18
I died in very flow'r: yet call me not unhappy therefore,
Ye that against sweet life once a lament have utter'd.
19
When thou, my belovèd, diedst, I saw heaven open,
And all earthly delight inhabiting Paradise.
20
Where thou art better I too were, dearest, anywhere, than
Wanting thy well-lov'd lovely presence anywhere.
21
IBANT OBSCURI
A line for line paraphrase of a part of
Virgil's Æneid, Bk. VI.
They wer' amid the shadows by night in loneliness obscure
Walking forth i' the void and vasty dominyon of Ades;
As by an uncertain moonray secretly illumin'd 270
One goeth in the forest, when heav'n is gloomily clouded,
And black night hath robb'd the colours and beauty from all things.
Here in Hell's very jaws, the threshold of darkening Orcus,
Have the avenging Cares laid their sleepless habitation,
Wailing Grief, pallid Infections, & heart-stricken Old-age,
Dismal Fear, unholy Famine, with low-groveling Want,
Forms of spectral horror, gaunt Toil and Death the devourer,
And Death's drowsy brother, Torpor; with whom, an inane rout, 278
All the Pleasures of Sin; there also the Furies in ambusht{449}
Chamber of iron, afore whose bars wild War bloodyhanded
Raged, and mad Discord high brandisht her venomous locks.
Midway of all this tract, with secular arms an immense elm
Reareth a crowd of branches, aneath whose leafy protection
Vain dreams thickly nestle, clinging unto the foliage on high:
And many strange creatures of monstrous form and features
Stable about th' entrance, Centaur and Scylla's abortion,
And hundred-handed Briareus, and Lerna the wildbeast
Roaring amain, and clothed in frightful flame the Chimæra,
Gorgons and Harpies, ' and Pluto's three-bodied ogre.
In terror Æneas upheld his sword to defend him, 290
With ready naked point confronting their dreaded onset:
And had not the Sibyl warn'd how these lively spirits were
All incorporeal, flitting in thin maskery of form,
He had assail'd their host, and wounded vainly the void air.
Hence is a road that led them a-down to the Tartarean streams,
Where Acheron's whirlpool impetuous, into the reeky
Deep of Cokytos disgorgeth, with muddy burden.
These floods one ferryman serveth, most awful of aspect,
Of squalor infernal, Chāron: all filthily unkempt
That woolly white cheek-fleece, and fiery the blood-shotten eyeballs: 300
On one shoulder a cloak knotted-up his nudity vaunteth.
He himself plieth oar or pole, manageth tiller and sheet,
And the relics of mén in his ash-grey barge ferries over;
Already old, but green to a god and hearty will age be.
Now hitherward to the bank much folk were crowding, a medley
Of men and matrons; nor did death's injury conceal
Bravespirited heroes, young maidens beauteous unwed,
And boys borne to the grave in sight of their sorrowing sires.
Countless as in the forest, at a first white frosting of autumn
Sere leaves fall to the ground; or like whenas over the ocean
Myria^d birds come thickly flocking, when wintry December 311
Drives them afar southward for shelter upon sunnier shores,{450}
So throng'd they; and each his watery journey demanded,
All to the further bank stretching-oút their arms impatient:
But the sullen boatman took now one now other at will,
While some from the river forbade he', an' drave to a distance.
Æneas in wonder alike and deep pity then spake.
'Tell-me,' said he, 'my guide, why flock these crowds to the water?
Or what seek the spirits? or by what prejudice are these
Rudely denied, while those may upon the solemn river embark?' 320
T'whom[B] then briefly again the Avernia^n priestess in answer.
'O Son of Anchises, heavn's true-born glorious offspring,
Deep Cokytos it is thou see^st & Hell's Stygia^n flood,
Whose dread sanctio^n alone Jove's oath from falsehood assureth.
These whom thou pitiedst, th' outcast and unburied are they;
That ferryman Chāron; those whom his bark carries over
Are the buried; nor ever may mortal across the livid lake
Journey, or e'er upon Earth his bones lie peacefully entomb'd:
Haunting a hundred years this mournful plain they wander
Doom'd for a term, which term expired they win to deliv'rance.' 330
Then he that harken'd stood agaze, his journey arrested,
Grieving at heart and much pitying their unmerited lot.
There miserably fellow'd in death's indignity saw he
Leucaspis with his old Lycian seachieften Orontes,
Whom together from Troy in home-coming over the waters
Wild weather o'ermaster'd, engulphing both shipping and men.
And lo! his helmsman, Palinurus, in eager emotion,
Who on th' Afric course, in bright star-light, with a fair wind,
Fell by slumber opprest unheedfully into the wide sea:
Whom i' the gloom when hardly he knew, now changed in affliction, 340
{451}First he addrest. 'What God, tell-me O Palinurus, of all gods
Plúckt you away and drown'd i' the swift wake-water abandon'd?
For never erst nor in else hath kind responsive Apollo
Led-me astray, but alone in this thing wholly deluded,
When he aver'd that you, to remote Ausōnia steering,
Safe would arrive. Where now his truth? Is this the promis'd faith?'
