395 Vertumnus

395

A deity among the Romans, who presided over the spring and orchards. He married Pomona, and is represented as a young man crowned with flowers, holding in his right hand fruit, and a crown of plenty in his left.

or to Ceres in her prime

The goddess of corn and of harvests, daughter of Saturn and Vesta, mother of Proserpine Ceres is metaphorically

(already explained).

called bread and corn.

440 Or of reviv'd Adonis,

Adonis is said to have received a mortal bite from a wild boar which he had wounded, and Venus after shedding tears at his death, changed into a flower called Anemony. Proserpine is said to have restored him to life, on condition that he should spend six months with her, and the rest of the year with Venus. This implies the alternate

return of summer and winter.

441 Alcinous, host of old Laertes's son

Ulysses, the son of Laertes, was shipwreck'd on the coast of Phæacia in the reign of Alcinous, is awaken'd by the voice of Nausicaa. Homer's Odyssey, Book 4.

Meantime (the care and fav'rite of the skies),
Wrapt in embow'ring shade Ulysses lyes,
His woes forgot! but Pallas now addrest
To break the bands of all-composing rest.
Forth from her snowy hand Nausicaa threw
The various ball; the ball erroneous flew,
And swam the stream: loud shrieks the virgin train,
And the loud shriek redoubles from the main.

Wak'd by the shrilling sound, Ulysses rose,
And to the deaf woods wailing breath'd his woes.
Ah me! on what inhospitable coast,

On what new region is Ulysses tost:
Possest by wild barbarians fierce in arms,

Or men whose bosom tender pity warms?
What sounds are these that gather from the
shores :

The voice of nymphs that haunt the sylvan bowr's, The fair-hair'd dryads of the shady wood;

Or azure daughters of the silver flood;

Or human voice? But, issuing from the shades,
Why cease I straight to learn what sound invades?
Then, where the grove with leaves umbrageous
bends,

With forceful strength a branch the hero rends;
Around his loins the verdant cincture spreads
A wreathy foilage and concealing shades.

As when a lion in the midnight hours,

Beat by rude blasts, and wet with wintry show'rs,

Descends terrific from the mountains brow;
With living flames his rolling eye-balls glow:
With conscious strength elate, he bends his way,
Majestically fierce to seize his prey;

(The steer or stag); or, with keen hunger bold,
Springs o'er the fence, and dissipates the fold.
No less a terror, from the neighb'ring groves
(Rough from the tossing surge) Ulysses moves;
Urg'd on by want, and recent from the storms,
The brackish ooze his manly grace deforms.
Wide o'er the shore with many piercing cry
To rocks, to caves, the frighted virgins fly;

All but the nymph: the nymph stood fix'd alone,
By Pallas arm'd with boldness not her own.
Mean time in dubious thought the king awaits,
And self-considering, as he stands, debates.
Distant his mournful story to declare,

Or prostrate at her knee address the pray'r.
But fearful to offend, by wisdom sway'd,
At awful distance he accosts the maid.
If from the skies a goddess, or of earth
(Imperial virgin!) boast thy glorious birth,
To thee I bend! if in that bright disguise
Thou visit❜st earth, a daughter of the skies,
Hail Dian, hail! I gaze and I adore !

Thus seems the palm with stately honours crown'd

By Phoebus' altars;

thus o'erlooks the ground;

The pride of Delos. (By the Delian coast

I voyag'd, leader of a warrior host,

But ah how chang'd! from thence my sorrow

flows;

O fatal voyage, source of all my woes!

Raptur'd I stood, and at this hour, amaz'd,
With rev'rence at the lofty wonder gaz❜d :
Raptur'd I stand! for earth ne'er knew to bear
A plant so stately, or a maid so fair.
Aw'd from access, I lift my suppliant hands;
For misery, oh queen, before thee stands !
Twice ten tempestuous nights I roll'd resign'd
To roaring billows, and the warring wind;
Heav'n bid the deep to spare! but heav'n my foe,
Spares only to inflict some mightier woe!
Inur'd to cares; to death in all its forms,

Outcast I rove, familiar with the storms!

Once more I view the face of human kind,
Oh let soft pity touch thy gen'rous mind!
Unconscious of what air I breathe, I stand
Naked, defenceless on a foreign land.
Propitious to my wants, a vest supply

To guard the wretched from th' inclement sky:
So may the gods, who heaven and earth controul,
Crown the chaste wishes of thy virtuous soul;
The gods, when they supremely bliss, bestow
Firm union on their favorites below;
Then envy grieves, with inly-pining hate,
The good exult, and heav'n is in our state.

To whom the nymph: O stranger cease thy care;
Wise is thy soul, but man is born to bear :
Jove weighs affairs of earth in dubious scales,
And the good suffers, while the bad prevails:
Bear, with a soul resigned, the will of Jove,
Who breathes, must mourn: thy woes are from
above.

But since thou tread'st our hospitable shore,
"Tis mine to bid the wretched grieve no more,
To clothe the naked, and thy way to guide.—
Know, the Phæcian tribes this land divide;
From great Alcinous' royal loins I spring,
A happy nation, and a happy king.
Then to her maids-Why, why ye coward train
These fears, this flight? Ye fear and fly in vain.
'Tis our's this son of sorrow to relieve,
Cheer the sad heart, nor let affliction grieve.
By Jove the stranger and the poor are sent,
And what to those we give, to Jove is lent.
Then food supply, and bathe his fainting limbs
Where waving shades obscure the mazy streams.

Obedient to the call, the chief they guide
To the calm current of the secret tide :
Close by the stream a royal dress they lay,
A vest and robe, with rich embroid❜ry gay:
Then unguents in a vase of gold supply,
That breath'd a fragrance thro' the balmy sky.
To them the king. No longer I detain
Your friendly care; retire, ye virgin train!
Retire, while from my weary limbs I lave
The foul pollution of the briny wave:

Ye gods! since this worn frame refection knew,
What scenes have I surveyed of dreadful view?
A fragrance breathes around; majestic grace
Attends his steps; the astonish'd virgins gaze.
The wond'ring nymph his glorious part sur-
vey'd,

And to her damsels, with amazement said.

Late a sad spectacle of woe, he trod

The desart sands, and now he looks a god.
But haste, the viands and the bowl provide~
The maids the viands and the bowl supply'd :
Eager he fed, for keen his hunger rag'd,
And with the gen'rous vintage thirst assuag'd.
Now on return her care Nausicaa bends;
The robes resumes, the glitt'ring car ascends.
Far blooming o'er the field: and as she press'd
The splendid seat, the list'ning chief address'd.
Stranger arise! the sun rolls down the day,
Lo, to the palace I direct thy way;
Where in high state the nobles of the land
Attend my royal sire, a radiant band.

But hear, the wisdom in thy soul presides,

Speaks from thy tongue, and ev'ry action guides;