Complete Works of Homer

by Homer

  "My friend, adieu! let this short stay suffice;

  I haste to meet my mother's longing eyes,

  And end her tears, her sorrows and her sighs.

  But thou, attentive, what we order heed:

  This hapless stranger to the city lead:

  By public bounty let him there be fed,

  And bless the hand that stretches forth the bread.

  To wipe the tears from all afflicted eyes,

  My will may covet, but my power denies.

  If this raise anger in the stranger's thought,

  The pain of anger punishes the fault:

  The very truth I undisguised declare;

  For what so easy as to be sincere?"

  To this Ulysses: "What the prince requires

  Of swift removal, seconds my desires.

  To want like mine the peopled town can yield

  More hopes of comfort than the lonely field:

  Nor fits my age to till the labour'd lands,

  Or stoop to tasks a rural lord demands.

  Adieu! but since this ragged garb can bear

  So ill the inclemencies of morning air,

  A few hours' space permit me here to stay:

  My steps Eumaeus shall to town convey,

  With riper beams when Phoebus warms the day."

  Thus he: nor aught Telemachus replied,

  But left the mansion with a lofty stride:

  Schemes of revenge his pondering breast elate,

  Revolving deep the suitors' sudden fate,

  Arriving now before the imperial hall,

  He props his spear against the pillar'd wall;

  Then like a lion o'er the threshold bounds;

  The marble pavement with his steps resounds:

  His eye first glanced where Euryclea spreads

  With furry spoils of beasts the splendid beds:

  She saw, she wept, she ran with eager pace,

  And reach'd her master with a long embrace.

  All crowded round, the family appears

  With wild entrancement, and ecstatic tears.

  Swift from above descends the royal fair

  (Her beauteous cheeks the blush of Venus wear,

  Chasten'd with coy Diana's pensive air);

  Hangs o'er her son, in his embraces dies;

  Rains kisses on his neck, his face, his eyes:

  Few words she spoke, though much she had to say;

  And scarce those few, for tears, could force their way.

  "Light of my eyes: he comes! unhoped-for joy!

  Has Heaven from Pylos brought my lovely boy?

  So snatch'd from all our cares! — Tell, hast thou known

  Thy father's fate, and tell me all thy own."

  "Oh dearest! most revered of womankind!

  Cease with those tears to melt a manly mind

  (Replied the prince); nor be our fates deplored,

  From death and treason to thy arms restored.

  Go bathe, and robed in white ascend the towers;

  With all thy handmaids thank the immortal powers;

  To every god vow hecatombs to bleed.

  And call Jove's vengeance on their guilty deed.

  While to the assembled council I repair:

  A stranger sent by Heaven attends me there;

  My new accepted guest I haste to find,

  Now to Peiraeus' honour'd charge consign'd."

  The matron heard, nor was his word in vain.

  She bathed; and, robed in white, with all her train,

  To every god vow'd hecatombs to bleed,

  And call'd Jove's vengeance on the guilty deed,

  Arm'd with his lance, the prince then pass'd the gate,

  Two dogs behind, a faithful guard, await;

  Pallas his form with grace divine improves:

  The gazing crowd admires him as he moves.

  Him, gathering round, the haughty suitors greet

  With semblance fair, but inward deep deceit,

  Their false addresses, generous, he denied.

  Pass'd on, and sate by faithful Mentor's side;

  With Antiphus, and Halitherses sage

  (His father's counsellors, revered for age).

  Of his own fortunes, and Ulysses' fame,

  Much ask'd the seniors; till Peiraeus came.

  The stranger-guest pursued him close behind;

  Whom when Telemachus beheld, he join'd.

  He (when Peiraeus ask'd for slaves to bring

  The gifts and treasures of the Spartan king)

  Thus thoughtful answer'd: "Those we shall not move,

  Dark and unconscious of the will of Jove;

  We know not yet the full event of all:

  Stabb'd in his palace if your prince must fall,

  Us, and our house, if treason must o'erthrow,

  Better a friend possess them than a foe;

  If death to these, and vengeance Heaven decree,

  Riches are welcome then, not else, to me.

  Till then retain the gifts." — The hero said,

  And in his hand the willing stranger led.

  Then disarray'd, the shining bath they sought

  (With unguents smooth) of polish'd marble wrought:

  Obedient handmaids with assistant toil

  Supply the limpid wave, and fragrant oil:

  Then o'er their limbs refulgent robes they threw,

  And fresh from bathing to their seats withdrew.

  The golden ewer a nymph attendant brings,

  Replenish'd from the pure translucent springs;

  With copious streams that golden ewer supplies

  A silver layer of capacious size.

  They wash: the table, in fair order spread,

  Is piled with viands and the strength of bread.

  Full opposite, before the folding gate,

  The pensive mother sits in humble state;

  Lowly she sate, and with dejected view

  The fleecy threads her ivory fingers drew.

  The prince and stranger shared the genial feast,

  Till now the rage of thirst and hunger ceased.

  When thus the queen: "My son! my only friend!

  Say, to my mournful couch shall I ascend?

