Alexander Pope - Delphi Poets Series

by Alexander Pope

Once I was strong (would Heav’n restore those days!)

  And with my betters claim’d a share of praise.

  Ulysses, Menelaüs, led forth a band,

  And join’d me with them (‘t was their own command);

  A deathful ambush for the foe to lay, 530

  Beneath Troy walls by night we took our way;

  There, clad in arms, along the marshes spread,

  We made the ozier-fringed bank our bed.

  Full soon th’ inclemency of Heav’n I feel,

  Nor had these shoulders cov’ring, but of steel. 535

  Sharp blew the north; snow whitening all the fields

  Froze with the blast, and, gath’ring, glazed our shields.

  There all but I, well-fenc’d with cloak and vest,

  Lay cover’d by their ample shields at rest.

  Fool that I was! I left behind my own, 540

  The skill of weather and of winds unknown,

  And trusted to my coat and shield alone!

  When now was wasted more than half the night,

  And the stars faded at approaching light,

  Sudden I jogg’d Ulysses, who was laid 545

  Fast by my side, and shiv’ring thus I said:

  ‘“Here longer in this field I cannot lie;

  The winter pinches, and with cold I die;

  And die ashamed (O wisest of mankind!),

  The only fool who left his cloak behind.” 550

  ‘He thought and answer’d; hardly waking yet,

  Sprung in his mind the momentary wit

  (That wit which, or in council or in fight,

  Still met th’ emergence, and determin’d right).

  “Hush thee” (he cried, soft whisp’ring in my ear), 555

  “Speak not a word, lest any Greek may hear” —

  And then (supporting on his arm his head),

  “Hear me, Companions!” (thus aloud he said):

  “Methinks too distant from the fleet we lie:

  Ev’n now a vision stood before my eye, 560

  And sure the warning vision was from high:

  Let from among us some swift courier rise,

  Haste to the Gen’ral, and demand supplies.”

  ‘Up started Thoas straight, Andræmon’s son,

  Nimbly he rose, and cast his garment down; 565

  Instant, the racer vanish’d off the ground;

  That instant in his cloak I wrapp’d me round;

  And safe I slept, till, brightly dawning, shone

  The Morn conspicuous on her golden throne.

  ‘Oh were my strength as then, as then my age! 570

  Some friend would fence me from the winter’s rage.

  Yet, tatter’d as I look, I challenged then

  The honours and the offices of men:

  Some master, or some servant would allow

  A cloak and vest — but I am nothing now!’ 575

  ‘Well hast thou spoke’ (rejoin’d th’ attentive swain);

  ‘Thy lips let fall no idle word or vain!

  Nor garment shall thou want, nor aught beside,

  Meet for the wand’ring suppliant to provide.

  But in the morning take thy clothes again, 580

  For here one vest suffices ev’ry swain;

  No change of garments to our hinds is known;

  But when return’d, the good Ulysses’ son

  With better hand shall grace with fit attires

  His guest, and send thee where thy soul desires.’ 585

  The honest herdsman rose, as this he said,

  And drew before the hearth the stranger’s bed;

  The fleecy spoils of sheep, a goat’s rough hide

  He spreads: and adds a mantle thick and wide:

  With store to heap above him, and below, 590

  And guard each quarter as the tempests blow.

  There lay the King, and all the rest supine;

  All, but the careful master of the swine:

  Forth hasted he to tend his bristly care;

  Well arm’d, and fenc’d against nocturnal air: 595

  His weighty faulchion o’er his shoulder tied;

  His shaggy cloak a mountain goat suppled:

  With his broad spear, the dread of dogs and men,

  He seeks his lodging in the rocky den.

  There to the tusky herd he bends his way, 600

  Where, screen’d from Boreas, high o’erarch’d they lay.

