{"id":112,"date":"2021-05-26T09:19:24","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T13:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/odyssey\/chapter\/book-vi\/"},"modified":"2022-02-01T10:51:27","modified_gmt":"2022-02-01T15:51:27","slug":"6","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/chapter\/6\/","title":{"raw":"Book VI","rendered":"Book VI"},"content":{"raw":"

Argument<\/b><\/h2>\r\nMinerva designing an interview between the daughter of Alcino\u00fcs and Ulysses, admonishes her in a dream to carry down her clothes to the river, that she may wash them, and make them ready for her approaching nuptials. That task performed, the Princess and her train amuse themselves with play; by accident they awake Ulysses; he comes forth from the wood, and applies himself with much address to Nausicaa, who compassionating his distressed condition, and being much affected by the dignity of his appearance, interests himself in his favour, and conducts him to the city.\r\n\r\nThere then the noble suff\u2019rer lay, by sleep\r\nOppress\u2019d and labour; meantime, Pallas sought\r\nThe populous city of Ph\u00e6acia\u2019s sons.\r\nThey, in old time, in Hypereia dwelt\r\nThe spacious, neighbours of a giant race\r\nThe haughty Cyclops, who, endued with pow\u2019r\r\nSuperior, troubled them with frequent wrongs.\r\nGodlike Nausitho\u00fcs then arose, who thence\r\nTo Scheria led them, from all nations versed\r\nIn arts of cultivated life, remote;\r\nWith bulwarks strong their city he enclosed,\r\nBuilt houses for them, temples to the Gods,\r\nAnd gave to each a portion of the soil.\r\nBut he, already by decree of fate\r\nHad journey\u2019d to the shades, and in his stead\r\nAlcino\u00fcs, by the Gods instructed, reign\u2019d.\r\nTo his abode Minerva azure-eyed\r\nRepair\u2019d, neglecting nought which might advance\r\nMagnanimous Ulysses\u2019 safe return.\r\nShe sought the sumptuous chamber where, in form\r\nAnd feature perfect as the Gods, the young\r\nNausicaa, daughter of the King, reposed.\r\nFast by the pillars of the portal lay\r\nTwo damsels, one on either side, adorn\u2019d\r\nBy all the Graces, and the doors were shut.\r\nSoft as a breathing air, she stole toward\r\nThe royal virgin\u2019s couch, and at her head\r\nStanding, address\u2019d her. Daughter she appear\u2019d\r\nOf Dymas, famed for maritime exploits,\r\nHer friend and her coeval; so disguised\r\nC\u00e6rulean-eyed Minerva thus began.\r\nNausicaa! wherefore hath thy mother borne\r\nA child so negligent? Thy garments share,\r\nThy most magnificent, no thought of thine.\r\nYet thou must marry soon, and must provide\r\nRobes for thyself, and for thy nuptial train.\r\nThy fame, on these concerns, and honour stand;\r\nThese managed well, thy parents shall rejoice.\r\nThe dawn appearing, let us to the place\r\nOf washing, where thy work-mate I will be\r\nFor speedier riddance of thy task, since soon\r\nThe days of thy virginity shall end;\r\nFor thou art woo\u2019d already by the prime\r\nOf all Ph\u00e6acia, country of thy birth.\r\nCome then\u2014solicit at the dawn of day\r\nThy royal father, that he send thee forth\r\nWith mules and carriage for conveyance hence\r\nOf thy best robes, thy mantles and thy zones.\r\nThus, more commodiously thou shalt perform\r\nThe journey, for the cisterns lie remote.\r\nSo saying, Minerva, Goddess azure-eyed,\r\nRose to Olympus, the reputed seat\r\nEternal of the Gods, which never storms\r\nDisturb, rains drench, or snow invades, but calm\r\nThe expanse and cloudless shines with purest day.\r\nThere the inhabitants divine rejoice\r\nFor ever, (and her admonition giv\u2019n)\r\nC\u00e6rulean-eyed Minerva thither flew.\r\nNow came Aurora bright-enthroned, whose rays\r\nAwaken\u2019d fair Nausicaa; she her dream\r\nRemember\u2019d wond\u2019ring, and her parents sought\r\nAnxious to tell them. Them she found within.