Jove weighs affairs of earth, in dubious fcales,
And the good fuffers, while the bad prevails:
Bear, with a foul refign'd, the will of Jove;
Who breathes, muft mourn: thy woes are from
But fince thou tread'ft our hofpitable shore, [above.
Tis mide to bid the wretched grieve no more,
To clothe the naked, and thy way to guide---
Know, the Phæacian tribes this land divide;
From great Alcinous' royal loins I fpring,
A happy nation, and an happy king.
Then to her maids: Why, why, ye coward
train,
Thefe fears, this flight? Ye fear, and fly in vain. 240
Dread ye a foe? difmifs that idle dread,
Tis death with hoftile fteps thefe fhores to tread :
Safe in the love of Heaven, an ocean flows
Around our realm, a barrier from the foes;
Tis ours this fon of forrow to relieve,
Cheer the fad heart, nor let affliction grieve.
by Jove the ftranger and the poor are fent;
And what to those we give, to Jove is lent.
Then food fupply, and bathe his fainting limbs
There waving fhades obfcure the mazy ftreams.
Obedient to the call, the chief they guide
To the calm current of the fecret tide:
lofe by the ftream a royal drefs they lay,
But hafte, the viands and the bowl provide--- 295
The maids the viands, and the bowl supply'd :
Eager he fed, for keen his hunger rag'i,
And with the generous vintage turft affwag'd.
Now on return her care Nauficaa bends,
The robes refumes, the glittering car afcends, 30
Far blooming o'er the field; and as the prefe'd
The fplendid feat, the liftening chief adareis'd :
Stranger, arife! the fun rolls round the day,
Lo! to the palace I direct the way:
Where in high ftate the nobles of the land
Attend my royal fire, a radiant band.
But hear, though wisdom in thy foul prefides,
Speaks from thy tongue, and every action guides;
Advance at diftance while I pass the plain
Where o'er the furrows waves the golden grain: 310
Alone I re-ascend-With airy mounds
245 A ftrength of wall the guarded city bounds:
The jutting land two ample bays divides:
Full thro' the narrow mouths defcend the tides:
The fpacious bafons arching rocks enclose,
A fure defence from every storm that blows.
Close to the bay great Neptune's fane adjoins;
And near, a forum flank'd with marble fhines,
Where the bold youth, the numerous fleets to
That breath'd a fragrance through the balmy sky.
I veft and robe, with rich embroidery gay;
Then unguents in a vase of gold supply,
To them the king: No longer I detain
Your friendly care retire, ye virgin train!
Retire, while from my weary'd limbs I lave The foul pollution of the briny wave:
Ye Gods! fince this worn frame refection knew,
What Icenes have I furvey'd of dreadful view!
But, nymphs, recede! fage chastity denics
To raife the blush, or pain the modeft eyes.
The nymphs withdrawn, at once into the tide 265
Active he bounds; the flafhing waves divide :
O'er all his limbs his hands the wave diffuse,
And from his locks comprefs the weedy ooze;
The balmy oil, a fragrant shower, he sheds;
Then, dreft, in pomp magnificently treads,
The Warrior Goddess gives his frame to shine
With majefly enlarg'd, and air divine:
Back from his brow a length of hair unfurls,
His hyacinthine locks defcend in wavy curls.
As by fome artift, to whom Vulcan gives
His kill divine, a breathing ftatue lives;
By Pallas taught, he frames the wondrous mould,
And o'er the filver pours the fufile gold.
Bo Pallas his heroic frame improves
Shape the broad fail, or smooth the taper oar: 320
For not the bow they bend, nor boast the skill
To give the feather'd arrows wings to kill;
But the tall mast above the vessel rear,
"Heavens, with what graceful najefty he treads! "Perhaps a native of some distant shore, "The future confort of her bridal hour; "Or rather fome defcendant of the skies; "Won by her prayers, th' aerial bridegroom flies. "Heaven on that hour his choiceft influence shed, "That gave a foreign fpcufe to crown her bed!"All, all the godlike worthies that adorn 275" This realm, fhe flies: Phæacia is her scorn." 340 And just the blame: for female innocence Not only flies the guilt, but shuns th' offence. Th' unguarded virgin, as unchafte, l'blame; And the leaft freedom with the fex is fhame, Till our confenting fires a spouse provide, And public nuptials juftify the bride.
With heavenly bloom, and like a God he moves. 280
A fragrance breathes around: majestic grace
Attends his fteps: th' astonish'd virgins gaze.
Soft he reclines along the murmuring feas,
Inhaling freshnefs from the fanning breeze.
The wondering nymph his glorious port fur-
And to her damfels with amazement faid: [vey'd,
Not without care divine the ftranger treads
This land of joy; his steps fome Godhead leads:
Would Jove deftroy him, fure he had been driven
Far from the realm, the favourite isle of Heaven. 290
Late a fad fpectacle of woe, he trod
The defart fands, and now he looks a God.
Oh, Heaven! in my connubial hour decree
This man my Ipoufe, or fuch a spouse as he!
There wait embower'd, while I ascend alone
To great Alcinous on his royal throne.
Arriv'd, advance impatient of delay,
And to the lofty palace bend thy way:
The lofty palace overlooks the town,
From every dome by pomp superior known;
A child may point the way. With carneft gait
Seek thou the queen along the rooms of state;
Her royal hand a wonderous work designs,
Around a circle of bright damsels fhines,
Part twift the threads, and part the wood difpofe,
While with the purple orb the fpindle glows.
High on a throne, amid the Scherian powers,
My royal father shares the genial hours:
But to the queen thy mournful tale disclose,
With the prevailing eloquence of woes :
So fhalt thou view with joy thy natal fhore,
Though mountains rife between, and oceans roar.
She added not, but waving as the wheel'd
The silver scourge, it glitter'd o'er the field:
With fkill the virgin guides th' embroider'd
Slow rolls the car before the attending train.
Now whirling down the heavens, the golden day
Shot through the western clouds a dewy ray;
The grove they reach, where from the facred fhade,
To Pallas thus the penfive hero pray'd:
Daughter of Jove! whofe arms in thunder
wield
Th' avenging bold, and shake the dreadful fhield;
Forfook by thee, in vain I fought thy aid
When booming billows clos'd above my head:
Attend, unconquer'd Maid! accord my vows,
Bid the great hear, and pitying heal my woes. 390
This heard Minerva, but forbore to fly
(By Neptune aw'd) apparent from the sky:
Stern God! who rang'd with vengeance unre
ftrain'd,
Till great Ulyffes hail'd his native land.
The Princess Nausicaa returns to the city, and Ulyffes foon after follows thither. He is met by Pallas in th form of a young virgin, who guides him to the palace, and directs bim in what manner to address the quas Avette. She then involves him in a mift, which causes him to pass invisible. The palace and gardin if Alcinous deferibed. Ulyffes falling at the feet of the queen, the mift difperfes, the Phaacians admire, and 11ceive him with refpel. The queen inquiring by what means he bad the garments be then wore, be relata in ber and Alcinous bis departure from Calypfo, and his arrival on their deng The fame day continues, and the book ends with the night.
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The turning wheel before the palace ftays.
With ready love her brothers gathering round,
Receiv'd the vestures, and the mules unbound.
She feeks the bridal bower: a matron there
The rifing fire fupplies with bufy care,
Whofe charms in youth the father's heart inflam'd,
Now worn with age, Eurymedufa nam'd:
The captive dame Phæacian rovers bore,
Snatch'd from Epirus, her fweet native shore,
(A grateful prize) and in her bloom bestow'd
On good Alcinous, honour'd as a God:
Nurfe of Nauficaa from her infant years,
And tender fecond to a mother's cares.
Now from the facred thicket where he lay,
To town Ulyffes took the winding way.
Propitious Pallas, to fecure her care,
Around him fpread a veil of thicken'd air;
To thun th' encounter of the vulgar crowd,
Infulting ftill, inquifitive and loud.
When wear the fam'd Phæacian walls he drew,
The beauteous city opening to his view,
His flep a virgin met, and itood before:
A polifh'd urn the feening virgin bore,
And youthful fmil'd; but in the low disguise
Lay hid the Goddess with the azure eyes.
Show me, fair daughter, (thus the chief de
mands)
The houfe of him who rules the happy lands.
sThrough many woes and wanderings, lo! I come
To good Alcinous' hofpitable dome.
Far from my native coaft, I rove alone,
A wretched stranger, and of all unknown!
The Goddess anfwer'd, Father, I obey,
LO, And point the wandering traveller his way:
Well known to me the palace you inquire,
For faft befide it dwells my honour'd fire;
But filent march, nor greet the common train
With questions needless, or inquiry vain,
15 A race of rugged mariners are thefe;
Unpolish'd men, and boisterous as their feas:
The native iflanders alone their care,
And hateful he who breathes a foreign air.
T'hefe did the ruler of the deep ordain
20To build proud navies, and command the main :'
On canvas wings to cut the watery way;
No bird fo light, no thought fo fwift, as they.
Thus having fpoke, th' unknown celeftial leads;
The footstep of the Deity he treads,
25 And facred moves along the crowded space,
Unfeen of all the rude Phæacian race.
(So Palias order'd, Pallas to their eyes
The mift objected, and condens'd the fkies,
The chief with wonder fees th' extended streets; 55
The Ipreading harbours, and the rising fleets;
He next their princefs lofty domes admires,
In separate islands crown'd with rifing spires;
And deep intrenchments and high walls of stone,
That gird the city like a marble zone.
At length the kingly palace-gates he view'd:
There ftopp'd the Goddefs, and her fpeech re
new'd:
Two rows of ftately dogs on either hand,
In fculptur'd gold and labour'd filver stand.
Thefe Vulcan form'd with art divine, to wait 120
Immortal guardians at Alcinous' gate;
Alive each animated frame appears,
And ftill to live beyond the power of years.
Fair thrones within from space to fpace were rais'd,
Where various carpets with embroidery blaz'd, 125
The work of matrons: thefe the princess preft,
Day following day, a long continued feast.
Refulgent pedeftais the walls furround,
Which boys of gold with flaming torches crown'd
The polish'd ore, reflecting every ray,
130
Blaz'd on the banquets with a double day.
Full fifty handmaids form the household train;
Some turn the mill, or fift the golden grain :
Some ply the loom their bufy fingers move
Like poplar leaves when Zephyr fans the grove.
Not more renown'd the men of Scheria's ifle,
For failing arts and all the naval toil,
Than works of female fkill their women's pride,
The flying fhuttle through the threads to guide :
Pallas to thefe her double gifts imparts,
75 Inventive genius, and induftrious arts.
My tafk is done; the manfion you inquire
Appears before you enter, and admire.
High thron'd, and feafting there thou shalt behold
The feeptred rulers. Fear not, but be bold;
A decent boldnefs ever meets with friends,
Succeeds, and ev'n a ftranger recommends,
Firft to the queen prefer a fuppliant's claim,
Alcinous queen, Arete is her name,
70
The fame her parents, and her power the fame.
Ferknow, from Ocean's God Naufithous fprung,
And Periba, beautiful and young
(Eurymedon's laft hope, who rul'd of old
The race of giants, impious, proud, and bold;
Perish'd the nation in unrighteous war,
Perish'd the prince, and left his only heir),
Who now, by Neptune's amorous power compreft.
Produc'd a monarch that his people bleft,
Father and prince of the Phæacian name;
From him Rhexenor and Alcinous came.
The first by Phoebus' burning arrows fir'd,
New from his nuptials, hapless youth! expir'd.
No ka furviv'd: Arete heir'd his ftate,
And her, Alcinous chofe his royal mate.
With honours yet to womenkind unknown,
This queen he graces, and divides the throne:
In equal tenderness her fons confpire,
And all the children emulate their fire.
Clofe to the gates a fpacious garden lies,
From ftorms defending and inclement skies.
Four acres was the allotted space of ground,
Fenc'd with a green enclosure all around,
Tall thriving trees confefs'd the fruitful mould;
The reddening apple ripens here to gold.
Here the blue fig with lufcious juice o'erflows,
With deeper red the full pomegranate glows,
The branch here bends beneath the weighty pear,
And verdant olives flourifh round the year.
The balmy spirit of the western gale
Eternal breathes on fruits untaught to fail:
Each dropping pear a following pear fupplics,
On apples apples, figs on figs arise :
The fame mild feafon gives the blooms to blow,
The buds to harden, and the fruits to grow.
Here order'd vines in equal ranks appear,
With all th' united labours of the year;
Some to unload the fertile branches run,
Some dry the blackening clusters in the fun,
95 Others to tread the liquid harvest join,
The groaning preffes foam with floods of wine.
Here are the vines in early flower defcry'd,
Here grapes difcolour'd on the funny fide, 165
And there in autumn's richest purple dy'd.'
With that the Goddess deign'd no longer stay,
Bat o'er the world of waters wing'd her way: 100
Forfaking Scheria's ever-pleafing fhore,
The winds to Marathon the virgin bore,
Thence, where proud Athens rears her towery
With opening streets and fhining structures fpread,
She paff, delighted with the well known feats; 105
And to Erectheus' facred dome retreats.
Mean while Ulyffes at the palace waits,
There ftops, and anxious with his foul debates,
Fir'd in amaze before the royal gates.
The front appear'd with radiant fplendors gay, 110
Bright as the lamp of night, or orb of day,
The walls were maffy brafs; the cornice high
Blue metals crown'd, in colours of the sky:
Rich plates of gold the folding doors incafe;
The pillars filver, on a brazen bafe;
Silver the lintels deep projecting o'er,
And gold, the ringlets that command the door.
Beds of all various herbs, for ever green,
In beauteous order terminate the scene.
Two plenteous fountains the whole profpcct-
crown'd;
This through the garden leads its ftreams around,
Vifits each plant, and waters all the ground:
While that in pipes beneath the palace flows,
And thence its current on the town bestows;
To various ufe their various ftreams they bring,
The people one, and one fupplies the king.
Such were the glories which the Gods ordain'd,
To grace Alcinous, and his happy land.
Ev'n from the chief who men and nations knew,
Th' unwonted scene surprise and rapture drew;
In pleafing thought he ran the profpect o'er
Then hafty enter'd at the lofty door.
Night now approaching, in the palace stand,
With goblets crown'd, the rulers of the land;
Prepar'd for reft, and offering to the God Who bears the virtue of the fleepy rod. Unfeen he glided through the joyous crowd, With darkness circled, and an ambient cloud. Direct to great Alcinous' throne he came, And proftrate fell before th' imperial dame.
But with the rifing day, assembled here, 185 Let all the elders of the land appear, Pious obferve our hofpitable laws,
And Heaven propitiate in the stranger's cause :
Then, join'd in council, proper means explore
Safe to tranfport him to the wifh'd-for fhore 255
Then from around him dropt the veil of night; 190 | (How diftant that, imports not us to know,
Sudden he fhincs, and manifeft to fight,
The nobles gaze, with awful fear oppreft;
Silent they gaze, and eye the godlike guest.
Daughter of great Rhexenor! (thus began
Low at her knees the much enduring man)
To thee, thy confort, and this royal train,
To all that share the bleffings of your reign,
A fuppliant bends: Oh, pity human woe!
'Tis what the happy to th' unhappy owe.
A wretched exile to his country fend,
Long worn with griefs, and long without a friend.
So may the Gods your better days increase,
And all your joys defcend on all your race,
So reign for ever on your country's breast,
Your people bleffing, by your people bleft!
Then to the genial hearth he bow'd his face,
And humbled in the afhes took his place.
Silence enfued. The eldest first began,
Echenus fage, a venerable man!
Whofe well-taught mind the prefent age furpaft,
And join'd to that th' experience of the laft.
Fit words attended on his weighty sense,
And mild perfuafion flow'd in eloquence.
O fight (he cry'd) dishonest and unjust !
A gueft, a stranger, feated in the duft!
To raife the lowly fuppliant from the ground
Befits a monarch. Lo! the peers around
But wait thy word, the gentle guest to grace,
And feat him fair in fome diftinguifh'd place.