  Odyssey Book XV. The Return of Telemachus

  THE ARGUMENT

  The Goddess Minerva commands Telemachus in a vision to return to Ithaca. Pisistratus and he take leave of Menelaüs, and arrive at Pylos, where they part; Telemachus sets sail, after having received on broad Theoclymenus the soothsayer. The scene then changes to the cottage of Eumæus, who entertains Ulysses with a recital of his adventures. In the meantime Telemachus arrives on the coast, and, sending the vessel to the town, proceeds by himself to the lodge of Eumæus.

  NOW had Minerva reach’d those ample plains,

  Famed for the dance, where Menelaüs reigns;

  Anxious she flies to great Ulysses’ heir,

  His instant voyage challenged all her care.

  Beneath the royal portico display’d, 5

  With Nestor’s son Telemachus was laid;

  In sleep profound the son of Nestor lies;

  Not thine, Ulysses! Care unseal’d his eyes:

  Restless he griev’d, with various fears oppress’d

  And all thy fortunes roll’d within his breast 10

  When ‘O Telemachus!’ (the goddess said)

  ‘Too long in vain, too widely hast thou stray’d,

  Thus leaving careless thy paternal right

  The robbers prize, the prey to lawless might,

  On fond pursuits neglectful while you roam, 15

  Ev’n now the hand of rapine sacks the dome.

  Hence to Atrides; and his leave implore

  To launch thy vessel for thy natal shore:

  Fly, whilst thy mother virtuous yet withstands

  Her kindred’s wishes, and her sire’s commands; 20

  Thro’ both, Eurymachus pursues the dame,

  And with the noblest gifts asserts his claim.

  Hence therefore, while thy stores thy own remain;

  Thou know’st the practice of the female train;

  Lost in the children of the present spouse, 25

  They slight the pledges of their former vows;

  Their love is always with the lover past;

  Still the succeeding flame expels the last.

  Let o’er thy house some chosen maid preside,

  Till Heav’n decrees to bless thee in a bride. 30

  But now thy more attentive ears incline,

  Observe the warnings of a Power divine;

  For thee their snares the suitor lords shall lay

  In Samos sands, or straits of Ithaca;

  To seize thy life shall lurk the murd’rous band, 35

  Ere yet thy footsteps press thy native land.

  No — sooner far their riot and their lust

  All-cov’ring earth shall lurk the murd’rous band,

  Then distant from the scatter’d islands steer,

  Nor let the night retard thy fall career; 40

  Thy heav’nly guardian shall instruct the gales

  To smooth thy passage and supply thy sails:

  And when at Ithaca thy labour ends,

  Send to the town the vessel with thy friends;

  But seek thou first the master of the swine, 45

  (For still to thee his loyal thoughts incline);

  There pass the night; while he his course pursues

  To bring Penelope the wish’d-for news,

  That thou, safe sailing from the Pylian strand,

  Art come to bless her in thy native land.’ 50

  Thus spoke the Goddess, and resumed her flight

  To the pure regions of eternal light.

  Meanwhile Pisistratus he gently shakes,


  And with these words the slumb’ring youth awakes:

  ‘Rise, son of Nestor; for the road prepare, 55

  And join the harness’d coursers to the car.’

  ‘What cause,’ he cried, ‘can justify our flight

  To tempt the dangers of forbidding night?

  Here wait we rather, till approaching day

  Shall prompt our speed, and point the ready way. 60

  Nor think of flight before the Spartan King

  Shall bid farewell, and bounteous presents bring;

  Gifts, which to distant ages safely stor’d,

  The sacred act of friendship shall record.’

  Thus he. But when the dawn bestreak’d the east, 65

  The King from Helen rose, and sought his guest.

  As soon as his approach the Hero knew,

  The splendid mantle round him first he threw,

  Then o’er his ample shoulders whirl’d the cloak,

  Respectful met the Monarch, and bespoke: 70

  ‘Hail, great Atrides, favour’d of high Jove!

  Let not thy friends in vain for license move.

  Swift let us measure back the wat’ry way,

  Nor check our speed, impatient of delay.’

