And bathes with floods of tears the gaping wound:
She cries, she shrieks; the fierce insulting foe
Relentless mocks her violence of woe:
To chains condemn'd, as wildly she deplores ;
A widow, and a save on foreign shores.

580

BOOK IX.

ARGUMENT.

The Adventures of the Cicons Lotophagi, and
Cyclops.

Ulysses begins ine relation of his adventures; how after the destruction of Troy, he with his companions made an incursion on the Cicons, by whom they were repulsed; and meeting with a storm, were driven to the coast of the Lotophagi. From thence they sailed to the land of the Cyclops, whose munners and situation are particularly characterised. The giant Polyphemus and his cave described; the usage Ulysses and his companions met with there; and lastly, the method and artifice by which he escaped.

So from the sluices of Ulysses' eyes
Fast fell the tears, and sighis succeeded sighs:
Conceal'd he grieved: the king observed alone
The silent tear, and heard the secret groan;
Then to the bard aloud: O cease to sing,
Dumb be thy voice, and mute the tuneful string;
To every note his tears responsive flow,
And his great heart heaves with tumultuous woe;
Thy lay too deeply moves: then cease the lay,
And o'er the banquet every heart be gay:
This social right demands: for him the sails,
Floating in air, invite the impelling gales:
His are the gifts of love: the wise and good
Receive the stranger as a brother's blood.

585

BOOK IX.

THEN thus Ulysses. Thou whom first in swav,
As first in virtue, these thy realms obey;
How sweet the products of a peaceful reign!
The heaven-taught poet, and enchanting strain
The well-fill'd pa.are. the perpetual feast,
A land rejoicing, and a people blest!
590 How goodly seems it ever to employ
Man's social days in union and in joy;
The plenteous board high-heap'd with cates divine,
And o'er the foaming bowl the laughing wine:
Amid these joys, why seeks thy mind to know
595 The unhappy series of a wanderer's woe?
Remembrance sad, whose image to review,
Alas! must open all my wounds anew!
And oh, what first, what last shall I relate,
Of woes uunumber'd sent by Heaven and Fate?
Know first the man (though now a wretch distress'd)
Who hopes thee, monarch, for his future guest.
Behold Ulysses! no ignoble name,

600

605

But, friend, discover faithful what I crave
Artful concealment ill becomes the brave:
Say what thy birth, and what the name you bore,
Imposed by parents in the natal hour?
(For from the natal hour distinctive names,
One common right, the great and lowly claims):
Say from what city, from what regions tost,
And what inhabitants those regions boast?
So shalt thou instant reach the realin assign'd,
In wondrous ships, self-moved. instinct with mind;
No helm secures their course, no pilot guides;
Like man intelligent, they plough the tides
Conscious of every coast, and every bay,
That lies beneath the sun's all-seeing ray:
Though clouds and darkness veil the encumoerd sky,
Fearless through darkness, and through clouds they fly;
Though tempests rage, though rolls the swelling main,
The seas may roll, the tempests rage in vain ;
Even the stern god that o'er the waves presides
Safe as they pass, and safe repass the tides,
With fury burns while careless they convey
Promiscuous every guest to every bay.
These ears have heard my royal sire disclose
A dreadful story big with future woes,
How Neptune raged, and how, by his command,
Firm rooted in a surge a ship should stand

A nonument of wrath; how mound on mound

Should bury these proud towers beneath the ground.
But this the gods may frustrate or fulfil,

As suits the purpose of the eternal will.

5

10

15

Earth sounds my wisdom, and high heaven my fame. 20
My native soil is Ithaca the fair,

Where high Neritus waves his woods in air;
Dulichium, Samè, and Zacynthus crown'd
With shady mountains, spread their isles around
(These to the north and night's dark regions run,
Those to Aurora and the rising sun).

Low lies our isle, yet bless'd in fruitful stores;
Strong are her sons, though rocky are her shores:
And none, ah none so lovely to my sight,

25

Of all the lands that heaven o'erspreads with light! 30
In vain Calypso long constrain'd my stay,

615 With sweet, reluctant, amorous delay;

With all her charms as vainly Circe strove,
And added magic to secure my love.
In pomps or joys, the palace or the grot,
My country's image never was forgot,

But say through what waste regions hast thou stray'd, 625 Beneath cold Ismarus, our vessels bore.