Let first the herald due libation pay
To Jove, who guides the wanderer on his way:
Then fet the genial banquet in his view,
And give the franger gueft a ftranger's due.
His fage advice the liftening king obeys,
He ftretch'd his hand the prudent chief to raife,
And from his feat Laodamas remov'd
(The monarch's offspring, and his best belov’d);
There next his fide the godlike hero fate;
With ftars of filver fhone the bed of state.
The golden ewer a beauteous handmaid brings, 230 Replenished from the cool translucent fprings, Whofe polifh'd vafe with copious ftreams fupplies A filver laver of capacious fize,
The table next in regal order fpread,
Nor weigh the labour but relieve the woe).
Mean time, nor harm nor anguifh let him bear:
This interval, Heaven trufts him to our care;
But to his native land our charge refign'd, 260 [hind.
Heaven 's his life to come, and all the woes be-
Then must he suffer what the Fates ordain;
For Fate has wove the thread of life with pain,
And twins ev'n from the birth are mifery and (
man!
But if, defcended from th' Olympian bower, 265
Gracious approach us fome immortal power;
If in that form thou coni'ft a guest divine:
Some high event the confcious Gods defign.
As yet, unbid they never grac'd our feaft,
The folemn facrifice call'd down the gueft;
Then manifeft of heaven the vision stood,
And to our eyes familiar was the God.
Oft with fome favour'd traveller they stray,
And fhine before him all the defert way:
With focial intercourfe, and face to face,
The friends and guardians of our pious race.
So near approach we their celestial kind,
By juftice, truth, and probity of mind:
As our dire neighbours of Cyclopean birth
Match in fierce wrong the Giant-sons of earth. 280
Let no fuch thought (with modest grace re
join'd
The prudent Greek) poffefs the royal mind,
Alas! a mortal, like thyfelf, am I;
No glorious native of yon azure fky:
In form, ah how unlike their heavenly kind! 285
How more inferior in the gifts of mind!
Alas, a mortal! moft oppreft of those
Whom Fate has loaded with a weight of woes:
By a fad train of miferies alone
Diftinguifh'd long, and fecond now to none!
By Heaven's high will compell'd from shore to
With Heaven's high will prepar'd to fuffer more.
What hiftorics of toil could I declare!
But ftill long-wearied nature wants repair;
Spent with fatigue, and fhrunk with pining fast, 295
My craving bowels ftill require repast.
Howe'er the noble, fuffering mind, may grieve
The glittering canisters are heap'd with bread: 235 Its load of anguish, and disdain to live;,
Viands of various kinds invite the taste,
Of choiceft fort and favour, rich repaft!
Thus feafting high, Alcinous gave the fign,
And bade the herald pour the rofy wine.
Let all around the due libation pay
To Jove, who guides the wanderer on his way.
He faid. Pontonous heard the king's command:
The circling goblet moves from hand to hand :
Earth drinks the juice that glads the heart of man,
Alcinous then, with afpect mild, began;
Princes and peers, attend; while we impart
To you, the thoughts of no inhuman heart.
Now pleas'd and fatiate from the focial rite
Repair we to the bleffings of the night:
+ Mercury.
Neceflity demands our daily bread;
Hunger is infolent, and will be fed.
But finish, oh ye peers! what you propose,
And let the morrow's dawn conclude my woes.
Pleas'd will I fuffer all the Gods ordain,
To fee my foil, my fon, my friends, again.
That view vouchfaf'd, let inftant death furprise 305
With ever-during fhade thefe happy eyes!
Th' affembled peers with general praise ap
His pleaded reafon, and the fuit he mov'd, [prov'd
Each drinks a full oblivion of his cares,
And to the gift of balmy fleep repairs.
Ulyffes in the regal walls alone
Remain'd befide him, on a fplendid throne
Divine Arete and Alcinous fhone.
Hard is the task, oh princefs! you impose:
(Thus fighing fpoke the man of many woes)
The long, the mournful feries to relate
!Ofall my forrows fent by Heaven and Fate!
