The Poetical Works of Beattie, Blair, and Falconer Part 40

Argos, in Greece forgotten and unknown, Still seems her cruel fortune to bemoan; Argos, whose monarch led the Grecian hosts 260 Across the aegean main to Dardan coasts: Unhappy prince! who, on a hostile sh.o.r.e, Fatigue and danger ten long winters bore; And when to native realms restored at last, To reap the harvest of thy labours past, There found a perjured friend, and faithless wife, Who sacrificed to impious l.u.s.t thy life; Fast by Arcadia stretch these desert plains, And o'er the land a gloomy tyrant reigns.

Next, Macronisi is adjacent seen, 270 Where adverse winds detain'd the Spartan queen; For whom, in arms combined, the Grecian host, With vengeance fired, invaded Phrygia's coast; For whom so long they labour'd to destroy The lofty turrets of imperial Troy; Here, driven by Juno's rage, the hapless dame, Forlorn of heart, from ruin'd Ilion came: The port an image bears of Parian stone, Of ancient fabric, but of date unknown.

Due east from this appears the immortal sh.o.r.e, 280 That sacred Phoebus and Diana bore-- Delos! through all the aegean seas renown'd, Whose coast the rocky Cyclades surround; By Phoebus honour'd, and by Greece revered, Her hallow'd groves even distant Persia fear'd: But now a desert unfrequented land, No human footstep marks the trackless sand.

Thence to the north, by Asia's western bound, Fair Lemnos stands, with rising marble crown'd; Where, in her rage, avenging Juno hurl'd 290 Ill-fated Vulcan from the ethereal world.

There his eternal anvils first he rear'd; Then, forged by Cyclopean art, appear'd Thunders that shook the skies with dire alarms, And form'd, by skill divine, immortal arms; There, with this crippled wretch, the foul disgrace And living scandal of the empyreal race, In wedlock lived the beauteous queen of love; Can such sensations heavenly bosoms move?

Eastward of this appears the Dardan sh.o.r.e, 300 That once the imperial towers of Ilium bore-- Ill.u.s.trious Troy! renown'd in every clime Through the long records of succeeding time; Who saw protecting G.o.ds from heaven descend Full oft, thy royal bulwarks to defend: Though chiefs unnumber'd in her cause were slain, With fate the G.o.ds and heroes fought in vain!

That refuge of perfidious Helen's shame At midnight was involved in Grecian flame; And now, by time's deep ploughshare harrow'd o'er, 310 The seat of sacred Troy is found no more: No trace of her proud fabrics now remains, But corn and vines enrich her cultured plains; Silver Scamander laves the verdant sh.o.r.e, Scamander, oft o'erflow'd with hostile gore.

Not far removed from Ilion's famous land, In counter-view appears the Thracian strand, Where beauteous Hero, from the turret's height, Display'd her cresset each revolving night; Whose gleam directed loved Leander o'er 320 The rolling h.e.l.lespont from Asia's sh.o.r.e; Till, in a fated hour, on Thracia's coast, She saw her lover's lifeless body toss'd: Then felt her bosom agony severe, Her eyes, sad gazing, pour'd the incessant tear; O'erwhelm'd with anguish, frantic with despair, She beat her swelling breast, and tore her hair; On dear Leander's name in vain she cried, Then headlong plunged into the parting tide: The exulting tide received the lovely maid, 330 And proudly from the strand its freight convey'd.

Far west of Thrace, beyond the aegean main, Remote from ocean lies the Delphic plain: The sacred oracle of Phoebus there High o'er the mount arose, divinely fair!

Achaian marble form'd the gorgeous pile, August the fabric! elegant in style!

On brazen hinges turn'd the silver doors, And chequer'd marble paved the polish'd floors; The roof, where storied tablature appear'd, 340 On columns of Corinthian mould was rear'd; Of shining porphyry the shafts were framed, And round the hollow dome bright jewels flamed: Apollo's priests before the holy shrine Suppliant pour'd forth their orisons divine; To front the sun's declining ray 'twas placed, With golden harps and branching laurels graced: Around the fane, engraved by Vulcan's hand, The sciences and arts were seen to stand; Here aesculapius' snake display'd his crest, 350 And burning glories sparkled on his breast; While from his eye's insufferable light, Disease and death recoil'd in headlong flight: Of this great temple, through all time renown'd, Sunk in oblivion, no remains are found.