But he, 'Neither again did Phœbus wrongly bespeak thee,
My general, nor yet did a god in his enmity drown me:
For the tiller, wherewith I led thy fleet's navigation,
And still clung to, was in my struggling hold of it unshipt, 350
And came with-me' o'erboard. Ah! then, by ev'ry accurst sea,
Tho' in utter despair, far less mine own peril awed me
Than my thought o' the ship, what harm might háp to her, yawing
In the billows helmless, with a high wind and threatening gale.
Two nights and one day buffeted held I to the good spar
Windborne, with the current far-drifting, an' on the second morn
Saw, when a great wave raised me aloft, the Italyan highlands;
And swimming-on with effort got ashore, nay already was saved,
Had not there the wrecking savages, who spied-me defenceless,
Scarce clinging outwearied to a rock, half-drowned & speechless, 360
Beát me to death for hope of an unfound booty upon me.
Now to the wind and tidewash a sport my poor body rolleth.
Wherefore thee, by heav'n's sweet light & airness, I pray,
By thy Sire's memories, thy hope of youthful Iulus,
Rescue-me from these ills, brave master; Go to Velija,
O'er my mortality's spoil cast thou th' all-hallowing dust;{452}
Or better, if so be the goddess, heav'n's lady-Creatress,
Show-thee the way,—nor surely without high favoring impulse
Mak'st thou ventur' across these floods & black Ereban lake,—
Give thy hand-to-me', an' o'er their watery boundary bring me 370
Unto the haven of all, death's home of quiet abiding.'
Thus-he lamented, anon spake sternly the maid of Avernus.
'Whence can such unruly desire, Palinurus, assail thee?
Wilt thou th' Eumenidan waters visit unburied? o'erpass
Hell's Stygian barrier? Chāron's boat unbidden enter?
Cease to believe that fate can bé by prayër averted.
Let my sooth a litel thy cruel destiny comfort
Surely the people of all thy new-found country, determin'd
By heav'n-sent omens will achieve thy purification, 379
Build thee a tomb of honour with yearly solemnity ordain'd,
And dedicate for ever thy storied name to the headland.'
These words lighten awhile his fear, his sadness allaying,
Nor vain was the promise his name should eternally survive.
They forthwith their journey renew, tending to the water:
Whom when th' old boatman descried silently emerging
Out o' the leafy shadows, advancing t'ward the river-shore,
Angrily gave-he challenge, imperious in salutation.
'Whosoever thou be, that approachest my river all-arm'd,
Stand to announce thyself, nor further make footing onward.
Here 'tis a place of ghosts, of night & drowsy delusion: 390
Forbidden unto living mortals is my Stygian keel:
Truly not Alkides embarkt I cheerfully, nor took
Of Theseus or Pirithous glad custody, nay though
God-sprung were they both, warriors invincible in might:
Hé 'twas would sportively the guard of Tartarus enchain,
Yea and from the palace with gay contumely dragged him:
Théy to ravish Hell's Queen from Pluto's chamber attempted.'
Then thus th' Amphrysian prophetess spake briefly in answer.
'No such doughty designs are ours, Cease thou to be movèd!
Nor these sheeny weapons intend force. Cerberus unvext{453}
Surely for us may affray the spirits with 'howling eternal, 401
And chaste Persephone enjoy her queenly seclusion.
Troian Æneas, bravest and gentlest-hearted,
Hath left earth to behold his father in out-lying Ades.
If the image ' of a so great virtue doth not affect thee,
Yet this bough'—glittering she reveal'd its golden avouchment—
'Thou mayst know.' Forthwith his bluster of heart was appeasèd:
Nor word gave-he, but admiring the celestial omen,
That bright sprigg of weird for so long period unseen,
Quickly he-túrneth about his boat, to the margin approaching, 410
And the spirits, that along the gun'al benchways sat in order,
Drave he ashore, offering readyroom: but when the vessel took
Ponderous Æneas, her timbers crankily straining
Creak'd, an' a brown water came trickling through the upper seams.
Natheless both Sibyl ánd Hero, slow wafted across stream,
Safe on th' ooze & slime's hideous desolation alighted.
Hence the triple-throated bellowings of Cerberus invade
All Hell, where opposite the arrival he lies in a vast den.
But the Sibyl, who mark'd his necklaces of stiffening snakes,
Cast him a cake, poppy-drench'd with drowsiness and honey-sweeten'd. 420
He, rabid and distending a-hungry' his triply-cavern'd jaws,
Gulp'd the proffer'd morsel; when slow he-relaxt his immense bulk,
And helplessly diffused fell out-sprawl'd over the whole cave.
Æneas fled by, and left full boldly the streamway,
That biddeth all men across but alloweth ne'er a returning.
Already now i' the air were voices heard, lamentation,
And shrilly crying of infant souls by th' entry of Ades.
Babes, whom unportion'd of sweet life, unblossoming buds,
One black day carried off and chokt in dusty corruption.—
Next are they who falsely accused were wrongfully condemn'd{454}
Unto the death: but here their lot by justice is order'd. 431
Inquisitor Minos, with his urn, summoning to assembly
His silent council, their deed or slander arraigneth.—
Next the sullen-hearted, who rashly with else-innocent hand
Their own life did-away, for hate or weariness of light,
Imperiling their souls. How gladly, if only in Earth's air,
Would-they again their toil, discomfort, and pities endure!