630

What custoins noted, and what coasts survey'd;
Possess'd by wild barbarians fierce in arms,
Or men, whose bosom tender pity warms?
Say why the fate of Troy awaked thy cares,
Why heaved thy bosom, and why flow'd thy tears?
Just are the ways of heaven; from heaven proceed
The woes of man; heaven doom'd the Greeks to bleed,
A theme of future song! Say then if slain
Some dear-loved brother press'd the Phrygian plain?
Or bled some friend, who bore a brother's part,
And claim'd by merit, not by blood, the heart?

35

620 My absent parents rose before my sight,
And distant lay contentment and delight.

Hear then the woes which mighty Jove ordain'd
To wait my passage from the Trojan land.
The winds from Ilion to the Cicons' shore,

40

I then advised to fly; not so the rest,
Who stay'd.to revel, and prolong the feast:
The fatted sheep and sable bulls they slay,
And bowls flow round, and riot wastes the day.
Meantime the Cicons, to their holds retired,
Call on the Cicons, with new fury fired;
With early morn the gather'd country swarms,
And all the continent is bright with arms;
Thick as the budding leaves or rising flowers
O'erspread the land, when spring descends in showers:
All expert soldiers, skill'd on foot to dare,

65

A port there is, inclosed on either side,
Where ships may rest, unanchor'd and untied;
Till the glad mariners incline to sail,
And the sea whitens with the rising gale.
High at its head, from out the cavern'd rock
70 In living rills a gushing fountain broke:
Around it, and above, for ever green

Promiscuous death the form of war confounds,
Each adverse battle gored with equal wounds;
But when his evening wheels o'erhung the main,
Then conquest crown'd the fierce Ciconian train.
Six brave companions from each ship we lost,
The rest escape in haste, and quit the coast.
With sails outspread we fly the unequal strife,
Sad for their loss, but joyful of our life.
Yet as we fled, our fellows' rites we paid.
And thrice we call'd on each unhappy shade.
Meanwhile the god whose hand the thunder forms, 75
Drives clouds on clouds, and blackens heaven with
storms:

Wide o'er the waste the rage of Boreas sweeps,
And night rush'd headlong on the shaded deeps.
Now here, now there, the giddy ships are borne,
And all the rattling shrouds in fragments torn.
We furl'd the sail, we plied the labouring oar,
Took down our masts, and row'd our ships to shore.
Two tedious days and two long nights we lay,
O'erwatch'd and batter'd in the naked bay.
But the third morning when Aurora brings,
We rear the masts, we spread the canvas wings;
Refresh'd, and careless on the deck reclined,
We sit, and trust the pilot and the wind.
Then to my native country had I sail'd;
But the cape doubled, adverse winds prevail'd.
Strong was the tide, which, by the northern blast
Impell'd, our vessels on Cythera cast.

Nine days our fleet the uncertain tempest hore
Far in wide ocean, and from sight of shore:
The tenth we touch'd, by various errors tost,
The land of Lotus and the flowery coast.
We climb'd the beach, and springs of water found,
Then spread our hasty banquet on the ground.
Three men were sent, deputed from the crew
(An herald one), the dubious coast to view,
And learn what habitants possess'd the place.
They went, and found a hospitable race:
Not prone to ill, nor strange to foreign guest,
They eat, they drink, and nature gives the feast;
The trees around them all their food produce;
Lotos, the name; divine, nectareous juice!
(Thence call'd Lotophagi); which whoso tastes,
Insatiate riots in the sweet repasts,
Nor other home, nor other care intends,
But quits his house, his country, and his friends.
The three we sent, from off the enchanting ground
We dragg'd reluctant, and by force we bound:
The rest in haste forsook the pleasing shore,
Or, the charm tasted, had return'd no more.
Now placed in order on their banks, they sweep
The sea's smooth face, and cleave the hoary deep;
With heavy hearts we labour through the tide,
To coasts unknown, and oceans yet untried.

