Pagina-afbeeldingen
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Peace, wretch and eat thy bread without of fence,

(The fuitor cry'd) or force fhall drag thee hence, Scourge thro' the public street, and caft thee there, A mangled carcafe for the hounds to tear.

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His furious deed the general anger mov'd, All, ev'n the worst, condemn: and fome reprov'd. Was ever chief for wars like these renown'd? Ill fits the stranger and the poor to wound. Unbleft thy hand; if in this low disguise Wander, perhaps, fome inmate of the skies; They (curious oft' of mortal actions) deign In forms like these, to round the earth and main, Juft and unjust recording in their mind, And with fure eyes infpecting all mankind. `Telemachus, abforpt, in thought severe, Nourish'd deep anguish, though he shed no tear; But the dark brow of filent forrow shook: While thus his mother to her virgins spoke : "On him and his may the bright God of day “That base, inhofpitable blow repay” The nurse replies: "If Jove receives my prayer, "Not one furvives to breathe to-morrow's air."

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Their filent journey, fince his tale begun,
Unfinish'd yet! and yet I thirst to hear,
As when fome Heaven-taught poet-charms the ear,
(Sufpending forrow with a celeftial strain,
Breath'd from the gods to foften human pain)
Time fteals away with unregarded wing,
And the foul hears him, though he cease to fing.
Ulyffes late he faw, on Cretan ground,
(His father's gueft) for Minos' birth renown'd. 615
He now but waits the wind, to waft him o'er,
With boundless treafure, from Thefprotia's fhore.
To this the queen: The wanderer let me hear,
While yon luxurious race indulge their cheer,
Devour the grazing ox and browzing goat,
And turn my generous vintage down their throat."
For where's an arm, like thine, Ulyffes! ftrong,
To curb wild riot, and to punish wrong?

620

She fpoke. Telemachus then fneez`d aloud; Contrain'd, his noftrils echo'd through the crowd.

The smiling queen the happy omen blefs'd:
"So may thefe impious fall, by fate oppress'd!"
Then to Eumæus: Bring the ftranger, fly!
And if my queftion meet a true reply,
Grac'd with a decent robe he shall retire,
A gift in feafon which his wants require.

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Thus fpoke Penelope. Eumæus flies In duteous hafte, and to Ulyffes cries: The Queen invites thee, venerable guest! A fecret inftinct moves her troubled breast, Of her long abfent lord from thee to gain Some light, and foothe her foul's eternal pain. If true, if faithful thou; her grateful mind Of decent robes a prefent has defign'd: So finding favour in the royal eye, Thy other wants her subject shall supply. Fair truth alone (the patient man reply'd) My words fhall dictate, and my lips fhall guide, To him, to me, one common lot was given, In equal woes, alas! involv'd by Heaven. Much of his fates I know; but check'd by fear I ftand the hand of violence is here: Her boundless wrongs the ftarry skies invade, And injur'd fuppliants feek in vain for aid. Let for a space the penfive queen attend, Nor clain my ftory till the fun defcend; Then in fuch robes as fuppliants may require, Compos'd and cheerful by the genial fire, When loud uproar and lawless riot cease, Shall her pleas'd ear receive my words in peace.6

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Swift to the queen returns the gentle fwain:
And fay, (fhe cries,) does fear, or fhame, detain
The cautious stranger? With the begging kind
Shame fuits but ill. Eumæus thus rejoin'd:
He only afks a more propitious hour,
66
And fhuns (who would not?) wicked men i
power:

At evening mild (meet feafon to confer)
By turns to question, and by turns to hear,
Whoe'er this gueft (the prudent queen replies)
His every ftep and every thought is wife: 66
For men like thefe on earth he shall not find
In all the mifcreant race of human kind.

Thus fhe: Eumæus all her words attends,
And, parting, to the fuitor powers defcends;
There seeks Telemachus, and thus apart
In whispers breathes the fondness of his heart:

67

The time, my lord, invites me to repair Hence to the lodge; my charge demands my care. Thefe fons of murder thirst thy life to take; Oh guard it, guard it for thy fervant's fake! 67

Thanks to my friend, he cries; but now the hou
Of night draws on, go feek the rural bower:
But first refresh and at the dawn of day
Hither a victim to the gods convey.
Our life to Heaven's immortal Powers we truft, 683
Safe in their care, for heaven protects the jufl.
Obfervant of his voice, Eumæus fate
And fed recumbent on a chair of state.
Then infant rofe, and as he mov'd along
Twas riot all amid the fuitor throng,
They feast, they dance, and raise the mirthful
fong.

