The Metamorphoses of Publius Ovidus Naso in English blank verse Part 28

THE *Fourteenth Book* OF THE METAMORPHOSES OF OVID.

Now had Euban Glaucus, who could cleave The surging sea, left Etna, o'er the b.r.e.a.s.t.s Of giants thrown, and left the Cyclops' fields, Unconscious of the plough's or harrow's use; And unindebted to the oxen yok'd.

Zancle he left, and its opposing sh.o.r.e Where Rhegium's turrets tower; and the strait sea For shipwreck fam'd, which by incroaching sh.o.r.es Press'd narrow, forms the separating bound Betwixt Ausonia's and Sicilia's land.

Thence glides he swift along the Tyrrhene coast, By powerful arms impell'd, and gains the dome, And herbag'd hills of Circe Phbus sprung: (The dome with forms of wildest beasts full cramm'd) Whom, soon as greeting salutations pa.s.s'd, He thus address'd:--"O powerful G.o.ddess! grant "Thy pity to a G.o.d; and thou alone, "If worth that aid thou deem'st me, canst afford "Aid to my love. For, O t.i.tanian maid!

"To none the power of plants is better known "Than me, who by the power of plants was chang'd.

"But lest the object of my lore, to thee "Unknown, be hid; I Scylla late beheld "Upon th' Italian sh.o.r.e: Messenia's walls "Opposing. Shame me hinders to relate "What promises, what prayers, what coaxing words "I us'd: my words all heard with proud contempt.

"Do thou with magic lips thy charms repeat, "If power in charms abides: or if in herbs "More force is found, then use the well-try'd strength "Of herbs of power. I wish thee not to soothe "My heart; I wish thee not these wounds to cure; "Still may they last, let her such flames but feel."

Then Circe spoke, (and she a mind possess'd Most apt to flame with love, or in her frame The stimulus was plac'd; or Venus, irk'd At what her sire discover'd, caus'd the heat.) "O, better far the willing nymph pursue "Who would in wishes meet thee; wh'o is seiz'd "With equal love: well worthy of the maid "Thou wast; nay shouldst have been the first besought; "And if but hope thou wilt afford, believe "My words, thou shalt spontaneously be lov'd.

"Fear not, but on thy beauteous form depend; "Lo! I, a G.o.ddess! of the splendid sun "A daughter, who with powerful spells so much "And herbs can do, to be thy consort sue.

"Spurn her who spurns thee; her who thee desires "Desiring meet; and both at once avenge."

But to her tempting speeches Glaucus thus Reply'd--"The trees shall sooner in the waves "Spring up, and sea-weed on the mountain's top, "Than I, while Scylla lives, my love transfer."

The G.o.ddess swol'n with anger, since his form To harm 'twas given her not, and love deny'd, Turn'd on her happier rival all her rage.

Irk'd at her slighted pa.s.sion, straight she grinds Herbs infamous, to gain their horrid juice; And mixes all with Hecatean spells.

Then clothes her in a sable robe, and forth Through crouds of fawning savage beasts she goes, From her gay palace. Rhegium's coast she seeks O'erlooking Zancle's rocks; and on the waves With fury boiling, steps; o'er them she walks As on a solid sh.o.r.e, and skims along The ridgy billows with unwetted feet.

A little pool, bent in a gentle curve, With peaceful surface oft did Scylla tempt; And often thither she herself betook To 'scape from ocean's, and from Phbus' heat, When high in noon-tide fierceness short the shade Was from the head describ'd. Before she came The G.o.ddess poison'd all the pool; she pour'd Her potent juice, of monster-breeding power, Prest from pernicious roots, within the waves; And mutter'd thrice nine times with magic lips, In sounds scarce audible, her well-known spells.

Here Scylla came, and waded to the waist; And straight, with barking monsters she espies Her womb deform'd: at first, of her own limbs Not dreaming they are part, she from them flies; And chides them thence, and fears their savage mouths.

But what she flies she with her drags; she looks To find her thighs, and find her legs, and feet; But for those limbs Cerberean jaws are found.

Furious the dogs still howl; on their fierce backs Her shorten'd groin, and swelling belly rest.

The amorous Glaucus griev'd, and spurn'd the love Of Circe, who so rancorously had us'd The power of plants. Her station Scylla kept; And soon as scope for vengeance she perceiv'd, In hate to Circe, of his comrade crew Depriv'd Ulysses. Next the Trojan fleet Had she o'erwhelm'd; but ere they pa.s.s'd, transform'd To stone, she tower'd aloft a flinty rock, And still do mariners that rock avoid.

The Phrygian ships that danger 'scap'd, and 'scap'd Charybdis fell, by oars propell'd; but now Ausonia's sh.o.r.e well nigh attain'd, were driv'n By adverse tempests to the Libyan coast.

aeneas then the queen Sidonian took Most welcome to her bosom, and her dome; Nor bore her Phrygian spouse's sudden flight, With calm indifference: on a lofty pile Rear'd for pretended sacred rites, she stood, And on the sword's point fell; herself deceiv'd, She all around outwitted. Flying far The new-rais'd city of the sandy plains To Eryx' country was he borne; where liv'd Acestes faithful: here he sacrific'd, And gave due honors to his father's tomb.

Then loos'd his ships for sea, well nigh in flames By Juno's Iris: all th' aeolian realm; The islands blazing with sulphuric fire; And rocks of Achelous' siren nymphs, He left. The vessel now, of him who rul'd The helm, bereft, along aenaria's sh.o.r.e; And Prochytas; and Pithecusa, plac'd Upon a sterile hill, its name deriv'd From those who dwelt there, coasted. Erst the sire Of G.o.ds, detesting perjuries and fraud, Which that deceitful race so much employ'd, Chang'd to an animal deform'd their shapes; Where still a likeness and unlikeness seems To man. Their every limb contracted small; Their turn'd-up noses flatten'd from the brow; And ancient furrows plough'd adown their cheeks.

Then sent them, all their bodies cover'd o'er With yellow hairs, this district to possess.

Yet sent them not till of the power of speech Depriv'd; and tongue for direst falsehoods us'd: But left their chattering jaws the power to 'plain.

These past, and left Parthenope's high towers To right; and musical Misenus' tomb, And c.u.ma's sh.o.r.es to left; spots cover'd thick With marshy reeds, he enters in the cave Where dwelt the ancient Sybil; and in treats That through Avernus' darkness he may pa.s.s, His father's shade to seek. Then she, her eyes, Long firmly fixt on earth, uprais'd; and next, Fill'd with the G.o.d, in furious raving spoke.

"Much dost thou ask, O man of mighty deeds!

"Whose valor by the sword is amply prov'd, "And piety through flames. Yet, Trojan chief, "Fear not; thou shalt what thou desir'st attain: "By me conducted, thou th' Elysian field, "The lowest portion of the tri-form realm, "And thy beloved parent's shade shalt see: "No path to genuine virtue e'er is clos'd."

She spoke, and pointed to th' Avernian grove, Sacred to Proserpine; and shew'd a bough With gold refulgent; this she bade him tear From off its trunk. aeneas her obeys, And sees the treasures of h.e.l.l's awful king; His ancestors', and great Anchises' shades: Is taught the laws and customs of the dead; And what deep perils he in future wars Must face. As then the backward path he trode With weary'd step; the labor he beguil'd By grateful speech with his c.u.maean guide.

And, while through darkling twilight he pursu'd His fearful way, he thus:--"Or, G.o.ddess, thou, "Or of the G.o.ds high-favor'd, unto me "Still shalt thou as a deity appear.

"My life I own thy gift, who hast me given "To view the realms of death: who hast me brought, "The realms of death beheld, to life again.

"For these high favors, when to air restor'd "Statues to thee I'll raise, and incense burn."

Backward the prophetess, to him her eyes Directs, and heaves a sigh; as thus she speaks: "No G.o.ddess I; deem not my mortal frame "The sacred incense' honors can deserve: "Err not through ignorance. Eternal youth "Had I possess'd, if on Apollo's love "My virgin purity had been bestow'd.

"This while he hop'd, and while he strove to tempt "With gifts,--O, chuse--he said,--c.u.maean maid!

"Whate'er thou would'st--whate'er thou would'st is thine.

"I, pointing to an heap of gather'd dust, "With thoughtless mind, besought so many years "I might exist, as grains of sand were there: "Mindless to ask for years of constant youth.

"The years he granted, and had granted too "Eternal youth, had I his pa.s.sion quench'd.

"A virgin I remain; Apollo's gift "Despis'd: but now the age of joy is fled; "Decrepitude with trembling steps has come, "Which long I must endure. Seven ages now "I have existed; ere the number'd grains "Are equall'd, thrice an hundred harvests I, "And thrice an hundred vintages must see.

"The time will come, my body, shrunk with age, "And wither'd limbs, shall to small substance waste; "Nor shall it seem that e'er an amorous G.o.d "With me was smitten. Phbus then himself "Or me will know not, or deny that e'er "He sought my love. Till quite complete my change, "To all invisible, by words alone "I shall be known. Fate still my voice will leave."

On the steep journey thus the Sybil spoke: And from the Stygian shades aeneas rose, At c.u.ma's town; there sacrific'd as wont, And to the sh.o.r.es proceeded, which as yet His nurse's name not bore. Here rested too, After long toil, Macareus, the constant friend Of wise Ulysses: Achaemenides, Erst left amid Etnaean rocks, he knows: Astonish'd there, his former friend to find, In life unhop'd, he cry'd; "What chance? What G.o.d "O Achaemenides! has thee preserv'd?

"How does a Greek a foreign vessel bear?

"And to what sh.o.r.es is now this vessel bound?"

Then Achaemenides, not ragged now, In robes with thorns united, but all free, Thus answer'd his enquiries. "May I view "Once more that Polyphemus, and those jaws "With human gore o'erflowing; if I deem "This ship to me than Ithaca less dear; "And less aeneas than my sire esteem.

"For how too grateful can I be to him, "Though all to him I give? Can I e'er be "Unthankful or forgetful? That I speak, "And breathe, and view the heavens and glorious sun "He gave: that in the Cyclops' jaws my life "Was clos'd not; that when now the vital spark "Me quits, I may be properly intomb'd, "Not in the monster's entrails. Heavens! what thoughts "Possess'd my mind, (unless by pallid dread "Of sense and thought bereft) when, left behind, "I saw you push to sea. Loud had I call'd, "But fear'd my cries would guide to me the foe.

"Ulysses' clamor near your ship destroy'd.

"I saw the monster, when a mighty rock, "Torn from a mountain's summit, in the waves "He flung: I saw him when with giant arm "Huge stones he hurl'd, with such impetuous force, "As though an engine sent them. Fear'd I long, "Lest or the stones or waves the bark would sink; "Forgetful then that not on board was I.

"But when you 'scap'd from cruel death, by flight, "Then did he madly rave indeed; and roam'd "All Etna o'er; and grop'd amid the woods; "Depriv'd of sight he stumbles on the rocks; "And stretching to the sea his horrid arms, "Blacken'd with gore, he execrates the Greeks; "And thus exclaims;--O! would some lucky chance "Restore Ulysses to me, or restore "One of his comrades, who might glut my rage; "Whose entrails I might gorge; whose living limbs "My hand might rend; whose blood might sluice my throat; "And mangled members tremble in my teeth.

