He ceas'd; nor made the penfive queen reply,
But droop'd her head, and drew a fecret figh.
When Theolclymerus the feer began:
O fuffering confort of the fuffering man!
What human knowledge could, thofe kings might
But I the secrets of high Heaven reveal.
[tell;
Before the firft of Gods be this declar'd,
Before the board whofe bleflings we have fhar'd:
Witness the genial rites, and witnefs all
This house holds facred in her ample wall!
Ev'n now this inftant, great Ulyffes lay'd
At reft, or wandering in his country's ihade,
Their guilty deeds, in hearing and in view,
Secret revolves; and plans the vengeance due.
Of this fure auguries the Gods bestow'd,
When first our veffel anchor'd in your road.
Succeed thofe omens, Heaven! (the queen re-
juin'd)

So fhall our bounties speak a grateful mind;
And every envied happiness attend
The man, who calls Penelope his friend.

Thus commun'd they: while in the marble court
(Scene of their infolence) the lords refort;
Athwart the spacious íquare each tries his art,
To whirl the disk, or aim the miffile dart.

Now did the hour of fweet repast arrive, And from the field the victim flocks they drive; Mcdon the herald (one who pleas'd them beft, And honour'd with a portion of their feaft) To bid the banquet, interrupts their play. Swift to the hall they hafte; afide they lay Their garments, and, fuccinct, the victims flay.. Then sheep and goats, and briftly porkers bled, And the proud fteer was o'er the marble fpread. While thus the copious banquet they provide; Along the road converfing fide by fide, Proceed Ulyffes and the faithful fwain: When thus Eumæus, generous and humane:

To town, obfervant of our lord's beheft,
Now let us fpeed: my friend, no more my guest!
Yet like myself I wifh'd thee here preferr'd,
Guard of the flock or keeper of the herd.
But much to raife my matter's wrath I fear;
The wrath of princes ever is fevere.

Then heed his will, and be our journey made
While the broad beams of Phoebus are difplay'd,
Or ere brown evening spreads her chilly fhade.

Just thy advice, (the prudent chief rejoin'd)
And fuch as fuits the dictate of my mind.
Lead on: but help me to fome staff, to stay
My feeble step, fince rugged is the way.

Across his fhoulders then the fcrip he flung,
Wide-patch'd, and faften'd by a twisted thong.
A ftaff Eumæus gave. Along the way
Cheerly they fare: behind, the keepers stay;
These with their watchful dogs (a conftant guard)
Supply his abfence, and attend the herd.
And now his city ftrikes the monarch's eyes,
Alas! how chang'd! a man of miseries;
Propp'd on a fta, a beggar old and bare,
In rags difhoneft fluttering with the air!
Now país'd the rugged road, they journey down
The cavern'd way defcending to the town,
Where, from the rock, with liquid lapfe diftils
A limpid fount; that, fpreads in parting rills,
Its current thence to ferve the city brings:
Ap afeful work adorn'd by ancient kings,

Neritus, Ithacus, Polyctor, there,

In fculptur'd stone immortaliz'd their care,
In marble urns receiv'd it from above,
And shaded with a green furrounding grove;
Where filver alders, in high arches twin'd,
Drink the cold ftream, and tremble to the wind,
Beneath, fequefter'd to the nymphs, is feen
A moffy altar, deep embower'd in green;
Where conftant vows by travellers are paid,
And holy horrors folemnize the shade.

Here with his goats (not vow'd to facred flame,
But pamper'd luxury) Melanthius came :
Two grooms attend him. With an envious ook
He ey'd the ftranger, and imperious spoke :