  ‘If with desire so strong thy bosom glows, 75

  Ill,’ said the King, ‘should I thy wish oppose:

  For oft in others freely I reprove

  The ill-timed efforts of officious love;

  Who love too much, hate in the like extreme,

  And both the golden mean alike condemn. 80

  Alike he thwarts the hospitable end,

  Who drives the free, or stays the hasty friend:

  True friendship’s laws are by this rule express’d,

  Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest.

  Yet stay, my friends, and in your chariot take 85

  The noblest presents that our love can make;

  Meantime commit we to our women’s care

  Some choice domestic viands to prepare;

  The trav’ler, rising from the banquet gay,

  Eludes the labours of the tedious way. 90

  Then if a wider course shall rather please,

  Thro’ spacious Argos and the realms of Greece,

  Atrides in his chariot shall attend;

  Himself thy convoy to each royal friend.

  No Prince will let Ulysses’ heir remove 95

  Without some pledge, some monument of love:

  These will the cauldron, these the tripod give;

  From those the well-pair’d mules we shall receive,

  Or bowl emboss’d whose golden figures live.’

  To whom the youth, for prudence famed, replied: 100

  ‘O Monarch, Care of Heav’n! thy people’s pride!

  No friend in Ithaca my place supplies,

  No powerful hands are there, no watchful eyes:

  My stores exposed and fenceless house demand

  The speediest succour from my guardian hand; 105

  Lest, in a search too anxious and too vain

  Of one lost joy, I lose what yet remain.’

  His purpose when the gen’rous Warrior heard,

  He charged the household cates to be prepared.

  Now with the dawn, from his adjoining home, 110

  Was Bœthœdes Eteoneus come;

  Swift at the word he forms the rising blaze,

  And o’er the coals the smoking fragments lays.

  Meantime the King, his son, and Helen went

  Where the rich wardrobe breathed a costly scent. 115

  The King selected from the glitt’ring rows

  A bowl; the Prince a silver beaker chose.

  The beauteous Queen revolv’d with careful eyes

  Her various textures of unnumber’d dyes,

  And chose the largest; with no vulgar art 120

  Her own fair hands embroider’d every part:

  Beneath the rest it lay divinely bright,

  Like radiant Hesper o’er the gems of night.

  Then with each gift they hasten’d to their guest,

  And thus the King Ulysses’ heir address’d: 125

  ‘Since fix’d are thy resolves, may thund’ring Jove

  With happiest omens thy desires approve!

  This silver bowl, whose costly margins shine

  Enchased with gold, this valued gift be thine;

  To me this present, of Vulcanian frame, 130

  From Sidon’s hospitable Monarch came;

  To thee we now consign the precious load,

  The pride of Kings, and labour of a God.’

  Then gave the cup, while Megapenthe brought

  The silver vase with living sculpture wrought. 135

  The beauteous Queen, advancing next, display’d

  The shining veil, and thus endearing said:

  ‘Accept, dear youth, this monument of love,

  Long since, in better days, by Helen wove:

  Safe in thy mother’s care the vesture lay, 140

  To deck thy bride, and grace thy nuptial day.

  Meantime may’st thou with happiest speed regain

  Thy stately palace, and thy wide domain.’

  She said, and gave the veil; with grateful look

  The Prince the variegated present took. 145

  And now, when thro’ the royal dome they pass’d,

  High on a throne the King each stranger placed.

  A golden ewer th’ attendant damsel brings,

  Replete with water from the crystal springs;

  With copious streams the shining vase supplies 150

  A silver laver of capacious size.

  They wash. The tables in fair order spread,

  The glitt’ring canisters are crown’d with bread;

  Viands of various kinds allure the taste,

  Of choicest sort and savour; rich repast! 155

  Whilst Eteoneus portions out the shares,

  Atrides’ son the purple draught prepares.

  And now (each sated with the genial feast,

  And the short rage of thirst and hunger ceas’d),

  Ulysses’ son, with his illustrious friend, 160

  The horses join, the polish’d car ascend.

