrice the fun his annual journey made,
The confcious lamp the midnight fraud fur-
vey'd;
The dowry: is Telemachus her fire?
Scarce all my wine their midnight hours fupplies.
Safe in my youth, in riot fill they grow, Nor in the helpless orphan dread a foc.
Unheard, unfeen, three years her arts prevail;
The fourth her maid unfolds th' amazing tale.
We faw, as unperceiv'd we took our stand,
The backward labours of her faithlefs hand.
Then urg'd, fhe perfects her illuftrious toils; 125
A wonderous monument of female wiles!
But you, oh peers! and thou, oh prince! give ear
(1 fpeak aloud, that every Greek may hear):
Difmifs the queen and if her fire approves,
Let him efpoufe her to the peer she loves:
Bid inflant to prepare the bridal train,
Nor let a race of princes wait in vain.
Though with a grace divine her foul is bleft;
And all Minerva breathes within her breaft,
In wonderous arts than woman more renown'd,
And more than woman with deep wildom
crown'd;
Though Tyro nor Mycene match her name,
Nor great Alcmena (the proud boaft of Fame)
Yet, thus by heaven adorn'd, by heaven's decree,
She fhines with fatal excellence to thee: 140
With thee, the bowl we drain, indulge the feast,
Till righteous heaven reclaim her stubborn breast.
What tho' from pole to pole refounds her name,
The fon's deftruction waits the mother's fame :
For, till the leaves thy court, it is decreed,
Thy bowl to empty, and thy flock to bleed.
While yet he speaks, Telemachus replies :
Ev'n nature ftarts, and what ye ask denies.
Thus, fhall I thus repay a mother's cares,
Who gave me life, and nurs'd my infant years"?
While fad on foreign fhores Ulyffes treads,
Or glides a ghoft with unapparent fhades ;
How to Icarius in the bridal hour
Shall I, by wafte undone, refund the dower?
How from my father should I vengeance dread ?155
How would my mother curfe my hated head?
And while in wrath to vengeful fiends she cries,
How from their hell would vengeful fiends arife?
Abhorr'd by all, accurs'd my name would grow,
The earth's difgrace, and human-kind my foe.160
If this displease, why urge ye here your stay 1
Hafte from the court, ye fpoilers, hafte away:
Wate in wild riot, what your land allows,
There ply the early feaft, and late carouse.
But if, to honour loft, 'tis ftill decreed
For you my bowls fhall flow, my flocks fhall bleed;
Judge and affert my right, impartial Jove!
By him, and all th' inmortal host above,
(A facred oath) if heaven the power fupply, [270
Vengeance I vow, and for your wrongs ye die.
With that, two eagles from a mountain's height
By Jove's command direct their rapid flight;
Swift they defcend, with wing to wing conjoin'd,
Stretch their broad plumes, and float upon the
wind,
Above th' affembled peers they wheel on high175
And clang their wings, and hovering beat the sky;
With ardent eyes the rival train they threat,
And, fhrieking loud, denounce approaching Fate,
They cuff, they tear; their cheeks and neck they
rend,
[fcend: 180
And from their plumes huge drops of blood de-
Then, failing o'er the domes and towers, they fly
Full tow'rd the east, and mount into the sky.
The wondering rivals gaze with care oppreft, And chilling horrors freeze in every breast. Till, big with knowledge of approaching woes, The prince of augurs, Halitherfes, rofe: Prefcient he view'd th' aërial tracks, and drew A fure prefage from every wing that flew. Ye fons (he cry'd) of Ithaca, give ear, Hear all! but chiefly you, oh rivals! hear. Deftruction fure o'er all your heads impends; Ulyffes comes, and death his fteps attends. Nor to the great alone is death decreed ; We and our guilty Ithaca must bleed.
Why cease we then the wrath of heaven to stay?
Be humbled all, and lead, ye Great! the way. 196
For, lo! my words no fancy'd woes relate;
fpeak from science, and the voice is fate.
When great Ulyffes fought the Phrygian shores '
To shake with war proud Ilion's lofty towers, 200
Deeds then undone my faithful tongue foretold:
Heaven feal'd my words, and you thofe deeds be-
I fee (I cry'd) his woes, a countless train; [hold.
I fee his friends o'erwhelm'd beneath the main ;
How twice ten years from fhore to fhore he roams;
Now twice ten years are paft, and now he comes!
To whom Eurymachus-Fly, dotard, fly!
