TRANSLATIONS

LXXVI

'What Muse, what skill, what unimagined use,
What exercise of subtlest art, has given

Thy songs such power?-for those who hear may choose
From three, the choicest of the gifts of Heaven,

595

Delight, and love, and sleep,-sweet sleep, whose dews
Are sweeter than the balmy tears of even :-
And I, who speak this praise, am that Apollo
Whom the Olympian Muses ever follow:

600

LXXVII

'And their delight is dance, and the blithe noise
Of song and overflowing poesy;

And sweet, even as desire, the liquid voice
Of pipes, that fills the clear air thrillingly;
But never did my inmost soul rejoice
In this dear work of youthful revelry
As now. I wonder at thee, son of Jove;
Thy harpings and thy song are soft as love.

LXXVIII

'Now since thou hast, although so very small, Science of arts so glorious, thus I swear,And let this cornel javelin, keen and tall,

Witness between us what I promise here,That I will lead thee to the Olympian Hall,

Honoured and mighty, with thy mother dear, And many glorious gifts in joy will give thee, And even at the end will ne'er deceive thee.'

LXXIX

To whom thus Mercury with prudent speech :-
Wisely hast thou inquired of my skill:
envy thee no thing I know to teach
Even this day:-for both in word and will

I would be gentle with thee; thou canst reach
All things in thy wise spirit, and thy sill
Is highest in Heaven among the sons of Jove,
Who loves thee in the fulness of his love.

LXXX

The Counsellor Supreme has given to thee
Divinest gifts, out of the amplitude

Of his profuse exhaustless treasury;
By thee, 'tis said, the depths are understood
Of his far voice; by thee the mystery

Of all oracular fates,-and the dread mood
Of the diviner is breathed up; even I-
A child-perceive thy might and majesty.

LXXXI

'Thou canst seek out and compass all that wit

Can find or teach;-yet since thou wilt, come take

The lyre-be mine the glory giving it

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Strike the sweet chords, and sing aloud, and wake Thy joyous pleasure out of many a fit

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Of tranced sound-and with fleet fingers make
Thy liquid-voicèd comrade talk with thee,-
It can talk measured music eloquently.

LXXXII

'Then bear it boldly to the revel loud,
Love-wakening dance, or feast of solemn state,
A joy-by night or day-for those endowed
With art and wisdom who interrogate
It teaches, babbling in delightful mood

All things which make the spirit most elate,
Soothing the mind with sweet familiar play,
Chasing the heavy shadows of dismay.

LXXXIII

'To those who are unskilled in its sweet tongue,
Though they should question most impetuously

Its hidden soul, it gossips something wrong-
Some senseless and impertinent reply.
But thou who art as wise as thou art strong
Canst compass all that thou desirest. I
Present thee with this music-flowing shell,
Knowing thou canst interrogate it well.

LXXXIV

'And let us two henceforth together feed,
On this green mountain-slope and pastoral plain,
The herds in litigation-they will breed
Quickly enough to recompense our pain,
If to the bulls and cows we take good heed;-
And thou, though somewhat over fond of gain,
Grudge me not half the profit.'-Having spoke,
The shell he proffered, and Apollo took;

LXXXV

And gave him in return the glittering lash,
Installing him as herdsman;-from the look

Of Mercury then laughed a joyous flash.

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And then Apollo with the plectrum strook The chords, and from beneath his hands a crash

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Of mighty sounds rushed up, whose music shook
The soul with sweetness, and like an adept
His sweeter voice a just accordance kept.

675

LXXXVI

The herd went wandering o'er the divine mead,
Whilst these most beautiful Sons of Jupiter
Won their swift way up to the snowy head
Of white Olympus, with the joyous lyre
Soothing their journey; and their father dread
Gathered them both into familiar

673 and like 1839, 1st ed.; as of ed. 1824, Harvard MS.

680

Affection sweet,-and then, and now, and ever,
Hermes must love Him of the Golden Quiver,

LXXXVII

To whom he gave the lyre that sweetly sounded,
Which skilfully he held and played thereon.
He piped the while, and far and wide rebounded
The echo of his pipings; every one

Of the Olympians sat with joy astounded;
While he conceived another piece of fun,
One of his old tricks-which the God of Day
Perceiving, said :-'I fear thee, Son of May;-

LXXXVIII

'I fear thee and thy sly chameleon spirit,

Lest thou should steal my lyre and crooked bow;
This glory and power thou dost from Jove inherit,
To teach all craft upon the earth below;

Thieves love and worship thee-it is thy merit
To make all mortal business ebb and flow

By roguery:-now, Hermes, if you dare
By sacred Styx a mighty oath to swear

LXXXIX

'That you will never rob me, you will do
A thing extremely pleasing to my heart.'
Then Mercury sware by the Stygian dew,

That he would never steal his bow or dart,
Or lay his hands on what to him was due,
Or ever would employ his powerful art
Against his Pythian fane. Then Phoebus swore
There was no God or Man whom he loved more.

