The life and writings of Henry Fuseli Volume I Part 5

Proceeding now to lay before the reader specimens of the translation itself, we shall select pa.s.sages which, by their contrast, may enable him to estimate the variety of our author's powers, to poise his blemishes and beauties, and to form an idea of what he is to expect from a perusal of the whole. To exhibit only the splendid, would have been insidious; it would have been unfair to expose languor alone;--we have pursued a middle course; and when he has consulted the volumes themselves, the reader, we trust, will p.r.o.nounce us equally impartial to the author and himself.

Juno, entering her apartment to array herself for her visit to Jupiter on Gargarus, is thus described--Iliad, B. XIV. p. 365.

"She sought her chamber; Vulcan, her own son, That chamber built. He framed the solid doors, And to the posts fast closed them with a key Mysterious, which, herself except, in heav'n None understood. Entering, she secured The splendid portal. First, she laved all o'er Her beauteous body with ambrosial lymph, Then, polish'd it with richest oil divine Of boundless fragrance; oil that, in the courts Eternal only shaken, through the skies Breathed odours, and through all the distant earth.

Her whole fair body with those sweets bedew'd, She pa.s.s'd the comb through her ambrosial hair, And braided her bright locks, streaming profuse From her immortal brows; with golden studs She made her gorgeous mantle fast before, Ethereal texture, labour of the hands Of Pallas, beautified with various art, And braced it with a zone fringed all round An hundred fold; her pendents triple-gemm'd Luminous, graceful, in her ears she hung, And cov'ring all her glories with a veil, Sun-bright, new-woven, bound to her fair feet Her sandals elegant. Thus, full attired In all her ornaments, she issued forth, And beck'ning Venus from the other pow'rs Of Heav'n apart, the G.o.ddess thus bespake: 'Daughter, beloved! Shall I obtain my suit?

Or wilt thou thwart me, angry that I aid The Grecians, while thine aid is given to Troy?'

"To whom Jove's daughter, Venus, thus replied.

'What would majestic Juno, daughter dread Of Saturn, sire of Jove? I feel a mind Disposed to gratify thee, if thou ask Things possible, and possible to me.'

"Then thus, with wiles veiling her deep design, Imperial Juno. 'Give me those desires, That love-enkindling power by which thou sway'st Immortal hearts, and mortal, all alike.

For to the green Earth's utmost bounds I go, To visit there the parent of the G.o.ds, Ocea.n.u.s, and Tethys his espoused, Mother of all. They kindly from the hands Of Rhea took, and with parental care Sustain'd and cherish'd me, what time from heav'n The Thund'rer howl'd down Saturn, and beneath The earth fast bound him and the barren Deep.

Them, go I now to visit, and their feuds Innumerable to compose; for long They have from conjugal embrace abstain'd Through mutual wrath; whom by persuasive speech Might I restore into each other's arms, They would for ever love me and revere.

"Her, foam-born Venus then, G.o.ddess of smiles, Thus answer'd. 'Thy request, who in the arms Of Jove reposest the Omnipotent, Nor just it were, nor seemly, to refuse.'

"So saying, the cincture from her breast she loos'd Embroider'd, various, her all-charming zone.

It was an ambush of sweet snares, replete With love, desire, soft intercourse of hearts, And music of resistless whisper'd sounds That from the wisest steal their best resolves; She placed it in her hands and thus she said.

'Take this--this girdle fraught with ev'ry charm.

Hide this within thy bosom, and return, Whate'er thy purpose, mistress of it all.'

She spake; imperial Juno smiled, and still Smiling complacent, bosom'd safe the zone."

Euphorbus falls thus under the spear of Menelaus: Iliad, B. XVII.

p. 452. v. 60.

"Sounding he fell; loud rang his batter'd arms.

His locks, which even the Graces might have own'd, Blood-sullied, and his ringlets wound about With twine of gold and silver, swept the dust.

As the luxuriant olive, by a swain Rear'd in some solitude where rills abound, Puts forth her buds, and, fann'd by genial airs On all sides, hangs her boughs with whitest flow'rs, But by a sudden whirlwind from its trench Uptorn, it lies extended on the field, Such, Panthus' warlike son, Euphorbus seem'd, By Menelaus, son of Atreus, slain Suddenly, and of all his arms despoil'd.

But as the lion on the mountains bred, Glorious in strength, when he hath seiz'd the best And fairest of the herd, with savage fangs First breaks her neck, then laps the b.l.o.o.d.y paunch Torn wide; meantime, around him, but remote, Dogs stand and swains clamouring, yet by fear Repress'd, annoy him not or dare approach; So there, all wanted courage to oppose The force of Menelaus, glorious chief."

The beauty of this pa.s.sage will no doubt prompt Mr. C. to revise the words descriptive of the olive's gender. He cannot possibly have had an eye to the pa.s.sage in the XIth B. of the Odyssey, relating to the spirit of Tiresias; the licence there, and the beauty obtained by it, are founded on very different principles.

With the following ample scene between Achilles, Lycaon, and Asteropaeus, we conclude our extracts from the Iliad, B. XXI. p.

553. v. 119.

"Such supplication the ill.u.s.trious son Of Priam made, but answer harsh received.

'Fool! speak'st of ransom? Name it not to me.

For till my friend his miserable fate Accomplish'd, I was somewhat giv'n to spare, And num'rous; whom I seized alive, I sold; But now, of all the Trojans whom the G.o.ds Deliver to me, none shall death escape, 'Specially of the house of Priam, none.

Die, therefore, even thou, my friend! What mean Thy tears, unreasonably shed, and vain?

Died not Patroclus, braver far than thou?

And look on me--see'st not to what an height My stature tow'rs, and what a bulk I boast?

A king begat me, and a G.o.ddess bore.

What then! A death by violence awaits Me also, and at morn, or eve, or noon I perish, whensoe'er the destin'd spear Shall reach me, or the arrow from the nerve.'

"He ceased, and where the suppliant kneel, he died.

Quitting the spear, with both hands spread abroad He sat; but swift Achilles with his sword 'Twixt neck and key-bone smote him, and his blade Of double edge sank all into the wound.

He p.r.o.ne extended on the champion lay, Bedewing with his sable blood the glebe, 'Till, by the foot, Achilles cast him far Into the stream, and as he floated down, Thus in wing'd accents, glorying exclaim'd.

'Lie there, and feed the fishes, which shall lick Thy blood secure. Thy mother ne'er shall place Thee on thy bier, nor on thy body weep, But swift Scamander on his giddy tide Shall bear thee to the bosom of the sea.

There, many a fish shall through the crystal flood Ascending to the rippled surface, find Lycaon's pamper'd flesh delicious fare.

Die Trojans! till we reach your city, you Fleeing, and slaughtering, I. This pleasant stream Of dimpling silver, which ye worship oft With victim bulls, and sate with living steeds His rapid whirlpools, shall avail you nought, But ye shall die, die terribly till all Shall have requited me with just amends For my Patroclus, and for other Greeks Slain at the ships, while I declined the war.'

"He ended, at whose words still more incensed Scamander means devised, thenceforth, to check Achilles, and avert the doom of Troy.

Meantime the son of Peleus, his huge spear Grasping, a.s.sail'd Asteropaeus, son Of Pelegon, on fire to take his life.

Fair Periba, daughter eldest-born Of Acessamenus, his father bore To broad-stream'd Axius, who had clasp'd the nymph In his embrace. On him Achilles sprang.

He, newly risen from the river, stood Arm'd with two lances opposite, for him Xanthus embolden'd, at the deaths incensed Of many a youth whom, mercy none vouchsafed, Achilles had in all his current slain.

And now, small distance interposed, they faced Each other, when Achilles thus began.

'Who art and whence, who dar'st encounter me?

Hapless, the sires whose sons my force defy.'

"To whom the n.o.ble son of Pelegon, Pelides, mighty chief. 'Why hast thou ask'd My derivation? From the land I come Of mellow-soil'd Paeonia, far remote, Chief-leader of Paeonia's host spear-arm'd; This day hath also the eleventh ris'n Since I at Troy arriv'd. For my descent, It is from Axius' river, wide-diffused, From Axius, fairest stream that waters earth, Sire of bold Pelegon, whom men report My sire. Let this suffice. Now fight, Achilles!'

"So spake he threat'ning, and Achilles rais'd Dauntless the Pelian ash. At once two spears The hero bold, Asteropaeus threw, With both hands apt for battle. One his shield Struck but pierced not, impeded by the gold, Gift of a G.o.d; the other as it flew Grazed his right elbow; sprang the sable blood; But, overflying him, the spear in earth Stood planted deep, still hung'ring for the prey.

Then, full at the Paeonian Peleus' son Hurl'd forth his weapon with unsparing force, But vain; he struck the sloping river-bank, And mid-length deep stood plunged the ashen beam.

Then, with his faulchion drawn, Achilles flew To smite him; he in vain, meantime, essay'd To pluck the rooted spear forth from the bank; Thrice with full force he shook the beam, and thrice, Although reluctant, left it; at his fourth Last effort, bending it, he sought to break The ashen spear-beam of aeacides, But perish'd by his keen-edg'd faulchion first; For on the belly, at his navel's side, He smote him; to the ground effused fell all His bowels, Death's dim shadows veil'd his eyes, Achilles ardent on his bosom fix'd His foot, despoil'd him, and exulting cried.

'Lie there; though river-sprung thou find'st it hard To cope with sons of Jove omnipotent.

Thou said'st, a mighty river is my sire-- But my descent from mightier Jove I boast; My father, whom the myrmidons obey, Is son of aeacus, and he, of Jove.

As Jove all streams excels that seek the sea, So, Jove's descendants n.o.bler are than theirs.

Behold a River at thy side--Let Him Afford thee, if he can, some succour--No, He may not fight against Saturnian Jove.

Therefore, not kingly Achelous, Nor yet the strength of Ocean's vast profound, Although from him all rivers and all seas, All fountains, and all wells proceed, may boast Comparison with Jove, but even He Astonish'd trembles at his fiery bolt, And his dread thunders rattling in the sky."

On opening the Odyssey, we present the reader with the interview of Ulysses and his mother in the Shades, and the description of Tyro's amour with Neptune.--Odyss. B. XI. p. 254.

"She said; I ardent wish'd to clasp the shade Of my departed mother; thrice I sprang Toward her, by desire impetuous urged, And thrice she flitted from between my arms, Light as a pa.s.sing shadow or a dream.

Then, pierced by keener grief, in accents wing'd With filial earnestness, I thus replied:-- 'My mother, why elud'st thou my attempt To clasp thee, that ev'n here, in Pluto's realm, We might to full satiety indulge Our grief, enfolded in each other's arms?

Hath Proserpine, alas! only dispatch'd A shadow to me, to augment my woe?'

"Then, instant, thus the venerable form.

'Ah, son! thou most afflicted of mankind!

On thee, Jove's daughter, Proserpine, obtrudes No airy semblance vain; but such the state And nature is of mortals once deceased.

For they nor muscle have, nor flesh, nor bone; All those, (the spirit from the body once Divorced) the violence of fire consumes, And, like a dream, the soul flies swift away.

But haste thou back to light, and, taught thyself These sacred truths, hereafter teach thy spouse.'

"Thus mutual we conferr'd. Then, thither came, Encouraged forth by royal Proserpine, Shades female num'rous, all who consorts, erst, Or daughters were of mighty chiefs renown'd.

About the sable blood frequent they swarm'd, But I consid'ring sat, how I might each Interrogate, and thus resolv'd. My sword Forth drawing from beside my st.u.r.dy thigh, Firm I prohibited the ghosts to drink The blood together; they successive came; Each told her own distress; I question'd all.

"There, first, the high-born Tyro I beheld; She claim'd Salmoneus as her sire, and wife Was once of Cretheus, son of aeolus, Enamour'd of Enipeus, stream divine.

Loveliest of all that water earth, beside His limpid current she was wont to stray, When Ocean's G.o.d (Enipeus' form a.s.sumed) Within the eddy-whirling river's mouth Embraced her; there, while the o'er-arching flood, Uplifted mountainous, conceal'd the G.o.d And his fair human bride, her virgin zone He loos'd, and o'er her eyes sweet sleep diffused.

His am'rous purpose satisfied, he grasp'd Her hand, affectionate, and thus he said.

'Rejoice in this, my love, and when the year Shall tend to consummation of its course, Thou shalt produce ill.u.s.trious twins, for love Immortal never is unfruitful love.

Rear them with all a mother's care; meantime, Hence to thy home. Be silent. Name it not, For I am Neptune, shaker of the sh.o.r.es.'

"So saying, he plunged into the billowy deep.

She, pregnant grown, Pelias and Neleus bore, Both valiant ministers of mighty Jove."

The visit of Hermes to Calypso and her abode, are thus described.--Odyss. B. V. p. 110.

"He ended, nor the Argicide refused, Messenger of the skies; his sandals fair, Ambrosial, golden, to his feet he bound, Which o'er the moist wave, rapid as the wind, Bear him, and o'er th' illimitable earth, Then took his rod, with which, at will, all eyes He closes soft, or opes them wide again.

So arm'd, forth flew the valiant Argicide.

Alighting on Pieria, down he stoop'd To ocean, and the billows lightly skimm'd In form a sea-mew, such as in the bays Tremendous of the barren deep her food Seeking dips oft in brine her ample wing.

In such disguise, o'er many a wave he rode, But reaching, now, that isle remote, forsook The azure deep, and at the s.p.a.cious grot Where dwelt the amber-tressed nymph arrived, Found her within. A fire on all the hearth Blazed sprightly, and, afar-diffused, the scent Of smooth split cedar and of cyprus-wood.

Odorous, burning, cheer'd the happy isle.

She, busied at the loom, and plying fast Her golden shuttle, with melodious voice Sat chaunting there; a grove on either side, Alder and poplar, and the redolent branch Wide-spread of cypress, skirted dark the cave.

There many a bird of broadest pinion built Secure her nest, the owl, the kite, and daw Long-tongued, frequenter of the sandy sh.o.r.es.

A garden-vine luxuriant on all sides Mantled the s.p.a.cious cavern, cl.u.s.ter-hung Profuse; four fountains of serenest lymph Their sinuous course pursuing side by side, Stray'd all around, and ev'ry where appear'd Meadows of softest verdure, purpled o'er With violets; it was a scene to fill A G.o.d from heav'n with wonder and delight.

Hermes, heav'n's messenger, admiring stood That sight, and having all survey'd, at length Enter'd the grotto; nor the lovely nymph Him knew not soon as seen, for not unknown Each to the other the immortals are, How far soever sep'rate their abodes.

Yet found he not within the mighty chief Ulysses; he sat weeping on the sh.o.r.e, Forlorn, for there his custom was with groans Of sad regret t' afflict his breaking heart, Looking continual o'er the barren deep.

Then thus Calypso, nymph divine, the G.o.d Question'd from her resplendent throne august."

With the subsequent pa.s.sage of Ulysses' stratagem in the cave of Polypheme, we shall dismiss the Odyssey, and add a few observations.--Odyss. B. IX. p. 207.