"O! then how light, and next to none the curse "Of sight bereft.--Raging, he this and more "Fierce utter'd. I, with pallid dread o'ercome, "Beheld his face still flowing down with blood; "The orb of light depriv'd; his ruthless hands; "His giant members; and his s.h.a.ggy beard, "Clotted with human gore. Death to my eyes "Was obvious, yet was death my smallest dread.

"Now seiz'd I thought me; thought him now prepar'd "T'inclose my mangled bowels in his own: "And to my mind recurr'd the time I saw "Two of my comrades' bodies furious dash'd "Repeated on the earth: he, o'er them stretcht "p.r.o.ne, like a s.h.a.ggy lion, in his maw "Their flesh, their entrails, their yet-quivering limbs, "Their marrow, and cranch'd bones, greedy ingulf'd.

"Horror me seiz'd. Bloodless and sad I stood, "To see him champ, and from his mouth disgorge "The b.l.o.o.d.y banquet; morsels mixt with wine "Forth vomiting: and such a fate appear'd "For wretched me prepar'd. Some tedious days "Skulk'd I, and shudder'd at the smallest sound: "Fearful of death, yet praying much to die; "Repelling hunger by green herbs, and leaves, "With acorns mixt; a solitary wretch, "Poor, and to sufferings and to death decreed.

"Long was the time, ere I, not distant far, "A ship beheld; I by my gestures shew'd "My wish for flight, and hasten'd to the sh.o.r.e.

"Their hearts were mov'd, and thus a Trojan bark "Receiv'd a Greek.--And now, my friend most dear, "Tell thy adventures, and the chief's, and crew's, "Who with thee launch'd upon th' extended main."

He tells how aeolus his kingdom holds On the deep Tuscan main, who curbs the winds In cavern'd prisons; which, a n.o.ble boon!

Close pent within an ox's stubborn hide, Dulichium's chief, from aeolus receiv'd.

How for nine days with prosperous breeze they sail'd; And saw the long-sought land. How on the tenth, Aurora rising bright, his comrades, urg'd By envy, and by thirst of glittering spoil, Gold deeming there inclos'd, the winds unloos'd.

How, driven by them, the ship was backward sped Through the same waves she had so lately plough'd; And reach'd the port of aeolus again.

"Thence,"--he continued--"to the ancient town "Of Lestrygonian Lamus we arrive, "Where rules Antiphates; to him dispatch'd "I go, by two attended. I with one "Scarce find in flight our safety: with his gore "The hapless third, the Lestrigonians' jaws "Besmears: our flying footsteps they pursue, "While fierce Antiphates speeds on the crowd.

"Around they press, and unremitting hurl "Huge rocks, and trunks of trees; our men o'erwhelm, "And sink our fleet; one ship alone escapes, "Which great Ulysses and myself contains.

"Most of our band thus lost, and angry much, "Lamenting more, we floated to these isles, "Which hence, though distant far, you may descry.

"Those isles, by me too near beheld, do thou "At distance only view! O, G.o.ddess-born!

"Most righteous of all Troy, (for now no more, "aeneas, must thou enemy be stil'd "To us, war ended) fly, I warn thee, fly "The sh.o.r.e of Circe. We, our vessel moor'd "Fast to that beach, not mindless of the deeds "Antiphates perform'd, nor Cyclops, wretch "Inhuman, now to tempt this unknown land "Refuse. The choice by lot is fix'd. The lot "Me sends, and with me sends Polites true; "Eurylochus; and poor Elphenor, fond "Too much of wine; with twice nine comrades mote, "To seek the dome Circean. Thither come; "We at the entrance stand: a thousand wolves, "And bears, and lionesses, with wolves mixt, "Meet us, and terror in our bosoms strike.

"But ground for terror none: of all the crew "None try our limbs to wound, but friendly wave "Their arching tails, and fawningly attend "Our steps; till by the menial train receiv'd, "Through marbled halls to where their mistress sate, "Our troop is led. She, in a bright recess, "Upon a lofty throne of state, was plac'd, "Cloth'd in a splendid robe; a golden veil "Around her head, and o'er her shoulders thrown.

"Nereds, and nymphs around (whose fingers quick "The wool ne'er drew, nor form'd the following thread) "Were plants arranging, and selecting flowers, "And various teinted herbs, confus'dly mixt "In baskets. She compleats the work they do; "And well she knows the latent power each leaf "Possesses; well their force combin'd she knows: "And all the nice-weigh'd herbs inspects with care.

"When us she spy'd, and salutations pa.s.s'd "Mutual; her forehead brighten'd, and she gave "Our every wish. Nor waited more, but bade "The beverage of the roasted grain be mix'd; "And added honey, all the strength of wine, "And curdy milk, and juices, which beneath "Such powerful sweetness undetected lay.

"The cup from her accursed hand, I take, "And, soon as thirsty I, with parch'd mouth drink, "And the dire G.o.ddess with her wand had strok'd "My head (I blush while I the rest relate) "Roughen'd with bristles, I begin to grow; "Nor now can speak; hoa.r.s.e grunting comes for words; "And all my face bends downwards to the ground; "Callous I feel my mouth become, in form "A crooked snout; and feel my brawny neck "Swell o'er my chest; and what but now the cup "Had grasp'd, that part does marks of feet imprint; "With all my fellows treated thus, so great "The medicine's potency, close was I shut "Within a sty: there I, Eurylochus "Alone unalter'd to a hog, beheld!

"He only had the offer'd cup refus'd.

"Which had he not avoided, he as one "The bristly herd had join'd; nor had our chief, "The great Ulysses, by his tale inform'd "To Circe come, avenger of our woe.

"To him Cyllenius, messenger of peace "A milk-white flower presented; by the G.o.ds "Call'd Moly: from a sable root it-springs.

"Safe in the gift, and in th' advice of heaven, "He enters Circe's dome; and her repels, "Coaxing to taste th' invidious cup; his head "To stroke attempting with her potent wand; "And awes her trembling with his unsheath'd steel.

"Then, faith exchang'd, hands join'd, he to her bed "Receiv'd, he makes the dowry of himself "That all his comrades' bodies be restor'd.

"Now are we sprinkled with innocuous juice "Of better herbs; with the inverted wand "Our heads are touch'd; the charms, already spoke, "Strong charms of import opposite destroy.

"The more she sings her incantations, we "Rise more from earth erect; the bristles fall; "And the wide fissure leaves our cloven feet; "Our shoulders form again; and arms beneath "Are shap'd. Him, weeping too, weeping we clasp, "And round our leader's neck embracing hang.

"No words at first to utter have we power, "But such as testify our grateful joy.

"A year's delay there kept us. There, mine eyes "In that long period much beheld; mine ears "Much heard. This with the rest, in private told "To me, by one of four most-favor'd nymphs "Who aided in her spells: while Circe toy'd "In private with our leader, she me shew'd "A youthful statue carv'd in whitest stone, "Bearing a feather'd p.e.c.k.e.r upon his head; "Plac'd in a sacred shrine, with numerous wreaths "Encircled. Unto my enquiring words, "And wish to know who this could be, and why "There worshipp'd in the shrine, and why that bird "He bore,--then, Macareus,--she said--receive "Thy wish; and also learn what mighty power "My mistress boasts; attentive hear my words.

"Saturnian Picus in Ausonia's climes "Was king; delighted still was he to train "Steeds for the fight. The beauty you behold "As man was his. So strong the 'semblance strikes, "His real form in the feign'd stone appears.

"His mind his beauty equall'd. Nor as yet, "The games quinquennial Grecian Elis gives, "Four times could he have seen. He, by his face "The Dryad nymphs who on the Latian hills "Were born, attracted. Naiads, river-nymphs, "Him sought, whom Albula, and Anio bear; "Almo's short course; the rapid stream of Nar; "And Numicus; and Farfar's lovely shades; "With all that Scythian Dian's woody realm "Traverse; and all who haunt the sedgy lakes.