With thy wife dreants, and fables of the sky.
Go prophecy at home; thy fons advife : [skies.
Here thou art fage in vain-I better read the
Unnumber'd birds glide through th' aërial way,21
Vagrants of air, and unforeboding ftray.
Cold in the tomb, or in the deeps below,
Ulyffes lies: oh, wert thou laid as low!
Then would that bufy head no broils fuggeft, 215
Nor fire to rage Telemachus's breast.
From him fome hribe thy venal tongue requires,
And intereft, not the God, thy voice infpires.
His guidelefs youth, if thy experienc'd age
Mifled fallacious into idle rage,
Vengeance deferv'd thy malice fhall reprefs,
And but augment the wrongs thou wouldst re-
Telemachus may bid the queen repair [drefs.
To great Icarius, whofe paternal care
Will guide her paffion, and reward her choice, 225
With wealthy dower, and bridal gifts of price.
Till the retires, determin'd we remain,
To Heaven, and all the Greeks, redress belongs,
Yet this 1 afk, (nor be it ask'd in vain)
A bark to waft me o'er the rolling main;
The realms of Pyle and Sparta to explore,
And feck my royal fire from fhore to shore:
If, or to Fame his doubtful Fate be known, 245
Or to be learn'd from oracles alone?
If yet he lives; with patience I forbear,
Till the fleet hours reftore the circling year:
But if already wandering in the train
Of empty fhades; I measure back the main, 250
Plant the fair column o'er the mighty dead,
And yield his confort to the nuptial bed.
He ceas'd; and while the peers abafh'd attend, Mentor arofe, Ulyffes' faithful friend ; [When fierce in arms he fought the fcenes of war, "My friend, (he cry'd) my palace be thy care; "Years roll'd on years my godlike fire decay, "Guard thou his age, and his behefts obey.") Stern as he rofe, he caft his eyes around, [frown'd': That flash'd with rage; and as he spoke,
261, The winged veffel ftudious I prepare, 325
Through feas and realms companions of thy care.
Thou to the court afcend: and to the fhores
(When night advances) bear the naval ftores;
Bread, that decaying man with ftrength fupplics,
And generous wine, which thoughtful forrow flies.
Mean while the mariners, by my command, 331
Shall speed abroad, a valiant chosen band.
Wide o'er the bay, by veffel veffel rides ;
The best I choofe to wait thee o'er the tides.
O never, never more! let king be just,
Be mild in power, or faithful to his truft!
Let tyrants govern with an iron rod,
Opprefs, destroy, and be the fcourge of God:
Since he who like a father held his reign,
So foon forgot, was just and mild in vain!
True, while my friend is griev'd, his griefs I fhare;
Yet now the rivals are my smallest care:
They, for the mighty mifchiefs they devife, [270
Ere long fhail pay--their forfeit lives the price.
But against you, ye Greeks! ye coward train,
Gods! how my foul is mov'd with just difdain!
Dumb ye all ftand, and not one tongue affords
His injur'd prince the little aid of words.
While yet he spoke, Leocritus rejoin'd: 275
O pride of words, and arrogance of mind!
Would't thou to rife in arms, the Greeks, advise?
Join all your powers! in arms, ye Greeks, arife!
Yet would your powers in vain our strength
pofe !
The valiant few o'ermatch an host of foes.
Should great Ulyffes ftern appear in arms,
While the bowl circles, and the banquet warms;
Though to his breast his spouse with tranfport
flies,
Torn from her breast, that hour, Ulysses dies.
But hence retreating to your domes repair;
To arm the veffel, Mentor! be thy care,
And, Halitherfes! thine: be each his friend;
Ye lov'd the father: go, the fon attend.
But yet, I trust, the boaster means to slay
Safe in the court, nor tempt the watery way. 290
Then, with a rushing found, th' affembly bend,
Diverfe their steps: the rival rout afcend
The royal dome; while fad the prince explores
The neighbouring main, and forrowing treads the
fhores.
There, as the waters o'er his hands he shed, 295
The royal fuppliant to Minerva pray'd:
Is this, returns the prince, for mirth a time?
When lawlefs gluttons riot, mirth's a crime;
The lufcious wines, dishonour'd lose their taste;
The fong is noife, and impious is the feast.
Suffice it to have spent with fwift decay
The wealth of kings, and made my youth a prey.
