For this cause, at thy knees suppliant, I beg That thou wouldst tell me his disastrous end, If either thou beheld'st with thine own eyes 400 His death, or from some wand'rer of the Greeks Hast heard it; for no common woes, alas!

Was he ordain'd to share ev'n from the womb.

Neither through pity or o'erstrain'd respect Flatter me, but explicit all relate Which thou hast witness'd. If my n.o.ble Sire E'er gratified thee by performance just Of word or deed at Ilium, where ye fell So num'rous slain in fight, oh recollect Now his fidelity, and tell me true! 410 Then Menelaus, sighing deep, replied.

G.o.ds! their ambition is to reach the bed Of a brave man, however base themselves.

But as it chances, when the hart hath lay'd Her fawns new-yean'd and sucklings yet, to rest Within some dreadful lion's gloomy den, She roams the hills, and in the gra.s.sy vales Feeds heedless, till the lion, to his lair Return'd, destroys her and her little-ones, So them thy Sire shall terribly destroy. 420 Jove, Pallas and Apollo! oh that such As erst in well-built Lesbos, where he strove With Philomelides, and threw him flat, A sight at which Achaia's sons rejoic'd, Such, now, Ulysses might a.s.sail them all!

Short life and bitter nuptials should be theirs.

But thy enquiries neither indirect Will I evade, nor give thee false reply, But all that from the Antient of the Deep[14]

I have receiv'd will utter, hiding nought. 430 As yet the G.o.ds on aegypt's sh.o.r.e detained Me wishing home, angry at my neglect To heap their altars with slain hecatombs.

For they exacted from us evermore Strict rev'rence of their laws. There is an isle Amid the billowy flood, Pharos by name, In front of aegypt, distant from her sh.o.r.e Far as a vessel by a sprightly gale Impell'd, may push her voyage in a day.

The haven there is good, and many a ship 440 Finds wat'ring there from riv'lets on the coast.

There me the G.o.ds kept twenty days, no breeze Propitious granting, that might sweep the waves, And usher to her home the flying bark.

And now had our provision, all consumed, Left us exhausted, but a certain nymph Pitying saved me. Daughter fair was she Of mighty Proteus, Antient of the Deep, Idothea named; her most my sorrows moved; She found me from my followers all apart 450 Wand'ring (for they around the isle, with hooks The fishes snaring roamed, by famine urged) And standing at my side, me thus bespake.

Stranger! thou must be ideot born, or weak At least in intellect, or thy delight Is in distress and mis'ry, who delay'st To leave this island, and no egress hence Canst find, although thy famish'd people faint.

So spake the G.o.ddess, and I thus replied.

I tell thee, whosoever of the Pow'rs 460 Divine thou art, that I am prison'd here Not willingly, but must have, doubtless, sinn'd Against the deathless tenants of the skies.

Yet say (for the Immortals all things know) What G.o.d detains me, and my course forbids Hence to my country o'er the fishy Deep?

So I; to whom the G.o.ddess all-divine.

Stranger! I will inform thee true. A seer Oracular, the Antient of the Deep, Immortal Proteus, the aegyptian, haunts 470 These sh.o.r.es, familiar with all Ocean's gulphs, And Neptune's subject. He is by report My father; him if thou art able once To seize and bind, he will prescribe the course With all its measured distances, by which Thou shalt regain secure thy native sh.o.r.es.

He will, moreover, at thy suit declare, Thou favour'd of the skies! what good, what ill Hath in thine house befall'n, while absent thou Thy voyage difficult perform'st and long. 480 She spake, and I replied--Thyself reveal By what effectual bands I may secure The antient Deity marine, lest, warn'd Of my approach, he shun me and escape.

Hard task for mortal hands to bind a G.o.d!

Then thus Idothea answer'd all-divine.

I will inform thee true. Soon as the sun Hath climb'd the middle heav'ns, the prophet old, Emerging while the breezy zephyr blows, And cover'd with the sc.u.m of ocean, seeks 490 His s.p.a.cious cove, in which outstretch'd he lies.

The phocae[15] also, rising from the waves, Offspring of beauteous Halosydna, sleep Around him, num'rous, and the fishy scent Exhaling rank of the unfathom'd flood.

Thither conducting thee at peep of day I will dispose thee in some safe recess, But from among thy followers thou shalt chuse The bravest three in all thy gallant fleet.

