Chapter 8

O who by virtues great all highmost honours enhancest,Guard of Emáthia-land, most famous made by thine offspring,325Take what the Sisters deign this gladsome day to disclose thee,Oracles soothfast told,—And ye, by Destiny followed,Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

O who by virtues great all highmost honours enhancest,

Guard of Emáthia-land, most famous made by thine offspring,

325

Take what the Sisters deign this gladsome day to disclose thee,

Oracles soothfast told,—And ye, by Destiny followed,

Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

Soon to thy sight shall rise, their fond hopes bringing to bridegrooms,Hesperus: soon shall come thy spouse with planet auspicious,330Who shall thy mind enbathe with a love that softens the spirit,And as thyself shall prepare for sinking in languorous slumber,Under thy neck robust, soft arms dispreading as pillow.Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

Soon to thy sight shall rise, their fond hopes bringing to bridegrooms,

Hesperus: soon shall come thy spouse with planet auspicious,

330

Who shall thy mind enbathe with a love that softens the spirit,

And as thyself shall prepare for sinking in languorous slumber,

Under thy neck robust, soft arms dispreading as pillow.

Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

Never a house like this such loves as these hath united,335Never did love conjoin by such-like covenant lovers,As th'according tie Thetis deigned in concert wi' Peleus.Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

Never a house like this such loves as these hath united,

335

Never did love conjoin by such-like covenant lovers,

As th'according tie Thetis deigned in concert wi' Peleus.

Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

Born of yon twain shall come Achilles guiltless of fear-sense,Known by his forceful breast and ne'er by back to the foeman,340Who shall at times full oft in doubtful contest of race-courseConquer the fleet-foot doe with slot-tracks smoking and burning.Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

Born of yon twain shall come Achilles guiltless of fear-sense,

Known by his forceful breast and ne'er by back to the foeman,

340

Who shall at times full oft in doubtful contest of race-course

Conquer the fleet-foot doe with slot-tracks smoking and burning.

Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

None shall with him compare, howe'er war-doughty a hero,Whenas the Phrygian rills flow deep with bloodshed of Teucer,345And beleaguering the walls of Troy with longest of warfareHe shall the works lay low, third heir of Pelops the perjured.Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

None shall with him compare, howe'er war-doughty a hero,

Whenas the Phrygian rills flow deep with bloodshed of Teucer,

345

And beleaguering the walls of Troy with longest of warfare

He shall the works lay low, third heir of Pelops the perjured.

Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

His be the derring-do and deeds of valour egregious,Often mothers shall own at funeral-rites of their children,350What time their hoary hairs from head in ashes are loosened,And wi' their hands infirm they smite their bosoms loose duggèd.Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

His be the derring-do and deeds of valour egregious,

Often mothers shall own at funeral-rites of their children,

350

What time their hoary hairs from head in ashes are loosened,

And wi' their hands infirm they smite their bosoms loose duggèd.

Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

For as the toiling hind bestrewing denseness of corn-stalksUnder the broiling sun mows grain-fields yellow to harvest,355So shall his baneful brand strew earth with corpses of Troy-born.Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

For as the toiling hind bestrewing denseness of corn-stalks

Under the broiling sun mows grain-fields yellow to harvest,

355

So shall his baneful brand strew earth with corpses of Troy-born.

Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

Aye to his valorous worth attest shall wave of ScamanderWhich unto Hellé-Sea fast flowing ever dischargeth,Straiter whose course shall grow by up-heaped barrage of corpses,360While in his depths runs warm his stream with slaughter commingled.Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

Aye to his valorous worth attest shall wave of Scamander

Which unto Hellé-Sea fast flowing ever dischargeth,

Straiter whose course shall grow by up-heaped barrage of corpses,

360

While in his depths runs warm his stream with slaughter commingled.

Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

Witness in fine shall be the victim rendered to death-stroke,Whenas the earthern tomb on lofty tumulus buildedShall of the stricken maid receive limbs white as the snow-flake.365Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

Witness in fine shall be the victim rendered to death-stroke,

Whenas the earthern tomb on lofty tumulus builded

Shall of the stricken maid receive limbs white as the snow-flake.

365

Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

10.

For when at last shall Fors to weary Achaians her fiatDeal, of Dardanus-town to burst Neptunian fetters,Then shall the high-reared tomb stand bathed with Polyxena's life-blood,Who, as the victim doomed to fall by the double-edged falchion,370Forward wi' hams relaxt shall smite a body beheaded.Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

For when at last shall Fors to weary Achaians her fiat

Deal, of Dardanus-town to burst Neptunian fetters,

Then shall the high-reared tomb stand bathed with Polyxena's life-blood,

Who, as the victim doomed to fall by the double-edged falchion,

370

Forward wi' hams relaxt shall smite a body beheaded.

Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

11.

Wherefore arise, ye pair, conjoin loves ardently longed-for,Now doth the groom receive with happiest omen his goddess,Now let the bride at length to her yearning spouse be delivered.375Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

Wherefore arise, ye pair, conjoin loves ardently longed-for,

Now doth the groom receive with happiest omen his goddess,

Now let the bride at length to her yearning spouse be delivered.

375

Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

12.

Neither the nurse who comes at dawn to visit her nurslingE'er shall avail her neck to begird with yesterday's ribband.[Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O spindles.]Nor shall the mother's soul for ill-matcht daughter a-grieving380Lose by a parted couch all hopes of favourite grandsons.Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.Thus in the bygone day Peleus' fate foretellingChaunted from breasts divine prophetic verse the Parcae.For that the pure chaste homes of heroes to visit in person385Oft-tide the Gods, and themselves to display where mortals were gathered,Wont were the Heavenlies while none human piety spurned.Often the Deities' Sire, in fulgent temple a-dwelling,Whenas in festal days received he his annual worship,Looked upon hundreds of bulls felled prone on pavement before him.390Full oft Liber who roamed from topmost peak of ParnassusHunted his howling host, his Thyiads with tresses dishevelled.* * * *Then with contending troops from all their city outflockingGladly the Delphians hailed their God with smoking of altars.Often in death-full war and bravest of battle, or Mavors395Or rapid Triton's Queen or eke the Virgin Rhamnusian,Bevies of weaponed men exhorting, provèd their presence.But from the time when earth was stained with unspeakable scandalsAnd forth fro' greeding breasts of all men justice departed,Then did the brother drench his hands in brotherly bloodshed,400Stinted the son in heart to mourn decease of his parents,Longèd the sire to sight his first-born's funeral convoySo more freely the flower of step-dame-maiden to rifle;After that impious Queen her guiltless son underlying,Impious, the household gods with crime ne'er dreading to sully—405All things fair and nefand being mixt in fury of evilTurned from ourselves avert the great goodwill of the Godheads.Wherefor they nowise deign our human assemblies to visit,Nor do they suffer themselves be met in light of the day-tide.

Neither the nurse who comes at dawn to visit her nursling

E'er shall avail her neck to begird with yesterday's ribband.

[Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O spindles.]

Nor shall the mother's soul for ill-matcht daughter a-grieving

380

Lose by a parted couch all hopes of favourite grandsons.

Speed ye, the well-spun woof out-drawing, speed ye, O Spindles.