Contiguous here, with hallow'd woods o'erspread, Renown'd Parna.s.sus lifts its honour'd head; There roses blossom in eternal spring, And strains celestial feather'd warblers sing; Apollo here bestows the unfading wreath; 360 Here Zephyrs aromatic odours breathe; They o'er Castalian plains diffuse perfume, Where round the scene perennial laurels bloom: Fair daughters of the sun, the sacred Nine!

Here wake to ecstasy their harps divine, Or bid the Paphian lute mellifluous play, And tune to plaintive lore the liquid lay: Their numbers every mental storm control, And lull to harmony the afflicted soul; With heavenly balm the tortured breast compose, 370 And soothe the agony of latent woes: The verdant shades that Helicon surround, On rosy gales seraphic tunes resound!

Perpetual summers crown the happy hours, Sweet as the breath that fans Elysian flowers: Hence pleasure dances in an endless round, And love and joy, ineffable, abound.

IV. Stop, wandering thought! methinks I feel their strains Diffuse delicious languor through my veins.

Adieu, ye flowery vales, and fragrant scenes, 380 Delightful bowers, and ever vernal greens!

Adieu, ye streams! that o'er enchanted ground In lucid maze the Aonian hill surround; Ye fairy scenes! where fancy loves to dwell, And young delight, for ever, oh, farewell!

The soul with tender luxury you fill, And o'er the sense Lethean dews distil-- Awake, O memory! from the inglorious dream, With brazen lungs resume the kindling theme; Collect thy powers, arouse thy vital fire, 390 Ye spirits of the storm my verse inspire!

Hoa.r.s.e as the whirlwinds that enrage the main, In torrents pour along the swelling strain.

Now, through the parting wave impetuous bore, The scudding vessel stemm'd the Athenian sh.o.r.e; The pilots, as the waves behind her swell, Still with the wheeling stern their force repel; For this a.s.sault should either quarter [3] feel, Again to flank the tempest she might reel!

The steersmen every bidden turn apply, To right and left the spokes alternate fly-- 400 Thus, when some conquer'd host retreats in fear, The bravest leaders guard the broken rear; Indignant they retire, and long oppose Superior armies that around them close; Still shield the flanks, the routed squadrons join, And guide the flight in one continued line.

Thus they direct the flying bark before The impelling floods, that lash her to the sh.o.r.e: High o'er the p.o.o.p the audacious seas aspire, 410 Uproll'd in hills of fluctuating fire; With labouring throes she rolls on either side, And dips her gunnels in the yawning tide; Her joints, unhinged, in palsied languors play, As ice-flakes part beneath the noontide ray.

The gale howls doleful through the blocks and shrouds, And big rain pours a deluge from the clouds; From wintry magazines that sweep the sky, Descending globes of hail impetuous fly; High on the masts, with pale and livid rays, 420 Amid the gloom portentous meteors blaze; The ethereal dome in mournful pomp array'd Now buried lies beneath impervious shade; Now, flashing round intolerable light, Redoubles all the horror of the night-- Such terror Sinai's trembling hill o'erspread, When Heaven's loud trumpet sounded o'er its head: It seem'd, the wrathful Angel of the wind Had all the horrors of the skies combined, And here, to one ill-fated ship opposed, 430 At once the dreadful magazine disclosed; And, lo! tremendous o'er the deep he springs, The inflaming sulphur flashing from his wings; Hark! his strong voice the dismal silence breaks, Mad chaos from the chains of death awakes: Loud, and more loud, the rolling peals enlarge, And blue on deck the fiery tides discharge; There all aghast the shivering wretches stood, While chill suspense and fear congeal'd their blood; Wide bursts in dazzling sheets the living flame, 440 And dread concussion rends the ethereal frame; Sick earth convulsive groans from sh.o.r.e to sh.o.r.e, And nature, shuddering, feels the horrid roar.

Still the sad prospect rises on my sight, Reveal'd in all its mournful shade and light; Even now my ear with quick vibration feels The explosion burst in strong rebounding peals; Swift through my pulses glides the kindling fire, As lightning glances on the electric wire: Yet, ah! the languid colours vainly strive 450 To bid the scene in native hues revive.

But, lo! at last, from tenfold darkness born, Forth issues o'er the wave the weeping morn: Hail, sacred vision! who, on orient wings, The cheering dawn of light propitious brings; All nature, smiling, hail'd the vivid ray That gave her beauties to returning day-- All but our ship! which, groaning on the tide, No kind relief, no gleam of hope descried; For now in front her trembling inmates see 460 The hills of Greece emerging on the lee.

So the lost lover views that fatal morn, On which, for ever from his bosom torn, The maid, adored, resigns her blooming charms, To bless with love some happier rival's arms.

So to Eliza [4] dawn'd that cruel day That tore aeneas from her sight away, That saw him parting, never to return, Herself in funeral flames decreed to burn.

O yet in clouds, thou genial source of light! 470 Conceal thy radiant glories from our sight; Go, with thy smile adorn the happy plain, And gild the scenes where health and pleasure reign: But let not here, in scorn, thy wanton beam Insult the dreadful grandeur of my theme.

While sh.o.r.eward now the bounding vessel flies, Full in her van St George's cliffs arise; High o'er the rest a pointed crag is seen, That hung projecting o'er a mossy green; Huge breakers on the larboard bow appear, 480 And full a-head its eastern ledges bear: To steer more eastward Albert still commands, And shun, if possible, the fatal strands-- Nearer and nearer now the danger grows, And all their skill relentless fates oppose; For while more eastward they direct the prow, Enormous waves the quivering deck o'erflow; While, as she wheels, unable to subdue Her sallies, still they dread her broaching-to: [5]

Alarming thought! for now no more a-lee 490 Her trembling side could bear the mountain'd sea, And if pursuing waves she scuds before, Headlong she runs upon the frightful sh.o.r.e; A sh.o.r.e, where shelves and hidden rocks abound, Where death in secret ambush lurks around.

Not half so dreadful to aeneas' eyes The straits of Sicily were seen to rise, When Palinurus from the helm descried The rocks of Scylla on his eastern side; While in the west, with hideous yawn disclosed, 500 His onward path Charybdis' gulf opposed: The double danger he alternate view'd, And cautiously his arduous track pursued.

Thus, while to right and left destruction lies, Between the extremes the daring vessel flies; With terrible irruption bursting o'er The marble cliffs, tremendous surges roar; Hoa.r.s.e through each winding creek the tempest raves, And hollow rocks repeat the groan of waves.

Should once the bottom strike this cruel sh.o.r.e, 510 The parting ship that instant is no more!

Nor she alone, but with her all the crew Beyond relief are doom'd to perish too: But haply she escapes the dreadful strand, Though scarce her length in distance from the land: Swift as the weapon quits the Scythian bow, She cleaves the burning billows with her prow, And forward hurrying with impetuous haste, Borne on the tempest's wings the isle she past: With longing eyes, and agony of mind, 520 The sailors view this refuge left behind; Happy to bribe with India's richest ore A safe accession to that barren sh.o.r.e.

When in the dark Peruvian mine confined, Lost to the cheerful commerce of mankind, The groaning captive wastes his life away, For ever exiled from the realms of day, Not half such pangs his bosom agonize When up to distant light he rolls his eyes!

Where the broad sun, in his diurnal way 530 Imparts to all beside his vivid ray; While, all forlorn, the victim pines in vain For scenes he never shall possess again.

V. But now Athenian mountains they descry, And o'er the surge Colonna frowns on high; Where marble columns, long by time defaced, Moss-cover'd on the lofty Cape are placed: There rear'd by fair devotion to sustain, In elder times, Tritonia's sacred fane; The circling beach in murderous form appears, 540 Decisive goal of all their hopes and fears: The seamen now in wild amazement see The scene of ruin rise beneath their lee; Swift from their minds elapsed all dangers past, As dumb with terror, they behold the last.

And now, while wing'd with ruin from on high, Through the rent cloud the ragged lightnings fly, A flash, quick glancing on the nerves of light, Struck the pale helmsman with eternal night: Rodmond, who heard a piteous groan behind, 550 Touch'd with compa.s.sion, gazed upon the blind; And, while around his sad companions crowd, He guides the unhappy victim to the shroud: "Hie thee aloft, my gallant friend!" he cries; "Thy only succour on the mast relies."

The helm, bereft of half its vital force, Now scarce subdued the wild unbridled course; Quick to the abandon'd wheel Arion came, The ship's tempestuous sallies to reclaim: The vessel, while the dread event draws nigh, 560 Seems more impatient o'er the waves to fly; Fate spurs her on!--Thus, issuing from afar, Advances to the sun some blazing star, And, as it feels attraction's kindling force, Springs onward with accelerated course.

The moment fraught with fate approaches fast!

While thronging sailors climb each quivering mast, The ship no longer now must stem the land, And, Hard a starboard! is the last command: While every suppliant voice to Heaven applies, 570 The prow, swift wheeling, to the westward flies; Twelve sailors, on the fore-mast who depend, High on the platform of the top ascend-- Fatal retreat! for, while the plunging prow Immerges headlong in the wave below, Down prest by watery weight the bowsprit bends, And from above the stem deep-crashing rends: Beneath her bow the floating ruins lie; The fore-mast totters, unsustain'd on high; And now the ship, forelifted by the sea, 580 Hurls the tall fabric backward o'er her lee; While, in the general wreck, the faithful stay Drags the main top-mast by the cap away: Flung from the mast, the seamen strive in vain, Through hostile floods, their vessel to regain; Weak hope, alas! they buffet long the wave, And grasp at life though sinking in the grave; Till all exhausted, and bereft of strength, O'erpower'd they yield to cruel fate at length; The burying waters close around their head-- 590 They sink! for ever number'd with the dead.

Those who remain the weather shrouds embrace, Nor longer mourn their lost companions' case: Transfix'd with terror at the approaching doom, Self-pity in their b.r.e.a.s.t.s alone has room.

Albert, and Rodmond, and Palemon, near, With young Arion, on the mast appear: Even they, amid the unspeakable distress, In every look distracting thoughts confess; In every vein the refluent blood congeals, 600 And every bosom mortal terror feels; Begirt with all the horrors of the main, They view'd the adjacent sh.o.r.e, but view'd in vain.

Such torments in the drear abodes of h.e.l.l, Where sad despair laments with rueful yell,-- Such torments agonize the d.a.m.ned breast.

That sees remote the mansions of the blest.

It comes! the dire catastrophe draws near, Lash'd furious on by destiny severe: The ship hangs hovering on the verge of death, 610 h.e.l.l yawns, rocks rise, and breakers roar beneath!

O yet confirm my heart, ye powers above!

This last tremendous shock of fate to prove; The tottering frame of reason yet sustain, Nor let this total havoc whirl my brain; Since I, all trembling in extreme distress, Must still the horrible result express.

In vain, alas! the sacred shades of yore Would arm the mind with philosophic lore; In vain they'd teach us, at the latest breath 620 To smile serene amid the pangs of death: Immortal Zeno's self would trembling see Inexorable fate beneath the lee; And Epictetus, at the sight, in vain Attempt his Stoic firmness to retain: Had Socrates, for G.o.dlike virtue famed, And wisest of the sons of men proclaim'd, Spectator of such various horrors been, Even he had stagger'd at this dreadful scene.

In vain the cords and axes were prepared, 630 For every wave now smites the quivering yard; High o'er the ship they throw a dreadful shade, Then on her burst in terrible cascade; Across the founder'd deck o'erwhelming roar, And foaming, swelling, bound upon the sh.o.r.e.

Swift up the mounting billow now she flies, Her shatter'd top half-buried in the skies; Borne o'er a latent reef the hull impends, Then thundering on the marble crags descends: Her ponderous bulk the dire concussion feels, 640 And o'er upheaving surges wounded reels.

Again she plunges! hark! a second shock Bilges the splitting vessel on the rock: Down on the vale of death, with dismal cries, The fated victims shuddering cast their eyes In wild despair; while yet another stroke With strong convulsion rends the solid oak: Ah, Heaven!--behold her crashing ribs divide!

She loosens, parts, and spreads in ruin o'er the tide.

Oh, were it mine with sacred Maro's art, 650 To wake to sympathy the feeling heart; Like him, the smooth and mournful verse to dress In all the pomp of exquisite distress; Then, too severely taught by cruel fate, To share in all the perils I relate, Then might I, with unrivall'd strains, deplore The impervious horrors of a leeward sh.o.r.e.

As o'er the surf the bending mainmast hung, Still on the rigging thirty seamen clung: Some on a broken crag were struggling cast, 660 And there by oozy tangles grappled fast; Awhile they bore the o'erwhelming billows' rage, Unequal combat with their fate to wage Till all benumb'd and feeble they forego Their slippery hold, and sink to shades below: Some, from the main yard-arm impetuous thrown On marble ridges, die without a groan: Three, with Palemon, on their skill depend, And from the wreck on oars and rafts descend; Now on the mountain-wave on high they ride, 670 Then downward plunge beneath the involving tide; Till one, who seems in agony to strive, The whirling breakers heave on sh.o.r.e alive: The rest a speedier end of anguish knew, And press'd the stony beach--a lifeless crew!

Next, O unhappy chief! the eternal doom Of Heaven decreed thee to the briny tomb: What scenes of misery torment thy view!

What painful struggles of thy dying crew!

Thy perish'd hopes all buried in the flood 680 O'erspread with corses, red with human blood!-- So, pierced with anguish, h.o.a.ry Priam gazed, When Troy's imperial domes in ruin blazed; While he, severest sorrow doom'd to feel, Expired beneath the victor's murdering steel-- Thus with his helpless partners to the last, Sad refuge! Albert grasps the floating mast: His soul could yet sustain this mortal blow, But droops, alas! beneath superior woe; For now strong nature's sympathetic chain 690 Tugs at his yearning heart with powerful strain: His faithful wife, for ever doom'd to mourn For him, alas! who never shall return, To black adversity's approach exposed, With want and hardships unforeseen enclosed; His lovely daughter, left without a friend Her innocence to succour and defend, By youth and indigence set forth a prey To lawless guilt, that flatters to betray-- While these reflections rack his feeling mind, 700 Rodmond, who hung beside, his grasp resign'd; And, as the tumbling waters o'er him roll'd, His outstretch'd arms the master's legs enfold.

Sad Albert feels their dissolution near, And strives in vain his fetter'd limbs to clear, For death bids every clenching joint adhere.

All faint, to Heaven he throws his dying eyes, And, O protect my wife and child! he cries-- The gushing streams roll back the unfinish'd sound, He gasps! and sinks amid the vast profound. 710 Five only left of all the shipwreck'd throng Yet ride the mast which sh.o.r.eward drives along; With these Arion still his hold secures, And all a.s.saults of hostile waves endures; O'er the dire prospect as for life he strives, He looks if poor Palemon yet survives-- "Ah! wherefore, trusting to unequal art, Didst thou, incautious! from the wreck depart?

Alas! these rocks all human skill defy; 720 Who strikes them once, beyond relief must die: And now sore wounded, thou perhaps art tost On these, or in some oozy cavern lost!"

Thus thought Arion; anxious gazing round In vain, his eyes no more Palemon found.

The demons of destruction hover nigh, And thick their mortal shafts commission'd fly; When now a breaking surge, with forceful sway, Two, next Arion, furious tears away: Hurl'd on the crags, behold they gasp, they bleed! 730 And, groaning, cling upon the elusive weed; Another billow bursts in boundless roar!