\r\nBeside the hearth her royal mother sat,\r\nSpinning soft fleeces with sea-purple dyed\r\nAmong her menial maidens, but she met\r\nHer father, whom the Nobles of the land\r\nHad summon\u2019d, issuing abroad to join\r\nThe illustrious Chiefs in council. At his side\r\nShe stood, and thus her filial suit preferr\u2019d.\r\nSir![footnote]In the Original, she calls him, pappa! a more natural stile of address and more endearing. But ancient as this appellative is, it is also so familiar in modern use, that the Translator feared to hazard it.[\/footnote] <\/sup>wilt thou lend me of the royal wains\r\nA sumpter-carriage? for I wish to bear\r\nMy costly cloaths but sullied and unfit\r\nFor use, at present, to the river side.\r\nIt is but seemly that thou should\u2019st repair\r\nThyself to consultation with the Chiefs\r\nOf all Ph\u00e6acia, clad in pure attire;\r\nAnd my own brothers five, who dwell at home,\r\nTwo wedded, and the rest of age to wed,\r\nAre all desirous, when they dance, to wear\r\nRaiment new bleach\u2019d; all which is my concern.\r\nSo spake Nausicaa; for she dared not name\r\nHer own glad nuptials to her father\u2019s ear,\r\nWho, conscious yet of all her drift, replied.\r\nI grudge thee neither mules, my child, nor aught\r\nThat thou canst ask beside. Go, and my train\r\nShall furnish thee a sumpter-carriage forth\r\nHigh-built, strong-wheel\u2019d, and of capacious size.\r\nSo saying, he issued his command, whom quick\r\nHis grooms obey\u2019d. They in the court prepared\r\nThe sumpter-carriage, and adjoin\u2019d the mules.\r\nAnd now the virgin from her chamber, charged\r\nWith raiment, came, which on the car she placed,\r\nAnd in the carriage-chest, meantime, the Queen,\r\nHer mother, viands of all kinds disposed,\r\nAnd fill\u2019d a skin with wine. Nausicaa rose\r\nInto her seat; but, ere she went, received\r\nA golden cruse of oil from the Queen\u2019s hand\r\nFor unction of herself, and of her maids.\r\nThen, seizing scourge and reins, she lash\u2019d the mules.\r\nThey trampled loud the soil, straining to draw\r\nHerself with all her vesture; nor alone\r\nShe went, but follow\u2019d by her virgin train.\r\nAt the delightful rivulet arrived\r\nWhere those perennial cisterns were prepared\r\nWith purest crystal of the fountain fed\r\nProfuse, sufficient for the deepest stains,\r\nLoosing the mules, they drove them forth to browze\r\nOn the sweet herb beside the dimpled flood.\r\nThe carriage, next, light\u2019ning, they bore in hand\r\nThe garments down to the unsullied wave,\r\nAnd thrust them heap\u2019d into the pools, their task\r\nDispatching brisk, and with an emulous haste.\r\nWhen they had all purified, and no spot\r\nCould now be seen, or blemish more, they spread\r\nThe raiment orderly along the beach\r\nWhere dashing tides had cleansed the pebbles most,\r\nAnd laving, next, and smoothing o\u2019er with oil\r\nTheir limbs, all seated on the river\u2019s bank,\r\nThey took repast, leaving the garments, stretch\u2019d\r\nIn noon-day fervour of the sun, to dry.\r\nTheir hunger satisfied, at once arose\r\nThe mistress and her train, and putting off\r\nTheir head-attire, play\u2019d wanton with the ball,\r\nThe princess singing to her maids the while.\r\nSuch as shaft-arm\u2019d Diana roams the hills,\r\nT\u00e4ygetus sky-capt, or Erymanth,\r\nThe wild boar chasing, or fleet-footed hind,\r\nAll joy; the rural nymphs, daughters of Jove,\r\nSport with her, and Latona\u2019s heart exults;\r\nShe high her graceful head above the rest\r\nAnd features lifts divine, though all be fair,\r\nWith ease distinguishable from them all;\r\nSo, all her train, she, virgin pure, surpass\u2019d.\r\nBut when the hour of her departure thence\r\nApproach\u2019d (the mules now yoked again, and all\r\nHer elegant apparel folded neat)\r\nMinerva azure-eyed mused how to wake\r\nUlysses, that he might behold the fair\r\nVirgin, his destin\u2019d guide into the town.