The good old proverb how this pair fulfil!
One rogue is ufher to another still.
Heaven with a fecret principle endued
Mankind, to feek their own fimilitude. [gueft?
Where goes the fwine-herd with that ill-look'd
That giant glutton, dreadful at a fealt?
Full many a poft have those broad shoulders worn,
From every great man's gate repuls'd with fcorn;
To no brave prize alpir'd the worthlefs fwain,
'Twas but for fcraps he afk'd, and aik'd in vain.
To beg, than work, he better understands;
Or we perhaps might take him off thy hands,
For any office could the flave be good,
To cleanfe the fold, or help the kids to food;
If any labour thofe big joints could learn,
Some whey, to wash his bowels, he might earn.
To cringe, to whine, his idle hands to fpread,
Is all, by which that graceless maw is fed.
Yet hear me if thy impudence but dare
Approach yon walls, I prophefy thy fare:
Dearly, full dearly, fhalt thou buy thy bread
With many a footstool thundering at thy head.
He thus: nor infolent of word alone,
Spurn'd with his ruftic heel his king unknown;
Spurn'd, but not mov'd: he like a pillar ftood,
Nor stirr'd an inch, contemptuous, from the road:
Doubtful, or with his staff to ftrike him dead,
Or greet the pavement with his worthless head. .
Short was that doubt; to quell his rage inur'd,
The hero ftood felf-conquer'd, and endur'd.
But, hateful of the wretch, Eumæus heav'd
His hands obtefting, and this prayer conceiv'd:
Daughters of Jove! who from th' æthereal bowers
Defcend to fwell the springs, and feed the flowers!
Nymphs of this fountain: to whofe facred names
Our rural victims mount in blazing flames!
To whom Ulyffes' piety preferr'd

The yearly firstlings of his flock and herd;
Succeed my wish; your votary restore:
Oh, be fome God his convoy to our shore!
Due pains fhall punish then this flave's offence,
And humble all his airs of infolence,

Who, proudly ftalking, leaves the herds at large,
Commences courtier, and neglects his charge.

What mutters he? (Melanthius fharp rejoins) This crafty mifcreant big with dark designs! The day hall come; nay, 'tis already near, When, ilave! to fell thee at a price too dear, Must be my care; and hence traniport thee o'er, (A load and fcandal to this happy fhore). Oh! that as furely great Apollo's dart, Or fome brave fuitor's fword, might pierce the

heart

Of the proud fon; as that we ftand this hour
In lafting fafety from the father's power!

So fpoke the wretch, but, fhunning farther fray, [way. Turn'd his proud ftep, and left them on their Straight to the feaftful palace he repair'd, Familiar enter'd, and the banquet fhar'd; Beneath Eurymachus, his patron lord,

He took his place, and plenty heap'd the board.
Mean time they heard, foft-circling in the iky,
Sweet airs afcend, and heavenly minstrelly
(For Phemius to the lyre attun'd the strain):
Ulyffes hearken'd, then addrefs'd the fwain:

Well may this palace admiration claim,
Great, and refpondent to the master's fame!
Stage above ftage th' imperial structure stands,
Holds the chief honours, and the town commands:
High walls and battlements the courts enclose,
And the ftrong guefts defy an host of foes.
Far other cares its dwellers now employ:
The throng'd affembly, and the feast of joy:
I fee the fmokes of facrifice afpire,
And hear (what graces every feast) the lyre.

Then thus Eumæus: Judge we which were beft; Amidft yon revellers a fudden guest 'Choose you to mingle, while behind I stay? Or I first entering introduce the way? Wait for a space without, but wait not long; This is the houfe of violence and wrong: Some rude infult thy reverend age may bear; For like their lawless lords the fervants are.

Juft is, O friend! thy caution, and addrefs'd (Replied the chief) to no unheedful breaft;

The wrongs and injuries of bafe mankind Fresh to my fenfe, and always in my mind. The bravely-patient to no fortune yields: On rolling oceans, and in fighting fields, Storms have I país'd, and many a stern debate; And now in humbler fcene fubmit to Fate. What cannot Want? The bleft the will expofe, And I am learn'd in all her train of woes; She fills with navies, hofts, and loud alarms, The fea, the land, and fhakes the world with arms!

Thus, near the gates conferring as they drew, Argus, the dog, his ancient mafter knew; He, not unconfcious of the voice and tread. Lifts to the found his ear, and rears his head; Bred by Ulyffes, nourish'd at his board, But, ah not fated long to please his lord! To him, his fwiftnefs and his ftrength were vain; The voice of glory call'd him o'er the main. Till then in every fylvan chafe renown'd, With Argus, Argus, rung the woods around; With him the youth purfu'd the goat or fawn, Or trac'd the mazy leveret c'er the lawn. Now left to man's ingratitude he lay, Unhous'd, neglected in the public way; And where on heaps the rich manure was fpread, Obfcene with reptiles, took his fclid bed.

