BOOK XV.

5

Now had Minerva reach'd those ample plains,
Fam'd for the dance, where Menelaüs reigns.
Anxious she flies to great Ulysses' heir,
His instant voyage challeng'd all her care.
Beneath the royal portico display'd,
With Nestor's son, Telemachus was laid:
In sleep profound the son of Nestor lies;
Not thine, Ulysses! Care unseal'd his eyes:
Restless he griev'd, with various fears opprest,
And all thy fortunes roll'd within his breast. 10
When, O Telemachus! (the goddess said)
Too long in vain, too widely hast thou stray'd;
Thus leaving careless thy paternal right
The robbers' prize, the prey to lawless might,
On fond pursuits neglectful while you roam,
E'en now the hand of rapine sacks the dome.
Hence to Atrides; and his leave implore
To launch thy vessel for thy natal shore:
Fly, whilst thy mother virtuous yet withstands
Her kindred's wishes, and her sire's commands. 20

15

25

Through both, Eurymachus pursues the dame;
And with the noblest gifts asserts his claim.
Hence therefore, while thy stores thy own remain.
Thou know'st the practice of the female train;
Lost in the children of the present spouse,
They slight the pledges of their former vows:
Their love is always with the lover past;
Still the succeeding flame expels the last.
Let o'er thy house some chosen maid preside,
Till heav'n decrees to bless thee in a bride.
But now thy more attentive ears incline;
Observe the warnings of a pow'r divine:
For thee their snares the suitor lords shall lay
In Samos' sands, or straits of Ithaca:

30

To seize thy life shall lurk the murd'rous band, 35 Ere yet thy footsteps press thy native land.

No

sooner far their riot and their lust

All cov❜ring earth shall bury deep in dust!
Then distant from the scatter'd islands steer,
Nor let the night retard thy full career;
Thy heav'nly guardian shall instruct the gales
To smooth thy passage, and supply thy sails:
And when at Ithaca thy labour ends,

Send to the town thy vessel with thy friends;

40

But seek thou first the master of the swine,

45

(For still to thee his loyal thoughts incline) There pass the night: while he his course pursues To bring Penelope the wish'd-for news,

That thou safe sailing from the Pylian strand

Art come to bless her in thy native land.

50

Thus spoke the goddess; and resum'd her flight To the pure regions of eternal light.

Meanwhile Pisistratus he gently shakes,

And with these words the slumb'ring youth awakes:
Rise, son of Nestor! for the road prepare, 55
And join the harness'd coursers to the car.
What cause, he cried, can justify our flight,
To tempt the dangers of forbidding night?
Here wait we rather, till approaching day
Shall prompt our speed, and point the ready way.
Nor think of flight before the Spartan king 61
Shall bid farewell, and bounteous presents bring;
Gifts, which to distant ages safely stor❜d,

The sacred act of friendship shall record.

Thus he. But when the dawn bestreak'd the

east,

65

The king from Helen rose, and sought his guest.

As soon as his approach the hero knew,

The splendid mantle round him first he threw,