\r\nThe Princess, then, casting the ball toward\r\nA maiden of her train, erroneous threw\r\nAnd plunged it deep into the dimpling stream.\r\nAll shrieked; Ulysses at the sound awoke,\r\nAnd, sitting, meditated thus the cause.\r\nAh me! what mortal race inhabit here?\r\nRude are they, contumacious and unjust?\r\nOr hospitable, and who fear the Gods?\r\nSo shrill the cry and feminine of nymphs\r\nFills all the air around, such as frequent\r\nThe hills, clear fountains, and herbaceous meads.\r\nIs this a neighbourhood of men endued\r\nWith voice articulate? But what avails\r\nTo ask; I will myself go forth and see.\r\nSo saying, divine Ulysses from beneath\r\nHis thicket crept, and from the leafy wood\r\nA spreading branch pluck\u2019d forcibly, design\u2019d\r\nA decent skreen effectual, held before.\r\nSo forth he went, as goes the lion forth,\r\nThe mountain-lion, conscious of his strength,\r\nWhom winds have vex\u2019d and rains; fire fills his eyes,\r\nAnd whether herds or flocks, or woodland deer\r\nHe find, he rends them, and, adust for blood,\r\nAbstains not even from the guarded fold,\r\nSuch sure to seem in virgin eyes, the Chief,\r\nAll naked as he was, left his retreat,\r\nReluctant, by necessity constrain\u2019d.\r\nHim foul with sea foam horror-struck they view\u2019d,\r\nAnd o\u2019er the jutting shores fled all dispersed.\r\nNausicaa alone fled not; for her\r\nPallas courageous made, and from her limbs,\r\nBy pow\u2019r divine, all tremour took away.\r\nFirm she expected him; he doubtful stood,\r\nOr to implore the lovely maid, her knees\r\nEmbracing, or aloof standing, to ask\r\nIn gentle terms discrete the gift of cloaths,\r\nAnd guidance to the city where she dwelt.\r\nHim so deliberating, most, at length,\r\nThis counsel pleas\u2019d; in suppliant terms aloof\r\nTo sue to her, lest if he clasp\u2019d her knees,\r\nThe virgin should that bolder course resent.\r\nThen gentle, thus, and well-advised he spake.\r\nOh Queen! thy earnest suppliant I approach.\r\nArt thou some Goddess, or of mortal race?\r\nFor if some Goddess, and from heaven arrived,\r\nDiana, then, daughter of mighty Jove\r\nI deem thee most, for such as hers appear\r\nThy form, thy stature, and thy air divine.\r\nBut if, of mortal race, thou dwell below,\r\nThrice happy then, thy parents I account,\r\nAnd happy thrice thy brethren. Ah! the joy\r\nWhich always for thy sake, their bosoms fill,\r\nWhen thee they view, all lovely as thou art,\r\nEnt\u2019ring majestic on the graceful dance.\r\nBut him beyond all others blest I deem,\r\nThe youth, who, wealthier than his rich compeers,\r\nShall win and lead thee to his honour\u2019d home.\r\nFor never with these eyes a mortal form\r\nBeheld I comparable aught to thine,\r\nIn man or woman. Wonder-wrapt I gaze.\r\nSuch erst, in Delos, I beheld a palm\r\nBeside the altar of Apollo, tall,\r\nAnd growing still; (for thither too I sail\u2019d,\r\nAnd num\u2019rous were my followers in a voyage\r\nOrdain\u2019d my ruin) and as then I view\u2019d\r\nThat palm long time amazed, for never grew\r\nSo strait a shaft, so lovely from the ground,\r\nSo, Princess! thee with wonder I behold,\r\nCharm\u2019d into fixt astonishment, by awe\r\nAlone forbidden to embrace thy knees,\r\nFor I am one on whom much woe hath fall\u2019n.\r\nYesterday I escaped (the twentieth day\r\nOf my distress by sea) the dreary Deep;\r\nFor, all those days, the waves and rapid storms\r\nBore me along, impetuous from the isle\r\nOgygia; till at length the will of heav\u2019n\r\nCast me, that I might also here sustain\r\nAffliction on your shore; for rest, I think,\r\nIs not for me. No. The Immortal Gods\r\nHave much to accomplish ere that day arrive.