And now the artifices understand 500 Of the old prophet of the sea. The sum Of all his phocae numb'ring duly first, He will pa.s.s through them, and when all by fives He counted hath, will in the midst repose Content, as sleeps the shepherd with his flock.

When ye shall see him stretch'd, then call to mind That moment all your prowess, and prevent, Howe'er he strive impatient, his escape.

All changes trying, he will take the form Of ev'ry reptile on the earth, will seem 510 A river now, and now devouring fire; But hold him ye, and grasp him still the more.

And when himself shall question you, restored To his own form in which ye found him first Reposing, then from farther force abstain; Then, Hero! loose the Antient of the Deep, And ask him, of the G.o.ds who checks thy course Hence to thy country o'er the fishy flood.

So saying, she plunged into the billowy waste.

I then, in various musings lost, my ships 520 Along the sea-beach station'd sought again, And when I reach'd my galley on the sh.o.r.e We supp'd, and sacred night falling from heav'n, Slept all extended on the ocean-side.

But when Aurora, daughter of the dawn, Look'd rosy forth, pensive beside the sh.o.r.e I walk'd of Ocean, frequent to the G.o.ds Praying devout, then chose the fittest three For bold a.s.sault, and worthiest of my trust.

Meantime the G.o.ddess from the bosom wide 530 Of Ocean rising, brought us thence four skins Of phocae, and all newly stript, a snare Contriving subtle to deceive her Sire.

Four cradles in the sand she scoop'd, then sat Expecting us, who in due time approach'd; She lodg'd us side by side, and over each A raw skin cast. Horrible to ourselves Proved that disguise whom the pernicious scent Of the sea-nourish'd phocae sore annoy'd; For who would lay him down at a whale's side? 540 But she a potent remedy devised Herself to save us, who the nostrils sooth'd Of each with pure ambrosia thither brought Odorous, which the fishy scent subdued.

All morning, patient watchers, there we lay; And now the num'rous phocae from the Deep Emerging, slept along the sh.o.r.e, and he At noon came also, and perceiving there His fatted monsters, through the flock his course Took regular, and summ'd them; with the first 550 He number'd us, suspicion none of fraud Conceiving, then couch'd also. We, at once, Loud-shouting flew on him, and in our arms Constrain'd him fast; nor the sea-prophet old Call'd not incontinent his shifts to mind.

First he became a long-maned lion grim, Then dragon, panther then, a savage boar, A limpid stream, and an o'ershadowing tree.

We persevering held him, till at length The Antient of the Deep, skill'd as he is 560 In wiles, yet weary, question'd me, and said.

Oh Atreus' son, by what confed'rate G.o.d Instructed liest thou in wait for me, To seize and hold me? what is thy desire?

So He; to whom thus answer I return'd.

Old Seer! thou know'st; why, fraudful, should'st thou ask?

It is because I have been prison'd long Within this isle, whence I have sought in vain Deliv'rance, till my wonted courage fails.

Yet say (for the Immortals all things know) 570 What G.o.d detains me, and my course forbids Hence to my country o'er the fishy Deep?

So I; when thus the old one of the waves.

But thy plain duty[16] was to have adored Jove, first, in sacrifice, and all the G.o.ds, That then embarking, by propitious gales Impell'd, thou might'st have reach'd thy country soon.

For thou art doom'd ne'er to behold again Thy friends, thy palace, or thy native sh.o.r.es, Till thou have seen once more the hallow'd flood 580 Of aegypt, and with hecatombs adored Devout, the deathless tenants of the skies.

Then will they speed thee whither thou desir'st.

He ended, and my heart broke at his words, Which bade me pa.s.s again the gloomy gulph To aegypt; tedious course, and hard to atchieve!

Yet, though in sorrow whelm'd, I thus replied.

Old prophet! I will all thy will perform.

But tell me, and the truth simply reveal; Have the Achaians with their ships arrived 590 All safe, whom Nestor left and I, at Troy?

Or of the Chiefs have any in their barks, Or in their followers' arms found a dire death Unlook'd for, since that city's siege we closed?

I spake, when answer thus the G.o.d return'd.

Atrides, why these questions? Need is none That thou should'st all my secrets learn, which once Reveal'd, thou would'st not long dry-eyed remain.

Of those no few have died, and many live; But leaders, two alone, in their return 600 Have died (thou also hast had war to wage) And one, still living, roams the boundless sea.

Ajax,[17] surrounded by his galleys, died.

Him Neptune, first, against the bulky rocks The Gyrae drove, but saved him from the Deep; Nor had he perish'd, hated as he was By Pallas, but for his own impious boast In frenzy utter'd that he would escape The billows, even in the G.o.ds' despight.