The land of Cyclops first, a savage kind,
Nor tamed by manners, nor by law's confined:
Untaught to plant, to turn the glebe and sow;
They all their products to free nature owe.
The soil untill'd a ready harvest yields,
With wheat and barley wave the golden fields,
Spontaneous wires from weighty clusters pour,
And Jove descends in each prolific shower.
By these no statutes and no rights are known,
No council held, no monarch fills the throne,
But high on hills, or airy cliffs, they dwell,
Or deep in caves whose entrance leads to hell.
Each rules his race, his neighbour not his care,
Heedless of others, to his own severe.

Opposed to the Cyclopean coasts, there lay
An isle, whose hills their subject fields survey;
Its name Lachæa, crown'd with many a grove,
Where savage goats through pathless thickets rove:
No needy mortals here, with hunger bold,
Or wretched hunters through the wintery cold
Pursue their flight; but leave them safe to bound
From hill to hill, o'er all the desert ground.
Nor knows the soil to feed the fleecy care,
Or feels the labours of the crooked share;
But uninhabited, untill'd, unsown

It lies, and breeds the bleating goat alone.
For there no vessel with vermilion prore,
Or bark of traffic, glides from shore to shore;
The rugged race of savages, unskill'd
The seas to traverse, or the ships to build,
Gaze on the coast, nor cuitivate the soil;
Unlearn'd in all the industrious arts of toil.
Yet here all products and all plants abound,
Sprung from the fruitful genius of the ground;
Fields waving high with heavy crops are seen,
And vines that flourish in eternal green,
Refreshing meads along the murmuring main,
And fountains streaming down the fruitful plain.

80

The bushing alders form'd a shady scene.
Hither some favouring god, beyond our thought,
Through all-surrounding shade our navy brought;
For gloomy night descended on the main,
Nor glimmer'd Phoebe in the ethereal plain :
But all unseen the clouded island lay,
And all unseen the surge and rolling sea,
Till safe we anchor'd in the shelter'd bay:
Our sails we gather'd, cast our cables o'er,
And slept secure along the sandy shore.
Soon as again the rosy morning shone,
Reveal'd the landscape and the scene unknown,
With wonder seized, we view the pleasing ground,
And walk delighted, and expatiate round.

85 Roused by the woodland nymphs at early dawn,
The mountain goats came bounding o'er the lawn:
In haste our fellows to the ships repair,
For arms and weapons of the sylvan war;
Straight in three squadrons all our crew we part,

18)

185

90 And bend the bow, or wing the missile dart;
The bounteous gods afford a copious prey,
And nine fat goats each vessel bears away:
The royal bark had ten. Our ships complete
We thus supplied (for twelve were all the fleet).
Here, till the setting sun roll'd down the light,
We sat indulging in the genial rite:
Nor wines were wanting; those from ample jars
We drain'd, the prize of our Ciconian wars.
The land of Cyclops lay in prospect near;

95

100 The voice of goats and bleeting flocks we hear,
And from their mountains rising smokes appear
Now sunk the sun, and darkness cover'd o'er
The face of things: along the sea-beat shore
Satiate we slept: but when the sacred dawn
105 Arising glitter'd o'er the dewy lawn,

110

190

195

200

205

I call'd my fellows, and these words address'd.
My dear associates, here indulge your rest:
While, with my single ship, adventurous I
Go forth, the manners of yon men to try:
Whether a race unjust, of barbarous might,
Rude, and unconscious of a stranger's right;
Or such who harbour pity in their breast,
Revere the gods, and succour the distress'd.
This said, I climb'd my vessel's lofty side;
115 My train obey'd me, and the ship untied.
In order seated on their banks, they sweep
Neptune's smooth face, and cleave the yielding deep. 210
When to the nearest verge of land we drew,
Fast by the sea a lonely cave we view,

220

120 High, and with darkening laurels cover'd o'er;
Where sheep and goats lay slumbering round the shore.
Near this, a fence of marble from the rock,
Brown with o'erarching pine and spreading oak.
A giant shepherd here his flock maintains

215

125 Far from the rest, and solitary reigns,

In shelter thick of horrid shade reclined;

And gloomy mischiefs labour in his mind.
A forin enormous! far unlike the race
Of human birth, in stature, or in face;