Thus in the bygone day Peleus' fate foretellingChaunted from breasts divine prophetic verse the Parcae.For that the pure chaste homes of heroes to visit in person385Oft-tide the Gods, and themselves to display where mortals were gathered,Wont were the Heavenlies while none human piety spurned.Often the Deities' Sire, in fulgent temple a-dwelling,Whenas in festal days received he his annual worship,Looked upon hundreds of bulls felled prone on pavement before him.390Full oft Liber who roamed from topmost peak of ParnassusHunted his howling host, his Thyiads with tresses dishevelled.* * * *Then with contending troops from all their city outflockingGladly the Delphians hailed their God with smoking of altars.Often in death-full war and bravest of battle, or Mavors395Or rapid Triton's Queen or eke the Virgin Rhamnusian,Bevies of weaponed men exhorting, provèd their presence.But from the time when earth was stained with unspeakable scandalsAnd forth fro' greeding breasts of all men justice departed,Then did the brother drench his hands in brotherly bloodshed,400Stinted the son in heart to mourn decease of his parents,Longèd the sire to sight his first-born's funeral convoySo more freely the flower of step-dame-maiden to rifle;After that impious Queen her guiltless son underlying,Impious, the household gods with crime ne'er dreading to sully—405All things fair and nefand being mixt in fury of evilTurned from ourselves avert the great goodwill of the Godheads.Wherefor they nowise deign our human assemblies to visit,Nor do they suffer themselves be met in light of the day-tide.

Thus in the bygone day Peleus' fate foretelling

Chaunted from breasts divine prophetic verse the Parcae.

For that the pure chaste homes of heroes to visit in person

385

Oft-tide the Gods, and themselves to display where mortals were gathered,

Wont were the Heavenlies while none human piety spurned.

Often the Deities' Sire, in fulgent temple a-dwelling,

Whenas in festal days received he his annual worship,

Looked upon hundreds of bulls felled prone on pavement before him.

390

Full oft Liber who roamed from topmost peak of Parnassus

Hunted his howling host, his Thyiads with tresses dishevelled.

* * * *

Then with contending troops from all their city outflocking

Gladly the Delphians hailed their God with smoking of altars.

Often in death-full war and bravest of battle, or Mavors

395

Or rapid Triton's Queen or eke the Virgin Rhamnusian,

Bevies of weaponed men exhorting, provèd their presence.

But from the time when earth was stained with unspeakable scandals

And forth fro' greeding breasts of all men justice departed,

Then did the brother drench his hands in brotherly bloodshed,

400

Stinted the son in heart to mourn decease of his parents,

Longèd the sire to sight his first-born's funeral convoy

So more freely the flower of step-dame-maiden to rifle;

After that impious Queen her guiltless son underlying,

Impious, the household gods with crime ne'er dreading to sully—

405

All things fair and nefand being mixt in fury of evil

Turned from ourselves avert the great goodwill of the Godheads.

Wherefor they nowise deign our human assemblies to visit,

Nor do they suffer themselves be met in light of the day-tide.

Pines aforetimes sprung from Pelion peak floated, so 'tis said, through liquid billows of Neptune to the flowing Phasis and the confines Aeetaean, when the picked youth, the vigour of Argive manhood seeking to carry away the Golden Fleece from Colchis, dared to skim o'er salt seas in a swift-sailing ship, sweeping caerulean ocean with paddles shapen from fir-wood. That Goddess who guards the castles in topmost parts of the towns herself fashioned the car, scudding with lightest of winds, uniting the interweaved pines unto the curving keel. That same first instructed untaught Amphitrite with sailing. Scarce had it split with its stem the windy waves, and the billow vext with oars had whitened into foam, when arose from the abyss of the hoary eddies the faces of sea-dwelling Nereids wondering at the marvel. And then on that propitious day mortal eyes gazed on sea-nymphs with naked bodies bare to the breasts outstanding from the foamy abyss. Then 'tis said Peleus burned with desire for Thetis, then Thetis contemned not mortal hymenaeals, then Thetis' sire himself sanctioned her joining to Peleus. O born in the time of joyfuller ages, heroes, hail! sprung from the gods, good progeny of mothers, hail! and favourably be ye inclined. You oft in my song I'll address, thee too I'll approach, Peleus, pillar of Thessaly, so increased in importance by thy fortunate wedding-torches, to whom Jupiter himself, the sire of the gods himself, yielded up his beloved. Did not Thetis embrace thee, she mostwinsome of Nereids born? Did not Tethys consent that thou should'st lead home her grandchild, and Oceanus eke, whose waters girdle the total globe? When in full course of time the longed-for day had dawned, all Thessaly assembled throngs his home, a gladsome company o'erspreading the halls: they bear gifts to the fore, and their joy in their faces they shew. Scyros desert remains, they leave Phthiotic Tempe, Crannon's homes, and the fortressed walls of Larissa; to Pharsalia they hie, 'neath Pharsalian roofs they gather. None tills the soil, the heifers' necks grow softened, the trailing vine is not cleansed by the curved rake-prongs, nor does the sickle prune the shade of the spreading tree-branches, nor does the bullock up-tear the glebe with the prone-bending ploughshare; squalid rust steals o'er the neglected ploughs.

But this mansion, throughout its innermost recesses of opulent royalty, glitters with gleaming gold and with silver. Ivory makes white the seats; goblets glint on the boards; the whole house delights in the splendour of royal treasure. Placed in the midst of the mansion is the bridal bed of the goddess, made glossy with Indian tusks and covered with purple, tinted with the shell-fish's rosy dye. This tapestry embroidered with figures of men of ancient time pourtrays with admirable art the heroes' valour. For looking forth from Dia's beach, resounding with crashing of breakers, Theseus hasting from sight with swiftest of fleets, Ariadne watches, her heartswelling with raging passion, nor scarce yet credits she sees what she sees, as, newly-awakened from her deceptive sleep, she perceives herself, deserted and woeful, on the lonely shore. But the heedless youth, flying away, beats the waves with his oars, leaving his perjured vows to the gusty gales. In the dim distance from amidst the sea-weed, the daughter of Minos with sorrowful eyes, like a stone-carved Bacchante, gazes afar, alas! gazes after him, heaving with great waves of grief. No longer does the fragile fillet bind her yellow locks, no more with light veil is her hidden bosom covered, no more with rounded zone the milky breasts are clasped; down fallen from her body everything is scattered, hither, thither, and the salt waves toy with them in front of her very feet. But neither on fillet nor floating veil, but on thee, Theseus, in their stead, was she musing: on thee she bent her heart, her thoughts, her love-lorn mind. Ah, woeful one, with sorrows unending distraught, Erycina sows thorny cares deep in thy bosom, since that time when Theseus fierce in his vigour set out from the curved bay of Piraeus, and gained the Gortynian roofs of the iniquitous ruler.