  Along the court the fiery steeds rebound,

  And the wide portal echoes to the sound.

  The King precedes; a bowl with fragrant wine

  (Libation destin’d to the Powers divine) 165

  His right hand held: before the steeds he stands,

  Then, mix’d with prayers, he utters these commands:

  ‘Farewell, and prosper, Youths! let Nestor know

  What grateful thoughts still in this bosom glow,

  For all the proofs of his paternal care, 170

  Thro’ the long dangers of the ten years’ war.’

  ‘Ah! doubt not our report’ (the Prince rejoin’d)

  ‘Of all the virtues of thy gen’rous mind.

  And oh! return’d might we Ulysses meet!

  To him thy presents show, thy words repeat: 175

  How will each speech his grateful wonder raise!

  How will each gift indulge us in thy praise!’

  Scarce ended thus the Prince, when on the right

  Advanc’d the bird of Jove: auspicious sight!

  A milk-white fowl his clinching talons bore, 180

  With care domestic pamper’d at the floor.

  Peasants in vain with threat’ning cries pursue,

  In solemn speed the bird majestic flew

  Full dexter to the car: the prosp’rous sight

  Fill’d ev’ry breast with wonder and delight. 185

  But Nestor’s son the cheerful silence broke,

  And in these words the Spartan Chief bespoke:

  ‘Say if to us the Gods these omens send,

  Or fates peculiar to thyself portend?’

  Whilst yet the Monarch paus’d, with doubts oppress’d, 190

  The beauteous Queen reliev’d his lab�
�ring breast:

  ‘Hear me’ (she cried), ‘to whom the Gods have given

  To read this sign, and mystic sense of Heav’n.

  As thus the plumy sov’reign of the air

  Left on the mountain’s brow his callow care, 195

  And wander’d thro’ the wide ethereal way

  To pour his wrath on you luxurious prey;

  So shall thy godlike father, toss’d in vain

  Thro’ all the dangers of the boundless main,

  Arrive (or is perchance already come), 200

  From slaughter’d gluttons to release the dome.’

  ‘Oh! if this promis’d bliss by thund’ring Jove’

  (The Prince replied) ‘stand fix’d in Fate above;

  To thee, as to some God, I ‘ll temples raise,

  And crown thy altars with the costly blaze.’ 205

  He said; and, bending o’er his chariot, flung

  Athwart the fiery steeds the smarting thong;

  The bounding shafts upon the harness play,

  Till night descending intercepts the way.

  To Diocles at Pheræ they repair, 210

  Whose boasted sire was sacred Alpheus’ heir;

  With him all night the youthful strangers stay’d,

  Nor found the hospitable rites unpaid.

  But soon as Morning from her orient bed

  Had tinged the mountains with her earliest red, 215

  They join’d the steeds, and on the chariot sprung;

  The brazen portals in their passage rung.

  To Pylos soon they came; when thus begun

  To Nestor’s heir Ulysses’ godlike son:

  ‘Let not Pisistratus in vain be press’d, 220

  Nor unconsenting hear his friend’s request;

  His friend by long hereditary claim,

  In toils his equal, and in years the same.

  No farther from our vessel, I implore,

  The coursers drive; but lash them to the shore. 225

  Too long thy father would his friend detain;

  I dread his proffer’d kindness urged in vain.’

  The Hero paus’d, and ponder’d this request,

  While love and duty warr’d within his breast.

  At length resolv’d, he turn’d his ready hand, 230

  And lash’d his panting coursers to the strand.

  There, while within the poop with care he stor’d

  The regal presents of the Spartan lord,

  ‘With speed begone’ (said he); ‘call every mate,

  Ere yet to Nestor I the tale relate: 235

  ‘T is true, the fervour of his gen’rous heart

  Brooks no repulse, nor couldst thou soon depart:

  Himself will seek thee here, nor wilt thou find,

  In words alone, the Pylian Monarch kind.

  But when, arrived, he thy return shall know, 240