Yet what you afk, attend. An ifland lies
Beyond thefe tracts, and under other skies,
Ogygia nam'd, in Ocean's watery arms;
Where dwells Calypfo, dreadful in her charms!
Remote from Gods or men fhe holds her reign, 330
Amid the terrors of the rolling main.
Me, only me, the hand of fortane bore
Uibleft! to tread that interdicted shore :
When Jove tremendous in the fable deeps
Launch'd his red lightning at our featter'd fhips:
Then, all my fleet, and all my followers loft,
Sole on a plank, on boiling furges toft,
Heaven drove my wreck th' Ogygian ifle to
find,
Nor thou unwilling to be call'd my fon.
In fuch alliance could'ft thou wish to join,
A palace ftor'd with treasures fhould be thine.
But, if reluctant, who fhall force thy stay!
Jove bids to fet the ftranger on his way,
And ships shall wait thee with the morning ray.
Till then, let flumber close their careful eyes;
The wakeful mariners fhall watch the fkies,
And feize the moment when the breezes rife ;
345 Then gently waft thee to the pleasing shore,
Where thy foul refts, and labour is no more.
Far as Euboea though thy country lay,
Our fhips with eafe tranfport thee in a day.
Thither of old, earth's || giant-fon to view,
On wings of winds with Rhadamanth they flew :
This land, from whence their morning course
Fall nine days floating to the wave and wind.
Met by the Goddess there with open arms,
She brib'd my stay with more than human charms;
Nay promis'd, vainly promis'd, to beftow
Immortal life, exempt from age and woe :
But all her blandifhments fuccefsless prove,
To banish from my breaft my country's love.
I ftay reluctant feven continued years,
Aud water her ambrofial couch with tears.
The eighth fhe voluntary moves to part,
Or urg'd by Jove, or her own changeful heart:
Araft was form'd, to cross the furging fea; 350
Herfelf fupply'd the ftores and rich array,
And gave the gales to waft me on the way.
la feventeen days appear'd your pleasing coast,
And woody mountains half in vapours loft.
Joy touch'd my foul; my foul was joy'd in vain, 355
For angry Neptune rous'd the raging main;
The wild winds whiftle, and the billows roar;
The fplitting raft the furious tempeft tore;
And storms vindictive intercept the fhore.
Soon as their rage fubfides, the feas I brave
With naked force, and shoot along the wave,
To reach this ifle but there my hopes
loft,
Saw them returning with the fetting fun.
Your eyes fhall witnefs and confirm my tale,
Our youth how dextrous, and how fleet our fail.
When justly tim'd with equal fweep they row,
And ocean whitens in long tracts below.
Thus he. No word th' experienc'd man replies,
But thus to heaven (and heavenward lists his eyes)
O, Jove! O, father! what the king accords
Do thou make perfect! facred be his words!
Wide o'er the world Alcinous' glory shine!
Let fame be his, and ah! my country mine!
Mean time Arete, for the hour of rest,
365 Ordains the fleecy couch and covering veft;
Bids her fair train the purple quilts prepare,
And the thick carpets fpread with busy care.
With torches blazingi n their hands they past,
And finish'd all the queen's command with hafte :
Then gave the fignal to the willing gueft:
He rofe with pleasure, and retir'd to rest.
There, foft-extended, to the murmuring found 435
Of the high porch, Ulyffes fleeps profound!
Within, releas'd from cares Alcinous lies,
The furge impell'd me on a craggy coaft.
I chose the safer fea, and chanc'd to find
A river's mouth impervious to the wind,
And clear of rocks. I fainted by the flood;
Then took the fhelter of the neighbouring wood.
Twas night; and, cover'd in the foliage deep,
jove plung'd my fenfes in the death of fleep.
All night I flept, oblivious of my pain :
Aurora dawn'd and Phoebus fhin'd in vain,..
Nor, till oblique he flop'd kis evening ray,
Had Somnus dry'd the balmy dews away.
Then female voices from the fhore I heard :
A maid amidft them, goddess-like, appear'd: 375 And fast befide were clos'd Arete's eyes.
To her 1 fued, the pity'd my diftrefs;
Like thee in beauty, nor in virtue lefs.
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