  (The couch deserted now a length of years;

  The couch for ever water'd with my tears;)

  Say, wilt thou not (ere yet the suitor crew

  Return, and riot shakes our walls anew),

  Say, wilt thou not the least account afford?

  The least glad tidings of my absent lord?"

  To her the youth. "We reach'd the Pylian plains,

  Where Nestor, shepherd of his people, reigns.

  All arts of tenderness to him are known,

  Kind to Ulysses' race as to his own;

  No father with a fonder grasp of joy

  Strains to his bosom his long-absent boy.

  But all unknown, if yet Ulysses breathe,

  Or glide a spectre in the realms beneath;

  For farther search, his rapid steeds transport

  My lengthen'd journey to the Spartan court.

  There Argive Helen I beheld, whose charms

  (So Heaven decreed) engaged the great in arms.

  My cause of coming told, he thus rejoin'd;

  And still his words live perfect in my mind:

  "'Heavens! would a soft, inglorious, dastard train

  An absent hero's nuptial joys profane

  So with her young, amid the woodland shades,

  A timorous hind the lion's court invades,

  Leaves in that fatal lair her tender fawns,

  And climbs the cliffs, or feeds along the lawns;

  Meantime returning, with remorseless sway

  The monarch savage rends the panting prey:

  With equal fury, and with equal fame,

  Shall great Ulysses reassert his claim.

  O Jove! supreme! whom men and gods revere;

  And thou whose lustre gilds the rolling sphere!
/>   With power congenial join'd, propitious aid

  The chief adopted by the martial maid!

  Such to our wish the warrior soon restore,

  As when, contending on the Lesbian shore,

  His prowess Philomelides confess'd,

  And loud acclaiming Greeks the victor bless'd:

  Then soon the invaders of his bed, and throne,

  Their love presumptuous shall by death atone.

  Now what you question of my ancient friend,

  With truth I answer; thou the truth attend.

  Learn what I heard the sea-born seer relate,

  Whose eye can pierce the dark recess of fate

  Sole in an isle, imprison'd by the main,

  The sad survivor of his numerous train,

  Ulysses lies; detain'd by magic charms,

  And press'd unwilling in Calypso's arms.

  No sailors there, no vessels to convey,

  No oars to cut the immeasurable way.'

  This told Atrides, and he told no more.

  Then safe I voyaged to my native shore."

  He ceased; nor made the pensive queen reply,

  But droop'd her head, and drew a secret sigh.

  When Theoclymenus the seer began:

  "O suffering consort of the suffering man!

  What human knowledge could, those kings might tell,

  But I the secrets of high heaven reveal.

  Before the first of gods be this declared,

  Before the board whose blessings we have shared;

  Witness the genial rites, and witness all

  This house holds sacred in her ample wall!

  E'en now, this instant, great Ulysses, laid

  At rest, or wandering in his country's shade,

  Their guilty deeds, in hearing, and in view,

  Secret revolves; and plans the vengeance due.

  Of this sure auguries the gods bestow'd,

  When first our vessel anchor'd in your road."

  "Succeed those omens, Heaven! (the queen rejoin'd)

  So shall our bounties speak a grateful mind;

  And every envied happiness attend

  The man who calls Penelope his friend."

  Thus communed they: while in the marble court

  (Scene of their insolence) the lords resort:

  Athwart the spacious square each tries his art,

  To whirl the disk, or aim the missile dart.

  Now did the hour of sweet repast arrive,

  And from the field the victim flocks they drive:

  Medon the herald (one who pleased them best,

  And honour'd with a portion of their feast),

  To bid the banquet, interrupts their play:

  Swift to the hall they haste; aside they lay

  Their garments, and succinct the victims slay.

  Then sheep, and goats, and bristly porkers bled,

  And the proud steer was o'er the marble spread.

  While thus the copious banquet they provide,

  Along the road, conversing side by side,

  Proceed Ulysses and the faithful swain;

  When thus Eumaeus, generous and humane:

  "To town, observant of our lord's behest,

  Now let us speed; my friend no more my guest!

  Yet like myself I wish thee here preferr'd,

  Guard of the flock, or keeper of the herd,

  But much to raise my master's wrath I fear;

  The wrath of princes ever is severe.

  Then heed his will, and be our journey made

  While the broad beams of Phoebus are display'd,

  Or ere brown evening spreads her chilly shade."

  "Just thy advice (the prudent chief rejoin'd),

  And such as suits the dictate of my mind.

  Lead on: but help me to some staff to stay

  My feeble step, since rugged is the way."

  Across his shoulders then the scrip he flung,

  Wide-patch'd, and fasten'd by a twisted thong.

  A staff Eumaeus gave. Along the way

  Cheerly they fare: behind, the keepers stay:

  These with their watchful dogs (a constant guard)

  Supply his absence, and attend the herd.

  And now his city strikes the monarch's eyes,

  Alas! how changed! a man of miseries;

  Propp'd on a staff, a beggar old and bare

  In rags dishonest fluttering with the air!