For of old 'tis narrated, that constrained by plague of the cruelest to expiate the slaughter of Androgeos, both chosen youths and the pick of the unmarried maidens Cecropia was wont to give as a feast to the Minotaur. When thus his strait walls with ills were vexed, Theseus with free will preferred to yield up his body for adored Athens rather thansuch Cecropian corpses be carried to Crete unobsequied. And therefore borne in a speedy craft by favouring breezes, he came to the imperious Minos and his superb seat. Instant the royal virgin him saw with longing glance, she whom the chaste couch out-breathing sweetest of scents cradled in her mother's tender enfoldings, like to the myrtle which the rivers of Eurotas produce, or the many-tinted blooms opening with the springtide's breezes, she bent not down away from him her kindling glance, until the flame spread through her whole body, and burned into her innermost marrow. Ah, hard of heart, urging with misery to madness, O holy boy, who mingles men's cares and their joyings, and thou queen of Golgos and of foliaged Idalium, on what waves did you heave the mind-kindled maid, sighing full oft for the golden-haired guest! What dreads she bore in her swooning soul! How often did she grow sallower in sheen than gold! When craving to contend against the savage monster Theseus faced death or the palm of praise. Then gifts to the gods not unmeet not idly given, with promise from tight-closed lips did she address her vows. For as an oak waving its boughs on Taurus' top, or a coniferous pine with sweating stem, is uprooted by savage storm, twisting its trunk with its blast (dragged from its roots prone it falleth afar, breaking all in the line of its fall) so did Theseus fling down the conquered body of the brute, tossing its horns in vain towards the skies. Thencebackwards he retraced his steps 'midst great laud, guiding his errant footsteps by means of a tenuous thread, lest when outcoming from tortuous labyrinthines his efforts be frustrated by unobservant wandering. But why, turned aside from my first story, should I recount more, how the daughter fleeing her father's face, her sister's embrace, and e'en her mother's, who despairingly bemoaned her lost daughter, preferred to all these the sweet love of Theseus; or how borne by their boat to the spumy shores of Dia she came; or how her yokeman with unmemoried breast forsaking her, left her bound in the shadows of sleep? And oft, so 'tis said, with her heart burning with fury she outpoured clarion cries from depths of her bosom, then sadly scaled the rugged mounts, whence she could cast her glance o'er the vasty seething ocean, then ran into the opposing billows of the heaving sea, raising from her bared legs her clinging raiment, and in uttermost plight of woe with tear-stained face and chilly sobs spake she thus:—

"Is it thus, O perfidious, when dragged from my motherland's shores, is it thus, O false Theseus, that thou leavest me on this desolate strand? thus dost depart unmindful of slighted godheads, bearing home thy perjured vows? Was no thought able to bend the intent of thy ruthless mind? hadst thou no clemency there, that thy pitiless bowels might compassionate me? But these were not the promises thou gavest me idly of old, this was not what thou didst bid me hope for, but the blithe bride-bed,hymenaeal happiness: all empty air, blown away by the breezes. Now, now, let no woman give credence to man's oath, let none hope for faithful vows from mankind; for whilst their eager desire strives for its end, nothing fear they to swear, nothing of promises stint they: but instant their lusting thoughts are satiate with lewdness, nothing of speech they remember, nothing of perjuries reck. In truth I snatched thee from the midst of the whirlpool of death, preferring to suffer the loss of a brother rather than fail thy need in the supreme hour, O ingrate. For the which I shall be a gift as prey to be rent by wild beasts and the carrion-fowl, nor dead shall I be placed in the earth, covered with funeral mound. What lioness bare thee 'neath lonely crag? What sea conceived and spued thee from its foamy crest? What Syrtis, what grasping Scylla, what vast Charybdis? O thou repayer with such guerdon for thy sweet life! If 'twas not thy heart's wish to yoke with me, through holding in horror the dread decrees of my stern sire, yet thou couldst have led me to thy home, where as thine handmaid I might have served thee with cheerful service, laving thy snowy feet with clear water, or spreading the purple coverlet o'er thy couch. Yet why, distraught with woe, do I vainly lament to the unknowing winds, which unfurnished with sense, can neither hear uttered complaints nor can return them? For now he has sped away into the midst of the seas, nor doth any mortal appear along this desolate seaboard. Thus with o'erweeningscorn doth bitter Fate in my extreme hour even grudge ears to my plaints. All-powerful Jupiter! would that in old time the Cecropian poops had not touched at the Gnossian shores, nor that bearing to the unquelled bull the direful ransom had the false mariner moored his hawser to Crete, nor that yon wretch hiding ruthless designs beneath sweet seemings had reposed as a guest in our halls! For whither may I flee? in what hope, O lost one, take refuge? Shall I climb the Idomenean crags? but the truculent sea stretching amain with its whirlings of waters separates us. Can I quest help from my father, whom I deserted to follow a youth besprinkled with my brother's blood? Can I crave comfort from the care of a faithful yokeman, who is fleeing with yielding oars, encurving 'midst whirling waters. If I turn from the beach there is no roof in this tenantless island, no way sheweth a passage, circled by waves of the sea; no way of flight, no hope; all denotes dumbness, desolation, and death. Natheless mine eyes shall not be dimmed in death, nor my senses secede from my spent frame, until I have besought from the gods a meet mulct for my betrayal, and implored the faith of the celestials with my latest breath. Wherefore ye requiters of men's deeds with avenging pains, O Eumenides, whose front enwreathed with serpent-locks blazons the wrath exhaled from your bosom, hither, hither haste, hear ye my plainings, which I, sad wretch, am urged to outpour from mine innermost marrow, helpless, burning, and blindwith frenzied fury. And since in truth they spring from the veriest depths of my heart, be ye unwilling to allow my agony to pass unheeded, but with such mind as Theseus forsook me, with like mind, O goddesses, may he bring evil on himself and on his kin."

After she had poured forth these words from her grief-laden bosom, distractedly clamouring for requital against his heartless deeds, the celestial ruler assented with almighty nod, at whose motion the earth and the awe-full waters quaked, and the world of glittering stars did quiver. But Theseus, self-blinded with mental mist, let slip from forgetful breast all those injunctions which until then he had held firmly in mind, nor bore aloft sweet signals to his sad sire, shewing himself safe when in sight of Erectheus' haven. For 'tis said that aforetime, when Aegeus entrusted his son to the winds, on leaving the walls of the chaste goddess's city, these commands he gave to the youth with his parting embrace.

"O mine only son, far dearer to me than long life, lately restored to me at extreme end of my years, O son whom I must perforce dismiss to a doubtful hazard, since my ill fate and thine ardent valour snatch thee from unwilling me, whose dim eyes are not yet sated with my son's dear form: nor gladly and with joyous breast do I send thee, nor will I suffer thee to bear signs of helpful fortune, but first from my breast many a plaint will I express, sullying my grey hairs with dust and ashes, and then will I hang dusky sails to the swaying mast, so thatour sorrow and burning lowe are shewn by Iberian canvas, rustily darkened. Yet if the dweller on holy Itone, who deigns defend our race and Erectheus' dwellings, grant thee to besprinkle thy right hand in the bull's blood, then see that in very truth these commandments deep-stored in thine heart's memory do flourish, nor any time deface them. Instant thine eyes shall see our cliffs, lower their gloomy clothing from every yard, and let the twisted cordage bear aloft snowy sails, where splendent shall shine bright topmast spars, so that, instant discerned, I may know with gladness and lightness of heart that in prosperous hour thou art returned to my face."

These charges, at first held in constant mind, from Theseus slipped away as clouds are impelled by the breath of the winds from the ethereal peak of a snow-clad mount. But his father as he betook himself to the castle's turrets as watchplace, dimming his anxious eyes with continual weeping, when first he spied the discoloured canvas, flung himself headlong from the top of the crags, deeming Theseus lost by harsh fate. Thus as he entered the grief-stricken house, his paternal roof, Theseus savage with slaughter met with like grief as that which with unmemoried mind he had dealt to Minos' daughter: while she with grieving gaze at his disappearing keel, turned over a tumult of cares in her wounded spirit.

But on another part [of the tapestry] swift hastened the flushed Iacchus with his train of Satyrs and Nisa-begot Sileni, thee questing, Ariadne,and aflame with love for thee. * * * * These scattered all around, an inspired band, rushed madly with mind all distraught, ranting "Euhoe," with tossing of heads "Euhoe." Some with womanish hands shook thyrsi with wreath-covered points; some tossed limbs of a rended steer; some engirt themselves with writhed snakes; some enacted obscure orgies with deep chests, orgies of which the profane vainly crave a hearing; others beat the tambours with outstretched palms, or from the burnished brass provoked shrill tinklings, blew raucous-sounding blasts from many horns, and the barbarous pipe droned forth horrible song.

With luxury of such figures was the coverlet adorned, enwrapping the bed with its mantling embrace. After the Thessalian youthhood with eager engazing were sated they began to give way to the sacred gods. Hence, as with his morning's breath brushing the still sea Zephyrus makes the sloping billows uprise, when Aurora mounts 'neath the threshold of the wandering sun, which waves heave slowly at first with the breeze's gentle motion (plashing with the sound as of low laughter) but after, as swells the wind, more and more frequent they crowd and gleam in the purple light as they float away,—so quitting the royal vestibule did the folk hie them away each to his home with steps wandering hither and thither.

After they had wended their way, chief from the Pelion vertex Chiron came, the bearer of sylvanspoil: for whatsoever the fields bear, whatso the Thessalian land on its high hills breeds, and what flowers the fecund air of warm Favonius begets near the running streams, these did he bear enwreathed into blended garlands wherewith the house rippled with laughter, caressed by the grateful odour.

Speedily stands present Penios, for a time his verdant Tempe, Tempe whose overhanging trees encircle, leaving to the Dorian choirs, damsels Magnesian, to frequent; nor empty-handed,—for he has borne hither lofty beeches uprooted and the tall laurel with straight stem, nor lacks he the nodding plane and the lithe sister of flame-wrapt Phaethon and the aerial cypress. These wreathed in line did he place around the palace so that the vestibule might grow green sheltered with soft fronds.

After him follows Prometheus of inventive mind, bearing diminishing traces of his punishment of aforetime, which of old he had suffered, with his limbs confined by chains hanging from the rugged Scythian crags. Then came the sire of gods from heaven with his holy consort and offspring, leaving thee alone, Phoebus, with thy twin-sister the fosterer of the mountains of Idrus: for equally with thyself did thy sister disdain Peleus nor was she willing to honour the wedding torches of Thetis. After they had reclined their snow-white forms along the seats, tables were loaded on high with food of various kinds.

In the meantime with shaking bodies and infirm gesture the Parcae began to intone their veridical chant. Their trembling frames were enwrapped around with white garments, encircled with a purple border at their heels, snowy fillets bound each aged brow, and their hands pursued their never-ending toil, as of custom. The left hand bore the distaff enwrapped in soft wool, the right hand lightly withdrawing the threads with upturned fingers did shape them, then twisting them with the prone thumb it turned the balanced spindle with well-polished whirl. And then with a pluck of their tooth the work was always made even, and the bitten wool-shreds adhered to their dried lips, which shreds at first had stood out from the fine thread. And in front of their feet wicker baskets of osier twigs took charge of the soft white woolly fleece. These, with clear-sounding voice, as they combed out the wool, outpoured fates of such kind in sacred song, in song which none age yet to come could tax with untruth.

"O with great virtues thine exceeding honour augmenting, stay of Emathia-land, most famous in thine issue, receive what the sisters make known to thee on this gladsome day, a weird veridical! But ye whom the fates do follow:—Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles.

"Now Hesperus shall come unto thee bearing what is longed for by bridegrooms, with that fortunate star shall thy bride come, who ensteeps thy soul with the sway of softening love, and prepares with theeto conjoin in languorous slumber, making her smooth arms thy pillow round 'neath thy sinewy neck. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles.

"No house ever yet enclosed such loves, no love bound lovers with such pact, as abideth with Thetis, as is the concord of Peleus. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles.

"To ye shall Achilles be born, a stranger to fear, to his foemen not by his back, but by his broad breast known, who, oft-times the victor in the uncertain struggle of the foot-race, shall outrun the fire-fleet footsteps of the speedy doe. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles.

"None in war with him may compare as a hero, when the Phrygian streams shall trickle with Trojan blood, and when besieging the walls of Troy with a long-drawn-out warfare perjured Pelops' third heir shall lay that city waste. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles.

"His glorious acts and illustrious deeds often shall mothers attest o'er funeral-rites of their sons, when the white locks from their heads are unloosed amid ashes, and they bruise their discoloured breasts with feeble fists. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles.

"For as the husbandman bestrewing the dense wheat-ears mows the harvest yellowed 'neath ardent sun, so shall he cast prostrate the corpses of Troy's sons with grim swords. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles.

"His great valour shall be attested by Scamander's wave, which ever pours itself into the swift Hellespont, narrowing whose course with slaughtered heaps of corpses he shall make tepid its deep stream by mingling warm blood with the water. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles.

"And she a witness in fine shall be the captive-maid handed to death, when the heaped-up tomb of earth built in lofty mound shall receive the snowy limbs of the stricken virgin. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles.

"For instant fortune shall give the means to the war-worn Greeks to break Neptune's stone bonds of the Dardanian city, the tall tomb shall be made dank with Polyxena's blood, who as the victim succumbing 'neath two-edged sword, with yielding hams shall fall forward a headless corpse. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles.

"Wherefore haste ye to conjoin in the longed-for delights of your love. Bridegroom thy goddess receive in felicitous compact; let the bride be given to her eager husband. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles.

"Nor shall the nurse at orient light returning, with yester-e'en's thread succeed in circling her neck. [Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles.] Not need her solicitous mother fear sad discord shall cause a parted bed for her daughter, nor need she cease to hope for dear grandchildren. Haste ye, a-weaving the woof, O hasten, ye spindles."

With such soothsaying songs of yore did the Parcae chant from divine breast the felicitous fate of Peleus. For of aforetime the heaven-dwellers were wont to visit the chaste homes of heroes and to shew themselves in mortal assembly ere yet their worship was scorned. Often the father of the gods, a-resting in his glorious temple, when on the festal days his annual rites appeared, gazed on an hundred bulls strewn prone on the earth. Often wandering Liber on topmost summit of Parnassus led his yelling Thyiads with loosely tossed locks. * * * * When the Delphians tumultuously trooping from the whole of their city joyously acclaimed the god with smoking altars. Often in lethal strife of war Mavors, or swift Triton's queen, or the Rhamnusian virgin, in person did exhort armed bodies of men. But after the earth was infected with heinous crime, and each one banished justice from their grasping mind, and brothers steeped their hands in fraternal blood, the son ceased grieving o'er departed parents, the sire craved for the funeral rites of his first-born that freely he might take of the flower of unwedded step-dame, the unholy mother, lying under her unknowing son, did not fear to sully her household gods with dishonour: everything licit and lawless commingled with mad infamy turned away from us the just-seeing mind of the gods. Wherefore nor do they deign to appear at such-like assemblies, nor will they permit themselves to be met in the day-light.

LXV.