130

As some lone mountain's monstrous growth he stood
Crown'd with rough thickets, and a nodding wood,
I left my vessel at the point of land,

225

135

And close to guard it, gave our crew command:
With only twelve, the boldest and the best,
I seek the adventure, and forsake the rest

Then took a goatskin fill'd with precious wine,
The gift of Maron of Evantheus' line

230

(The priest of Phoebus at the Ismarian shrine).
In sacred shade his honour'd mansion stoc

140 Amidst Apollo's consecrated wood;

Him, and bis house, heaven moved my mind to save,
And costly presents in return he gave;
Seven golden talents to perfection wrought,
A silver bowl that held a copious draught,

2%

145 And twelve large vessels of unmingled wine,
Mellifluous, undecaying, and divine!

Which now, some ages from his race conceal'd,
The hoary sire in gratitude reveal'd.
Such was the wine: to quench whose fervent steam

240

945

150 Scarce twenty measures from the living stream
To cool one cup sufficed: the goblet crown'd
Breathed aromatic fragrancies around.
Of this an aniple vase we heaved aboard,
And brought another with provisions stored.

Of sore fell monster, fierce with barbarous power,

Some rustic wretch, who lived in heaven's despite,
Contemning laws, and trampling on the right.
The cave we found, but vacant all within
(His flock the giant tended on the green):
But round the grot we gaze: and all we view,
In order ranged, our admiration drew:

The bending shelves with loads of cheeses press'd,
The folded flocks each separate from the rest
(The larger here, and there the lesser lambs,

The new-fall'n young there bleating for their dams;
The kid distinguish'd from the lambkin lies):
The cavern echoes with responsive cries.
Capacious chargers all around were laid,
Full pails, and vessels of the milking trade.
With fresh provisions hence our fleet to store
My friends advise me, and to quit the shore;
Or drive a flock of sheep and goats away,
Consult our safety, and put off to sea.
Their wholesome counsel rashly I declined,
Curious to view the man of monstrous kind,
And try what social rites a savage lends:
Dire rites, alas! and fatal to my friends!

250

341

He answer'd with his deed: his bloody hand
Snatch'd two, unhappy! of ray martial band:
And dash'd like dogs against the stony floor:
The pavement swims with brains and mingled go.e;
Torn limb from limb, he spreads his horrid feast,
255 And fierce devours it like a mountain beast:
He sucks the marrow, and the blood he drains,
Nor entrails, flesh, nor solid bone remains.
We see the death from which we cannot niove,
And humbled groan beneath the hand of Jove.'
His ample maw with human carnage fill'd,
A milky deluge next the giant swill'd;

350

260

Then stretch'd in length o'er half the cavern'd rock,

Lay senseless, and supine, amidst the flock.

355

To seize the time, and with a sudden wound

To fix the slumbering monster to the ground,

My soul impels me; and in act I stand

To draw the sword; but wisdom held my hand.
A deed so rash had finish'd all our fate,
No mortal forces from the lofty gate

360

265

270 Could roll the rock. In hopeless grief we lay
And sigh, expecting the return of day.
Now did the rosy-finger'd morn arise,
And shed her sacred light along the skies
He wakes, he lights the fire, he milks the dams,

275 And to the mothers' teats submits the lambs.
The task thus finish'd of his morning hours,
Two more he snatches, murders, and devours.
Then pleased, and whistling, drives his flock before; 370
Removes the rocky mountain from the door
And shuts again: with equal ease disposed,
As a light quiver's lid is oped and closed.
His giant voice the echoing region fills;

His flocks, obedient, spread o'er all the hills.
Thus left behind, even in the last despair

Then first a fire we kindle, and prepare
For his return with sacrifice and prayer.
The loaden shelves afford us full repast;
We sit expecting. Lo! he comes at last.
Near half a forest on his back he bore,
And cast the ponderous burden at the door
It thunder'd as it fell We trembled then,
And sought the deep recesses of the den.
Now driven before him through the arching rock,
Cane tumbling, heaps on heaps, the unnumber'd flock:
Big-udder'd ewes, and goats of female kind
(The males were penn'd in outward courts behind);
Then heaved on high, a rock's enormous weight
To the cave's mouth he roll'd, and closed the gate
(Scarce twenty four-wheel'd cars, compact and strong,
The massy load could bear, or roll along).
He next betakes him to his evening cares,
And, sitting down, to milk his flocks prepares;