\r\nBut, oh Queen, pity me! who after long\r\nCalamities endured, of all who live\r\nThee first approach, nor mortal know beside\r\nOf the inhabitants of all the land.\r\nShew me your city; give me, although coarse,\r\nSome cov\u2019ring (if coarse cov\u2019ring thou<\/i> canst give)\r\nAnd may the Gods thy largest wishes grant,\r\nHouse, husband, concord! for of all the gifts\r\nOf heav\u2019n, more precious none I deem, than peace\r\n\u2019Twixt wedded pair, and union undissolved;\r\nEnvy torments their enemies, but joy\r\nFills ev\u2019ry virtuous breast, and most their own.\r\nTo whom Nausicaa the fair replied.\r\nSince, stranger! neither base by birth thou seem\u2019st,\r\nNor unintelligent, (but Jove, the King\r\nOlympian, gives to good and bad alike\r\nProsperity according to his will,\r\nAnd grief to thee, which thou must patient bear,)\r\nNow, therefore, at our land and city arrived,\r\nNor garment thou shalt want, nor aught beside\r\nDue to a suppliant guest like thee forlorn.\r\nI will both show thee where our city stands,\r\nAnd who dwell here. Ph\u00e6acia\u2019s sons possess\r\nThis land; but I am daughter of their King\r\nThe brave Alcino\u00fcs, on whose sway depends\r\nFor strength and wealth the whole Ph\u00e6acian race.\r\nShe said, and to her beauteous maidens gave\r\nInstant commandment\u2014My attendants, stay!\r\nWhy flee ye thus, and whither, from the sight\r\nOf a mere mortal? Seems he in your eyes\r\nSome enemy of ours? The heart beats not,\r\nNor shall it beat hereafter, which shall come\r\nAn enemy to the Ph\u00e6acian shores,\r\nSo dear to the immortal Gods are we.\r\nRemote, amid the billowy Deep, we hold\r\nOur dwelling, utmost of all human-kind,\r\nAnd free from mixture with a foreign race.\r\nThis man, a miserable wand\u2019rer comes,\r\nWhom we are bound to cherish, for the poor\r\nAnd stranger are from Jove, and trivial gifts\r\nTo such are welcome. Bring ye therefore food\r\nAnd wine, my maidens, for the guest\u2019s regale,\r\nAnd lave him where the stream is shelter\u2019d most.\r\nShe spake; they stood, and by each other\u2019s words\r\nEncouraged, placed Ulysses where the bank\r\nO\u2019erhung the stream, as fair Nausicaa bade,\r\nDaughter of King Alcino\u00fcs the renown\u2019d.\r\nApparel also at his side they spread,\r\nMantle and vest, and, next, the limpid oil\r\nPresenting to him in the golden cruse,\r\nExhorted him to bathe in the clear stream.\r\nUlysses then the maidens thus bespake.\r\nYe maidens, stand apart, that I may cleanse,\r\nMyself, my shoulders from the briny surf,\r\nAnd give them oil which they have wanted long.\r\nBut in your presence I bathe not, ashamed\r\nTo show myself uncloath\u2019d to female eyes.\r\nHe said; they went, and to Nausicaa told\r\nHis answer; then the Hero in the stream\r\nHis shoulders laved, and loins incrusted rough\r\nWith the salt spray, and with his hands the scum\r\nOf the wild ocean from his locks express\u2019d.\r\nThus wash\u2019d all over, and refresh\u2019d with oil,\r\nHe put the garments on, Nausicaa\u2019s gift.\r\nThen Pallas, progeny of Jove, his form\r\nDilated more, and from his head diffused\r\nHis curling locks like hyacinthine flowers.\r\nAs when some artist, by Minerva made\r\nAnd Vulcan wise to execute all tasks\r\nIngenious, binding with a golden verge\r\nBright silver, finishes a graceful work,\r\nSuch grace the Goddess o\u2019er his ample chest\r\nCopious diffused, and o\u2019er his manly brows.\r\nRetiring, on the beach he sat, with grace\r\nAnd dignity illumed, where, viewing him,\r\nThe virgin Princess, with amazement mark\u2019d\r\nHis beauty, and her damsels thus bespake.\r\nMy white-arm\u2019d maidens, listen to my voice!\r\nNot hated, sure, by all above, this man\r\nAmong Ph\u00e6acia\u2019s godlike sons arrives.\r\nAt first I deem\u2019d him of plebeian sort\r\nDishonourable, but he now assumes\r\nA near resemblance to the Gods above.