Esti me adsiduo confectum cura doloreSevocat a doctis, Ortale, virginibus,Nec potisest dulces Musarum expromere fetusMens animi, (tantis fluctuat ipsa malis:5Namque mei nuper Lethaeo gurgite fratrisPallidulum manans adluit unda pedem,Troia Rhoeteo quem subter littore tellusEreptum nostris obterit ex oculis.* * * *Adloquar, audiero numquam tuafactaloquentem,10Numquam ego te, vita frater amabilior,Aspiciam posthac. at certe semper amabo,Semper maesta tua carmina morte canam,Qualia sub densis ramorum concinit umbrisDaulias absumpti fata gemens Itylei)—15Sed tamen in tantis maeroribus, Ortale, mittoHaec expressa tibi carmina Battiadae,Ne tua dicta vagis nequiquam credita ventisEffluxisse meo forte putes animo,Vt missum sponsi furtivo munere malum20Procurrit casto virginis e gremio,Quod miserae oblitae molli sub veste locatum,Dum adventu matris prosilit, excutitur:Atque illud prono praeceps agitur decursu,Huic manat tristi conscius ore rubor.

Esti me adsiduo confectum cura dolore

Sevocat a doctis, Ortale, virginibus,

Nec potisest dulces Musarum expromere fetus

Mens animi, (tantis fluctuat ipsa malis:

Namque mei nuper Lethaeo gurgite fratris

Pallidulum manans adluit unda pedem,

Troia Rhoeteo quem subter littore tellus

Ereptum nostris obterit ex oculis.

* * * *

Adloquar, audiero numquam tuafactaloquentem,

Numquam ego te, vita frater amabilior,

Aspiciam posthac. at certe semper amabo,

Semper maesta tua carmina morte canam,

Qualia sub densis ramorum concinit umbris

Daulias absumpti fata gemens Itylei)—

Sed tamen in tantis maeroribus, Ortale, mitto

Haec expressa tibi carmina Battiadae,

Ne tua dicta vagis nequiquam credita ventis

Effluxisse meo forte putes animo,

Vt missum sponsi furtivo munere malum

Procurrit casto virginis e gremio,

Quod miserae oblitae molli sub veste locatum,

Dum adventu matris prosilit, excutitur:

Atque illud prono praeceps agitur decursu,

Huic manat tristi conscius ore rubor.

LXV.

To Hortalus Lamenting a Lost Brother.

Albeit care that consumes, with dule assiduous grieving,Me from the Learnèd Maids (Hortalus!) ever seclude,Nor can avail sweet births of the Muses thou to deliverThought o' my mind; (so much floats it on flooding of ills:5For that the Lethe-wave upsurging of late from abysses,Lavèd my brother's foot, paling with pallor of death,He whom the Trojan soil, Rhoetean shore underlying,Buries for ever and aye, forcibly snatched from our sight.* * * *I can address; no more shall I hear thee tell of thy doings,10Say, shall I never again, brother all liefer than life,Sight thee henceforth? But I will surely love thee for everEver what songs I sing saddened shall be by thy death;Such as the Daulian bird 'neath gloom of shadowy frondageWarbles, of Itys lost ever bemoaning the lot.)15Yet amid grief so great to thee, my Hortalus, send IThese strains sung to a mode borrowed from Battiades;Lest shouldest weet of me thy words, to wandering wind-gustsVainly committed, perchance forth of my memory flowed—As did that apple sent for a furtive giftie by wooer,20In the chaste breast of the Maid hidden a-sudden out-sprang;For did the hapless forget when in loose-girt garment it lurkèd,Forth would it leap as she rose, scared by her mother's approach,And while coursing headlong, it rolls far out of her keeping,O'er the triste virgin's brow flushes the conscious blush.

Albeit care that consumes, with dule assiduous grieving,

Me from the Learnèd Maids (Hortalus!) ever seclude,

Nor can avail sweet births of the Muses thou to deliver

Thought o' my mind; (so much floats it on flooding of ills:

For that the Lethe-wave upsurging of late from abysses,

Lavèd my brother's foot, paling with pallor of death,

He whom the Trojan soil, Rhoetean shore underlying,

Buries for ever and aye, forcibly snatched from our sight.

* * * *

I can address; no more shall I hear thee tell of thy doings,

Say, shall I never again, brother all liefer than life,

Sight thee henceforth? But I will surely love thee for ever

Ever what songs I sing saddened shall be by thy death;

Such as the Daulian bird 'neath gloom of shadowy frondage

Warbles, of Itys lost ever bemoaning the lot.)

Yet amid grief so great to thee, my Hortalus, send I

These strains sung to a mode borrowed from Battiades;

Lest shouldest weet of me thy words, to wandering wind-gusts

Vainly committed, perchance forth of my memory flowed—

As did that apple sent for a furtive giftie by wooer,

In the chaste breast of the Maid hidden a-sudden out-sprang;

For did the hapless forget when in loose-girt garment it lurkèd,

Forth would it leap as she rose, scared by her mother's approach,

And while coursing headlong, it rolls far out of her keeping,

O'er the triste virgin's brow flushes the conscious blush.

Though outspent with care and unceasing grief, I am withdrawn, Ortalus, from the learned Virgins, nor is my soul's mind able to bring forth sweet babes of the Muses (so much does it waver 'midst ills: for but lately the wave of the Lethean stream doth lave with its flow the pallid foot of my brother, whom 'neath the Rhoetean seaboard the Trojan soil doth crush, thrust from our eyesight. * * * Never again may I salute thee, nor hear thy converse; never again, O brother, more loved than life, may I see thee in aftertime. But for all time in truth will I love thee, always will I sing elegies made gloomy by thy death, such as the Daulian bird pipes 'neath densest shades of foliage, lamenting the lot of slain Itys.) Yet 'midst sorrows so deep, O Ortalus, I send thee these verses re-cast from Battiades, lest thou shouldst credit thy words bychance have slipt from my mind, given o'er to the wandering winds, as 'twas with that apple, sent as furtive love-token by the wooer, which outleapt from the virgin's chaste bosom; for, placed by the hapless girl 'neath her soft vestment, and forgotten,—when she starts at her mother's approach, out 'tis shaken: and down it rolls headlong to the ground, whilst a tell-tale flush mantles the face of the distressed girl.

LXVI.