Fate obstructs: deep sadness now, unloveliness awful
Rings them about, & Styx with ninefold circle enarmeth.—
Not far hence they come to a land extensive on all sides; 440
Weeping Plain 'tis call'd:—such name such country deserveth.
Here the lovers, whom fiery passion hath cruelly consumed,
Hide in leafy alleys ' and pathways bow'ry, sequester'd
By woodland myrtle, nor hath Death their sorrow ended.
Here was Phædra to see, Procris ' and sad Eriphyle,
She of her unfilial deathdoing wound not ashamèd,
Evadne, ' and Pasiphae ' and Laodamia,
And epicene Keneus, a woman to a man metamorphos'd,
Now by Fate converted again to her old feminine form.
'Mong these shades, her wound yet smarting ruefully, Dido
Wander'd throu' the forest-obscurity; and Æneas 451
Standing anigh knew surely the dim form, though i' the darkness
Veil'd,—as when one seëth a young moon on the horizon,
Or thinketh to' have seen i' the gloaming her delicate horn;
Tearfully in oncelov'd accents he-lovingly addrest her.
'Unhappy! ah! too true 'twas told me' O unhappy Dido,
Dead thou wert; to the fell extreme didst thy passion ensue.
And was it I that slew-thee? Alas! Smile falsity, ye heav'ns!
And Hell-fury attest-me', if here any sanctity reigneth,
Unwilling, O my Queen, my step thy kingdom abandon'd. 460
Me the command of a god, who here my journey determines
Through Ereban darkness, through fields sown with desolation,{455}
Drave-me to wrong my heart. Nay tho' deep-pain'd to desert thee
I ne'er thought to provoke thy pain of mourning eternal.
Stay yet awhile, ev'n here unlook'd-for again look upon me:
Fly-me not ere the supreme words that Fate granteth us are said.'
Thus he: but the spirit was raging, fiercely defiant,
Whom he approach'd with words to appease, with tears for atonement.
She to the ground downcast her ' eyes in fixity averted;
Nor were her features more by his pleading affected, 470
Than wer' a face of flint, or of ensculptur'd alabaster.
At length she started disdainful, an' angrily withdrew
Into a shady thicket: where her grief kindly Sychæus
Sooth'd with other memories, first love and virginal embrace.
And ever Æneas, to remorse by deep pity soften'd,
With brimming eyes pursued her queenly figure disappearing.
Thence the Sibyl to the plain's extremest boundary led him,
Where world-fam'd warriors, a lionlike company, haunted.
Here great Tydeus saw he eclips'd, & here the benighted
Phantom of Adrastus, ' of stalwart Parthenopæus. 480
Here long mourn'd upon earth went all that prowess of Ilium
Fallen in arms; whom, when he-beheld them, so many and great,
Much he-bewail'd. By Thersilochus his mighty brothers stood,
Children of Antenor; here Demetria^n Polyphates,
And Idæus, in old chariot-pose dreamily stalking.
Right and left the spirits flocking on stood crowding around him;
Nor their eyes have enough; they touch, find joy unwonted
Marching in equal stép, and eager of his coming enquire.
But th' Argive leaders, and they that obey'd Agamemnon
When they saw that Trojan in arms come striding among them, 490
Old terror invaded their ranks: some fled stricken, as once{456}
They to the ships had fled for shelter; others the alarm raise,
But their thin utterance mock'd vainly the lips wide parted.
Here too Deiphobus he espied, his fair body mangled,
Cruelly dismember'd, disfeatur'd cruelly his face,
Face and hands; and lo! shorn closely from either temple,
Gone wer' his ears, and maim'd each nostril in impious outrage.
Barely he-knew him again cow'ring shamefastly' an' hiding
His dire plight, & thus he 'his old companyon accosted.
'Noblest Deiphobus, great Teucer's intrepid offspring, 500
Who was it, inhuman, coveted so cruel a vengeance?
Who can hav' adventur'd on thée? That last terrible night
Thou wert said to hav' exceeded thy bravery, an' only
On thy faln enemies wert faln by weariness o'ercome.
Wherefor' upon the belov'd sea-shore thine empty sepulchral
Mound I erected, aloud on thy ghost tearfully calling.
Name and shield keep for-thee the place; but thy body, dear friend,
Found I not, to commit to the land ere sadly' I left it.'
Then the son of Priam ' 'I thought not, friend, to reproach thee:
Thou didst all to the full, ev'n my shade's service, accomplish. 510
'Twas that uninterdicted adultress from Lacedæmon
Drave-me to doom, & planted in hell, her trophy triumphant.
On that night,—how vain a security and merrymaking
Then sullied us thou know'st, yea must too keenly remember,—
When the ill-omened horse o'erleapt Troy's lofty defences,
Dragg'd in amidst our town pregnant with a burden of arm'd men.
She then, her Phrygian women in feign'd phrenzy collecting,
All with torches aflame, in wild Bacchic orgy paraded,
Flaring a signal aloft to her ambusht confederate Greeks.
I from a world of care had fled with weariful eyelids 520
Unto my unhappy chamber', an' lay fast lockt in oblivyon,{457}
Sunk to the depth of rest as a child that nought will awaken.
Meanwhile that paragon helpmate had robb'd me of all arms,
E'en from aneath the pillow my blade of trust purloining;—
Then to the gate; wide flíngs she it op'n an' calls Menelaus.
Would not a so great service attach her faithful adorer?
Might not it extinguish the repute of her earlier illdeeds?
Brief-be the tale. Menelaus arrives: in company there came
His crime-counsellor Æolides. So, and more also
Déal-ye', O Gods, to the Greeks! an' if I call justly upon you.— 530
But thou; what fortune hitherward, in turn prithy tell me,
Sent-thee alive, whether erring upon the bewildering Ocean,
Or high-prompted of heav'n, or by Fate wearily hunted,
That to the sunless abodes and dusky demesnes thou approachest?'
Ev'n as awhile they thus converse it is already mid-day
Unperceiv'd, but aloft earth's star had turn'd to declining.
And haply' Æneas his time in parley had outgone,
Had not then the Sibyl with word of warning avized him.
'Night hieth, Æneas; in tears our journey delayeth.
See our road, that it here in twain disparteth asunder; 540
This to the right, skirting by th' high city-fortresses of Dis,
Endeth in Elysium, our path; but that to the leftward
Only receives their feet who wend to eternal affliction.'
Deiphobus then again, 'Speak not, great priestess, in anger;
I will away to refill my number among th' unfortun'd.
Thou, my champyon, adieu! Go where thy glory awaits thee!'
When these words he 'had spok'n, he-turn'd and hastily was fled.
Æneas then look'd where leftward, under a mountain,
Outspread a wide city lay, threefold with fortresses engirt,
Lickt by a Tartarean river of live fire, the torrentia^l 550
Red Phlegethon, and huge boulders his roundy bubbles be:
Right i' the front stareth the columnar gate adamantine,
Such that no battering warfare of mén or immortals{458}
E'er might shake; blank-faced to the cloud its bastion upstands.
Tisiphone thereby in a bloodspotty robe sitteth alway
Night and day guarding sleeplessly the desperat entrance,
Wherefrom an awestirring groan-cry and fierce clamour outburst,
Sharp lashes, insane yells, dragg'd chains and clanking of iron.
Æneas drew back, his heart by' his hearing affrighted:
'What manner of criminals, my guide, now tell-me,' he-question'd, 560
'Or what their penalties? what this great wail that ariseth?'
Answering him the divine priestess, 'Brave hero of Il[îû]m,
O'er that guilty threshold no breath of purity may come:
But Hecate, who gave-me to rule i' the groves of Avernus,
Herself led me around, & taught heav'n's high retribution.
Here Cretan Rhadamanthus in unblest empery reigneth,
Secret crime to punish,—full surely he-wringeth avowal
Even of all that on earth, by vain impunity harden'd,
Men sinning have put away from thought tillvimpenitent death.
On those convicted tremblers then leapeth avenging 570
Tisiphone with keen flesh-whips and vipery scourges,
And of her implacable sisters inviteth attendance.'
—Now sudden on screeching hinges that portal accursèd
Flung wide its barriers.—'In what dire custody, mark thou,
Is the threshold! guarded by how grim sentry the doorway!
More terrible than they the ravin'd insatiable Hydra
That sitteth angry within. Know too that Tartarus itself
Dives sheer gaping aneath in gloomy profundity downward
Twice that height that a man looketh-up t'ward airy Olympus.
Lowest there those children of Earth, Titanian elders, 580
In the abyss, where once they fell hurl'd, yet wallowing lie.
There the Alöīdæ saw I, th' ungainly rebel twins
Primæval, that assay'd to devastate th' Empyræan{459}
With huge hands, and rob from Jove his kingdom immortal.
And there Salmoneus I saw, rend'ring heavy payment,
For that he idly' had mockt heav'n's fire and thunder electric;
With chariot many-yoked and torches brandishing on high
Driving among 'his Graian folk in Olympian Elis;
Exultant as a God he rode in blasphemy worshipt. 589
Fool, who th' unreckoning tempest and deadly dreaded bolt
Thought to mimic with brass and confus'd trample of horses!
But 'him th' Omnipotent, from amidst his cloudy pavilyon,
Blasted, an' eke his rattling car and smoky pretences
Extinguish'd at a stroke, scattering ' his dust to the whirlwind.
There too huge Tityos, whom Earth that gendereth all things
Once foster'd, spreadeth-out o'er nine full roods his immense limbs.
On him a wild vulture with hook-beak greedily gorgeth
His liver upsprouting quick as that Hell-chicken eateth.
Shé diggeth and dwelleth under the vast ribs, her bloody bare neck
Lifting anon: ne'er loathes-she the food, ne'er fails the renewal. 600
Where wer' an end their names to relate, their crimes and torments?
Some o'er whom a hanging black rock, slipping at very point of
Falling, ever threateneth: Couches luxurious invite
Softly-cushion'd to repose: Tables for banqueting outlaid
Tempt them ever-famishing: hard by them a Fury regardeth,
And should théy but a hand uplift, trembling to the dainties,
She with live firebrand and direful yell springeth on them.