"But he, all these despis'd, lov'd one fair nymph, "Whom erst Venilia, fame reports, brought forth "To Ja.n.u.s on Palatiura's mount. When reach'd "The nuptial age, preferr'd before the rest, "Laurentian Picus gain'd the lovely maid.

"Wond'rous was she for beauty, wond'rous more "Her art in song, and hence was Canens nam'd.

"Wont was her voice forests and rocks to move; "Soothe savage beasts; arrest the course of streams; "And stay the flying birds. While warbling thus "With voice mature her song, Picus went forth "To pierce amid Laurentium's fields the boars, "Their native dwelling; on a fiery steed "He rode; two quivering spears his left hand bore; "His purple vestment golden clasps confin'd.

"In the same woods Apollo's daughter came, "And from the fertile hills as herbs she cull'd, "She left the fields, from her Circaean nam'd.

"When, veil'd by twigs herself, the youth she saw, "Amaz'd she stood. Down from her bosom dropp'd "The gather'd plants, and quickly through her frame "The fire was felt to shoot. Soon as her mind "Collected strength to curb the furious flame, "She would have told him instant what she wish'd, "But his impetuous steed, and circling crowd "Of followers, kept her far.--Yet shalt thou not, "If I but know my power, me fly; not should "The winds thee bear away; else is the force "Of plants all vanished, and my spells deceive.

"She said; and form'd an incorporeal shape "Like to a boar; and bade it glance across "The monarch's sight; and seem itself to hide "In the dense thicket, where the trees grew thick: "A spot impervious to the courser's foot.

"'Tis done; unwitting Picus eager seeks "His shadowy prey; leaps from his smoking steed; "And, vain-hop'd spoil pursuing, wanders deep "In the thick woods. She baneful words repeats, "And cursing charms collects. With new-fram'd verse "Invokes strange deities: verse which erst while "Has dull'd the splendid circle of the moon; "And hid with rain-charg'd clouds her father's face.

"This verse repeated, instant heaven grew dark, "And mists from earth arose: his comrades roam "Through the dark paths; the king without a guard "Is left. This spot, and time so suiting gain'd, "Thus Circe cry'd--O fairest thou of forms!

"By those bright eyes which me enslav'd, by all "Thy beauteous charms which make a G.o.ddess sue, "Indulge my flame; accept th' all-seeing sun, "My sire, for thine; nor, rigidly austere, "t.i.tanian Circe spurn.--She ceas'd; he stern "Repuls'd the G.o.ddess, and her praying suit; "Exclaiming,--be thou whom thou may'st, yet thine "I am not; captive me another holds; "And fervently, I pray, to lengthen'd years "She still may hold me. Never will I wrong "The nuptial bond with stranger's lawless love, "While Ja.n.u.s' daughter, my lov'd Canens lives.-- "Sol's daughter then (re-iterated prayers "In vain oft try'd) exclaim'd:--Nor shalt thou boast "Impunity; nor e'er returning see "Thy Canens; but learn well what may be done "By slighted, loving woman: Circe loves, "Is woman, and is slighted.--To the west "She turn'd her twice, and turn'd her twice to east; "Thrice with her wand she struck the youth, and thrice "Her charm-fraught song repeated. Swift he fled, "And wondering that more swift he ran than wont, "Plumes on his limbs beheld. Constrain'd to add "A new-form'd 'habitant to Latium's groves, "Angry he wounds the spreading boughs, and digs "The stubborn oak-tree with his rigid beak.

"A purple tinge his feathers take, the hue "His garment shew'd; the gold, a buckle once, "Which clasp'd his robe, to feathers too is chang'd; "The shining gold circles his neck around: "Nor aught remains of Picus save the name.