Neptune that speech vain-glorious hearing, grasp'd 610 His trident, and the huge Gyraean rock Smiting indignant, dash'd it half away; Part stood, and part, on which the boaster sat When, first, the brainsick fury seiz'd him, fell, Bearing him with it down into the gulphs Of Ocean, where he drank the brine, and died.

But thy own brother in his barks escaped That fate, by Juno saved; yet when, at length, He should have gain'd Malea's craggy sh.o.r.e, Then, by a sudden tempest caught, he flew 620 With many a groan far o'er the fishy Deep To the land's utmost point, where once his home Thyestes had, but where Thyestes' son Dwelt then, aegisthus. Easy lay his course And open thence, and, as it pleased the G.o.ds, The shifted wind soon bore them to their home.

He, high in exultation, trod the sh.o.r.e That gave him birth, kiss'd it, and, at the sight, The welcome sight of Greece, shed many a tear.

Yet not unseen he landed; for a spy, 630 One whom the shrewd aegisthus had seduced By promise of two golden talents, mark'd His coming from a rock where he had watch'd The year complete, lest, pa.s.sing unperceived, The King should rea.s.sert his right in arms.

Swift flew the spy with tidings to this Lord, And He, incontinent, this project framed Insidious. Twenty men, the boldest hearts Of all the people, from the rest he chose, Whom he in ambush placed, and others charged 640 Diligent to prepare the festal board.

With horses, then, and chariots forth he drove Full-fraught with mischief, and conducting home The unsuspicious King, amid the feast Slew him, as at his crib men slay an ox.

Nor of thy brother's train, nor of his train Who slew thy brother, one survived, but all, Welt'ring in blood together, there expired.

He ended, and his words beat on my heart As they would break it. On the sands I sat 650 Weeping, nor life nor light desiring more.

But when I had in dust roll'd me, and wept To full satiety, mine ear again The oracle of Ocean thus address'd.

Sit not, O son of Atreus! weeping here Longer, for remedy can none be found; But quick arising, trial make, how best Thou shalt, and soonest, reach thy home again.

For either him still living thou shalt find, Or ere thou come, Orestes shall have slain 660 The traytor, and thine eyes shall see his tomb.

He ceas'd, and I, afflicted as I was, Yet felt my spirit at that word refresh'd, And in wing'd accents answer thus return'd.

Of these I am inform'd; but name the third Who, dead or living, on the boundless Deep Is still detain'd; I dread, yet wish to hear.

So I; to whom thus Proteus in return.

Laertes' son, the Lord of Ithaca-- Him in an island weeping I beheld, 670 Guest of the nymph Calypso, by constraint Her guest, and from his native land withheld By sad necessity; for ships well-oar'd, Or faithful followers hath he none, whose aid Might speed him safely o'er the s.p.a.cious flood.

But, Menelaus dear to Jove! thy fate Ordains not thee the stroke of death to meet In steed-fam'd Argos, but far hence the G.o.ds Will send thee to Elysium, and the earth's Extremest bounds; (there Rhadamanthus dwells, 680 The golden-hair'd, and there the human kind Enjoy the easiest life; no snow is there, No biting winter, and no drenching show'r, But zephyr always gently from the sea Breathes on them to refresh the happy race) For that fair Helen is by nuptial bands Thy own, and thou art son-in-law of Jove.

So saying, he plunged into the billowy waste, I then, with my brave comrades to the fleet Return'd, deep-musing as I went, and sad. 690 No sooner had I reach'd my ship beside The ocean, and we all had supp'd, than night From heav'n fell on us, and, at ease reposed Along the margin of the sea, we slept.

But when Aurora, daughter of the dawn, Look'd rosy forth, drawing our galleys down Into the sacred Deep, we rear'd again The mast, unfurl'd the sail, and to our seats On board returning, thresh'd the foamy flood.

Once more, at length, within the hallow'd stream 700 Of aegypt mooring, on the sh.o.r.e I slew Whole hecatombs, and (the displeasure thus Of the immortal G.o.ds appeased) I reared To Agamemnon's never-dying fame A tomb, and finishing it, sail'd again With such a gale from heaven vouchsafed, as sent My ships swift-scudding to the sh.o.r.es of Greece.