Their crimes,—not to' hav lov'd a brother while love was allow'd them;
Or to' hav struck their father, or inveigled a dependant; 609
Or who chancing alone on wealth prey'd lustfully thereon,
Nor made share with others, no greater company than they:{460}
Some for adultery slain; some their bright swords had offended
Drawn i' the wrong: or a master's trust with perfidy had met:
Dungeon'd their penalties they await. Look not to be answer'd
What that doom, nor th' end of these men think to determine.
Sóme aye roll heavy rocks, some whirl dizzy on the revolving
Spokes of a pendant wheel: sitteth and to eternity shall sit
Unfortun'd Theseus; while sad Phlegias saddeneth hell
With vain oyez to' all loud crying a tardy repentance,
"Walk, O man, i' the fear of Gód, and learn to be righteous!"
Here another, who sold for gold his country, promoting 621
Her tyrant; or annull'd for a base bribe th' inviolate law.
This one had unfather'd his blood with bestial incest:
All some fearful crime had dared & vaunted achievement.
What mind could harbour the offence of such recollection,
Or lend welcoming ear to the tale of iniquity and shame,
And to the pains wherewith such deeds are justly requited?
Ev'n when thus she' had spok'n, the priestess dear to Apollo,
'But, ready, come let us ón, perform-we the order appointed!
Hast'n-we (saith-she), the wall forged on Cyclopian anvils
Now I see, an' th' archway in Ætna's furnace attemper'd, 631
Where my lore biddeth us to depose our high-privileg'd gift.'
Then together they trace i' the drooping dimness a footpath,
Whereby, faring across, they arrive at th' arches of iron.
Æneas stept into the porch, and duly besprinkling
His body with clear water affixt his bough to the lintel;
And, having all perform'd at length with ritual exact,
They came out on a lovely pleasance, that dream'd-of oasis,
Fortunate isle, the abode o' the blest, their fair Happy Woodland.
Here is an ampler sky, those meads ar' azur'd by a gentler{461}
Sun than th' Earth, an' a new starworld their darkness adorneth. 641
Some were matching afoot their speed on a grassy arena,
In playful combat some wrestling upon the yellow sand,
Part in a dance-rhythm or poetry's fine phantasy engage;
While full-toga'd anear their high-priest musical Orpheus
Bade his prime sev'n tones in varied harmony discourse,
Now with finger, anon sounding with an ivory plectrum.
And here Æneas met Teucer's fortunate offspring,
High-spirited heroes, fair-favor'd sons o' the morning,
Assarac and Ilos ' and Dardan founder of Iliu^]m: 650
Their radiant chariots he' espied rank't empty afar off,
Their spears planted afield, their horses wandering at large,
Grazing around:—as on earth their joy had been, whether armour
Or chariot had charmed them, or if 'twer' good manage and care
Of the gallant warhorse, the delight liv'd here unabated;
Lo! then others, that about the meadow sat feasting in idless,
And chanting for joy a familyar pæan of old earth,
By fragrant laurel o'ercanopied, where 'twixt enamel'd banks
Bountiful Eridanus glides throu' their bosky retirement.
Here were men who bled for honour, their country defending; 660
Priests, whose lives wer' a flame of chastity on God's altar;
Holy poets, content to await their crown of Apollo;
Discoverers, whose labour had aided life or ennobled;
Or who fair memories had left though kindly deserving.
On their brow a fillet pearl-white distinguisheth all these:
Whom the Sibyl, for they drew round, in question accosted,
And most Musæus, who tower'd noble among them,
Center of all that sea of bright faces looking upward.
'Tell, happy souls, and thou poet and high mystic illustrious,
Where dwelleth Anchises? what home hath he? for 'tis in his quest 670{462}
We hither have made journey across Hell's watery marches.'
Thertó with brief parley rejoin'd that mystic of old-time.
'In no certain abode we-remain: by turn the forest glade
Haunt-we, lilied stream-bank, sunny mead; and o'er valley and rock
At will rove-we: but if ye aright your purpose arede me,
Mount-ye the hill: myself will prove how easy the pathway.'
Speaking he léd: and come to the upland, sheweth a fair plain
Gleaming aneath; and they, with grateful adieu, the descent made.
Now Lord Anchises was down i' the green valley musing,
Where the spirits confin'd that await mortal resurrection 680
While diligently he-mark'd, his thought had turn'd to his own kin,
Whose numbers he-reckon'd, an' of all their progeny foretold
Their fate and fortune, their ripen'd temper an' action.
He then, when he' espied Æneas t'ward him approaching
O'er the meadow, both hands uprais'd and ran to receive him,
Tears in his eyes, while thus his voice in high passion outbrake.
'Ah, thou'rt come, thou'rt come! at length thy dearly belov'd grace
Conquering all hath won-thee the way. 'Tis allow'd to behold thee,
O my son,—yea again the familyar raptur' of our speech.
Nay, I look't for 't thus, counting patiently the moments, 690
And ever expected; nor did fond fancy betray me.
From what lands, my son, from what life-dangering ocean
Art-thou arrived? full mighty perils thy path hav' opposèd:
And how nearly the dark Libyan thy destiny o'erthrew!'
Then 'he, 'Thy spirit, O my sire, 'twas thy spirit often
Sadly appearing aroused-me to seek thy fair habitation.
My fleet moors i' the blue Tyrrhene: all with-me goeth well.