He knew his lord; he knew, and ftrove to meet;

In vain he ftrove to crawl, and kifs his feet;
Yet (all he could) his tail, his ears, his eyes,
Salute his mailer, and contess his joys.
Soft pity touch'd the mighty mafter's foul;
Adown his check a tear unbidden stole,

Stole unperceiv'd; he turn'd his head, and dry'd

The drop humane: then thus impaffion'd cry'd:
What noble beast in this abandon'd state
Lies here all helpless at Ulyffes' gate?
His bulk and beauty speak no vulgar praife;
If as he seems he was in better days,
Some care his age deferves: or was he priz'd
For worthless beauty! therefore now defpis'd?
Such dogs and men there are, mere things of ftate,
And always cherish'd by their friends, the Great
Not Argus fo (Eumæus thus rejoin'd)
But ferv'd a master of a nobler kind,
Who never, never fhall behold him more !
Long, long fince perish'd on a diftant shore!
Oh! had you feen him, vigorous, bold, and young,
Swift as a stag, and as a lion strong;

Him no fell favage on the plain withstood,
None 'fcap'd him, bofom'd in the gloomy wood;
His eye how piercing, and his fcent how true,
To wind the vapour in the tainted dew!
Such, when Ulyffes left his natal coaft;
Now years unnerve him, and his lord is loft!
The women keep the generous creature bare
A fleek and idle race is all their care:
The mafter gone, the fervants what reftrains?
Or dwells humanity where riot reigns?
Jove fix'd it certain, that whatever day
Makes man a flave, takes half his worth away.

This faid, the honest herdiman strode before;
The mufing monarch panfes at the door :
The dog, whom Fate had granted to behold
His lord, when twenty tedious years had roll'd
Takes a laft look, and, having feen him, dies;
So clos'd for ever faithful Argus' eyes!

And now Telemachus, the first of all,
Obferv'd Eumæus entering in the hall;
Diftant he faw, acrofs the fhady dome;
Then gave a fign, and beckon'd him to come:
There stood an empty feat, where late was plac'd
In order due, the fteward of the feaft
(Who now was bufied carving round the board);
Eumæus took, and plac'd it near his lord.
Before him inftant was the banquet fpread,
And the bright basket pil'd with loaves of bread.
Next came Ulyffes, lowly at the door,

A figure despicable, old, and poor,
in fqualid vefts, with many a gaping rent,
Propp'd on a staff, and trembling as he went,
Then, resting on the threshold of the gate,
Against a cyprefs pillar lean'd his weight
(Smooth'd by the workman to a polish'd plain);
The thoughtful fon beheld, and call'd his fwain:
Thefe viands, and this bread, Eumæus bear,
And let yon medicant our plenty thare:
Then let him circle round the fuitor's board,
And try the bounty of each gracious lord:
Bold let him act, encourag'd thus by me;
How ill, alas! do want and fhame agree!

His lord's command the faithful fervant bea s;
The feeming beggar aniwers with his prayers.
Bleft be Telemachus? in every deed
Infpire him, Jove! in every with fucceed!

his faid, the portion from his fon convey'd With fimiles receiving on his fcrip he lay'd. Long as the minstrel fwept the founding wire, He fed, and ceas'd' when filence held the lyre.

But for mere want, how hard to suffer wrong!
Want brings enough of other ills along!
Yet, if injuftice never be fecure,

If fiends revenge, and Gods affert the poor,
Death fhall lay low the proud aggreffor's head,
And make the duft Antinous' bridal bed.

Peace, wretch! and eat thy bread without offence,

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

His furious deed the general anger mov'd, All, ev'n the worst, condemn: and some reprov'd. Was ever chief for wars like thefe renown'd? Ill fits the ftranger 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 theie, 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 fhook: While thus his mother to her virgins spoke : "On him and his may the bright God of day "That bafe, inhospitable blow repay!" The nurie replies: "If Jove receives my prayer, Not one furvives to breathe to-morrow's air." All, all are foes, and mifchief is their end; Antinous moft to gloomy death a friend; (Replies the queen) the stranger begg'd their grace,

And melting pity foften'd every face;
From every other hand redrefs he found,
But fell Antinous anfwer'd with a wound.
Amidft her maids thus fpoke the prudent queen,
Then bade Eumæus call the pilgrim in.
Much of the' experienc'd man I long to hear,
If or his certain eye, or liftening ear,
Have learn'd the fortunes of my wandering lord?
Thus fhe, and good Emæus took the word

A private audience if thy grace impart,
The stranger's words may ease thy royal heart.
His facred eloquence in balm diftils,

And the footh'd heart with fecret pleature fills.
Three days have spent their beams, three nights

have run

Their filent journey, fince his tale begun,
Unfinish'd yet! and yet I thirst to hear,
As when fome Heaven-taught poet charmsthe ear,
(Sufpending forrow with celeftial train.
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.
He now but waits the wind, to waft him o'er,
With boundles treature, from Thefprotia's thore.

