PALLAS appearing in a dream to Nausicaa, the daughter of Alcinous, king of Phæacia, commands her to descend to the river, and wash the robes of state, in preparation to her nuptialsNausicaa goes with her handmaids to the river; where, while the garments are spread on the bank, they divert themselves in sports-Their voices awake Ulysses, who, addressing himself to the princess, is by her relieved and clothed, and receives directions in what manner to apply to the king and queen of the island.
WHILE thus the weary wanderer sunk to rest, And peaceful slumbers calm'd his anxious breast, The martial maid, from heaven's aerial height, Swift to Phæacia wing'd her rapid flight.
In elder times the soft Phæacian train
In ease possess'd the wide Hyperian plain;
Till the Cyclopean race in arms arose,
A lawless nation of gigantic foes:
Then great Nausithous from Hyperia far
Through seas retreating from the sound of war, 10
The recreant nation to fair Scheria led,
Where never Science rear'd her laurell'd head:
There round his tribes a strength of wall he rais'd;
To heaven the glittering domes and temples blazed;
Just to his realms, he parted grounds from grounds,
And shared the lands, and gave the lands their
Now in the silent grave the monarch lay,
And wise Alcinous held the regal sway.
To his high palace through the fields
The goddess shot; Ulysses was her care.
There as the night in silence roll'd away,
A heaven of charms divine Nausicaa lay:
Through the thick gloom the shining portals blaze;
Two nymphs the portals guard, each nymph a Grace.
Light as the viewless air, the warrior maid
Glides through the valves, and hovers round her head;
A favourite virgin's blooming form she took,
From Dymas sprung, and thus the vision spoke:
"Oh indolent! to waste thy hours away! And sleep'st thou careless of the bridal day? Thy spousal ornament neglected lies; Arise, prepare the bridal train, arise! A just applause the cares of dress impart, And give soft transport to a parent's heart. Haste, to the limpid stream direct thy way, When the gay morn unveils her smiling ray: Haste to the stream! companion of thy care, Lo, I thy steps attend, thy labours share. Virgin, awake! the marriage hour is nigh, See! from their thrones thy kindred monarchs sigh!
The royal car at early dawn obtain,
And order mules obedient to the rein;
For rough the way, and distant rolls the wave,
Where their fair vests Phæacian virgins lave.
In pomp ride forth; for pomp becomes the great, 45
And majesty derives a grace from state."
Then to the palaces of heaven she sails,
Incumbent on the wings of wafting gales;
The seat of gods; the regions mild of peace,
Full joy, and calm eternity of ease.
There no rude winds presume to shake the skies,
No rains descend, no snowy vapours rise;
But on immortal thrones the bless'd repose;
The firmament with living splendours glows.
Hither the goddess wing'd the aerial way,
Through heaven's eternal gates that blazed with day.
Now from her rosy car Aurora shed
The dawn, and all the orient flamed with red.
Up rose the virgin with the morning light,
Obedient to the vision of the night.
The queen she sought, the queen her hours bestow'd
In curious works; the whirling spindle glow'd
With crimson threads, while busy damsels cull
The snowy fleece, or twist the purpled wool.
Meanwhile Phæacia's peers in council sat;
From his high dome the king descends in state,
Then with a filial awe the royal maid
Approach'd him passing, and submissive said: "Will my dread sire his ear regardful deign,
And may his child the royal car obtain?
Say, with thy garments shall I bend my way,
Where through the vales the mazy waters stray ?
A dignity of dress adorns the great,
And kings draw lustre from the robe of state.
Five sons thou hast; three wait the bridal day, 75
And spotless robes become the young and gay:
So when with praise amid the dance they shine,
By these my cares adorn'd, that praise is mine."
Thus she: but blushes ill restrain'd betray
Her thoughts intentive on the bridal day:
The conscious sire the dawning blush survey'd,
And smiling thus bespoke the blooming maid:
"My child, my darling joy, the car receive;
That, and whate'er our daughter asks, we give."