280

375

285

290

I thought, devised, and Pallas heard my prayer.
Revenge, and doubt, and caution, work'd my breast;
But this of many counsels seem'd the best:
The monster's club within the cave I spied,
A tree of stateliest growth, and yet undried,
Green from the wood; of height and bulk so vast,
The largest ship might claim it for a mast.
This shorten'd of its top, I gave my train
A fathom's length, to shape it and to plane;
The narrower end I sharpen'd to a spire;

380

385

295 Whose point we harden'd with the force of fire,
And hid it in the dust that strew'd the cave.
Then to my few companions, bold and brave,
Proposed who first the venturous deed should try, 390
In the broad orbit of his monstrous eye

Of half their udders eases first the dams,
Then to the mother's teat submits the lambs,
Half the white stream to hardening cheese he press'd
And high in wicker-baskets heap'd: the rest,
Reserved in bowls, supplied his nightly feast.
His labour done, he fired the pile, that gave
A sidden blaze, and lighted all the cave.
We stand discover'd by the rising fires;
Askance the giant glares, and thus inquires:

What are ye, guests? on what adventure, say,
Thus far ye wander through the watry way?
Pirates perhaps, who seek through seas unknown
The lives of others, and expose your own?

305

300 To plunge the brand, and twirl the pointed wood,
When slumber next should tame the man of blood.
Just as I wish'd, the lots were cast on four:
Myself the fifth. We stand and wait the hour.
He comes with evening: all his fleecy flock
Before him march, and pour into the rock:
Not one, or male or female, staid behind
(So fortune chanced, or so some god design'd);
Then heaving high the stone's unwieldy weight,
He roll'd it on the cave, and closed the gate.
First down he sits, to milk the woolly dams,
And then permits their udder to the lambs.
Next seized two wretches more, and headlong cast,
Brain'd on the rock; his second dire repast.
I then approach'd him reeking with their gore,
315 And held the brimming goblet foaming o'er;

310

His voice like thunder through the cavern sounds
My bold companions thrilling fear confounds,
Appall'd at sight of more than mortal man
At length, with heart recover'd, I began.
From Troy's famed fields, sad wanderers o'er the main,
Behold the relics of the Grecian train!
Through various seas, by various perils tost,
And forced by storms, unwilling, on your coast;
Far from our destined course and native land,
Such was our fate, and such high Jove's command!
Nor what we are befits us to disclaim,
Atrides' friends (in arms a mighty name),
Who taught proud Troy and all her sons to bow;
Victors of late, but humble suppliants now!
Low at thy knee thy succour we implore;
Respect us, human, and relieve us, poor.
At least some hospitable gift bestow;
"Tis what the happy to the unhappy owe:
"Tis what the gods require: those gods revere,
The poor and stranger are their constant care
To Jove their cause, and their revenge belongs,
He wanders with them, and he feels their wrongs
Fools that ye are ! (the savage thus replies,
His inward fury blazing at his eyes)
Or strangers, distant far from our abodes,

To bid me reverence or regard the gods.

Know then, we Cyclops are a race, above

Cyclop since human flesh has been thy feast,
Now drain this goblet, potent to digest;
Know hence what treasures in our ship we lost,
And what rich liquors other climates boast.

395

400

405

410

325

330

320 We to thy shore the precious freight shall bear,
If home thou send us, and vouchsafe to spare.
But oh thus furious, thirsting thus for gore,
The sons of men shall ne'er approach thy shore,
And never shalt thou taste this nectar more
He heard, he took, and pouring down his throat,
Delighted, swill'd the large luxurious draught.
More give me more, he cried; the boon be thine,
Whoe'er thou art that bear'st celestial wine;
Declare thy naine; not mortal is this juice,
Such as the unblest Cyclopean climes produce
(Though sure our vine the largest cluster yields,
And Jove's scorn'd thunder serves to drench our fields):
But this descended from the bless'd abodes,
A rill of nectar, streaming from the gods.