Arion sinks! and Memory views no more.

Ha! total night and horror here preside, My stunn'd ear tingles to the whizzing tide; It is their funeral knell! and, gliding near, Methinks the phantoms of the dead appear: But, lo! emerging from the watery grave, Again they float inc.u.mbent on the wave; Again the dismal prospect opens round,-- 740 The wreck, the sh.o.r.e, the dying and the drown'd!

And see! enfeebled by repeated shocks, Those two, who scramble on the adjacent rocks, Their faithless hold no longer can retain, They sink o'erwhelm'd! and never rise again.

Two with Arion yet the mast upbore, That now above the ridges reach'd the sh.o.r.e: Still trembling to descend, they downward gaze With horror pale, and torpid with amaze.

The floods recoil! the ground appears below! 750 And life's faint embers now rekindling glow; Awhile they wait the exhausted waves' retreat, Then climb slow up the beach with hands and feet.

O Heaven! deliver'd by whose sovereign hand Still on destruction's brink they shuddering stand, Receive the languid incense they bestow, That, damp with death, appears not yet to glow: To thee each soul the warm oblation pays With trembling ardour of unequal praise; In every heart dismay with wonder strives, 760 And hope the sicken'd spark of life revives; Her magic powers their exiled health restore, Till horror and despair are felt no more.

Roused by the bl.u.s.tering tempest of the night, A troop of Grecians mount Colonna's height; When, gazing down with horror on the flood, Full to their view the scene of ruin stood-- The surf with mangled bodies strew'd around, And those yet breathing on the sea-wash'd ground: Though lost to science and the n.o.bler arts, 770 Yet nature's lore inform'd their feeling hearts; Straight down the vale with hastening steps they hied, The unhappy sufferers to a.s.sist and guide.

Meanwhile those three escaped beneath explore The first adventurous youth who reached the sh.o.r.e.

Panting, with eyes averted from the day, p.r.o.ne, helpless, on the tangly beach he lay.

It is Palemon! oh, what tumults roll With hope and terror in Arion's soul!-- "If yet unhurt he lives again to view 780 His friend, and this sole remnant of our crew, With us to travel through this foreign zone, And share the future good or ill unknown?"

Arion thus; but ah, sad doom of fate!

That bleeding memory sorrows to relate; While yet afloat, on some resisting rock His ribs were dash'd, and fractured with the shock: Heart-piercing sight! those cheeks so late array'd In beauty's bloom, are pale with mortal shade; Distilling blood his lovely breast o'erspread, 790 And clogg'd the golden tresses of his head; Nor yet the lungs by this pernicious stroke Were wounded, or the vocal organs broke.

Down from his neck, with blazing gems array'd, Thy image, lovely Anna! hung portray'd; The unconscious figure, smiling all serene, Suspended in a golden chain was seen.

Hadst thou, soft maiden! in this hour of woe Beheld him writhing from the deadly blow, What force of art, what language could express 800 Thine agony, thine exquisite distress?

But thou, alas! art doom'd to weep in vain For him thine eyes shall never see again.

With dumb amazement pale, Arion gazed, And cautiously the wounded youth upraised: Palemon then, with equal pangs oppress'd, In faltering accents thus his friend address'd: "O rescued from destruction late so nigh, Beneath whose fatal influence doom'd I lie; Are we, then, exiled to this last retreat 810 Of life, unhappy! thus decreed to meet?

Ah! how unlike what yester-morn enjoy'd, Enchanting hopes! for ever now destroy'd; For wounded, far beyond all healing power, Palemon dies, and this his final hour: By those fell breakers, where in vain I strove, At once cut off from fortune, life, and love!

Far other scenes must soon present my sight, That lie deep-buried yet in tenfold night-- Ah! wretched father of a wretched son, 820 Whom thy paternal prudence has undone; How will remembrance of this blinded care Bend down thy head with anguish and despair!

