Such dogs and men there are; mere things of state, And always cherish'd by their friends, the great.' 'Not Argus so (Eumæus thus rejoin'd), But served a master of a nobler kind: Who never, never shall behold him more! Him no fell savage on the plain withstood, Makes man a slave, takes half his worth away.' HOMER. POPE. THE REVEALING OF ULYSSES. AND now his well known bow the master bore, While some deriding-' How he turns the bow! Heedless he heard them :-but disdain'd reply; The bow perusing with exactest eye. Then, as some heavenly minstrel, taught to sing VOL. VI. G Now, sitting as he was, the cord he drew, Through every ringlet leveling his view; Then notch'd the shaft, released, and gave it wing; The whizzing arrow vanish'd from the string, Sung on direct, and threaded every ring. The solid gate its fury scarcely bounds; Pierced through and through the solid gate resounds. [shame: Then to the prince— Nor have I wrought thee Nor err'd this hand unfaithful to its aim; Nor proved the toil too hard; nor have I lost That ancient vigour, once my pride and boast. Ill I deserve these haughty peers' disdain :Now let them comfort their dejected train: In sweet repast the present hour employ, Nor wait till evening for the genial joy : Then to the lute's soft voice prolong the night;Music, the banquet's most refined delight.' He said, then gave a nod ;—and at the word Telemachus girds on his shining sword. Fast by his father's side he takes his stand; The beamy javelin lightens in his hand. Then fierce the hero o'er the threshold strode; Stripp'd of his rags, he blazed out like a god. Full in their face the lifted bow he bore, And quiver'd deaths, a formidable store; Before his feet the rattling shower he threw, And thus terrific, to the suitor crew 'One venturous game this hand has won to-day; Another, princes! yet remains to play: Another mark our arrow must attain. Phoebus, assist! nor be the labour vain.' Swift as the word the parting arrow sings; And bears thy fate, Antinoüs, on its wings. Wretch that he was, of unprophetic soul! The tumbling goblet the wide floor o'erflows, Before him spurn'd, the loaded table falls, 'Dogs, ye have had your day :-ye fear'd no Ulysses vengeful from the Trojan shore; [more While to your lust and spoil a guardless prey, Our house,our wealth,our helpless handmaids lay: Not so content, with bolder frenzy fired, Or Fame's eternal voice in future days: Thus dreadful he. Confused the suitors stood; From their pale cheeks recedes the flying blood: Trembling they sought their guilty heads to hide; Alone the bold Eurymachus replied 'If, as thy words import (he thus began), Ulysses lives, and thou the mighty man, Great are thy wrongs, and much hast thou sustain'd In thy spoil'd palace, and exhausted land. The cause and author of those guilty deeds, Lo! at thy feet unjust Antinous bleeds. Not love, but wild ambition, was his guide: To slay thy son, thy kingdoms to divide, These were his aims;-but juster Jove denied. Since cold in death the' offender lies, O spare Thy suppliant people, and receive their prayer! Brass, gold, and treasures shall the spoil defray : Two hundred oxen every prince shall pay ; The waste of years refunded in a day. Till then thy wrath is just.'Ulysses burn'd With high disdain, and sternly thus return'd— 'All, all the treasures that enrich'd our throne Before your rapines, join'd with all your own, If offer'd, vainly should for mercy call: "Tis you that offer, and I scorn them all. Your blood is my demand! your lives the prize, Till pale as yonder wretch each suitor lies. |