Swift at the royal nod the attending train
The car prepare, the mules incessant rein.
The bashful virgin, with despatchful cares,
Tunics, and stoles, and robes imperial, bears.
The queen, assiduous, to her train assigns
The sumptuous viands, and the flavorous wines. 90
The train prepare a cruise of curious mould,
A cruise of fragrance, form'd of burnish'd gold;
Odour divine! whose soft refreshing streams
Sleek the smooth skin, and scent the snowy limbs.
Now mounting the gay seat, the silken reins
Shine in her hand; along the sounding plains
Swift fly the mules: nor rode the nymph alone;
Around, a bevy of bright damsels shone.
They seek the cisterns where Phæacian dames
Wash their fair garments in the limpid streams;
Where, gathering into depth from falling rills, 101
The lucid wave a spacious basin fills.
The mules unharness'd range beside the main,
Or crop the verdant herbage of the plain.
Then emulous the royal robes they lave, And plunge the vestures in the cleansing wave; (The vestures cleansed o'erspread the shelly sand, Their snowy lustre whitens all the strand ;) Then with a short repast relieve their toil, And o'er their limbs diffuse ambrosial oil; And while the robes imbibe the solar ray, O'er the green mead the sporting virgins play(Their shining veils unbound.) Along the skies Toss'd, and retoss'd, the ball incessant flies. They sport, they feast; Nausicaa lifts her voice, And, warbling sweet, makes heaven and earth re
As when o'er Erymanth Diana roves, Or wide Taygetus's resounding groves; A sylvan train the huntress queen surrounds, Her rattling quiver from her shoulder sounds : 120 Fierce in the sport, along the mountain's brow They bay the boar, or chase the bounding roe ; High o'er the lawn, with more majestic pace, Above the nymphs she treads with stately grace ; Distinguish'd excellence the goddess proves; Exults Latona as the virgin moves. With equal grace Nausicaa trod the plain, And shone transcendent o'er the beauteous train.
Meantime, (the care and favourite of the skies,) Wrapp'd in imbowering shade, Ulysses lies, His woes forgot! but Pallas now address'd To break the bands of all-composing rest. Forth from her snowy hand Nausicaa threw The various ball; the ball erroneous flew,
And swam the stream: loud shrieks the virgin train, And the loud shriek redoubles from the main.
Waked by the shrilling sound, Ulysses rose,
And, to the deaf woods wailing, breathed his woes :
"Ah me! on what inhospitable coast,
On what new region is Ulysses toss'd;
Possess'd by wild barbarians fierce in arms;
Or men, whose bosom tender pity warms ?
What sounds are these that gather from the shores?
The voice of nymphs that haunt the sylvan bow-
The fair-hair'd Dryads of the shady wood;
Or azure daughters of the silver flood;
Or human voice ? but, issuing from the shades,
Why cease I straight ight to learn what sound invades ?"
Then, where the grove with leaves umbrageous
With forceful strength a branch the hero rends; 150
Around his loins the verdant cincture spreads
A wreathy foliage and concealing shades.
As when a lion in the midnight hours,
Beat by rude blasts, and wet with wintry showers,
Descends terrific from the mountain's brow;
With living flames his rolling eyeballs glow;
With conscious strength elate, he bends his way,
Majestically fierce, to seize his prey;
(The steer or stag ;) or, with keen hunger bold,
Springs o'er the fence, and dissipates the fold. 160
No less a terror, from the neighbouring groves
(Rough from the tossing surge) Ulysses moves;
Urged on by want, and recent from the storms:
The brackish ooze his manly grace deforms.
Wide o'er the shore with many a piercing cry 165
To rocks, to caves, the frighted virgins fly;
All but the nymph: the nymph stood fix'd alone,
By Pallas arm'd with boldness not her own.
Meantime in dubious thought the king awaits,
And, self-considering, as he stands, debates;
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