Grant-me to touch thy hand as of old, and thy body embrace.'
Speaking, awhile in tears his feeling mutinied, and when
For the longing contact of mortal affection, he out-held 700{463}
His strong arms, the figure sustain'd them not: 'twas as empty
E'en as a windworn cloud, or a phantom of irrelevant sleep.
On the level bosom of this vale more thickly the tall trees
Grow, an' aneath quivering poplars and whispering alders
Lethe's dreamy river throu' peaceful scenery windeth.
Whereby now flitted in vast swarms many people of all lands,
As when in early summer 'honey-bees on a flowery pasture
Pill the blossoms, hurrying to' an' fro,—innumerous are they,
Revisiting the ravish'd lily cups, while all the meadow hums.
Æneas was turn'd to the sight, and marvelling inquired, 710
'Say, sir, what the river that there i' the vale-bottom I see?
And who they that thickly along its bank have assembled?'
Then Lord Anchises, 'The spirits for whom a second life
And body are destined ar' arriving thirsty to Lethe,
And here drink th' unmindful draught from wells of oblivyon.
My heart greatly desired of this very thing to acquaint thee,
Yea, and show-thee the men to-be-born, our glory her'after,
So to gladden thine heart where now thy voyaging endeth.'
'Must it then be-believ'd, my sire, that a soul which attaineth
Elysium will again submit to her old body-burden? 720
Is this well? what hap can awake such dire longing in them?'
'I will tell thee', O son, nor keep thy wonder awaiting,'
Answereth Anchises, and all expoundeth in order.
Know first that the heavens, and th' Earth, and space fluid or void,
Night's pallid orb, day's Sun, and all his starry coævals,
Are by one spirit inly quickened, and, mingling in each part,
Mind informs the matter, nature's complexity ruling.
Thence the living creatures, man, brute, and ev'ry feather'd fowl,
And what breedeth in Ocean aneath her surface of argent:
Their seed knoweth a fiery vigour, 'tis of airy divine birth, 730
In so far as unimpeded by an alien evil,
Nor dull'd by the body's framework condemn'd to corruption.
Hence the desires and vain tremblings that assail them, unable{464}
Darkly prison'd to arise to celestial exaltation;
Nor when death summoneth them anon earth-life to relinquish,
Can they in all discard their stain, nor wholly away with
Mortality's plaguespots. It must-be that, O, many wild graffs
Deeply at 'heart engrain'd have rooted strangely upon them:
Wherefore must suffering purge them, yea, Justice atone them
With penalties heavy as their guilt: some purify exposed 740
Hung to the viewless winds, or others long watery searchings
Low i' the deep wash clean, some bathe in fie^ry renewal:
Each cometh unto his own retribution,—if after in ample
Elysium we attain, but a few, to the fair Happy Woodland,
Yet slow time still worketh on us to remove the defilement,
Till it hath eaten away the acquir'd dross, leaving again free
That first fie^ry vigour, the celestia^l virtue of our life.
All whom here thou see^st, hav' accomplished purification:
Unto the stream of Lethe a god their company calleth,
That forgetful of old failure, pain & disappointment, 750
They may again into' earthly bodies with glad courage enter.'
* * *
Twín be the gates o' the house of sleep: as fable opineth 893
One is of horn, and thence for a true dream outlet is easy:
Fair the other, shining perfected of ivory carven;
But false are the visions that thereby find passage upward.
Soon then as Anchises had spok'n, he-led the Sibyl forth
And his son, and both dismisst from th' ivory portal.
FINIS
| INDEX | |
|---|---|
| INDEX OF FIRST LINES | |
| [A], [B], [C], [D], [E], [F], [G], [H], [I], [J], [L], [M], [N], [O], [P], [R], [S], [T], [V], [W], [Y] | |
| PAGE | |
| A cottage built of native stone, | [354] |
| A coy inquisitive spirit, | [27] |
| After long sleep when Psyche first awoke, | [105] |
| Again with pleasant green, | [252] |
| Ah heavenly joy, | [219] |
| Ah, what a change, | [445] |
| All earthly beauty hath one cause, | [204] |
| All women born, | [241] |
| A man that sees by chance, | [206] |
| Among the meadows, | [372] |
| And truly need there was, | [113] |
| An effigy of brass, | [349] |
| Angel spirits of sleep, | [291] |
| An idle June day, | [206] |
| A poppy grows upon the shore, | [234] |
| Ariel, O,—my angel, my own, | [299] |
| A single lamp there stood, | [161] |
| A song of my heart, | [311] |
| Assemble, all ye maidens, | [238] |
| At dead of unseen night, | [446] |
| A thousand times hath in my heart's behoof, | [201] |
| At times with hurried hoofs, | [205] |
| Awake, my heart, to be loved, | [277] |
| Away now, lovely Muse, | [221] |
| A winter's night with the snow about, | [272] |
| Beautiful must be the mountains, | [311] |
| Beauty sat with me, | [215] |
| Because thou canst not see, | [268] |
| Behold! the radiant Spring, | [255] |
