tions, as are conformable to the nature of the things they reprefent under thofe divinities. The cafe the fame in the morals of the deities: Miperva is wife, because the reprefents prudence; Venus is both good or bad, because the paffion of love is capable of these contrary qualities.

Since among the Gods of a poem fome are good, fome bad, and fome indifferently either; and fince of our paflions we make so many allegorical deities, we may attribute to the Gods all that is done in the poem, whether good or evil. But these deities do not act conftantly in one and the fame manner.

Sometimes they act invifibly, and by mere infpiration, which has nothing in it extraordinary or miraculous, being no more than what we fay every day, "That fome God has affifted us, or "fome dæmon has inftigated us."

At other times thy appear visibly, and manifeft themselves to men, in a manner altogether miraculons and preternatural.

The third way has fomething of both the others; it is in truth a miracle, but is not commonly fo accounted: this includes dreams, oracles, &c.

All these ways must be probable; for however neceffary the marvellous is to the Epic Action, as nothing is fo conducive to admiration; yet we can, on the other hand, admire nothing, that we think impoffible. Though the probability of these machines be of a very large extent, (fince it is founded upon Divine Power) it is not without limitations. There are numerous inftances of allowable and probable machines in the Epic Poem, where the Gods are no lefs actors than the men. But the lefs credible fort, such as metamorphofes, &c. are far more rare.

This fuggefts a reflection on the method of rendering thofe machines probable, which in their own nature are hardly fo. Thofe, which require only divine probability, fhould be fo difengaged from the action, that one might fubtract them from it, without deftroying the action. But thofe, which are effential and neceffary, fhould be grounded upon human probability, and not on the fole power of God. Thus the epifodes of Circe, the Syrens, Polyphemus, &c. are neceffary to the ac

tion of the Odyffey, and yet not humanly probable: yet Homer has artificially reduced them to human probability, by the fimplicity and ignorance of the Phæacians, before whom he cauíes thofe recitals to be made.

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The next question is, Where, and on what occafions, machines may be used? It is certain Homer and Virgil make ufe of them every where, and scarce fuffer any action to be performed without them. Petronius makes this a precept: "Perambages, deorumque minifteria, &c." The Gods are mentioned in the very propofition of their works, the invocation is addreft to them, and the whole narration is full of them. The Gods are the caufes of the action, they form the intrigue, and bring about the folution. The precept of Ariftotle and Horace, that the unravelling of the plot fhould not proceed from a miracle, or the appearance of a God, has place only in Dramatic Poetry, not in the Epic. For it is plain, that both in the folution of the Iliad and Odyffey, the Gods are concerned in the former, the deities meet to appease the anger of Achilles: Iris and Mercury are fent to that purpose, and Minerva eminently affifts Achilles in the decisive combat with Hector. In the Odyffey, the fame Goddess fights clofe by Ulyffes against the fuitors, and concludes that peace betwixt him and the Ithacenfians, which completes the poem.

We may therefore determine, that a machine is not an invention to extricate the poet out of any difficulty which embarraffes him: but that the prefence of a Divinity, and fome action furprifing and extraordinary, and inferted into almost all the parts of the work, in order to render it more majestic and more admirable. But this mixture ought to be fo made, that the machines might be retrenched, without taking any thing from the action: at the fame time that it gives the readers a leffon of piety and virtue; and teaches them, that the moft brave and the most wife can do nothing, and attain nothing great and glorious, without the affiftance of heaven. Thus the machinery crowns the whole work, and renders it at once marvellous, probable, and moral.

THE man, for wifdom's various arts renown'd,
Long exercis'd in woes, oh Muse! refound,
Who, when his arrns had wrought the deftin'd fall
Of facred Troy, and raz'd her heaven-built wall.
Wandering from clime to clime, obfervant stray'd,
Their manners not ed, and their states furvey'd,
On ftormy feas unnumber'd toils he bore,
Safe with his friends to gain his natal fhore:
Vain toils! their impious folly dar'd to prey
On herds devoted to the God of day;
The God vindictive doom'd them never more
(Ah, men unblefs'd!) to touch that natal shore.
Oh, fnatch fome portion of these acts from Fate,
Celestial Mufe! and to our world relate.

