Amid the labours of the furrow'd field,
The sullen chief refus'd the prize to yield.
Th' unbending hero urg'd the stern demand,
For much he sought a contest with the band,
Regardless, as they were, of social ties,
And Gods and men accustom'd to despise.-
But these details the devious bard mislead;
Pursue we then, the stripling o'er the mead.
When to the margin of the fount he came,
That bears among the natives Pega's name,
Around the spring, by fate's decree, or chance, 1870
A choir of nymphs entwin'd the mystic dance.
For all the nymphs, that haunt the wood, the cave,
Or their fair limbs, in that bright fountain lave,
With dance and choral warblings thro' the night,
Sooth the fair Goddess of the silver light.—
From many a woodland haunt, the virgin throng,
Oread, and Dryad, join'd the dance and song.
A nymph, emergent from the crystal flood,
The fair Hydatié, on the margin stood,
She view'd the boy, array'd in youthful charms, 1880
By ev'ry grace; and throbb'd with soft alarms.-
The roseat bloom of health his cheek display'd,
Around his form the sweet allurements play'd,
Seen doubly charming, by the lunar beam,
That o'er his beauties shot a milder gleam.
-Oh how the venom tingled thro' her breast!-
She pants she faints-with wild desire possest.
-The youth inclining o'er the fountain bends,
And thro' the crystal lymph his urn descends.
Cool and translucent as the gushing rill,
With gurgling sound his urn began to fill,
The time was apt, and opportune the place,
She sprang to fold him in a soft embrace,
Eager, to print an ardent kiss, and sip
The nectar from his soft and ruby lip.
Her left hand o'er his ivory neck she threw,
And by his elbow, with her right she drew.
Deep plung'd the boy; and scream'd with sudden fear
Distressful notes, that reach'd a single ear.
The son of Elatus,* as o'er the plain
He wander'd lonely, heard the piteous strain.
To meet Alcides he pursued his way,
Foreboding evil from the chief's delay.
Attracted by the boy's distressful cries,
With haste impetuous to the spring he flies.-
As when the savage beast, with hunger bold,
Lur'd by the bleatings of the distant fold,
With headlong rage the hurdled cote assails,
Fierce as he is the bold invader fails.
Enclos'd the shepherds guard their fleecy care,
He pants, he roars, and weary seeks his lare.-
Thus, Polyphemus rag'd the spring around;-
He groans, his clamours thro' the air resound.
But vain his rage, his clamours all are vain,
-He turns his steps to seek the social train.
The naked falchion glitters in his hand,
To scare the beasts of prey, the pirate band.
Along the path he wav'd the shining blade,
And soon discern'd Alcides thro' the shade.
The mournful chance the hero thus exprest, 1920 While groans and pantings shook his lab'ring breast. "Wretch that I am, by fate ordain'd to rend, "With mortal grief the bosom of my friend; "To tell him, what thro' life he shall deplore, "His darling youth, his Hylas is no more. "Whether he died, of savage beasts the prey, "Or roving pirates bore the youth away, "Doubtful the mode, but certain is the grief;, "I heard his cries too late to yield relief."
The bursting sweat, that o'er his temples flow'd, The mortal anguish of Alcides show'd. Despair and rage the fatal words inflame. The vital currents boil within the frame. Th' uprooted ash he hurls away in wrath, And rushes wild, as chance directs his path.-As when the hornet's sting with fury fills
The mighty bull, he flies the meads and rills,
That wander o'er the low and marshy land,
Deserts the herd, nor heeds the rustic band,
Onward he drives-and restless, now the plains 1940
He traverses-now motionless remains,
Rears high the brawny neck, and mighty crest,
And roars tremendous, from a tortur'd breast.
So rag'd the chief; and headlong now he flies,
Now motionless, he rends the air with cries,
The piercing sounds of anguish and despair
Reverberated fill the troubled air.
The rays of morning smote each mountain's brow,
While fresh from heav'n the favouring breezes flow.
The prudent Tiphys bade the train employ
The precious season, and the winds enjoy.-
Gladly they hear; and the tall ship ascend,
They heave their anchors, and the sails unbend.
Far from that shore, with canvas swell'd they haste,
And Posideium's* cliff rejoicing past.
Morn from her heav'nly goal with eyelids glad
Return'd, the field with yellow lustre clad;
And o'er the mead, with scatter'd dew-drops bright,
Her roseat fingers shed the seeds of light.
The band perceiv'd whom they had left behind
Unwary, and contention fill'd the mind;
Clamours and tumult rose, for they had lost
The best, and noblest of th' assembled host.
Then Jason rapt in mute affliction sate,
Confounded by this stroke of adverse fate,
Such mighty grief his lab'ring thought assail'd,
That, sunk in stupor, all expression fail'd.
But sudden fury Telamon possest;
And words reproachful spoke the stormy breast.
"And dost thou calmly sit, with placid mind,
"When lost is he, that first of human kind?—
"No work of chance-I read the dark design.
"Thine burning envy, artifice was thine.
"Thine heart foretold, that, when their wand'ring o'er
"The hardy Greeks should gain their native shore,
"The matchless glories of Alcides' fame
"To dark oblivion would consign thy name.
"But words are idle-I no more remain,
"With such a chief, and his deceitful train."
He ceas'd, and with a bound on Tiphys flies; 1980 While flames of fury lighten from his eyes.
Now back to Mysia-had their course been held; Tho' waves resisted, and tho' winds repell❜d, But, the twinn'd offspring of the Thracian wind With stern reproaches check'd his wrathful mind. Ah youths ill-fated! they were doom'd to bear, For these their words, a recompence severe. Alcides felt, how they had sway'd the band To leave him there amid a stranger land. And, as the brothers from the games return'd, And obsequies, that Pelias slain inurn'd, In sea-girt Tenos, by his hand they died, That fatal hand their monument supplied. Relenting, o'er the dead a mound he rear'd; Two columns sacred to their fame appear'd;
* With an intention of forcing him to put back the vessel.
See notes and observations, vol. 2,
And one, a prodigy, that sense confounds,
Trembles, whene'er the northern blast resounds.
But these events the womb of time conceal'd.
Meantime, amid the furious waves reveal'd,
Glaucus, the prescient son of Nereus, rose.
His bushy head, and hairy breast he shows.-
Emergent from the deep, with mighty hand,
He grasp'd the keel, and shouted to the band.-
"Thwart not the doom of Jove; attempt no more,
"To bear Alcides to the Pontic shore.
"For him in Argos tyrant hate ordains
"Twelve conflicts rude, with perils and with pains. "These labours past, he joins his heav'nly sire. "To godhead thus the sons of Jove aspire. "Then, seek him not; nor mourn, whom ruling Jove "By earthly suff'rings calls to bliss above. "Nor yet on Polyphemus bend your care. "The Gods for him a diff'rent fate prepare, "At Cius' mouths to found the Mysian wall; "On boundless Chalybean plains, to fall. "Hylas remains, (the cause for which they rov'd,) "A youthful bridegroom by a Goddess lov'd.
A depth immense he plung'd to wat❜ry caves. Above in circling eddies foam'd the waves. The ship sprang forward, as with mighty force The God descending urg'd her liquid course. The heroes all rejoic'd-with eager haste, The generous Telamon towards Jason past; His hand he seis'd; and with affection prest, Embrac'd the chief, and thus his speech addrest. "O Jason, wilt thou not forgive thy friend, "That rash and thoughtless haply might offend?"Grief dictates words injurious and unkind."Be they forgotten-give them to the wind."All past resentments, every cause of pain"No thoughts but those of amity remain.".
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