Adventures with Æolus, the Lestrigons, and Circe.
ULYSSES arrives at the island of Æolus, who gives him prosperous winds, and encloses the adverse ones in a bag, which his companions untying, they are driven back again, and rejected-Then they sail to the Lestrigons, where they lose eleven ships, and, with one only remaining, proceed to the island of Circe-Eurylochus is sent first with some companions, all of whom, except Eurylochus, are transformed into swine-Ulysses then undertakes the adventure, and by the help of Mercury, who gives him the herb moly, overcomes the enchantress, and procures the restoration of his menAfter a year's stay with her, he prepares, at her instigation, for his voyage to the infernal shades.
" Ar length we reach'd Eolia's sea-girt shore,
Where great Hippotades the sceptre bore-
A floating isle! High raised by toil divine,
Strong walls of brass the rocky coast confine.
Six blooming youths, in private grandeur bred,
And six fair daughters, graced the royal bed :
These sons their sisters wed, and all remain
Their parents' pride, and pleasure of their reign.
All day they feast, all day the bowls flow round,
And joy and music through the isle resound:
At night each pair on splendid carpets lay,
And crown'd with love the pleasures of the day.
This happy port affords our wandering fleet
A month's reception and a safe retreat.
Full oft the monarch urged me to relate
The fall of Ilion, and the Grecian fate;
Full oft I told: at length for parting moved:
The king with mighty gifts my suit approved.
The adverse winds in leathern bags he braced,
Compress'd their force, and lock'd each struggling
For him the mighty sire of gods assign'd
The tempest's lord, the tyrant of the wind:
His word alone the listening storms obey,
To smooth the deep, or swell the foamy sea.
These in my hollow ship the monarch hung,
Securely fetter'd by a silver thong;
But Zephyrus exempt, with friendly gales
He charged to fill, and guide the swelling sails :
Rare gift! but oh, what gift to fools avails!
"Nine prosperous days we plied the labouring
The tenth presents our welcome native shore:
The hills display the beacon's friendly light,
And rising mountains gain upon our sight.
Then first my eyes, by watchful toils oppress'd,
Complied to take the balmy gifts of rest;
Then first my hands did from the rudder part;
(So much the love of home possess'd my heart ;)
When lo! on board a fond debate arose;
What rare device those vessels might enclose ?
What sum, what prize from Æolus I brought ?
While to his neighbour each express'd his thought.
""Say, whence, ye gods, contending nations strive
Who most shall please, who most our hero give ?
Long have his coffers groan'd with Trojan spoils;
While we, the wretched partners of his toils,
Reproach'd by want, our fruitless labours mourn,
And only rich in barren fame return.
Now Æolus, ye see, augments his store :
But come, my friends, these mystic gifts explore.'
They said; and (oh cursed fate!) the thongs unbound.
The gushing tempest sweeps the ocean round; 51
Snatch'd in the whirl, the hurried navy flew,
The ocean widen'd, and the shores withdrew.
Roused from my fatal sleep, I long debate
If still to live, or desperate plunge to fate;
Thus doubting, prostrate on the deck I lay,
Till all the coward thoughts of death gave way.
"Meanwhile our vessels plough the liquid plain, And soon the known Æolian coast regain, Our groans the rocks remurmur'd to the main. We leap'd on shore, and with a scanty feast Our thirst and hunger hastily repress'd; That done, two chosen heralds straight attend Our second progress to my royal friend: And him amid his jovial sons we found; The banquet steaming, and the goblets crown'd: There humbly stopp'd with conscious shame and
Nor nearer than the gate presumed to draw.
But soon his sons their well-known guests descried,
And starting from their couches loudly cried,
'Ulysses here! what demon couldst thou meet
To thwart thy passage, and repel thy fleet?
Wast thou not furnish'd by our choicest care
For Greece, for home, and all thy soul held dear ?'
Thus they; in silence long my fate I mourn'd,
At length these words with accent low return'd:
'Me, lock'd in sleep, my faithless crew bereft
Of all the blessings of your godlike gift!
But grant, oh grant our loss we may retrieve :
A favour you, and you alone can give.'
"Thus I with art to move their pity tried, And touch'd the youths; but their stern sire replied: 'Vile wretch, begone! this instant I command Thy fleet accursed to leave our hallow'd land. His baneful suit pollutes these bless'd abodes, Whose fate proclaims him hateful to the gods.'
"Thus fierce he said: we sighing went our way, And with desponding hearts put off to sea. The sailors, spent with toils, their folly mourn, But mourn in vain; no prospect of return:
Six days and nights a doubtful course we steer,
The next proud Lamos' stately towers appear,.
And Lestrigonia's gates arise distinct in air.
The shepherd, quitting here at night the plain,
Calls, to succeed his cares, the watchful swain; 95
But he that scorns the chains of sleep to wear,
And adds the herdsman's to the shepherd's care,
So near the pastures, and so short the way,
His double toils may claim a double pay,
And join the labours of the night and day.
"Within a long recess a bay there lies, Edged round with cliffs high pointing to the skies The jutting jut shores that swell on either side Contract its mouth, and break the rushing tide. Our eager sailors seize the fair retreat, And bound within the port their crowded fleet; For here retired the sinking billows sleep, And smiling calmness silver'd o'er the deep. I only in the bay refused to moor,
And fix'd, without, my halsers to the shore.
"From thence we climb'd a point, whose airy
Commands the prospect of the plains below:
No tracks of beasts, or signs of men, we found,
But smoky volumes rolling from the ground.
Two with our herald thither we command,
With speed to learn what men possess'd the land.
They went, and kept the wheel's smooth-beaten
Which to the city drew the mountain wood;
When lo! they met, beside a crystal spring,
The daughter of Antiphates the king;
She to Artacia's silver streams came down:
(Artacia's streams alone supply the town:)
The damsel they approach, and ask'd what race
The people were, who monarch of the place.
With joy the maid the unwary strangers heard, 125
And show'd them where the royal dome appear'd.
They went; but, as they entering saw the queen
Of size enormous, and terrific mien,
(Not yielding to some bulky mountain's height,)
A sudden horror struck their aching sight.
Swift at her call her husband scour'd away
To wreak his hunger on the destined
One for his food the raging glutton slew,
But two rush'd out, and to the navy flew.
"Balk'd of his prey, the yelling monster flies, 135
And fills the city with his hideous cries:
A ghastly band of giants hear the roar,
And, pouring down the mountains, crowd the shore.
Fragments they rend from off the craggy brow,
And dash the ruins on the ships below:
The crackling vessels burst; hoarse groans arise,
And mingled horrors echo to the skies;
The men, like fish, they stuck upon the flood,
And cramm'd their filthy throats with human food.
While thus their fury rages at the bay,
My sword our cables cut, I call'd to weigh,
And charged my men, as they from fate would fly,
Each nerve to strain, each bending oar to ply.
The sailors catch the word, their oars they sei
And sweep with equal strokes the smoky seas: 150
Clear of the rocks the impatient vessel flies;
While in the port each wretch encumber'd dies.
With earnest haste my frighted sailors press,
While kindling transports glow'd at our success;
But the sad fate that did our friends destroy
Cool'd every breast, and damp'd the rising joy.
"Now dropp'd our anchors in the Eæan bay,
Where Circe dwelt, the daughter of the Day!
Her mother Perse, of old Ocean's strain,
Thus from the Sun descended, and the Main; 160
(From the same lineage stern Eætes came,
The far-famed brother of the enchantress dame ;)
Goddess, and queen, to whom the powers belong
Of dreadful magic, and commanding song.
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