Omnia qui magni dispexit lumina mundi,Qui stellarum ortus comperit atque obitus,Flammeus ut rapidi solis nitor obscuretur,Vt cedant certis sidera temporibus,5Vt Triviam furtim sub Latmia saxa relegansDulcis amor gyro devocet aerio,Idem me ille Conon caelesti in lumine viditE Beroniceo vertice caesariemFulgentem clare, quam cunctis illa deorum10Levia protendens brachia pollicitast,Qua rex tempestate novo auctus hymenaeoVastatum finis iverat Assyrios,Dulcia nocturnae portans vestigia rixae,Quam de virgineis gesserat exuviis.15Estne novis nuptis odio venus? anne parentumFrustrantur falsis gaudia lacrimulis,Vbertim thalami quas intra lumina fundunt?Non, ita me divi, vera gemunt, iuerint.Id mea me multis docuit regina querellis20Invisente novo praelia torva viro.An tu non orbum luxti deserta cubile,Sed fratris cari flebile discidium?Quam penitus maestas excedit cura medullas!Vt tibi tum toto pectore sollicitae25Sensibus ereptis mens excidit! at te ego certeCognoram a parva virgine magnanimam.Anne bonum oblita's facinus, quo regium adepta'sConiugium, quo non fortius ausit alis?Sed tum maesta virum mittens quae verba locuta's!30Iuppiter, ut tristi lumina saepe manu!Quis te mutavit tantus deus? an quod amantesNon longe a caro corpore abesse volunt?Atque ibi me cunctis pro dulci coniuge divisNon sine taurino sanguine pollicita's35Sei reditum tetullisset. is haut in tempore longoCaptam Asiam Aegypti finibus addiderat.Quis ego pro factis caelesti reddita coetuPristina vota novo munere dissoluo.Invita, o regina, tuo de vertice cessi,40Invita: adiuro teque tuomque caput,Digna ferat quod siquis inaniter adiurarit:Sed qui se ferro postulet esse parem?Ille quoque eversus mons est, quem maximum in orbiProgenies Thiae clara supervehitur,45Cum Medi peperere novom mare, cumque inventusPer medium classi barbara navit Athon.Quid facient crines, cum ferro talia cedant?Iuppiter, ut Chalybon omne genus pereat,Et qui principio sub terra quaerere venas50Institit ac ferri frangere duritiem!Abiunctae paulo ante comae mea fata sororesLugebant, cum se Memnonis AethiopisVnigena inpellens nictantibus aera pennisObtulit Arsinoes Locridos ales equos,55Isque per aetherias me tollens avolat umbrasEt Veneris casto collocat in gremio.Ipsa suum Zephyritis eo famulum legarat,Graia Canopieis incola litoribus.† Hi dii ven ibi vario ne solum in lumine caeli60Ex Ariadneis aurea temporibusFixa corona foret, sed nos quoque fulgeremusDevotae flavi verticis exuviae,Vvidulam a fletu cedentem ad templa deum meSidus in antiquis diva novom posuit:65Virginis et saevi contingens namque LeonisLumina, Callisto iuncta Lycaoniae,Vertor in occasum, tardum dux ante Booten,Qui vix sero alto mergitur Oceano.Sed quamquam me nocte premunt vestigia divom,70Lux autem canae Tethyi restituit,(Pace tua fari hic liceat, Rhamnusia virgo,Namque ego non ullo vera timore tegam,Nec si me infestis discerpent sidera dictis,Condita quin verei pectoris evoluam):75Non his tam laetor rebus, quam me afore semper,Afore me a dominae vertice discrucior,Quicum ego, dum virgo curis fuit omnibus expers,Vnguenti Suriei milia multa bibi.Nunc vos, optato quom iunxit lumine taeda,80Non prius unanimis corpora coniugibusTradite nudantes reiecta veste papillas,Quam iocunda mihi munera libet onyx,Voster onyx, casto petitis quae iura cubili.Sed quae se inpuro dedit adulterio,85Illius a mala dona levis bibat irrita pulvis:Namque ego ab indignis praemia nulla peto.Sed magis, o nuptae, semper concordia vostrasSemper amor sedes incolat adsiduos.Tu vero, regina, tuens cum sidera divam90Placabis festis luminibus Venerem,Vnguinis expertem non siris esse tuam me,Sed potius largis adfice muneribus.Sidera corruerent utinam! coma regia fiam:Proximus Hydrochoi fulgeret Oarion!

Omnia qui magni dispexit lumina mundi,

Qui stellarum ortus comperit atque obitus,

Flammeus ut rapidi solis nitor obscuretur,

Vt cedant certis sidera temporibus,

Vt Triviam furtim sub Latmia saxa relegans

Dulcis amor gyro devocet aerio,

Idem me ille Conon caelesti in lumine vidit

E Beroniceo vertice caesariem

Fulgentem clare, quam cunctis illa deorum

Levia protendens brachia pollicitast,

Qua rex tempestate novo auctus hymenaeo

Vastatum finis iverat Assyrios,

Dulcia nocturnae portans vestigia rixae,

Quam de virgineis gesserat exuviis.

Estne novis nuptis odio venus? anne parentum

Frustrantur falsis gaudia lacrimulis,

Vbertim thalami quas intra lumina fundunt?

Non, ita me divi, vera gemunt, iuerint.

Id mea me multis docuit regina querellis

Invisente novo praelia torva viro.

An tu non orbum luxti deserta cubile,

Sed fratris cari flebile discidium?

Quam penitus maestas excedit cura medullas!

Vt tibi tum toto pectore sollicitae

Sensibus ereptis mens excidit! at te ego certe

Cognoram a parva virgine magnanimam.

Anne bonum oblita's facinus, quo regium adepta's

Coniugium, quo non fortius ausit alis?

Sed tum maesta virum mittens quae verba locuta's!

Iuppiter, ut tristi lumina saepe manu!

Quis te mutavit tantus deus? an quod amantes

Non longe a caro corpore abesse volunt?

Atque ibi me cunctis pro dulci coniuge divis

Non sine taurino sanguine pollicita's

Sei reditum tetullisset. is haut in tempore longo

Captam Asiam Aegypti finibus addiderat.

Quis ego pro factis caelesti reddita coetu

Pristina vota novo munere dissoluo.

Invita, o regina, tuo de vertice cessi,

Invita: adiuro teque tuomque caput,

Digna ferat quod siquis inaniter adiurarit:

Sed qui se ferro postulet esse parem?

Ille quoque eversus mons est, quem maximum in orbi

Progenies Thiae clara supervehitur,

Cum Medi peperere novom mare, cumque inventus

Per medium classi barbara navit Athon.

Quid facient crines, cum ferro talia cedant?

Iuppiter, ut Chalybon omne genus pereat,

Et qui principio sub terra quaerere venas

Institit ac ferri frangere duritiem!

Abiunctae paulo ante comae mea fata sorores

Lugebant, cum se Memnonis Aethiopis

Vnigena inpellens nictantibus aera pennis

Obtulit Arsinoes Locridos ales equos,

Isque per aetherias me tollens avolat umbras

Et Veneris casto collocat in gremio.

Ipsa suum Zephyritis eo famulum legarat,

Graia Canopieis incola litoribus.

† Hi dii ven ibi vario ne solum in lumine caeli

Ex Ariadneis aurea temporibus

Fixa corona foret, sed nos quoque fulgeremus

Devotae flavi verticis exuviae,

Vvidulam a fletu cedentem ad templa deum me

Sidus in antiquis diva novom posuit:

Virginis et saevi contingens namque Leonis

Lumina, Callisto iuncta Lycaoniae,

Vertor in occasum, tardum dux ante Booten,

Qui vix sero alto mergitur Oceano.

Sed quamquam me nocte premunt vestigia divom,

Lux autem canae Tethyi restituit,

(Pace tua fari hic liceat, Rhamnusia virgo,

Namque ego non ullo vera timore tegam,

Nec si me infestis discerpent sidera dictis,

Condita quin verei pectoris evoluam):

Non his tam laetor rebus, quam me afore semper,

Afore me a dominae vertice discrucior,

Quicum ego, dum virgo curis fuit omnibus expers,

Vnguenti Suriei milia multa bibi.

Nunc vos, optato quom iunxit lumine taeda,

Non prius unanimis corpora coniugibus

Tradite nudantes reiecta veste papillas,

Quam iocunda mihi munera libet onyx,

Voster onyx, casto petitis quae iura cubili.

Sed quae se inpuro dedit adulterio,

Illius a mala dona levis bibat irrita pulvis:

Namque ego ab indignis praemia nulla peto.

Sed magis, o nuptae, semper concordia vostras

Semper amor sedes incolat adsiduos.

Tu vero, regina, tuens cum sidera divam

Placabis festis luminibus Venerem,

Vnguinis expertem non siris esse tuam me,

Sed potius largis adfice muneribus.

Sidera corruerent utinam! coma regia fiam:

Proximus Hydrochoi fulgeret Oarion!

LXVI.

(Loquitur) Berenice's Lock.

He who every light of the sky world's vastness inspected,He who mastered in mind risings and settings of stars,How of the fast rising sun obscured be the fiery splendours,How at the seasons assured vanish the planets from view,5How Diana to lurk thief-like 'neath Latmian stonefields,Summoned by sweetness of Love, comes from her aëry gyre;That same Cónon espied among lights Celestial shiningMe, Berenice's Hair, which, from her glorious head,Fulgent in brightness afar, to many a host of the Godheads10Stretching her soft smooth arms she vowed to devoutly bestow,What time strengthened by joy of new-made wedlock the monarchBounds of Assyrian land hurried to plunder and pill;Bearing of nightly strife new signs and traces delicious,Won in the war he waged virginal trophies to win.15Loathsome is Venus to all new-paired? Else why be the parents'Pleasure frustrated aye by the false flow of tearsPoured in profusion amid illuminate genial chamber?Nay not real the groans; ever so help me the Gods!This truth taught me my Queen by force of manifold 'plainings20After her new groom hied facing the fierceness of fight.Yet so thou mournedst not for a bed deserted of husband,As for a brother beloved wending on woefullest way?How was the marrow of thee consumedly wasted by sorrow!So clean forth of thy breast, rackt with solicitous care,25Mind fled, sense being reft! But I have known thee for certainE'en from young virginal years lofty of spirit to be.Hast thou forgotten the feat whose greatness won thee a royalMarriage—a deed so prow, never a prower was dared?Yet how sad was the speech thou spakest, thy husband farewelling!30(Jupiter!) Often thine eyes wiping with sorrowful hand!What manner God so great thus changed thee? Is it that loversNever will tarry afar parted from person beloved?Then unto every God on behalf of thy helpmate, thy sweeting,Me thou gavest in vow, not without bloodshed of bulls,35If he be granted return, and long while nowise delaying,Captive Asia he add unto Egyptian bounds.Now for such causes I, enrolled in host of the Heavens,By a new present, discharge promise thou madest of old:Maugrè my will, O Queen, my place on thy head I relinquished,40Maugrè my will, I attest, swearing by thee and thy head;Penalty due shall befall whoso makes oath to no purpose.Yet who assumes the vaunt forceful as iron to be?E'en was that mount o'erthrown, though greatest in universe, where throughThía's illustrious race speeded its voyage to end,45Whenas the Medes brought forth new sea, and barbarous youth-hoodUrged an Armada to swim traversing middle-Athos.What can be done by Hair when such things yield them to Iron?Jupiter! Grant Chalybon perish the whole of the race,Eke who in primal times ore seeking under the surface50Showed th' example, and spalled iron however so hard.Shortly before I was shorn my sister tresses bewailèdLot of me, e'en as the sole brother to Memnon the Black,Winnowing upper air wi' feathers flashing and quiv'ring,Chloris' wing-borne steed, came before Arsinoë,55Whence upraising myself he flies through aëry shadows,And in chaste Venus' breast drops he the present he bears.Eke Zephyritis had sent, for the purpose trusted, her bondsman,Settler of Grecian strain on the Canopian strand.So willèd various Gods, lest sole 'mid lights of the Heavens60Should Ariadne's crown taken from temples of herGlitter in gold, but we not less shine fulgent in splendour,We the consecrate spoils shed by a blond-hued head,Even as weeping-wet sought I the fanes of Celestials,Placed me the Goddess a new light amid starlights of old:65For with Virgo in touch and joining the furious Lion'sRadiance with Callisto, maid of Lycáon beloved,Wind I still to the west, conducting tardy Boötes,Who unwilling and slow must into Ocean merge.Yet though press me o'night the pacing footprints of Godheads,70Tethys, hoary of hair, ever regains me by day.(Lend me thy leave to speak such words, Rhamnusian Virgin,Verities like unto these never in fear will I veil;Albeit every star asperse me with enemy's censure,Secrets in soothfast heart hoarded perforce I reveal.)75Nowise gladdens me so this state as absence torments me,Absence doomèd for aye ta'en fro' my mistress's head,Where I was wont (though she such cares unknew in her girlhood)Many a thousand scents, Syrian unguents, to sip.Now do you pair conjoined by the longed-for light of the torches,80Earlier yield not selves unto unanimous willsNor wi' the dresses doft your barèd nipples encounter,Ere shall yon onyx-vase pour me libations glad,Onyx yours, ye that seek only rights of virtuous bed-rite.But who yieldeth herself unto advowtry impure,85Ah! may her loathèd gifts in light dust uselessly soak,For of unworthy sprite never a gift I desire.Rather, O new-mated brides, be concord aye your companion,Ever let constant love dwell in the dwellings of you.Yet when thou sightest, O Queen, the Constellations, I pray thee,90Every festal day Venus the Goddess appease;Nor of thy unguent-gifts allow myself to be lacking,Nay, do thou rather add largeliest increase to boons.Would but the stars down fall! Could I of my Queen be the hair-lock,Neighbour to Hydrochois e'en let Oarion shine.

He who every light of the sky world's vastness inspected,

He who mastered in mind risings and settings of stars,

How of the fast rising sun obscured be the fiery splendours,

How at the seasons assured vanish the planets from view,

How Diana to lurk thief-like 'neath Latmian stonefields,

Summoned by sweetness of Love, comes from her aëry gyre;

That same Cónon espied among lights Celestial shining

Me, Berenice's Hair, which, from her glorious head,

Fulgent in brightness afar, to many a host of the Godheads

Stretching her soft smooth arms she vowed to devoutly bestow,

What time strengthened by joy of new-made wedlock the monarch

Bounds of Assyrian land hurried to plunder and pill;

Bearing of nightly strife new signs and traces delicious,

Won in the war he waged virginal trophies to win.

Loathsome is Venus to all new-paired? Else why be the parents'

Pleasure frustrated aye by the false flow of tears

Poured in profusion amid illuminate genial chamber?

Nay not real the groans; ever so help me the Gods!

This truth taught me my Queen by force of manifold 'plainings

After her new groom hied facing the fierceness of fight.

Yet so thou mournedst not for a bed deserted of husband,

As for a brother beloved wending on woefullest way?

How was the marrow of thee consumedly wasted by sorrow!

So clean forth of thy breast, rackt with solicitous care,

Mind fled, sense being reft! But I have known thee for certain

E'en from young virginal years lofty of spirit to be.

Hast thou forgotten the feat whose greatness won thee a royal

Marriage—a deed so prow, never a prower was dared?

Yet how sad was the speech thou spakest, thy husband farewelling!

(Jupiter!) Often thine eyes wiping with sorrowful hand!

What manner God so great thus changed thee? Is it that lovers

Never will tarry afar parted from person beloved?

Then unto every God on behalf of thy helpmate, thy sweeting,

Me thou gavest in vow, not without bloodshed of bulls,

If he be granted return, and long while nowise delaying,

Captive Asia he add unto Egyptian bounds.

Now for such causes I, enrolled in host of the Heavens,

By a new present, discharge promise thou madest of old:

Maugrè my will, O Queen, my place on thy head I relinquished,

Maugrè my will, I attest, swearing by thee and thy head;

Penalty due shall befall whoso makes oath to no purpose.