Now at their native realms the Greeks arriv'd;
All who the war of ten long years furviv'd,
And 'cap'd the perils of the gulfy main.
Ulyffes, fole of all the victor train,
An exile from his dear paternal coaft,
Deplor'd his abfent queen, and empire loft.
Calypfo in her caves constrain'd his stay,
With fweet, reluctant, amorous delay:
In vain--for now the circling years disclose
The day predeftin'd to reward his woes.
At length his Ithaca is given by fate,
Where yet new labours his arrival wait;
At length their rage the hoftile power restrain,
All but the ruthless monarch of the main.
But now the God, remote, a heavenly guest,
In Ethiopia grac'd the general feaft
(A race divided, whom with floping rays
The rifing and defcending fun furveys);
There on the world's extremeft verge, rever'd
With hecatombs and prayer in pomp preferr'd,
Distant he lay while in the bright abodes
Of high Olympus, Jove conven'd the Gods:
The affembly thus the Sire fupreme addreft,
Egyfthus' fate revolving in his breast,
Whom young Oreftes to the dreary coaft
Of Plato fent, a blood-polluted ghost.]

Perverse mankind! whofe wills, created free, Charge all their woes on abfolute decree; All to the dooming Gods their guilt tranflate, And follies are mifcall'd the crimes of fate. When to his luft Egyfthus gave the rein, Did fate, or we, th` adulterous act constrain? Did Fate, or we, when great Atrides dy'd, Urge the bold traitor to the regicide? Hermes I fent, while yet his foul remain'd Sincere from royal blood, and faith profan'd; To warn the wretch, that young Oreftes, grown To manly years, fhould re-affert the throne. Yet, impotent of mind, and uncontrol'd, He plung'd into the gulf which heaven foretold. Here paus'd the God; and penfive thus replies Minerva, graceful with her azure eyes: O thou! from whom the whole creation fprings, The fource of power on earth deriv'd to kings! His death was equal to the direful deed; So may the man of blood be doom'd to bleed! But grief and rage alternate wound my breast, For brave Ulyffes, ftill by Fate oppreft. Amidst an ifle, around whofe rocky shore The forefts murmur, and the furges roar, The blameless hero from his wifh'd-for home A goddess guards in her inchanted dome : (Atlas her fire, to whofe far-piercing eye The wonders of the deep expanded lie; Th' eternal columns which on earth he rears End in the starry vault, and prop the fpheres.) By his fair daughter is the chief confin'd, Who foothes to dear delight his anxious mind: Succefslefs all her foft careffes prove,

To banish from his breaft his country's love;
To fee the fmoke from his lov'd palace rise,
While the dear ifle in diftant profpect lies,
With what contentment would he clofe his
eyes?

And will Omnipotence neglect to fave
The fuffering virtue of the wife and brave?

Muft he, whofe altars on the Phrygian fhore
With frequent rites, and pure, avow'd thy power,'
Be doom'd the worit of human ills to prove,
Unblefs'd abandon'd to the wrath of Jove?
-Daughter! what words have pais'd thy lips un-
weigh'd?

(Reply'd the Thunderer to the martial maid)
Deem not unjustly by my doom oppreft
Of human race the wifeft and the best.
Neptune, by prayer repentant rarely won,
Afflicts the chief, t' avenge his giantafon,
Whofe vifual orb Ulyffes robb'd of light!
Great Polypheme, of more than mortal might!
Him young Thoöfa bore (the bright increase
Of Phorcys, dreaded in the founds and feas:
Whom Neptune ey'd with bloom of beauty bieft,
And in his eave the yielding nymph comprest.
For this, the God conftrains the Greek to roam,
A hopeless exile from his native home,
From death alone exempt---but cease to mourn!
Let all combine t' achieve his wifh'd return:
Neptune aton'd, his wrath shall now refrain,
Or thwart the fynod of the Gods in vain.

Father and king ador'd! Minerva cry'd,
Since all who in th' Olympian bower refide
Now make the wandering Greek their public care,
Let Hermes to th' Atlantic ifle repair;
Bid him, arriv'd in bright Calypfo's court,
The fanction of th' affembled powers report:
That wife Ulyffes to his native land
Muft speed, obedient to their high command.
Mean time Telemachus, the blooming heir
Of fea-girt Ithaca, demands my care:

Tis mine to form his green unpractis'd years,
In fage debates; furrounded with his peers,
To fave the state; and timely to restrain
The bold intrusion of the fuitor-train:
Who crowd his palace, and with lawless power
His herds and flocks in feastful rites devour.
To diftant Sparta, and the spacious wafte
Of fandy Pyle, the royal youth shall haße.
There, warm with filial love, the cause inquire
That from his realm retards his god-like fire:
Delivering early to the voice of fame
The promife of a great, immortal name,

She faid: the fandals of celestial mould, Fledg'd with anbrofial plumes, and rich with gold,