\r\nAh! would to heaven it were my lot to call\r\nHusband, some native of our land like him\r\nAccomplish\u2019d, and content to inhabit here!\r\nGive him, my maidens, food, and give him wine.\r\nShe ended; they obedient to her will,\r\nBoth wine and food, dispatchful, placed, and glad,\r\nBefore Ulysses; he rapacious ate,\r\nToil-suff\u2019ring Chief, and drank, for he had lived\r\nFrom taste of aliment long time estranged.\r\nOn other thoughts meantime intent, her charge\r\nOf folded vestments neat the Princess placed\r\nWithin the royal wain, then yoked the mules,\r\nAnd to her seat herself ascending, call\u2019d\r\nUlysses to depart, and thus she spake.\r\nUp, stranger! seek the city. I will lead\r\nThy steps toward my royal Father\u2019s house,\r\nWhere all Ph\u00e6acia\u2019s Nobles thou shalt see.\r\nBut thou (for I account thee not unwise)\r\nThis course pursue. While through the fields we pass,\r\nAnd labours of the rural hind, so long\r\nWith my attendants follow fast the mules\r\nAnd sumpter-carriage. I will be thy guide.\r\nBut, once the summit gain\u2019d, on which is built\r\nOur city with proud bulwarks fenced around,\r\nAnd laved on both sides by its pleasant port\r\nOf narrow entrance, where our gallant barks\r\nLine all the road, each station\u2019d in her place,\r\nAnd where, adjoining close the splendid fane\r\nOf Neptune, stands the forum with huge stones\r\nFrom quarries thither drawn, constructed strong,\r\nIn which the rigging of their barks they keep,\r\nSail-cloth and cordage, and make smooth their oars;\r\n(For bow and quiver the Ph\u00e6acian race\r\nHeed not, but masts and oars, and ships well-poised,\r\nWith which exulting they divide the flood)\r\nThen, cautious, I would shun their bitter taunts\r\nDisgustful, lest they mock me as I pass;\r\nFor of the meaner people some are coarse\r\nIn the extreme, and it may chance that one,\r\nThe basest there seeing us shall exclaim\u2014\r\nWhat handsome stranger of athletic form\r\nAttends the Princess? Where had she the chance\r\nTo find him? We shall see them wedded soon.\r\nEither she hath received some vagrant guest\r\nFrom distant lands, (for no land neighbours ours)\r\nOr by her pray\u2019rs incessant won, some God\r\nHath left the heav\u2019ns to be for ever hers.\r\n\u2019Tis well if she have found, by her own search,\r\nAn husband for herself, since she accounts\r\nThe Nobles of Ph\u00e6acia, who her hand\r\nSolicit num\u2019rous, worthy to be scorn\u2019d\u2014\r\nThus will they speak, injurious. I should blame\r\nA virgin guilty of such conduct much,\r\nMyself, who reckless of her parents\u2019 will,\r\nShould so familiar with a man consort,\r\nEre celebration of her spousal rites.\r\nBut mark me, stranger! following my advice,\r\nThou shalt the sooner at my father\u2019s hands\r\nObtain safe conduct and conveyance home.\r\nSacred to Pallas a delightful grove\r\nOf poplars skirts the road, which we shall reach\r\nEre long; within that grove a fountain flows,\r\nAnd meads encircle it; my father\u2019s farm\r\nIs there, and his luxuriant garden plot;\r\nA shout might reach it from the city-walls.\r\nThere wait, till in the town arrived, we gain\r\nMy father\u2019s palace, and when reason bids\r\nSuppose us there, then ent\u2019ring thou the town,\r\nAsk where Alcino\u00fcs dwells, my valiant Sire.\r\nWell known is his abode, so that with ease\r\nA child might lead thee to it, for in nought\r\nThe other houses of our land the house\r\nResemble, in which dwells the Hero, King\r\nAlcino\u00fcs. Once within the court received\r\nPause not, but, with swift pace advancing, seek\r\nMy mother; she beside a column sits\r\nIn the hearth\u2019s blaze, twirling her fleecy threads\r\nTinged with sea-purple, bright, magnificent!\r\nWith all her maidens orderly behind.