  Now pass'd the rugged road, they journey down

  The cavern'd way descending to the town,

  Where, from the rock, with liquid drops distils

  A limpid fount; that spread in parting rills

  Its current thence to serve the city brings;

  An useful work, adorn'd by ancient kings.

  Neritus, Ithacus, Polyctor, there,

  In sculptured stone immortalized their care,

  In marble urns received it from above,

  And shaded with a green surrounding grove;

  Where silver alders, in high arches twined,

  Drink the cool stream, and tremble to the wind.

  Beneath, sequester'd to the nymphs, is seen

  A mossy altar, deep embower'd in green;

  Where constant vows by travellers are paid,

  And holy horrors solemnize the shade.

  Here with his goats (not vow'd to sacred fame,

  But pamper'd luxury) Melanthias came:

  Two grooms attend him. With an envious look

  He eyed the stranger, and imperious spoke:

  "The good old proverb how this pair fulfil!

  One rogue is usher to another still.

  Heaven with a secret principle endued

  Mankind, to seek their own similitude.

  Where goes the swineherd with that ill-look'd guest?

  That giant-glutton, dreadful at a feast!

  Full many a post have those broad shoulders worn,

  From every great man's gate repulsed with scorn:

  To no brave prize aspired the worthless swain,

  'Twas but for scraps he ask'd, and ask'd in vain.

  To beg, than work, he better understands,

  Or we perhaps might take him off thy hands.

  For any office could the slave be good,

  To cleanse the fold, or help the kids to food.

  If any labour those big joints could learn,

  Some whey, to wash his bowels, he might earn.

  To cringe, to whine, his idle hands to spread,

  Is all, by which that graceless maw is fed.

  Yet hear me! if thy impudence but dare

  Approach yon wall, I prophesy thy fare:

  Dearly, full dearly, shalt thou buy thy bread

  With many a footstool thundering at thy head."

  He thus: nor insolent of word alone,

  Spurn'd with his rustic heel his king unknown;

  Spurn'd, but not moved: he like a pillar stood,

  Nor stirr'd an inch, contemptuous, from the road:

  Doubtful, or with his staff to strike him dead,

  Or greet the pavement with his worthless head.

  Short was that doubt; to quell his rage inured,

  The hero stood self-conquer'd, and endured.

  But hateful of the wretch, Eumaeus heaved

  His hands obtesting, and this prayer conceived:

  "Daughters of Jove! who from the ethereal bowers

  Descend to swell the springs, and feed the flowers!

  Nymphs of this fountain! to whose sacred names

  Our rural victims mount in blazing flames!

  To whom Ulysses' piety preferr'd

  The yearly firstlings of his flock and herd;

  Succeed my wish, your votary restore:

  Oh, be some god his convoy to our shore!

  Due pains shall punish then this slave's offence,

  And humble all his airs of insolence,

  Who, proudly stalking, leaves the herds at large,

  Commences c
ourtier, and neglects his charge."

  "What mutters he? (Melanthius sharp rejoins;)

  This crafty miscreant, big with dark designs?

  The day shall come — nay, 'tis already near —

  When, slave! to sell thee at a price too dear

  Must be my care; and hence transport thee o'er,

  A load and scandal to this happy shore.

  Oh! that as surely great Apollo's dart,

  Or some brave suitor's sword, might pierce the heart

  Of the proud son; as that we stand this hour

  In lasting safety from the father's power!"

  So spoke the wretch, but, shunning farther fray,

  Turn'd his proud step, and left them on their way.

  Straight to the feastful palace he repair'd,

  Familiar enter'd, and the banquet shared;

  Beneath Eurymachus, his patron lord,

  He took his place, and plenty heap'd the board.

  Meantime they heard, soft circling in the sky

  Sweet airs ascend, and heavenly minstrelsy

  (For Phemius to the lyre attuned the strain):

  Ulysses hearken'd, then address'd the swain:

  "Well may this palace admiration claim,

  Great and respondent to the master's fame!

  Stage above stage the imperial structure stands,

  Holds the chief honours, and the town commands:

  High walls and battlements the courts inclose,

  And the strong gates defy a host of foes.

  Far other cares its dwellers now employ;

  The throng'd assembly and the feast of joy:

  I see the smokes of sacrifice aspire,

  And hear (what graces every feast) the lyre."

  Then thus Eumaeus: "Judge we which were best;

  Amidst yon revellers a sudden 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 house of violence and wrong:

  Some rude insult thy reverend age may bear;

  For like their lawless lords the servants are."

  "Just is, O friend! thy caution, and address'd

  (Replied the chief, to no unheedful breast:)

  The wrongs and injuries of base mankind

  Fresh to my sense, and always in my mind.

  The bravely-patient to no fortune yields:

  On rolling oceans, and in fighting fields,

  Storms have I pass'd, and many a stern debate;

  And now in humbler scene submit to fate.

  What cannot want? The best she will expose,

  And I am learn'd in all her train of woes;

  She fills with navies, hosts, and loud alarms,

  The sea, the land, and shakes the world with arms!"

  Thus, near the gates conferring as they drew,

  Argus, the dog, his ancient master knew: