ARGUMENT.
THE SIRENE, SCYLLA, AND CHARYBDIS.
He relates how, after his return from the shades, he was sent by Circe on his voyage, by the coast of the Sirens, and by the strait of Scylla and Charybdis: the manner in which he escaped those dangers: how, being cast on the island Trinacria, his companions destroyed the oxen of the Sun: the vengeance that followed; how all perished by shipwreck except himself, who, swimming on the mast of the ship, arrived on the island of Calypso. With which his narration concludes.
"Thus o'er the rolling surge the vessel flies, Till from the waves the AEaean hills arise. Here the gay Morn resides in radiant bowers, Here keeps here revels with the dancing Hours; Here Phoebus, rising in the ethereal way, Through heaven's bright portals pours the beamy day. At once we fix our halsers on the land. At once descend, and press the desert sand: There, worn and wasted, lose our cares in sleep, To the hoarse murmurs of the rolling deep.
"Soon as the morn restored the day, we paid Sepulchral honours to Elpenor's shade. Now by the axe the rushing forest bends, And the huge pile along the shore ascends. Around we stand, a melancholy train, And a loud groan re-echoes from the main. Fierce o'er the pyre, by fanning breezes spread, The hungry flames devour the silent dead. A rising tomb, the silent dead to grace, Fast by the roarings of the main we place; The rising tomb a lofty column bore, And high above it rose the tapering oar.
"Meantime the goddess our return survey'd From the pale ghosts and hell's tremendous shade. Swift she descends: a train of nymphs divine Bear the rich viands and the generous wine: In act to speak the power of magic stands, And graceful thus accosts the listening bands;
"'O sons of woe? decreed by adverse fates Alive to pass through hell's eternal gates! All, soon or late, are doom'd that path to tread; More wretched you! twice number'd with the dead! This day adjourn your cares, exalt your souls, Indulge the taste, and drain the sparkling bowls; And when the morn unveils her saffron ray, Spread your broad sails, and plough the liquid way: Lo, I this night, your faithful guide, explain Your woes by land, your dangers on the main.'
"The goddess spoke. In feasts we waste the day, Till Phoebus downward plunged his burning ray; Then sable night ascends, and balmy rest Seals every eye, and calms the troubled breast. Then curious she commands me to relate The dreadful scenes of Pluto's dreary state. She sat in silence while the tale I tell, The wondrous visions and the laws of hell.
"Then thus: 'The lot of man the gods dispose; These ills are past: now hear thy future woes O prince attend; some favouring power be kind, And print the important story on thy mind!
"'Next, where the Sirens dwells, you plough the seas; Their song is death, and makes destruction please. Unblest the man, whom music wins to stay Nigh the cursed shore and listen to the lay. No more that wretch shall view the joys of life His blooming offspring, or his beauteous wife! In verdant meads they sport; and wide around Lie human bones that whiten all the ground: The ground polluted floats with human gore, And human carnage taints the dreadful shore Fly swift the dangerous coast: let every ear Be stopp'd against the song! 'tis death to hear! Firm to the mast with chains thyself be bound, Nor trust thy virtue to the enchanting sound. If, mad with transport, freedom thou demand, Be every fetter strain'd, and added band to band.
"'These seas o'erpass'd, be wise! but I refrain To mark distinct thy voyage o'er the main: New horrors rise! let prudence be thy guide, And guard thy various passage through the tide.
"'High o'er the main two rocks exalt their brow,' The boiling billows thundering roll below; Through the vast waves the dreadful wonders move, Hence named Erratic by the gods above. No bird of air, no dove of swiftest wing, That bears ambrosia to the ethereal king, Shuns the dire rocks: in vain she cuts the skies; The dire rocks meet, and crush her as she flies: Not the fleet bark, when prosperous breezes play, Ploughs o'er that roaring surge its desperate way; O'erwhelm'd it sinks: while round a smoke expires, And the waves flashing seem to burn with fires. Scarce the famed Argo pass'd these raging floods, The sacred Argo, fill'd with demigods! E'en she had sunk, but Jove's imperial bride Wing'd her fleet sail, and push'd her o'er the tide.