But now the wife inftructions of the fage,
And manly thoughts infpir'd by manly age,
Teach me to feek redrefs for all my woe,
Here, or in Pyle,-in Pyle, or here, your foe.
Deny your veffels, ye deny in vain ;
A private voyager I pafs the main.
Free breathe the winds, and free the billows
flow:
And where on earth I live, I live your foe.
He spoke and frown'd, nor longer deign'd to ftay, Sternly his hand withdrew, and strode away. Mean time, o'er all the dome, they quaff, they ́
Derifive taunts were spread from guest to guest,
And each in jovial mood his mate addrest:
Tremble ye not, oh friends! and coward fly, 300
Doom'd by the ftern Telemachus to die?
To Pyle or Sparta to demand fupplies,
Big with revenge, the mighty warrior flies :
Or comes from Ephyre with poifons fraught, 370
And kills us all in one tremendous draught?
O Goddess! who defcending from the skics Vouchfaf'd thy prefence to my wondering eyes, By whofe commands the raging deeps I trace, And feek my fire thro' storms and rolling feas! 300 Hear from thy heavens above, oh, warrior-maid! Defcend once more propitious to my aid. Without thy prefence, vain is thy command: Grecce, and the rival train, thy voice withstand. Indulgent to his prayer the Goddefs took 305 Sage Mentor's form, and thus like Mentor spoke. O prince, in early youth divinely wife, Or, who can fay (his gamefome mate replies) Porn, the Ulyffes of thy age to rife! But, while the dangers of the deeps he tries, If to the fon the father's worth descends, He, like his fire, may fink depriv'd of breath, O'er the wide waves fuccefs thy ways attends: And punih us unkindly by his death? To tread the walks of death he food prepar'd; What mighty labours would he then create, And what he greatly thought, he nobly dar'd. To feize his treasures, and divide his ftate, Were not wife fons defcendents of the wife, The royal palace to the queen convey, And did not heroes from brave heroes rife : Or him the bleffes in the bridal day! Vain were my hopes: few fons attain the praife Mean time the lofty rooms the prince furveys, 380 Of their great fires, and moft their fires difgrace. Where lay the treasures of th' Ithacian race; But fince thy veins paternal virtue fires, Here ruddy brafs and gold refulgent blaz'd; And all Penelope thy foul infpires: There polish'd chefts embroider'd vestures grac'd; Go, and fucceed! the rivals aims defpife; Here jars of oil breath'd forth a rich perfume; For never, never, wicked man was wife. 320 There cafks of wine in rows adorn'd the dome 385 Blind they rejoice, though now, ev'n now they fall,(Pure flavorous wine, by Gods in Jounty given, Death haftes amain: one hour o'erwhelms them all! And worthy to exalt the feafts of heaven). Untouch'd they stood, till, his long labours o'er, The great Ulyffes reach'd his native hore.
And lo, with freed we plough the watery way,
My power shall guard thee, and my hand convey:
A double frength of bars fecur'd the gates: 390
Faft by the door the wife Euryclea waits:
Euryclea, who, great Ops! thy lineage fhar'd,
And watch'd all night, all day; a faithiul guard.
To whom the prince: O thon, whofe guardian
fair:
Nurs'd the moft wretched king that breathes the
Untouch'd and facred may thefe veffels fland, 396
Till great Ulyffes views his native land.
But by thy care twelve ur of wine be fill'd;
Nex't thefe in worth, and firm thofe urns bel
feal'd;
She bids the mariners, prepar'd, to hand,
When night defcends, embody'd on the ftrand.
Then to Noëmon fwift fhe runs, the flies,
And afks a bark: the chief a bark fupplies. 435
And now declining with his floping wheels,
Down funk the fun behind the western hills.
The Goddess fhov'd the veffels from the fhores,
And flow'd within its womb the naval stores.
Full in the openings of the fpacious main
It rides; and now defcends the failor-train.
Next, to the court, impatient of delay,
With rapid ftep the Goddefs urg'd her way!
And dafh'd the flowing goblet to the ground, 445
Drowly they rofe, with heavy fumes oppreft,
Reel'd from the palace, and retir'd to reft.
And twice ten meafures of the choiceft flour 400 There every eye with flumberous chains the
Prepar'd, ere yet defcends the evening hour.
For when the favouring fades of night arife,
And peaceful flumbers clofe my mother's eyes,
Me from our coafts fhall spreading fails convey,
To feck Ulyffes through the watery way.