Surround her feet; with thefe fublime the fails
Th' ætherial space, and mounts the winged gales:
O'er earth and ocean wide prepar'd to foar,
Her dreaded arm a beamy javelin bore,
Ponderous and vaft; which, when her fury burns,
Proud tyrants humbles, and whole hofts o'erturns,
From high Olympus prone her flight the bends,
And in the realm of Ithaca defcends.
Her lineaments divine, the grave disguise
Of Mentes' form conceal'd from human eyes
(Mentes, the monarch of the Taphian land);
A glittering fpear wav'd awful in her hand.
There in the portal plac'd, the heaven-born maid
Enormous riot and mif-rule furvey'd.
On hides of beeves, before the palace gate,
(Sad spoils of luxury) the fuitors fate.
With rival art, and ardour in their mein,
At chefs they vie, to captivate the queen
#Orgygia,

Divining of their loves. Attending nigh
A menial train the flowing bow! fupply:
Others, apart, the fpacious hall prepare,
And form the coftly feaft with bufy care.
There young Telemachus, his bloomy face
Glowing celeftial Tweet, with godlike grace
Amid the circle fhines: but hope and fear
(Painful viciffitude !) his bofom tear.

Now, imag'd in his mind, he fees reftor'd
In peace and joy, the people's rightful lord;
The proud oppreffors fly the vengeful fword.
While his fond foul thefe fancied triumphs (well'd;
The ftranger gueft, the royal youth beheld;
Griev'd that a vifitant fo long fhould wait
Unmark'd, unhonour'd, at a monarch's gate;
Inftant he flew with hospitable haste,
And the new friend with courteous air embrac'd.
Stranger whoe er thou art, fecurely rest,
Affianc'd in my faith, a friendly gueft:
Approach the dome, the facial banquet share,
And then the purpose of thy foul declare.

Thus affable and mild, the prince precedes,
And to the dome th' unknown Celestial leads.
The fpear receiving from her hand, he plac'd
Against a column, fair with sculpture grac'd;
Where feemly rang'd in peaceful order flood
Ulyffes' arms, now long difus'd to blood.
He led the Goddess to the fovereign feat,
Her feet fupported with a stool of state
(A purple carpet fpread the pavement wide);
Then drew his feat, familiar to her fide;
Far from the fuitor-train, a brutal crowd,
With infolence, and wine, elate and loud:
Where the free guest, unnotic'd, might relate,
If haply conscious, of his father's fate.
The golden ewer a maid obfequious brings,
Replenish from the cool, tranflucent fprings;
With copious water the bright vase supplies
A filver laver, of capacious fize:

They wash. The tables in fair order spread,
They heap the glittering cannisters with bread
Viands of various kinds allure the tafte,
Of choiceft fort and favour, rich repaft!
Delicious wines th' attending herald brought;
The gold gave luftre to the purple draught.
Lur'd with the vapour of the fragrant feast,
In rufh'd the fuitors with voracious hafte:
Marshall'd in order due, to each a fewer
Prefents, to bathe his hands, a radiant ewer.
Luxuriant then they feast. Obfervant round
Gay ftripling youths the brimming goblets
crown'd.

The rage of hunger quell'd, they all advance,
And form to meafur'd airs the mazy dance:
To Phemius was confign'd the chorded lyre,
Whose hand reluctant touch'd the warbling

wire:

Phemius, whofe voice divine could sweetest fing High ftrains, refponfive to the vocal firing.

Mean while, in whispers to his heavenly guest His indignation thus the prince expreft: Indulge my rifing grief, whilst these (my friend) With long and dance the pompous revel end. Light is the dance, and doubly sweet the lays, When for the dear delight another pays, His treasur'd ftores thefe cormorants confume, Whose bones, defrauded of a regal tomb

And common turf, lie naked on the plain,
Or doom'd to welter in the whelming main.
Should he return, that troop fo blithe and bold,
With purple robes inwrought, and ftiff with gold,
Precipitant in fear would wing their flight,
And curfe their cumbrous pride's unwieldy weight.
But, ah, I dream!--th' appointed hour is fied!
And hope, too long with vain delufion fed,
Deaf to the rumour of fallacious fame,
Gives to the roll of death his glorious name!
With venial freedom let me now demand
Thy name, thy lineage, and paternal land :
Sincere, from whence began thy courfe, recite,
And to what thip I owe the friendly freight?
Now firft to me this vifit doft thou deign,
Or number'd in my father's focial train?
All who deferv'd his choice he made his own,
And, curious much to know, he far was known.
My birth I boast (the blue-ey'd virgin cries)
From great Anchialus, renown'd and wife:
Mentes my name; I rule the Taphian race,
Whole bounds the deep circumfluent waves em-
brace:

A duteous people, and industrious isle,
To naval arts inur'd, and stormy toil.
Freighted with iron from my native land,
I fteer my voyage to the Brutian ftrand;
To gain by commerce for the labour'd mass,
A juft proportion of refulgent brass.
Far from your capital my ship refides
At Reithrus, and fecure at anchor rides;
Where waving groves on airy Neion grow,
Supremely tall, and fhade the deeps below.
Thence to revifit your imperial dome,
An old hereditary guest I come:
Your father's friend. Laertes can relate
Our faith unfpotted, and its early date;
Who, preft with heart-corroding grief and years,
To the gay court a rural fhade prefers,
Where, fole of all his train, a matron fage.
Supports with homely food his drooping age,
With feeble fteps from marshalling his vines
Returning fad, when toilfome day declines.
With friendly fpeed, induc'd by erring fame,
To hail Ulyffes' fafe return, I came;
Bat fill the frown of fome celeftial Power
With envious joy retards the blissful hour.
Let not your foul be funk in fad despair;
He lives, he breathes this heavenly vital air,
Among a layage race, whofe fhelly bounds
With ceafelefs roar the foaming deep furrounds.
The thoughts which roll within my ravish'd
breast,

To me, no feer, th' infpiring Gods fuggeft;
Nor kill'd, nor ftudious, with prophetic eye
To judge the winged omens of the fky,
Yet hear this certain fpeech, nor deem it vain;
Though adamantine bonds the chief restrain,
The dire restraint his wisdom will defeat,
And foon restore him to his regal feat.
But, generous youth! fincere and free declare,
Are you, of manly growth, his royal heir?
For fare Ulyffes in your look appears,
The fame his features, if the fame his years.
Such was that face, on which I dwelt with joy
Ere Greece affembled ftemm'd the tides to

Troy;

But, parting then for that detefted fhore, Our eyes, unhappy! never greeted more.

To prove a genuine birth (the prince replies)
On female truth affenting faith relies;
Thus manifeft of right, I build my claim
Sure-founded on a fair maternal fame,
Ulyffes' fon but happier he, whom fate
Hath plac'd beneath the ftorms which tofs the
great!

Happier the fon, whofe hoary fire is bleft
With humble affluence, and domestic rest!
Happier than I, to future empire born,
But doom'd a father's wretched fate to mourn!
To whom, with afpect mild, the guest divine:
Oh true defcendant of a fcepter'd line!
The Gods a glorious fate from anguish free
To chafte Penelope's increase decree.
But fay, yon joyful troop fo gaily dreft,
Is this a bridal or a friendly feast!
Or from their deed I rightlier may divine,
Unfeemly flown with infolence and wine;
Unwelcome revellers, whofe lawless joy
Pains the fage ear, and hurts the fober eye!
Magnificence of old (the prince replied)
Beneath our roof with virtue could refide;
Unblam'd abundance crown'd the royal board,
What time this dome rever'd her prudent lord;
Who now (fo heaven decrees) is doom'd to mourn,
Bitter constraint! erroneous and forlorn.
Better the chief, on Ilion's hoftile plain,
Had fall'n furrounded with his warlike train;
Or fafe return'd, the race of glory past,

New to his friends' embrace, had breath'd his
laft!
[raife
Then grateful Greece with ftreaming eyes would
Hiftoric marbles, to record his praife;

His praife, eternal on the faithful stone,
Had with tranfmiffive honour grac'd his fon.
Now fnatch'd by harpies to the dreary coast,
Sunk is the hero, and his glory loft:

Vanish'd at once unheard-of and unknown!
And I his heir in mifery alone.

Nor for a dear, loft father only flow

The filial tears, but woe fucceeds to woe:

To tempt the spouseless queen with amorous

wiles,

Refort the nobles from the neighbouring ifles;
From Samos, circled with the Ionian main,
Dulichium, and Zacynthus' fylvan reign:
Ev'n with presumptuous hope her bed t’ascend, ́
The lords of Ithaca their right pretend.
She feems attentive to their pleaded vows,
Her heart detefting what her ear allows.
They, vain expectants of the bridal hour,
My ftores in riotous expence devour,
In feaft and dance the mirthful months employ,
And meditate my doom, to crown their joy.

With tender pity touch'd, the Goddess cried;
Soon may kind heaven a fure relief provide !
Soon may your fire discharge the vengeance due,
And all your wrongs the proud oppreffors rue!
Oh! in that portal should the chief appear,
Each hand tremendous with a brazen spear,
In radiant panoply his limbs incas'd
(For fo of old my father's court he grac'd,
When focial mirth unbent his ferious foul,
O'er the full banquet, and the sprightly bowl) s