475

420

425

335

Those air-bred people, and their goat-nursed Jove;
And learn, our power proceeds with thee and thine,
Not as he wills, but as ourselves incline.
But answer, the good ship that brought ye o'er,
Where lies she anchor'd? near or off the shore?
Thus he. His meditated fraud I find
(Versed in the turns of various human-kind);
And, cautious, thus. Against a dreadful rock,
Fast by your shore the gallant vessel broke.
Scarce with these few I 'scaped; of all my train,
Whom angry Neptune whelm'd beneath the main:
The scatter'd wreck the winds blew back gain.

He said, and greedy grasp'd the heady bowl,
Thrice drain'd, and pour'd the deluge on his soul.
His sense lay cover'd with the dozy fume;
While thus ny fraudful speech I re-assume.
Thy promised boon, O Cyclop! now I claim,
340 And plead my title; Noman is my name.

E

430

By that distinguish'd from my tender years, "Tis what my parents call me, and my peers.

The giant then: Our promised grace receive,
The hospitable boon we mean to give:
When all thy wretched crew have felt my power,
Noman shall be the last I will devour.

440

625

530

435 First thou wert wont to crop the flowery mead,
First to the field and river's bank to lead,
And first with stately step at evening hour
Thy fieecy fellows usher to the bower.
Now far the last, with pensive pace and slow
Thou movest, as conscious of thy master's woe!
Seest thou these lids that now unfold in vain?
(The deed of Noman and his wicked train!)
Oh! didst thou feel for thy afflicted lord,
And would but Fate the power of speech afford,
Soon might'st thou tell me, where in secret here
The dastard lurks, all trembling with his fear:
Swung round and round, and dash'd from rock to rock,
His batter'd brains should on the pavement smoke. 54G
No ease, no pleasure my sad heart receives,

445

450 While such a monster as vile Noman lives.

455

535

No sooner freed, and through the inclosure pass'd, 545
First I release myself, my fellows last:

Fat sheep and goats in throngs we drive before,
And reach our vessel on the winding shore,
With joy the sailors view their friends return'd,
And hail us living, whom as dead they mourn'd.
Big tears of transport stand in every eye:
460 I check their fondness, and command to fly.
Aboard in haste they heave the wealthy sheep,
And snatch their oars and rush into the deep.

He said: then nodding with the fuires of wine
Dropp'd his huge head, and snoring lay supine.
His neck obliquely o'er his shoulders hung,
Press'd with the weight of sleep that tames the strong:
There belch'd the mingled streanis of wine and blood,
And human flesh, his indigested food.
Sudden I stir the embers, and inspire
With animating breath the seeds of fire;
Each drooping spirit with bold words repair,
And urge iny train the dreadful deed to dare.
The stake now glow'd beneath the burning bed
(Green as it was) and sparkled fiery red,
Then forth the vengeful instrument I bring;
With beating hearts my fellows form a ring.
Urged some present god, they swift let fall
The pointed torment on his visual ball.
Myself above them from a rising ground
Guide the sharpe stake, and twirl it round and round.
As when a shipwright stands his workinen o'er
Who ply the wimble, some huge beam to bore;
Urged on all hands, it nimbly spins about,
The grain deep piercing till it scoops it out:
In his broad eye so whirls the fiery wood;
From the pierced pupil spouts the boiling blood;
Singed are his brows: the scorching lids grow black;
The jelly bubbles, and the fibres crack.
And as when armourers temper in the ford
The keen-edged pole-axe, or the shining sword,
The red-hot inetal hisses in the lake,
Thus in his eye-ball hiss'd the plunging stake.
He sends a dreadful groan, the rocks around
Through all their inmost winding caves resound.
Scared we receded. Forth with frantic hand,
He tore, and dash'd on earth the gory brand;
Then calls the Cylcops, all that round him dwell,
With voice like thunder, and a direful yell.
From all their dens the one-eyed race repair,
From rifted rocks, and mountains bleak in air.
All haste assembled, at his well-known roar,
Inquire the canse, and crowd the cavern door.