| Belov'd of all to whom that Muse is dear, | [377] |
| Beneath the wattled bank, | [330] |
| Betwixt two billows of the downs, | [301] |
| Bright day succeedeth unto day, | [61] |
| Bright, my beloved, be thy day, | [363] |
| But Aphrodite to the house of Zeus, | [153] |
| But Eros now recover'd from his hurt, | [169] |
| But fairest Psyche still in favour rose, | [97] |
| Christ and his Mother, | [313] |
| Clear and gentle stream, | [225] |
| Close up, bright flow'rs, | [71] |
| Cold is the winter day, | [308] |
| Come gentle sleep, I woo thee, | [211] |
| Come, rosy angel, thy coronet donning, | [441] |
| Crown Winter with green, | [297] |
| Dear lady, when thou frownest, | [232] |
| Dreary was winter, | [220] |
| Ended are many days, | [367] |
| Eternal Father, who didst all create, | [221] |
| Fair lady of learning, | [390] |
| Fight well, my comrades, | [447] |
| Fire of heaven, whose starry arrow, | [290] |
| Flame-throated robin, | [309] |
| For beauty being the best of all we know, | [191] |
| For thou art mine, | [188] |
| Gay and lovely is earth, | [53] |
| Gay Marigold is frolic, | [371] |
| Gay Robin is seen no more, | [285] |
| Gird on thy sword, O man, | [407] |
| Gloom and the night are thine, | [403] |
| Hark! the world is full of thy praise, | [364] |
| Hark to the merry birds, | [283] |
| Hark! what spirit doth entreat, | [405] |
| Haste on, my joys, | [269] |
| Heavy meanwhile at heart, | [145] |
| His poisoned shafts, | [240] |
| How coud I quarrel or blame you, | [193] |
| How fares it, friend, since I, | [378] |
| How well my eyes remember, | [332] |
| I care not if I live, | [203] |
| I climb the mossy bank, | [338] |
| I died in very flow'r, | [448] |
| If I coud but forget and not recall, | [207] |
| I found to-day out walking, | [a]468] |
| I have loved flowers that fade, | [263] |
| I have sown upon the fields, | [351] |
| I heard a linnet courting, | [231] |
| I heard great Hector, | [213] |
| I know not how I came, | [246] |
| I live on hope, | [218] |
| I love all beauteous things, | [281] |
| I love my lady's eyes, | [278] |
| I made another song, | [237] |
| In all things beautiful, | [202] |
| In autumn moonlight, | [215] |
| I never shall love the snow again, | [309] |
| In midmost length of hundred-citied Crete, | [89] |
| In still midsummer night, | [375] |
| In the golden glade, | [317] |
| In thee my spring of life, | [190] |
| In this May-month, | [307] |
| In this neglected, ruin'd edifice, | [209] |
| In ways of beauty and peace, | [404] |
| I praise the tender flower, | [272] |
| I saw the Virgin-mother, | [245] |
| I stand on the cliff, | [266] |
| I travel to thee with the sun's first rays, | [201] |
| I will be what God made me, | [218] |
| I will not let thee go, | [232] |
| I wish'd to sing thy grace, | [347] |
| I would be a bird, | [198] |
| Je donnerais pour revivre à vingt ans, | [379] |
| Joy, sweetest lifeborn joy, | [275] |
| Let praise devote thy work, | [300] |
| Let us, as by this verdant bank, | [250] |
| Long are the hours the sun is above, | [235] |
| Look down the river, | [327] |
| Look! Look! the spring is come, | [318] |
| Love not too much, | [302] |
| Love on my heart from heaven fell, | [287] |
| Love that I know, | [217] |
| Love to Love calleth, | [397] |
| Lo where the virgin veiled in airy beams, | [71] |
| Man, born of desire, | [399] |
| Man, born to toil, | [a]469] |
| Man hath with man, | [323] |
| Mortal though I be, yea ephemeral, | [447] |
| My bed and pillow are cold, | [273] |
| My delight and thy delight, | [339] |
| My eyes for beauty pine, | [286] |
| My lady pleases me and I please her, | [202] |
| Myriad-voiced Queen, | [394] |
| My soul is drunk with joy, | [46] |
| My spirit kisseth thine, | [298] |
| My spirit sang all day, | [281] |
| My wearied heart, | [220] |
| No ethical system, no contemplation, | [425] |
| Nothing is joy without thee, | [199] |
| Now all the windows, | [340] |
| Now in wintry delights, | [411] |
| Now joy in all hearts, | [439] |
| Now since to me altho' by thee refused, | [193] |
| Now thin mists temper, | [304] |
| O bold majestic downs, | [251] |
| O flesh and blood, comrade to tragic pain, | [197] |
| O golden Sun, whose ray, | [261] |
| O heavenly fire, life's life, | [40] |
| O Love, I complain, | [335] |
| O Love, my muse, | [286] |
| O miserable man, | [37] |
| O my goddess divine, | [204] |
| O my life's mischief, | [205] |
| O my uncared-for songs, | [212] |
| O my vague desires, | [46], [264] |
| Once I would say, | [210] |
| One grief of thine, | [375] |
| On the Hellenic board of Crete's fair isle, | [137] |
| Open for me the gates of delight, | [401] |
| O that the earth, or only this fair isle, | [72] |
| O thou unfaithful, | [273] |
| O weary pilgrims, | [198] |
| O youth whose hope is high, | [280] |