"'High in the air the rock its summit shrouds In brooding tempests, and in rolling clouds; Loud storms around, and mists eternal rise, Beat its bleak brow, and intercept the skies. When all the broad expansion, bright with day, Glows with the autumnal or the summer ray, The summer and the autumn glow in vain, The sky for ever lowers, for ever clouds remain. Impervious to the step of man it stands, Though borne by twenty feet, though arm'd with twenty hands; Smooth as the polish of the mirror rise The slippery sides, and shoot into the skies. Full in the centre of this rock display'd, A yawning cavern casts a dreadful shade: Nor the fleet arrow from the twanging bow, Sent with full force, could reach the depth below. Wide to the west the horrid gulf extends, And the dire passage down to hell descends. O fly the dreadful sight! expand thy sails, Ply the strong oar, and catch the nimble gales; Here Scylla bellows from the dire abodes, Tremendous pest, abhorr'd by man and gods! Hideous her voice, and with less terrors roar The whelps of lions in the midnight hour. Twelve feet, deform'd and foul, the fiend dispreads; Six horrid necks she rears, and six terrific heads; Her jaws grin dreadful with three rows of teeth; Jaggy they stand, the gaping den of death; Her parts obscene the raging billows hide; Her bosom terribly o'erlooks the tide. When stung with hunger she embroils the flood, The sea-dog and the dolphin are her food; She makes the huge leviathan her prey, And all the monsters of the watery way; The swiftest racer of the azure plain Here fills her sails, and spreads her oars in vain; Fell Scylla rises, in her fury roars, At once six mouths expands, at once six men devours.
"'Close by, a rock of less enormous height Breaks the wild waves, and forms a dangerous strait; Full on its crown a fig's green branches rise, And shoot a leafy forest to the skies; Beneath, Charybdis holds her boisterous reign 'Midst roaring whirlpools, and absorbs the main; Thrice in her gulfs the boiling seas subside, Thrice in dire thunders she refunds the tide. Oh, if thy vessel plough the direful waves, When seas retreating roar within her caves, Ye perish all! though he who rules the main Lends his strong aid, his aid he lends in vain. Ah, shun the horrid gulf! by Scylla fly. 'Tis better six to lose, than all to die.'
"I then: 'O nymph propitious to my prayer, Goddess divine, my guardian power, declare, Is the foul fiend from human vengeance freed? Or, if I rise in arms, can Scylla bleed?'
"Then she: 'O worn by toils, O broke in fight, Still are new toils and war thy dire delight? Will martial flames for ever fire thy mind, And never, never be to Heaven resign'd? How vain thy efforts to avenge the wrong! Deathless the pest! impenetrably strong! Furious and fell, tremendous to behold! E'en with a look she withers all the bold! She mocks the weak attempts of human might; Oh, fly her rage! thy conquest is thy flight. If but to seize thy arms thou make delay, Again thy fury vindicates her prey; Her six mouths yawn, and six are snatch'd away. From her foul wound Crataeis gave to air This dreadful pest! To her direct thy prayer, To curb the monster in her dire abodes, And guard thee through the tumult of the floods. Thence to Trinacria's shore you bend your way, Where graze thy herds, illustrious source of day! Seven herds, seven flocks enrich the sacred plains, Each herd, each flock full fifty heads contains; The wondrous kind a length of age survey, By breed increase not, nor by death decay. Two sister goddesses possess the plain, The constant guardian of the woolly train; Lampetie fair, and Phaethusa young, From Phoebus and the bright Neaea sprung; Here, watchful o'er the flocks, in shady bowers And flowery meads, they waste the joyous hours. Rob not the gods! and so propitious gales Attend thy voyage, and impel thy sails; But if thy impious hands the flocks destroy, The gods, the gods avenge it, and ye die! 'Tis thine alone (thy friends and navy lost) Through tedious toils to view thy native coast.'