465

550

555

560

Now off at sea, and from the shallows clear,
As far as human voice could reach the ear,
With taunts the distant giant I accost.
Hear me, O Cyclop! hear, ungracious host!
"Twas on no coward, no ignoble slave,
Thou meditatest thy meal in yonder cave;
But one, the vengeance fated from above
470 Doom'd to inflict; the instrument of Jove.
Thy barbarous breach of hospitable bands,
The god, the god revenges by iny hands.
These words the Cyclop's burning rage provoke; 565
From the tall hill he rends a pointed rock;

What hurts thee, Polypheme? what strange affright
Thus breaks our slumbers, and disturbs the night?
Does any niortal, in the unguarded hour
Of sleep, oppress thee, or by fraud or power?
Or thieves insidious thy fair flocks surprise?
Thus they the Cyclop from his den replies:

Friends, Noman kills me; Noman, in the hour
Of sleep, oppresses me with fraudful power.
"If no man hurt thee, but the band divine
"Inflict disease, it fits thee to resign:
"To Jove or to thy father Neptune pray,"
The brethren cried, and instant strode away.

480

475 High o'er the billows flew the massy load,
And near the ship came thundering on the flood.
It almost brush'd the helin, and fell before:
The whole sea shook, and refluent beat the shore.
The strong concussion on the heaving tide
Roll'd back the vessel to the island's side:
Again I shoved her off; our fate to fly,
Each nerve we stretch, and every oar we ply,
Just 'scaped impending death, when now again
We twice as far had furrow'd back the main,
485 Once more I raise my voice; my friends afraid
With mild entreaties my design dissuade.
What boots the godless giant to provoke,
Whose arın may sink us at a single stroke?
Already, when the dreadful rock he threw,
490 Old Ocean shook, and back his surges flew.

570

575

580

495

585

Joy touch'd my secret soul and conscious heart,
Pleased with the effect of conduct and of art.
Meantiine the Cyclop, raging with the wound,
Spreads his wide arms, and searches round and round:
At last, the stone removing from the gate,
With hands extended in the midst he sate:
And search'd each passing sheep, and felt it o'er,
Secure to seize us ere we reach'd the door
(Such as his shallow wit he deem'd was mine);
But secret I revolved the deep design;
Twas for our lives my labouring bosom wrought;
Each scheme I turn'd, and sharpen'd every thought;
This way and that I cast to save my friends,
Till one resolve my varying counsel ends.

Strong were the rams, with native purple fair,
Well fed, and largest of the fleecy care.
These three and three, with ozier bands we tied
(The twining bands the Cyclop's bed supplied);
The midnost bore a man, the outward two
Secured each side: so bound we all the crew,
One ram remain'd, the leader of the flock;
In his deep fleece my grasping hands I lock,
And fast beneath, in woolly curls inwove,
There cling implicit, and confide in Jove.
When rosy morning glininer'd o'er the dales,
He drove to pasture all the lusty males:.
The ewes still folded, with distended thighs
Unmilk'd, lay bleating in distressful cries.
But heedless of those cares, with anguish stung,
He felt their fleeces as they pass'd along
(Fool that he was) and let them safely go,
All unsuspecting of their freight below.

The master ram at last approach'd the gate,
Charged with his wool, and with Ulysses fate.

And learn'd in all wing'd omens of the air)
Long since he menaced, such was Fate's command;
And named Ulysses as the destined hand.
I deen'd soine godlike giant to behold,
510 Or lofty hero, haughty, brave, and bold;
Not this weak pigmy-wretch, of niean-desig",
Who not by strength subdued me, but by wire.
But come, accept our gifts, and join to
pray
Great Neptune's blessing on the watry way;
515 For his I am, and I the lineage own;

The inunortal father no less boasts the son,
His power can heal me, and re-light my eye;
And only his, of all the gods on high.
Oh! could this arm, (I thus aloud rejoin'd)
520 From that vast bulk dislodge thy bloody mind,
And send thee howling to the realms of night!
As sure, as Neptune cannot give thee sight.
Thus I; while raging he repeats his cries,
Wit' hands uplifted to the starry sk:s

600

605

610

61

Adventures with Æolus, the Lestrigons, and Circe. Ulysses arrives at the island of Eolus, who gives him prosperous winds, and incloses 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 which, 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 men. After a year's stay with her, he prepares at her instigation for his voyage to the infernal shades.