| Perfect little body, | [267] |
| Poor withered rose, | [228] |
| Power eternal, power unknown, | [403] |
| Rejoice, ye dead, | [196], [401]{470} |
| Resound! Resound! To jubilant music ring, | [393] |
| Riding adown the country lanes, | [342] |
| Sad, sombre place, | [258] |
| Say who be these, | [195] |
| Say who is this with silvered hair, | [296] |
| See, Love, a year is pass'd, | [447] |
| See, whirling snow, | [306] |
| Sense with keenest edge unused, | [343] |
| Since I believe in God, | [443] |
| Since not the enamour'd sun, | [214] |
| Since now from woodland mist, | [377] |
| Since then 'tis only pity looking back, | [210] |
| Since thou, O fondest and truest, | [279] |
| Since to be loved endures, | [303] |
| Since we loved, | [346] |
| Sometimes when my lady sits by me, | [234] |
| So sweet love seemed, | [305] |
| Spirit of grace and beauty, | [350] |
| Spring goeth all in white, | [286] |
| Spring hath her own bright days, | [199] |
| Sweet compassionate tears, | [406] |
| Tears of love, tears of joy, | [207] |
| The birds that sing on autumn eves, | [293] |
| The cliff-top has a carpet, | [229] |
| The clouds have left the sky, | [283] |
| The dark and serious angel, | [217] |
| The day begins to droop, | [345] |
| Thee fair Poetry oft hath sought, | [395] |
| The evening darkens over, | [279] |
| The fabled sea-snake, old Leviathan, | [200] |
| The full moon from her cloudless skies, | [277] |
| The green corn waving in the dale, | [288] |
| The hill pines were sighing, | [288] |
| The idle life I lead, | [290] |
| The image of thy love, | [209] |
| The lonely season in lonely lands, | [314] |
| The north wind came up, | [315] |
| The pinks along my garden walks, | [289] |
| The poets were good teachers, | [189] |
| There is a hill, | [248] |
| There's many a would-be poet, | [192]{471} |
| There was no lad handsomer, | [319] |
| The saddest place, | [355] |
| The sea keeps not the Sabbath day, | [341] |
| The sea with melancholy war, | [396] |
| These grey stones have rung with mirth, | [446] |
| These meagre rhymes, | [214] |
| The sickness of desire, | [376] |
| The snow lies sprinkled on the beach, | [298] |
| The south wind rose at dusk, | [336] |
| The spirit's eager sense, | [211] |
| The storm is over, | [294] |
| The summer trees are tempest-torn, | [292] |
| The upper skies are palest blue, | [282] |
| The very names of things belov'd, | [189] |
| The whole world now is but the minister, | [188] |
| The wood is bare, | [227] |
| The work is done, | [200] |
| The world comes not to an end, | [212] |
| The world still goeth about to shew and hide, | [197] |
| They that in play can do the thing they would, | [187] |
| They wer' amid the shadows, | [448] |
| This world is unto God a work of art, | [195] |
| Thou art a poet, Robbie Burns, | [385] |
| Thou didst delight my eyes, | [274] |
| Thou dimpled Millicent, | [374] |
| Thousand threads of rain, | [446] |
| Thou vainly, O Man, self-deceiver, | [444] |
| Thus to be humbled, | [203] |
| Thus to thy beauty, | [191] |
| To me, to me, fair hearted Goddess, come, | [398] |
| To my love I whisper, | [339] |
| To us, O Queen of sinless grace, | [402] |
| Truest-hearted of early friends, | [442] |
| Turn, O return, | [395] |
| 'Twas on the very day winter took leave, | [216] |
| Voyaging northwards, | [359] |
| Wanton with long delay, | [284] |
| Weep not to-day, | [320] |
| We left the city when the summer day, | [270] |
| What happy bonds together unite you, | [447] |
| What is sweeter than new-mown hay, | [292]{472} |
| 'What think you, sister', | [121] |
| What voice of gladness, | [306] |
| When Death to either shall come, | [347] |
| When first I saw thee, dearest, | [216] |
| When first we met, | [241] |
| When from the lowest ebbing, | [129] |
| When I see childhood, | [208] |
| When June is come, | [289] |
| When men were all asleep, | [265] |
| When my love was away, | [294] |
| When parch'd with thirst, | [208] |
| When sometimes in an ancient house, | [194] |
| When thou didst give thy love to me, | [374] |
| When thou, my beloved, diedst, | [448] |
| When to my lone soft bed, | [442] |
| Wherefore to-night so full of care, | [260] |
| Where San Miniato's convent, | [196] |
| Where thou art better I too were, | [448] |
| While Eros in his chamber hid his tears, | [177] |
| While yet we wait for spring, | [190] |
| Whither, O splendid ship, | [244] |
| Who builds a ship, | [194] |
| Who has not walked upon the shore, | [236] |
| Who takes the census of the living dead, | [213] |
| Why art thou sad, | [347] |
| Why hast thou nothing, | [348] |
| Why, O Maker of all, | [445] |
| Will Love again awake, | [242] |
| Winter was not unkind, | [192] |
| With mild eyes agaze, | [389] |
| Ye blessed saints, | [219] |
| Ye Spartan mothers, | [371] |
| Ye thrilled me once, | [296] |