She ceased: and now arose the morning ray; Swift to her dome the goddess held her way. Then to my mates I measured back the plain, Climb'd the tall bark, and rush'd into the main; Then, bending to the stroke, their oars they drew To their broad breasts, and swift the galley flew. Up sprung a brisker breeze; with freshening gales The friendly goddess stretch'd the swelling sails; We drop our oars; at ease the pilot guides; The vessel light along the level glides. When, rising sad and slow, with pensive look, Thus to the melancholy train I spoke:
"'O friends, oh ever partners of my woes, Attend while I what Heaven foredooms disclose. Hear all! Fate hangs o'er all; on you it lies To live or perish! to be safe, be wise!
"'In flowery meads the sportive Sirens play, Touch the soft lyre, and tune the vocal lay; Me, me alone, with fetters firmly bound, The gods allow to hear the dangerous sound. Hear and obey; if freedom I demand, Be every fetter strain'd, be added band to band.'
"While yet I speak the winged galley flies, And lo! the Siren shores like mists arise. Sunk were at once the winds; the air above, And waves below, at once forgot to move; Some demon calm'd the air and smooth'd the deep, Hush'd the loud winds, and charm'd the waves to sleep. Now every sail we furl, each oar we ply; Lash'd by the stroke, the frothy waters fly. The ductile wax with busy hands I mould, And cleft in fragments, and the fragments roll'd; The aerial region now grew warm with day, The wax dissolved beneath the burning ray; Then every ear I barr'd against the strain, And from access of frenzy lock'd the brain. Now round the masts my mates the fetters roll'd, And bound me limb by limb with fold on fold. Then bending to the stroke, the active train Plunge all at once their oars, and cleave the main.
"While to the shore the rapid vessel flies, Our swift approach the Siren choir descries; Celestial music warbles from their tongue, And thus the sweet deluders tune the song:
"'Oh stay, O pride of Greece! Ulysses, stay! Oh cease thy course, and listen to our lay! Blest is the man ordain'd our voice to hear, The song instructs the soul, and charms the ear. Approach! thy soul shall into raptures rise! Approach! and learn new wisdom from the wise! We know whate'er the kings of mighty name Achieved at Ilion in the field of fame; Whate'er beneath the sun's bright journey lies. Oh stay, and learn new wisdom from the wise!'
"Thus the sweet charmers warbled o'er the main; My soul takes wing to meet the heavenly strain; I give the sign, and struggle to be free; Swift row my mates, and shoot along the sea; New chains they add, and rapid urge the way, Till, dying off, the distant sounds decay; Then scudding swiftly from the dangerous ground, The deafen'd ear unlock'd, the chains unbound.
"Now all at once tremendous scenes unfold; Thunder'd the deeps, the smoky billows roll'd! Tumultuous waves embroil the bellowing flood, All trembling, deafen'd, and aghast we stood! No more the vessel plough'd the dreadful wave, Fear seized the mighty, and unnerved the brave; Each dropp'd his oar; but swift from man to man With looks serene I turn'd, and thus began: 'O friends! O often tried in adverse storms! With ills familiar in more dreadful forms! Deep in the dire Cyclopean den you lay, Yet safe return'd--Ulysses led the way. Learn courage hence, and in my care confide; Lo! still the same Ulysses is your guide. Attend my words! your oars incessant ply; Strain every nerve, and bid the vessel fly. If from yon jostling rocks and wavy war Jove safety grants, he grants it to your care. And thou, whose guiding hand directs our way, Pilot, attentive listen and obey! Bear wide thy course, nor plough those angry waves Where rolls yon smoke, yon tumbling ocean raves; Steer by the higher rock; lest whirl'd around We sink, beneath the circling eddy drown'd.' While yet I speak, at once their oars they seize, Stretch to the stroke, and brush the working seas. Cautious the name of Scylla I suppress'd; That dreadful sound had chill'd the boldest breast.
"Meantime, forgetful of the voice divine, All dreadful bright my limbs in armour shine; High on the deck I take my dangerous stand, Two glittering javelins lighten in my hand; Prepared to whirl the whizzing spear I stay, Till the fell fiend arise to seize her prey. Around the dungeon, studious to behold The hideous pest, my labouring eyes I roll'd; In vain! the dismal dungeon, dark as night, Veils the dire monster, and confounds the sight.