But come--eleven days wait here, or twelve A guest with me, when I will send thee hence n.o.bly, and honour'd with ill.u.s.trious gifts, 710 With polish'd chariot, with three princely steeds, And with a gorgeous cup, that to the G.o.ds Libation pouring ever while thou liv'st From that same cup, thou may'st remember me.

Him, prudent, then answer'd Telemachus.

Atrides, seek not to detain me here Long time; for though contented I could sit The year beside thee, nor regret my home Or parents, (so delightful thy discourse Sounds in my ear) yet, even now, I know, 720 That my attendants to the Pylian sh.o.r.e Wish my return, whom thou thus long detain'st.

What boon soe'er thou giv'st me, be it such As I may treasur'd keep; but horses none Take I to Ithaca; them rather far Keep thou, for thy own glory. Thou art Lord Of an extended plain, where copious springs The lotus, herbage of all savours, wheat, Pulse, and white barley of luxuriant growth.

But Ithaca no level champaign owns, 730 A nursery of goats, and yet a land Fairer than even pastures to the eye.

No sea-encircled isle of ours affords Smooth course commodious and expanse of meads, But my own Ithaca transcends them all!

He said; the Hero Menelaus smiled, And stroaking tenderly his cheek, replied.

Dear youth! thy speech proclaims thy n.o.ble blood.

I can with ease supply thee from within With what shall suit thee better, and the gift 740 Of all that I possess which most excels In beauty, and the n.o.blest shall be thine.

I give thee, wrought elaborate, a cup Itself all silver, bound with lip of gold.

It is the work of Vulcan, which to me The Hero Phaedimus imparted, King Of the Sidonians, when on my return His house received me. That shall be thy own.

Thus they conferr'd; and now the busy train Of menials culinary,[18] at the gate 750 Enter'd of Menelaus, Chief renown'd; They brought him sheep, with heart-enn.o.bling wine, While all their wives, their brows with frontlets bound, Came charg'd with bread. Thus busy they prepared A banquet in the mansion of the King.

Meantime, before Ulysses' palace gate The suitors sported with the quoit and spear On the smooth area, customary scene Of all their strife and angry clamour loud.

There sat Antinous, and the G.o.dlike youth 760 Eurymachus, superior to the rest And Chiefs among them, to whom Phronius' son Noemon drawing nigh, with anxious mien Question'd Antinous, and thus began.

Know we, Antinous! or know we not, When to expect Telemachus at home Again from Pylus? in my ship he went, Which now I need, that I may cross the sea To Elis, on whose s.p.a.cious plain I feed Twelve mares, each suckling a mule-colt as yet 770 Unbroken, but of which I purpose one To ferry thence, and break him into use.

He spake, whom they astonish'd heard; for him They deem'd not to Neleian Pylus gone, But haply into his own fields, his flocks To visit, or the steward of his swine.

Then thus, Eupithes' son, Antinous, spake.

Say true. When sail'd he forth? of all our youth, Whom chose he for his followers? his own train Of slaves and hirelings? hath he pow'r to effect 780 This also? Tell me too, for I would learn-- Took he perforce thy sable bark away, Or gav'st it to him at his first demand?

To whom Noemon, Phronius' son, replied.

I gave it voluntary; what could'st thou, Should such a prince pet.i.tion for thy bark In such distress? Hard were it to refuse.

Brave youths (our bravest youths except yourselves) Attend him forth; and with them I observed Mentor embarking, ruler o'er them all, 790 Or, if not him, a G.o.d; for such he seem'd.

But this much moves my wonder. Yester-morn I saw, at day-break, n.o.ble Mentor here, Whom shipp'd for Pylus I had seen before.

He ceas'd; and to his father's house return'd; They, hearing, sat aghast. Their games meantime Finish'd, the suitors on their seats reposed, To whom Eupithes' son, Antinous, next, Much troubled spake; a black storm overcharged His bosom, and his vivid eyes flash'd fire. 800 Ye G.o.ds, a proud exploit is here atchieved, This voyage of Telemachus, by us p.r.o.nounced impracticable; yet the boy In downright opposition to us all, Hath headlong launched a ship, and, with a band Selected from our bravest youth, is gone.

He soon will prove more mischievous, whose pow'r Jove wither, ere we suffer its effects!

But give me a swift bark with twenty rowers, That, watching his return within the streights 810 Of rocky Samos and of Ithaca, I may surprise him; so shall he have sail'd To seek his Sire, fatally for himself.

He ceased and loud applause heard in reply, With warm encouragement. Then, rising all, Into Ulysses' house at once they throng'd.