Till now, declining toward the close of day,
The fun obliquely fhot his dewy ray.

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The beggar Irus infalts Ulyffes; the fuitors promote the quarrel, in which Irus is worfled, and miserably handled. Penelope defcends, and receives the prefents of the fuitors.

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The dialogue of Ulyffes with Eurymachus.

To whom Antinous: Lo! enrich'd with blood, so
A kid's well-fatted entrails (talteful food)
On glowing embers lie; on him bestow
The choiceft portion who fubdues his foe;

5 Grant him unrivali'd in thefe walls to stay,
The fole attendant on the genial day.

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From his own roof, with meditated blows, He ftrove to drive the man of mighty woes. Hence, dotard, hence! and timely speed thy way, Left dragg'd in vengeance thou repent thy ftay; 15 See how with nods affent yon princely train! But, honouring age, in mercy I restrain!

In peace away! left, if perfuafions fail,

This arm with blows more eloquent prevail.

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The lords applaud: Ulyffes then with art, And fears well feign'd, difguis'd his dauntless heart: Worn as I an with age, decay'd with woe, Say, is it bafenefs to decline the foe? Hard conflict! when calamity and age With vigorous youth, unknown to cares, engage! Yet, fearful of difgrace, to try the day Imperious hunger bids, and I obey; But fwear, impartial arbiters of right, Swear to ftand neutral, while we cope in fight. 65 The peers affent: when straight his facred head Telemachus uprais'd, and sternly faid:

Stranger, if prompted to chaftife the wrong

To whom, with stern regard : Oh infolence, 20 Of this bold infolent; confide, be strong!
Indecently to rail without offence;

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And what man gives, the Gods by man bestow;
Proud as thou art, henceforth no more be proud,
Left I imprint my vengeance in thy blood;
Old as I am, fhould once my fury burn,
How would'nt thou fly, nor ev'n in thought return?
Mere woman-glutton! (thus the churl reply'd)
A tongue fo flippant, with a throat fo wide!
Why ceafe I, Gods! to dafh thofe teeth away,
Like fome wild boar's, that, greedy of his prey, 35
Uproots the bearded corn? Rife, try the fight,
Gird well thy loins, approach and feel my might:
Sure of defeat, before the peers engage;
Unequal fight! when youth contends with age!
Thus in a wordy war their tongus display
More fierce intents, preluding to the fray;
Antinous hears, and, in a jovial vein,
Thus with loud laughter to the fuitor-train :
This happy day in mirth, my friends, employ,
And lo! the Gods confpire to crown our joy.
See ready for the fight, and hand to hand,
Yon furly mendicants contentious fand;

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Why urge we not to blows? Well pleas'd they, [pring

Swift from their feats, and thickening form a ring.

Th' injurious Greek, that dares attempt a blow, 70 That inftant makes Telemachus his foe;

And these my friends † fhall guard the facred ties Of hofpitality, for they are wife.

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Then, girding his ftrong loins, the king prepares To clofe in combat, and his body bares; Broad fpread his fhoulders, and his nervous thighs By just degrees, like well-turn'd columns, rife; Ample his cheft, his arms are round and long, And each strong joint Minerva knits more strong. (Attendant on her chief): the fuitor-crowd With wonder gaze, and gazing speak aloud: Irus! alas! fhall Irus be no more? Black fate impends, and this th' avenging hour! Gods! how his nerves a matchlefs ftrength preclaim, {frame?

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Swell o'er his well-ftrung limbs, and brace his
Then, pale with fears, and fickening at the fight,
They dragg'd th' unwilling Irus to the fight;
From his blank vifage fled the coward blood,
And his flesh trembled as aghast he stood.
Ob, that such baseness should disgrace the light!90
O hide it, Death, in everlasting night!
(Exclaims Antinous) can a vigorous foe
Meanly decline to combat age and woe?
But hear me, wretch! if recreant in the fray,
That huge bulk yield this ill-contested day.
Inftant thou fail't, to Echetus refign'd;
A tyrant, fierceft of the tyrant kind,

† Antinous and Eurymachus.