XC

'And I will give thee as a good-will token,
The beautiful wand of wealth and happiness;
A perfect three-leaved rod of gold unbroken,
Whose magic will thy footsteps ever bless;
And whatsoever by Jove's voice is spoken

Of earthly or divine from its recess,
It, like a loving soul, to thee will speak,
And more than this, do thou forbear to seek.

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XCI

'For, dearest child, the divinations high Which thou requirest, 'tis unlawful ever

715

That thou, or any other deity

Should understand-and vain were the endeavour;

For they are hidden in Jove's mind, and I,

In trust of them, have sworn that I would never

720

Betray the counsels of Jove's inmost will

To any God-the oath was terrible.

713 loving] living cj. Rossetti.

XCII

'Then, golden-wanded brother, ask me not
To speak the fates by Jupiter designed;
But be it mine to tell their various fot

To the unnumbered tribes of human-kind.
Let good to these, and ill to those be wrought
As I dispense-but he who comes consigned
By voice and wings of perfect augury
To my great shrine, shall find avail in me.

XCIII

'Him will I not deceive, but will assist; But he who comes relying on such birds

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As chatter vainly, who would strain and twist

The purpose of the Gods with idle words,

And deems their knowledge light, he shall have missed
His road-whilst I among my other hoards

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His gifts deposit. Yet, O son of May,

I have another wondrous thing to say.

XCIV

'There are three Fates, three virgin Sisters, who Rejoicing in their wind-outspeeding wings,

Their heads with flour snowed over white and new,
Sit in a vale round which Parnassus flings

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Its circling skirts-from these I have learned true
Vaticinations of remotest things.

My father cared not. Whilst they search out dooms,
They sit apart and feed on honeycombs.

XCV

'They, having eaten the fresh honey, grow
Drunk with divine enthusiasm, and utter
With earnest willingness the truth they know;
But if deprived of that sweet food, they mutter

All plausible delusions;-these to you

I give;-if you inquire, they will not stutter; Delight your own soul with them:-any man You would instruct may profit if he can.

XCVI

'Take these and the fierce oxen, Maia's childO'er many a horse and toil-enduring mule,

O'er jagged-jawèd lions, and the wild

White-tusked boars, o'er all, by field or pool,

Of cattle which the mighty Mother mild

Nourishes in her bosom, thou shalt ruleThou dost alone the veil from death upliftThou givest not-yet this is a great gift.'

XCVII

Thus King Apollo loved the child of May

In truth, and Jove covered their love with joy. Hermes with Gods and Men even from that day

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764 their love with joy

761 from Harvard MS.; of edd. 1824, 1839. Harvard MS.; them with love and joy, edd. 1824, 1839.

Mingled, and wrought the latter much annoy, And little profit, going far astray

Through the dun night. Farewell, delightful Boy, Of Jove and Maia sprung,-never by me,

Nor thou, nor other songs, shall unremembered be.

HOMER'S HYMN TO CASTOR AND POLLUX
[Published by Mrs. Shelley, P. W., 1839, 2nd ed.; dated 1818.]
YE wild-eyed Muses, sing the Twins of Jove,
Whom the fair-ankled Leda, mixed in love
With mighty Saturn's Heaven-obscuring Child,
On Taygetus, that lofty mountain wild,
Brought forth in joy: mild Pollux, void of blame,
And steed-subduing Castor, heirs of fame.

These are the Powers who earth-born mortals save
And ships, whose flight is swift along the wave.
When wintry tempests o'er the savage sea
Are raging, and the sailors tremblingly

Call on the Twins of Jove with prayer and vow,
Gathered in fear upon the lofty prow,

And sacrifice with snow-white lambs, the wind
And the huge billow bursting close behind,
Even then beneath the weltering waters bear
The staggering ship-they suddenly appear,
On yellow wings rushing athwart the sky,
And lull the blasts in mute tranquillity,

And strew the waves on the white Ocean's bed,
Fair omen of the voyage; from toil and dread
The sailors rest, rejoicing in the sight,
And plough the quiet sea in safe delight.

HOMER'S HYMN TO THE MOON

770

[Published by Mrs. Shelley, P. W., 1839, 2nd ed.; dated 1818.]
DAUGHTERS of Jove, whose voice is melody,
Muses, who know and rule all minstrelsy,
Sing the wide-winged Moon! Around the earth,
From her immortal head in Heaven shot forth,
Far light is scattered-boundless glory springs;
Where'er she spreads her many-beaming wings
The lampless air glows round her golden crown.

But when the Moon divine from Heaven is gone
Under the sea, her beams within abide,
Till, bathing her bright limbs in Ocean's tide,
Clothing her form in garments glittering far,
And having yoked to her immortal car

The beam-invested steeds whose necks on high
Curve back, she drives to a remoter sky

767 going] wandering Harvard MS. steel-subduing 1839, 2nd ed.

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6 steed-subduing emend. Rossetti ;