Such dire effects from avarice arise, That, deaf to nature's voice, and vainly wise, With force severe endeavours to control The n.o.blest pa.s.sions that inspire the soul.

But, O thou sacred power! whose law connects The eternal chain of causes and effects, Let not thy chastening ministers of rage Afflict with sharp remorse his feeble age! 830 And you, Arion! who with these the last Of all our crew survive the shipwreck past-- Ah! cease to mourn, those friendly tears restrain, Nor give my dying moments keener pain!

Since Heaven may soon thy wandering steps restore, When parted hence, to England's distant sh.o.r.e.

Shouldst thou, the unwilling messenger of fate, To him the tragic story first relate; Oh! friendship's generous ardour then suppress, Nor hint the fatal cause of my distress; 840 Nor let each horrid incident sustain The lengthen'd tale to aggravate his pain: Ah! then remember well my last request For her who reigns for ever in my breast; Yet let him prove a father and a friend, The helpless maid to succour and defend-- Say, I this suit implored with parting breath, So Heaven befriend him at his hour of death!

But, oh! to lovely Anna shouldst thou tell What dire untimely end thy friend befell; 850 Draw o'er the dismal scene soft pity's veil, And lightly touch the lamentable tale: Say that my love, inviolably true, No change, no diminution ever knew: Lo! her bright image, pendent on my neck, Is all Palemon rescued from the wreck: Take it! and say, when panting in the wave I struggled life and this alone to save.

"My soul, that fluttering hastens to be free, Would yet a train of thoughts impart to thee, 860 But strives in vain; the chilling ice of death Congeals my blood, and chokes the stream of breath: Resign'd, she quits her comfortless abode To course that long, unknown, eternal road-- O sacred source of ever-living light!

Conduct the weary wanderer in her flight; Direct her onward to that peaceful sh.o.r.e, Where peril, pain, and death prevail no more.

"When thou some tale of hapless love shalt hear, That steals from pity's eye the melting tear; 870 Of two chaste hearts, by mutual pa.s.sion join'd, To absence, sorrow, and despair consign'd; Oh! then, to swell the tides of social woe That heal the afflicted bosom they o'erflow, While memory dictates, this sad shipwreck tell, And what distress thy wretched friend befell: Then, while in streams of soft compa.s.sion drown'd, The swains lament, and maidens weeps around; While lisping children, touch'd with infant fear, With wonder gaze, and drop the unconscious tear; 880 Oh! then this moral bid their souls retain, All thoughts of happiness on earth are vain!" [6]

The last faint accents trembled on his tongue, That now inactive to the palate clung; His bosom heaves a mortal groan--he dies!

And shades eternal sink upon his eyes.

As thus defaced in death Palemon lay, Arion gazed upon the lifeless clay; Transfix'd he stood, with awful terror fill'd, While down his cheek the silent drops distill'd: 890 "O ill-starr'd votary of unspotted truth!

Untimely perish'd in the bloom of youth; Should e'er thy friend arrive on Albion's land, He will obey, though painful, thy command; His tongue the dreadful story shall display, And all the horrors of this dismal day: Disastrous day! what ruin hast thou bred, What anguish to the living and the dead!

How hast thou left the widow all forlorn; And ever doom'd the orphan child to mourn, 900 Through life's sad journey hopeless to complain!

Can sacred justice these events ordain?

But, O my soul! avoid that wondrous maze, Where reason, lost in endless error, strays; As through this th.o.r.n.y vale of life we run, Great Cause of all effects, thy will be done!"

Now had the Grecians on the beach arrived, To aid the helpless few who yet survived: While pa.s.sing, they behold the waves o'erspread With shatter'd rafts and corses of the dead; 910 Three still alive, benumb'd and faint they find, In mournful silence on a rock reclined: The generous natives, moved with social pain, The feeble strangers in their arms sustain; With pitying sighs their hapless lot deplore, And lead them trembling from the fatal sh.o.r.e.

[Footnote 1: 'Steady:' the order to steer the ship according to the line on which she advances at that instant, without deviating to the right or left thereof.]