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?

She Spoke. Telemachus then fneez'd aloud; Constrain'd, his noftril echo'd through the crowd.

The fmiling queen the happy omen bless'd:
"So may thefe impious fall, by fate oppress'd!"
Then to Eumæus: Bring the stranger, Ay !
And if my questions meet a true reply,
Grac'd with a decent robe he shall retire,
A gift in season which his wants require.
Thus fpoke Penelope. Eumæus flies
In duteous hafte, and to Ulyffes cries:
The Queen invites thee, venerable gueft!
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 fubject fhall fupply.

Fair truth alone (the patient man reply'd)
My words thall dictate, and my lips shall 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 claim my story till the fun descend;
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.

Swift to the queen returns the gentle swain: And fay, (the cries) does fear or fhame, detain The cautious ftranger? With the begging kind Shame fuits but ill. Enmæus thus rejoin'd:

He only asks a more propitious hour, And fluns (who would not?) wicked men in power;

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

Thus the Eumæus all her words attends,
And, parting, to the fuitor powers defcends;
There feeks Telemachus, and thus apart
In whispers breathes the fondness of his heart:
The time, my lord, invites me to repair
Hence to the lodge; my charge demands my care.
These fons of murder thirst thy life to take;
Oh guard it, guard it for thy fervant's fake!
Thanks to my friend, he cries; but now the
hour

Of night draws on, go seek 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 trust,
Safe in their care, for heaven protects the just.
Obfervant of his voice, Eumæus fate
And fed recumbent on a chair of state.
Then inftant rofe, and as he mov'd along
Twas riot all amid the fuitor throng,
They feaft, they dance, and raise the mirthful
fong.

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

WHILE fix'd in thought the pensive hero fate,

A mendicant approach'd the royal gate;

A furly vagrant of the giant kind,

The ftain of manhood, of a coward mind:
From feaft to feast, infatiate to devour
He flew, attendant on the genial hour.
Him on his mother's knees when babe he lay,
She nam'd Arnæus on his natal day:
But Irus his affociates call'd the boy,
Practis'd the common meffenger to fly;
Irus, a name expreffive of th' employ.

From his own roof, with meditated blows,
He strove to drive the man of mighty woes.
Hence, dotard, hence! and timely speed thy
way,

Left dragg'd in vengeance thou repent thy ftay;
See how with nods affent yon princely train!
But, honouring age, in mercy I refrain!
In peace away! left, if perfuafions fail,
This arm with blows more eloquent prevail.

To whom, with ftern regard: Oh infolence, Indecently to rail without offence;

What bounty gives, without a rival fhare;
I ask, what harms not thee, to breathe this air:
Alike on alms we both precarious live:
And canft thou envy when the great relieve?
Know, from the bounteous Heavens all riches
flow,

[turn?

And what man gives, the Gods by man beftow;
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't thou fly, nor ev'n in thought re-
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,
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 tongues difplay
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 ftand;
Why urge we not to blows? Well pleas'd they
fpring

Swift from their feats, and thickening form a ring.

Worn as I am 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 tand neutral, while we cope in fight. The peers affent: when ftraight his facred Telemachus uprais'd, and fternly faid: [head

Stranger, if prompted to chattife the wroug Of this bold infolent; confide, be strong! Th' injurious Greck, that dares attempt a blow, That inftant makes Telemachus his foe; And thefe my friends fhall guard the facred Of hofpitality, for they are wife.

[ties

Then, girding his ftrong loins, the king prepares
To close 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 ftrong 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
proclaim,
[frame?
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 aghaft he stood.

Oh, that fuch bafenefs fhould difgrace the fight
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'ft, to Echetus refign'd;
A tyrant, fierceft of the tyrant kind,

Antinous and Eurymachus