While yet he spoke, the fill'd the walls with
And tears ran trickling from her aged eyes.
Oh whither, whither flies my fon? the cry'd,
To realms that rocks and roaring feas divide?
In foreign lands thy father's days decay'd,
And foreign lands contain the mighty dead.
The watery way ill-fated if thou try,
All, all maft perith, and by fraud you die ! [main;
Then stay, my child! ftorms beat, and rolls the
Oh, beat thofe ftorms, and roll the feas in vain!
Far hence (reply'd the prince) thy fears be
driven :
Then thus, in Mentor's reverend form array'd,
Spoke to Telemachus the martial maid.
Lo! on the feas, prepar'd the vessel stands, 450
Th' impatient mariner thy speed demands.
Swift as the fpoke, with rapid pace fue leads;
The footsteps of the Deity he treads.
Swift to the fhore they move: along the ftrand
The ready veffel rides, the failors ready ftand 455
He bids them bring their stores; th' attending
Load the tall bark, and launch into the main.
The Prince and Goddess to the stern ascend;
To the ftrong ftroke at once the rowers bend,
Fuil from the weft fhe bids fresh breezes blow; 460
The fable billows foam and roar below
[ven.
Heaven calls me forth! thefe counfels are of Hea-
But, by the powers that hate the perjur'd, fwear,The chief his orders gives; th' obedient band
To keep my voyage from the royal ear,
Nor uncompell'd the dangerous truth betray, 420
Till twice fix times defcends the lamp of day;
Left the fad tale a mother's life impair,
And grief destroy what time a while would fpare.
Thus . The matron with uplifted eyes
Attes th' all-feeing Sovereign of the skies.
Then ftudious fhe prepares the choiceft flour,
The strength of wheat, and wines an ample store.
While to the rival train the prince returns,
'The martial Goddefs with impatience burns;
Like thee, Telemachus, in voice and fize,
With speed divine from street to ftreet the flies,
With due obfervance wait the chief's command!
With ipeed the maft they rear, with speed unbind
The fpacious fheet, and stretch it to the wind, 465
High o'er the roaring waves the fpreading fails
Bow the tall matt, and fwell before the gales;
The crooked kecl the parting furge divides,
And to the ftern retreating roll the tides.
And now they ftip their oars, and crown with wine
The holy goblet to the powers divine : 471
Imploring all the Gods that reign above,
But chief the blue-ey'd progeny of Jove.
Thus all the night they ftem the iquid way,
And end their voyage with the morning ray. 475.
The Interview of Telemachus and Neftor,
Telemachus, guided by Pallas in the bape of Mentor, arrives in the morning at Pylos, where Neftar and his fons are facr ficing on the fea-fbore to Neptune. Telemachus declares the occafion of bis coming; and Neftor relates what paft in their return from Troy, how their fleets were feparated, and be never fince heard of Ulyffes. They difcourfe concerning the death of Agamemnon, the revenge of Orefies, and the injuries of the fuitors. Neftor advifes bim to go to Sparta, and inquire further of Menelaus. The facrifice ended with the night, Minerva vanisbes from them in the form of an eagle: Telemach s is lodged in the palace. The mixt morning they facrifice a bullock to Minerva; and Telemachus proceces on bis journey to Sparte, attended by Piiratus.
The feen lies on the fea fbore of Pylos.
HE facred fun, above the waters rais'd,
To fee the preference due to facred ags
Through heav'ns eternal brazen portals Regardto ever by the juft and fage.
And wide o'er earth diffus'd his cheering ray,
To Gods and men to give the golden day.
Now on the coast of Pyle the vessel falls,
Before old Neleus' venerable walls.
There, fuppliant to the monarch of the flood,
At nine green theatres the Pylians flood.
Each heid five hundred a deputed train),
At each, nine oxen on the fand lay flain.
They take the entrails, and the altars load
With fmoking thighs, an offering to the God.
Full for the port the Ithacenfians ftand,
And furl their fails, and iffue on the land.
Telemachus already preft the fhore;
Of Ocean's king the then implores the grace:
Oh, thou! whofe arms this ample globe embrace,
Fulfil our wish, and let thy glory fhine
70
5 On Neftor first, and Neftor's royal line
Not first, the Power of Wisdom march'd before,
And, ere the facrificing throng he join'd,
Admonish'd thus his well-attending mind:
Proceed, my fon! this youthful fhame expel;
An honest business never blush to tell.