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Who cafts thy mangled ears and nofe a prey
To hungry dogs, and lops the man away.

Anon from Heaven a fad reverfe he feels:
Untaught to hear, 'gainst Heaven the wretch rebels.

While with indignant fcorn he fternly fpoke, 100 For man is changeful, as his blifs of woe;

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Too high when profperous, when distress'd to low.
stands,There was a day, when with the fcornful great 155
I fwell'd in pomp and arrogance of state;
Proud of the power that to high birth belongs;
And us'd that power to justify my wrongs.
Then let not man be proud; but, firm of mind,
Bear the best humbly, and the worst refign'd: 170
Be dumb when Heaven afflicts! unlike yon train
Of haughty fpoilers, infolently vain;
Who make their queen and all her wealth a prey;
But vengeance and Ulyffes wing their way.
Oh may't thou, favour'd by fome guardian Power,
Far, far be diftant in that deathful hour!
For fure I am, if ftern Ulyffes breathe,
Thefe lawlefs riots end in blood and death.
Then to the Gods the rofy juice he pours,
And the drain'd goblet to the chief restores.
Stung to the foul, o'ercaft with holy dread,
He fhook the graceful honours of his head;
His boding mind the future woe foreftalls;
in vain! by great Telemachus he falls,
For Pallas feals his doom: all fad he turns
To join the peers; refumes his throne, and moures.
Mean while Minerva with inftinctive fires

In every joint the trembling Irus fhook;
Now front to front each frowning champion
And poifes high in air his adverfe hands.
The chief yet doubts, or to the fhades below
To fell the giant at one vengeful blow,
Or fave his life; and foon his life to fave
The king refolves, for Mercy fways the brave.
That inftant Irus his huge arm extends,
Full on the shoulder the rude wight defcends:
The fage Ulyffes, fearful to difclofe
The hero latent in the man of woes,
Check'd half his might; yet rifing to the ftroke,
His jaw-bone dafh'd, the crashing jaw-bone broke:
Down dropp'd he ftupid from the stunning wound;
His feet, extended, quivering beat the ground; 115
His mouth and noftrils fpout a purple flood;
His teeth, all fhatter'd, rufh inmix'd with blood.
The peers tranfported, as outstretch'd he lies,
With burfts of laughter rend the vaulted skies!
Then dragg'd along, all bleeding from the wound,
His length of carcafe trailing prints the ground;
Rais'd on his feet, again he reels, he falls,
Till propp'd, reclining on the palace walls:
Then to his hand a staff the victor gave,
And thus with just reproach address'd the flave: 125
There, terrible, affright the dogs, and reign
A dreaded tyrant o'er the bestial train!
But mercy to the poor and stranger fhow,
Left Heaven in vengeance fend fome mightier woc.
Scornful he spoke, and o'er his fhoulder flung 130
The broad-patch'd fcrip; the ferip in tatters hung
Ill-join'd, and knotted to a twisted thong.
Then, turning fhort, difdain'd a further stay;
But to the palace measur'd back the way.
There as he refted, gathering in a ring
The peers with fmiles addrefs'd their unknown
king:

Stranger, may Jove and all th' aerial Powers,
With every bleffing crown thy happy hours!
Our freedom to thy prowefs'd arm we owe
From bold intrufion of thy coward foe:
Inftant the flying fail the flave fhall wing
To Echetus, the monster of a king.

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While pleas'd he hears, Antinous bears the food,
A kid's well fatted entrails, rich with blood:
The bread from canisters of fhining mold
Amphinous; and wines that laugh in gold:
And, oh! (he mildly cries) may Heaven difplay
A beam of glory o'er thy future day!
Alas! the brave too oft is doom'd to bear
The gripes of poverty, and ftings of care.

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I feel an impulfe, though my foul difdains;
To my lov'd fon the fnares of death to show,
And in the traitor-friend unmask the foe;
Who, fmooth of tongue, in purpofe infincere,
Hides fraud in fmiles, while death is ambufh'd
there.