Yet who assumes the vaunt forceful as iron to be?

E'en was that mount o'erthrown, though greatest in universe, where through

Thía's illustrious race speeded its voyage to end,

Whenas the Medes brought forth new sea, and barbarous youth-hood

Urged an Armada to swim traversing middle-Athos.

What can be done by Hair when such things yield them to Iron?

Jupiter! Grant Chalybon perish the whole of the race,

Eke who in primal times ore seeking under the surface

Showed th' example, and spalled iron however so hard.

Shortly before I was shorn my sister tresses bewailèd

Lot of me, e'en as the sole brother to Memnon the Black,

Winnowing upper air wi' feathers flashing and quiv'ring,

Chloris' wing-borne steed, came before Arsinoë,

Whence upraising myself he flies through aëry shadows,

And in chaste Venus' breast drops he the present he bears.

Eke Zephyritis had sent, for the purpose trusted, her bondsman,

Settler of Grecian strain on the Canopian strand.

So willèd various Gods, lest sole 'mid lights of the Heavens

Should Ariadne's crown taken from temples of her

Glitter in gold, but we not less shine fulgent in splendour,

We the consecrate spoils shed by a blond-hued head,

Even as weeping-wet sought I the fanes of Celestials,

Placed me the Goddess a new light amid starlights of old:

For with Virgo in touch and joining the furious Lion's

Radiance with Callisto, maid of Lycáon beloved,

Wind I still to the west, conducting tardy Boötes,

Who unwilling and slow must into Ocean merge.

Yet though press me o'night the pacing footprints of Godheads,

Tethys, hoary of hair, ever regains me by day.

(Lend me thy leave to speak such words, Rhamnusian Virgin,

Verities like unto these never in fear will I veil;

Albeit every star asperse me with enemy's censure,

Secrets in soothfast heart hoarded perforce I reveal.)

Nowise gladdens me so this state as absence torments me,

Absence doomèd for aye ta'en fro' my mistress's head,

Where I was wont (though she such cares unknew in her girlhood)

Many a thousand scents, Syrian unguents, to sip.

Now do you pair conjoined by the longed-for light of the torches,

Earlier yield not selves unto unanimous wills

Nor wi' the dresses doft your barèd nipples encounter,

Ere shall yon onyx-vase pour me libations glad,

Onyx yours, ye that seek only rights of virtuous bed-rite.

But who yieldeth herself unto advowtry impure,

Ah! may her loathèd gifts in light dust uselessly soak,

For of unworthy sprite never a gift I desire.

Rather, O new-mated brides, be concord aye your companion,

Ever let constant love dwell in the dwellings of you.

Yet when thou sightest, O Queen, the Constellations, I pray thee,

Every festal day Venus the Goddess appease;

Nor of thy unguent-gifts allow myself to be lacking,

Nay, do thou rather add largeliest increase to boons.

Would but the stars down fall! Could I of my Queen be the hair-lock,

Neighbour to Hydrochois e'en let Oarion shine.

He who scanned all the lights of the great firmament, who ascertained the rising and the setting of the stars, how the flaming splendour of the swift sun was endarkened, how the planets disappear at certain seasons, how sweet love withstealth detaining Trivia beneath the Latmian crags, draws her away from her airy circuit, that same Conon saw me amongst celestial light, the hair from Berenice's head, gleaming with brightness, which she outstretching graceful arms did devote to the whole of the gods, when the king flushed with the season of new wedlock had gone to lay waste the Assyrian borders, bearing the sweet traces of nightly contests, in which he had borne away her virginal spoils. Is Venus abhorred by new-made brides? Why be the parents' joys turned aside by feigned tears, which they shed copiously amid the lights of the nuptial chamber? Untrue are their groans, by the gods I swear! This did my queen teach me by her many lamentings, when her bridegroom set out for stern warfare. Yet thou didst not mourn the widowhood of desolate couch, but the tearful separation from a dear brother? How care made sad inroads in thy very marrow! In so much that thine whole bosom being agitated, and thy senses being snatched from thee, thy mind wandered! But in truth I have known thee great of heart ever since thou wast a little maiden. Hast thou forgotten that noble deed, by which thou didst gain a regal wedlock, than which none dared other deeds bolder? Yet what grieving words didst thou speak when bidding thy bridegroom farewell! Jupiter! as with sad hand often thine eyes thou didst dry! What mighty god changed thee? Was it that lovers are unwilling to be long absent fromtheir dear one's body? Then didst thou devote me to the whole of the gods on thy sweet consort's behalf, not without blood of bullocks, should he be granted safe return. In no long time he added captive Asia to the Egyptian boundaries. Wherefore for these reasons I, bestowed 'midst the celestial host, by a new gift fulfil thine ancient promise. With grief, O queen, did I quit thy brow, with grief: I swear to thee and to thine head; fit ill befall whosoever shall swear lightly: but who may bear himself peer with steel? Even that mountain was swept away, the greatest on earth, over which Thia's illustrious progeny passed, when the Medes created a new sea, and the barbarian youth sailed its fleet through the middle of Athos. What can locks of hair do, when such things yield to iron? Jupiter! may the whole race of the Chalybes perish, and whoever first questing the veins 'neath the earth harassed its hardness, breaking it through with iron. Just before severance my sister locks were mourning my fate, when Ethiop Memnon's brother, the winged steed, beating the air with fluttering pennons, appeared before Locrian Arsinoe, and this one bearing me up, flies through aethereal shadows and lays me in the chaste bosom of Venus. Him Zephyritis herself had dispatched as her servant, a Grecian settler on the Canopian shores. For 'twas the wish of many gods that not alone in heaven's light should the golden coronet from Ariadne's temples stay fixed, but that we also should gleam,the spoils devote from thy golden-yellow head; when humid with weeping I entered the temples of the gods, the Goddess placed me, a new star, amongst the ancient ones. For a-touching the Virgin's and the fierce Lion's gleams, hard by Callisto of Lycaon, I turn westwards fore-guiding the slow-moving Bootes who sinks unwillingly and late into the vasty ocean. But although the footsteps of the gods o'erpress me in the night-tide, and the daytime restoreth me to the white-haired Tethys, (grant me thy grace to speak thus, O Rhamnusian virgin, for I will not hide the truth through any fear, even if the stars revile me with ill words yet I will unfold the pent-up feelings from truthful breast) I am not so much rejoiced at these things as I am tortured by being for ever parted, parted from my lady's head, with whom I (though whilst a virgin she was free from all such cares) drank many a thousand of Syrian scents.

Now do you, whom the gladsome light of the wedding torches hath joined, yield not your bodies to your desiring husbands nor throw aside your vestments and bare your bosom's nipples, before your onyx cup brings me jocund gifts, your onyx, ye who seek the dues of chaste marriage-bed. But she who giveth herself to foul adultery, may the light-lying dust responselessly drink her vile gifts, for I seek no offerings from folk that do ill. But rather, O brides, may concord always be yours,and constant love ever dwell in your homes. But when thou, O queen, whilst gazing at the stars, shalt propitiate the goddess Venus with festal torch-lights, let not me, thine own, be left lacking of unguent, but rather gladden me with large gifts. Stars fall in confusion! So that I become a royal tress, Orion might gleam in Aquarius' company.

LXVII.

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