To learn what fates thy wretched fire detain,
We pass'd the wide immeasurable main
Meet then the fenior far renown'd for sense,
With reverend awe, but decent confidence:
Urge him with truth to frame his fair replies;
And fure he will; for Wifdom never lies.
Oh, tell me, Mentor! tell me, faithful guide,
(The youth with prudent modefty reply'd)
How shall I meet; or how accoft the fage,
Unfkill'd in fpeech, nor yet mature of age?
Awful th' approach, and hard the task appears,
To quetion wifely men of riper years.
To whom the martial Goddess thus rejoin'd: Search, for fone thoughts, thy own fuggefting mind,
Next grant the Pylian ftates their juft defires,
Pleas'd with their hecatomb's afcending fires;
Laft deign Telemachus and me to blefs,
And crown our voyage with defir'd fuccefs.
7 hus fhe; and, having paid the rite divine,
Gave to Ulyffes' fou the rofy wine.
Suppliant he pray'd. And, now the victims dref,
They draw, divide, and celebrate the feaft.
The banquet done, the narrative old man,
80
Thus mild, the pleafing conference began:
Now, gentle guefts! the genial banquet o'er,
It fits to afk you, what your native shore,
And whence your race? on what adventure, say,
Thus far ye wander through the watery way? 85
Relate if bufinefs, or the thirit of gain,
Engage your journey o'er the pathless main :
Where favage pirates feek through feas unknown
The lives of others, venturous of their own.
Urg'd by the precepts by the Goddess given, 90
And fill'd with confidence infus'd from heaven,
The youth, whom Pallas deftin'd to be wife
And fam'd among the fons of men, replies:
Inquir'it thou, father! from what coaft we came ?
(Oh, grace and glory of the Grecian name!)
From where high Ithaca o'erlooks the floods,
Brown with o'erarching fhades and pendent
Us to these hores our filial duty draws,
A private forrow, not a public caufe.
My fire I feck, where-c'er the voice of Fame 100
Has told the glories of his noble name,
The great Ulyffes: fam'd from shore to fhore
For valour much, for hardy fuffering more.
Long time with thee before proud lion's wall,
In arms he fought; with thee beheld her fall. Ics
Of all the chiefs, this hero's fate alone
Has Jove referv'd, unheard of, and unknown;
Whether in fields by hoftile fury flain,
Or funk by tempefts in the gulfy main?
Of this to learn, oppreft with tender fears, 110
Lo! at thy knee his fuppliant fon appears.
If or thy certain eye, or curious ear,
Have learnt his fate, the whole dark story clear:
And, oh! whate'er heaven deftin'd to betide,
Let neither flattery smooth, nor pity hide.
50 Prepar'd I stand; he was but born to try.
The lot of man; to fuffer and to die.
Oh then, if ever through the ten years war
The wife, the good Ulyffes claim'd thy care;
if e'er he join'd thy council, or thy fword,
True in his deed, and conftant to his word:
Far as thy mind through backward time can fee,
Search ali thy ftores of faithful memory :
'Tis facred Truth I ask, and ask of thee.
And others, dictated by heavenly power,
Shall rife fpontaneous in the needful hour.
For nought unprofperous fhall thy ways attend,
Born with good omens, and with heaven thy friend.
She spoke, and led the way with fwiftcft fpeed:
As fwift, the youth pursued the way the led; 40
And join'd the band before the facred fire,
Where fate, encompast with his fons, the fire.
The youth of Pylos, fome on pointed wood
Transfix'd the fragments, fome prepar'd the food.
In friend'y thongs they gather to embrace 45
Their unknown. guests, and at the banquet place.
Pififtratus was firft, to grafp their hands,
And spread foft hides upon the yellow fands;
Along the fhore th' illuftrious pair he led,
Where Neftor fate with youthful Thrafymed.
To each a portion of the feaft he bore,
And held the golden goblet foaming o'er;
Then first aproaching to the elder guest,
The latent Goddefs in thefe words addreft:
Whoe'er thou art, whom Fortune brings to keep
The rites of Neptune, monarch of the deep,
The first it fits, oh ftranger! to prepare
Thee due libation and the folemn prayer:
Then give thy friend to fhed the facred wine:
Though much thy younger, and his years like
mine,
Ile too, I deem, implores the Powers divine :
1 or all mankind alike require their grace,
All born to want: a miferable race!
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