Go, warn thy fon, nor be the warning vain, (Reply'd the fageft of the royal train)

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14 But bath'd, anointed, and adorn'd, defcend;
Powerful of charms, bid every grace attend;
The tide of flowing tears awhile fupprefs;
Tears but indulge the forrow, not reprefs.
Some joy remains: to thee a fon is given,
Such as, in fondness, parents afk of Heaven.
Ah me! forbear, returns the queen, forbear;
Oh! talk not, talk not of vain beauty's care; 310
No more I bathe, fince he no longer fees
Thofe charms, for whom alone I wish to please.
The day that bore Ulyffes from this coaft,
Blafted the little bloom thefe cheeks could boaft.
But inftant bid Autonoè defcend,
Inftant Hippodamè our steps attend;
Ill fuits it female virtue to be seen
Alone, indecent, in the walks of men.

150

To whom with thought mature the king re-
plies;

The tongue fpeaks wifely, when the foul is wife;
Such was thy father! in imperial state,
Great without vice, that oft attends the great:
Nor from the fire art thou, the fon, declin'd; 155
Then hear my words, and, grave them in thy
mind!

Of all that breathes, or groveling creeps on earth,
Moft vain is man! calamitous by birth:
To day, with power elate, in ftrength he blooms;
The haughty creature on that power prefumes: 160

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Then, while Eurynomè the mandate bears,
From heaven Minerva fhoots with guardian cares;
O'er all her fenfes, as the couch the dress'd,
She pours a pleafing, deep, and deathlike rest,
With every beauty every feature arms,
Bids her cheeks glow, and lights up all her charms.

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In her love darting eyes awakes the fires,
Immortal gifts to kindle foft defires)
From I mb to limb an air majestic fheds,
And the pure ivory o'er her bofom fpreads.
Such Venus fhines, when with a meafur'd bound
esmoothly gliding fwims th' harmonious round
When with the Graces in the dance the moves,
And fires the gazing Gods with ardent loves.
Then to the fkies her flight Minerva bet/s,
Lad to the queen the damiel-train defcends;
Mac'd at their steps, her flowing eyes unclefe; 235
Tre tear the wipes, and thus reuews her woes:
Howe'er 'tis well that fleep awhile can free,
With foft forgetfuluefs, a wretch like me;

wore it given to yield this tranfient breath,
, O Diana, fund the fleep of death:
ry muft 1 waite a tedious life in tears,
or bury in the filent grave my cares?
my Ulyffes! ever honour'd naine !

thee i mourn, till death diffolves my frame. Thas wailing, flow and sadly the defcends, n either hand a damfel-train attends:

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In rival crowds conteft the glorius prize,
Difpeopling realms to gaze upon thy eyes:
O woman lovelieft of the lovely kind,
In body perfe, and complete in mind!

290

Ah me returns the queen, when from this shore
Ulyffes fair'd, then beauty was no more!
The Gods decreed thefe eyes no more should keep295
Their wonted grace, but only ferve to weep.
Should he return, whate'er my beauties prove,
My virtues last; my brightest charm is love.
Now, grich, thou all art mine! the Gods o'ercaft
Aly foul with woes, that long, ah! long muft last!300
Too faithfully my heart retains the day
That fely tore my royal lord away:

He grap'd my and, and, O my ipoufe! I leave
Thy ans, (he cried,) perhaps to find a grave:
Fame fpeaks the Trojans bold; they boult the fkill
To give the feather'd arrow wings to kill,

To dart the fpear, and guide the rushing car
With dreadful inroad through the walks of war.
My fentence is gone forth, and 'tis decreed
Perhaps by righteous Heaven that I must bleed !310
My father, mother, all truft to thee;
To them, to them transfer thy love of me:
But, when my fon grows man, the royal fway

250 R fign, and happy be thy bridal day!

Such were his words; and Hymen now prepares 315
To light his torch and give me up to care's;
Th' afflictive hand of wrathful Jove to bear:
A wretch the molt complete tha' breathes the air!
Fall'a ev'n below the rights to woman due!
Careless to pleafe, with infolence ye woo!
The generous lovers, ftudions to fucceed,
Bid their whole herds and flocks in banquets bleed;
By precious gifts the vow fincere difplay:

260 You, only you, make her ye love your prey.

where the dome its fhining valves expands, adiant before the gazing peers the ftands; veil, tranflucent o'er her bow display'd, r beauty feems, and only feems, to fhade: dden fhe lighters in their dazzled eyes, ad fudden flames in every hofom rife; ey fend their eager fouls with every look, filence thus th' imperial matron broke: Oh why! my fon, why now no more appears 255 at warmth of foul that urg'd thy younger years? y riper days no growing worth impart, man in ftature, ftill a boy in heart! by well-knit frame unprofitably strong, eaks thee an hero from an hero fprung; the just Gods in vain those gifts beflow, wife alone in form, and brave in fhow! favers' could a stranger feel oppreffion's hand neath thy roof, and could't thou tamely ftand? thou the tranger's righteous caufe decline, 265 is is the fufferance, but the fhame is thine. To whom, with filial awe, the prince returns: aat generous foul with just refentment burns; t, taught by time, my heart has learn'd to glow, others' good, and melt at others' woe: t, impotent thefe riots to repel, bear their outrage, though my foul rebel : elpless amid the fnares of death I tread, ad numbers leagued in impious union dread, t now no crime is theirs: this wrong proceeds om Irus, and the guilty Irus bleeds. would to Jove or her whofe arms difplay be field of Jove, or him who rules the day! yon proud fuitors, who licentious tread befe courts, within thefe courts like Irus bled: 280 Thofe loofe head tottering, as with wine opprefs'd, liquely drops, and nodding knocks his breaft; werlefs to move, his staggering feet deny The coward wretch the privilege to fly. Then to the queen Eurymachus replies: bjuùly lov'd," and not more fair than wife : cald Greece through'all her hundred ftates furvey hy finifh'd charms, ail Greece would own thy fway; YOL. VI.

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Well-pleas'd Ulyffes hears his queen deceive 345
The fuitor train, and raise a thirst to give :
Falfe hopes the kindles, but thofe hopes betray,
And promife, yet clude the bridal day.

While yet the fpeaks, the gay Antinous cries:
Offspring of kings, and more than woman wife: 330
'Tis right; 'tis man's prerogative to give,
And cuftem bids thee without fhame receive;
Yet never, never from thy dome we move,
Till Hymen lights the torch of fpoufal love.

340

The peers difpatch their heralds, to convey 335
The gifts of love; with speed they take the way.
A robe Antinous gives of thining dyes,
The varying hues in gay confufion rife
Rich from the artist's hand! Twelve clafps of gold
Clofe to the leffening loins the vett infold;
Down from the fwelling waift the vest unbound
Floats in bright waves redundant o'er the ground.
That fhot effulgence like the folar ray,
A bracelet rich with gold, with amber gay,
Eurymachus prefents: and ear-rings bright, 345
With triple fars, that call a trembling light.
Pifander bears a necklace wrought with art:
And every peer, expreffive of his heart,
A gift bellows: this done, the queen afcends,
And flow behind her damfel train attends.

350

Then to the dance they form the vocal train.
Till Hefperus head, forth the ftarry train;
And now he relies, a the day light fades,
His goblen circles in the deepening fhades :

M m

Three vafes heap'd with copious fires difplay
O'er all the palace a fictitious day;
From space to space the torch wide-beaming burns,
And fprightly damfels trim the rays by turns.

355 | Or fhould we labour, while the ploughfare wound
With fteers of equal frength, th' allotted ground
Beneath my labour how thy wondering eyes
Might fee the fable field at once arife!
Should Jove dire war unloofe; with fpear and hid
And nodding helm, I tread th' enfanguin'd find.
Fierce in the van: then would'ft thou, wea
thou,-fay,-

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365

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To whom the king: Il fuits your fex to flay Alone with men! ye modeft maids, away! Go, with the queen the fpindle guide; or cull (The partners of her cares) the filver wool; Be it my task the torches to fupply, Ev'n till the morning lamp adorns the sky; Ev'n till the morning, with unwearied care, Eleepless I watch; for I have learn'd to bear. Scornful they heard: Melanthio, fair and young, (Melanthio from the loins of Delius fprung, Who with the queen her years an infant led, With the foft fonduefs of a daughter bred) Chiefly derides: regardless of the cares Her queen endures, polluted joys she shares Nocturnal with Eurymachus! With eyes That fpeak difdain, the wanton thus replies: Oh! whither wanders thy diftemper'd brain Thou bold intruder on a princely train? Hence to the vagrant's rendezvous repair; Or fhun in fome black forge the midnight air. Proceeds this boldnefs from a turn of foul, Or flows licentious from the copious bowl? Is it that vanquish'd Irus fwells thy mind? A foe may meet thee of a braver kind. Who, hortening with a ftorm of blows thy stay, Shall fend thee howling all in blood away!

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To whom with frowns: O impudent in wrong! Thy lord fhall curb that infolence of tongue : Know, to Telemachus I tell th' offence; The fcourge, the fcourge fhall lafh thee into fenfe. With conscious fhame they hear the ftern rebuke Nor longer durft fuftain the fovereign look.

390

Then to the fervile tafk the monarch turns His royal hands: each torch refulgent burns With added day: mean while, in mufeful mood Abforpt in thought, on vengeance fix'd he ftood. And now the Martial Maid, by deeper wrongs 395 To roufe Ulyffes, points the fuitors tongues, Scornful of age to taunt the virtuous man: Thoughtless and gay, Eurymachus began: Hear me (he cries) confederates and friends! Some God, no doubt, this ranger kindly fends:

--

400

The fhining baldness of his beard furvey,
It aids our torch-light and reflects the ray-
Then to the king that level'd haughty Troy,
Say, if large hire can tempt thee to employ
Thofe hands in work; to tend the rural trade, 405
To drefs the walk, and form th' embowering fhade?
So food and raiment conftant will I give :
Put idly thus thy feul prefers to live,
And farve by ftrolling, not by work to thrive. S
To whom incens'd: Should we, O prince! en,
gage
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In rival talks beneath the burning rage Of fummer funs; were both constrain'd to wield, •Foodless, the scythe along the burthen'd field;

Mifname me, glutton, in that glorious day?
No, thy ill-judging thoughts the brave difgra;
'Tis thou injurious art, not I am bafe.
Proud to feem brave among a coward train!
But know, thou art not valorous, but vain.
Gods! fhould the ftern Ulyffes rife in might,
Thefe gates would feem too narrow for thy g
While yet he fpeaks, Eurymachus replies,
With indignation flashing from his eyes:

Slave, I with juftice might deferve the wrong 4
Should I not punish that opprobrious tongue,
Irreverend to the great, and uncontrol'd,
Art thou from wine, or innate folly, bold?
Perhaps thefe outrages from Irus flow,
A worthlefs triumph o'er a worthless foe:

He faid, and with full force a footstool threw; Whirl'd from his arm, with erring rage it few Ulyffes, cautious of the vengeful foe, Stoops to the ground, and difappoints the blow Not fo a youth who deals the goblet round, Full on his fhoulders it infii&s a wound, Dash'd from his hand the founding goblet flies, He fhricks, he reels, he falls, and breathlesh

Then wild uproar and clamour mount the Till mutual thus the peers indignant cry: Oh! had this ftranger funk to realms beneath, To the black realms of darkness and of death, Ere yet he trod thefe fhores! to ftrife he draws Peer against peer; and what the weighty caule A vagabond! for him the great destroy, In vile ignoble jars, the feaft of joy.

To whom the ftern Telemachus uprofe: Gods! what wild folly from the goblet flows? Whence this unguarded opennefs of soul, But from the licence of the copious bowl? Or Heaven delufion fends: but hence, away! Force I forbear, and without force obey.

Silent, abafh'd, they hear the stern rebuke, Till thus Amphinomus the filence broke:

True are his words, and he whom truth offen Not with Telemachus, but truth contends; Let not the hand of violence invade The reverend ftranger, or the fpotlefs maid; Retire we hence, but crown with rofy wine The flowing goblet to the Powers divine: Guard he his gucft beneath whofe roof he flaud This juftice, this the focial rite demands.

The peers affent: the goblet Mulius crown With purple juice, and bcre in order round; Each peer fucceffive his libation pours To the bleft Gods who fill th' aerial bowers; Then, fwill'd with wine, with noife the crowdso And rulling forth tumultuous reel away.

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