\r\nThere also stands my father\u2019s throne, on which\r\nSeated, he drinks and banquets like a God.\r\nPass that; then suppliant clasp my mother\u2019s knees,\r\nSo shalt thou quickly win a glad return\r\nTo thy own home, however far remote.\r\nHer favour, once, and her kind aid secured,\r\nThenceforth thou may\u2019st expect thy friends to see,\r\nThy dwelling, and thy native soil again.\r\nSo saying, she with her splendid scourge the mules\r\nLash\u2019d onward. They (the stream soon left behind)\r\nWith even footsteps graceful smote the ground;\r\nBut so she ruled them, managing with art\r\nThe scourge, as not to leave afar, although\r\nFollowing on foot, Ulysses and her train.\r\nThe sun had now declined, when in that grove\r\nRenown\u2019d, to Pallas sacred, they arrived,\r\nIn which Ulysses sat, and fervent thus\r\nSued to the daughter of Jove \u00c6gis-arm\u2019d.\r\nDaughter invincible of Jove supreme!\r\nOh, hear me! Hear me now, because when erst\r\nThe mighty Shaker of the shores incensed\r\nToss\u2019d me from wave to wave, thou heard\u2019st me not.\r\nGrant me, among Ph\u00e6acia\u2019s sons, to find\r\nBenevolence and pity of my woes!\r\nHe spake, whose pray\u2019r well-pleas\u2019d the Goddess heard,\r\nBut, rev\u2019rencing the brother of her sire,[footnote]Neptune.[\/footnote]<\/sup>\r\nAppear\u2019d not to Ulysses yet, whom he\r\nPursued with fury to his native shores.","rendered":"

Argument<\/b><\/h2>\n

Minerva designing an interview between the daughter of Alcino\u00fcs and Ulysses, admonishes her in a dream to carry down her clothes to the river, that she may wash them, and make them ready for her approaching nuptials. That task performed, the Princess and her train amuse themselves with play; by accident they awake Ulysses; he comes forth from the wood, and applies himself with much address to Nausicaa, who compassionating his distressed condition, and being much affected by the dignity of his appearance, interests himself in his favour, and conducts him to the city.<\/p>\n

There then the noble suff\u2019rer lay, by sleep
\nOppress\u2019d and labour; meantime, Pallas sought
\nThe populous city of Ph\u00e6acia\u2019s sons.
\nThey, in old time, in Hypereia dwelt
\nThe spacious, neighbours of a giant race
\nThe haughty Cyclops, who, endued with pow\u2019r
\nSuperior, troubled them with frequent wrongs.
\nGodlike Nausitho\u00fcs then arose, who thence
\nTo Scheria led them, from all nations versed
\nIn arts of cultivated life, remote;
\nWith bulwarks strong their city he enclosed,
\nBuilt houses for them, temples to the Gods,
\nAnd gave to each a portion of the soil.
\nBut he, already by decree of fate
\nHad journey\u2019d to the shades, and in his stead
\nAlcino\u00fcs, by the Gods instructed, reign\u2019d.
\nTo his abode Minerva azure-eyed
\nRepair\u2019d, neglecting nought which might advance
\nMagnanimous Ulysses\u2019 safe return.
\nShe sought the sumptuous chamber where, in form
\nAnd feature perfect as the Gods, the young
\nNausicaa, daughter of the King, reposed.
\nFast by the pillars of the portal lay
\nTwo damsels, one on either side, adorn\u2019d
\nBy all the Graces, and the doors were shut.
\nSoft as a breathing air, she stole toward
\nThe royal virgin\u2019s couch, and at her head
\nStanding, address\u2019d her. Daughter she appear\u2019d
\nOf Dymas, famed for maritime exploits,
\nHer friend and her coeval; so disguised
\nC\u00e6rulean-eyed Minerva thus began.
\nNausicaa! wherefore hath thy mother borne
\nA child so negligent? Thy garments share,
\nThy most magnificent, no thought of thine.
\nYet thou must marry soon, and must provide
\nRobes for thyself, and for thy nuptial train.
\nThy fame, on these concerns, and honour stand;
\nThese managed well, thy parents shall rejoice.
\nThe dawn appearing, let us to the place
\nOf washing, where thy work-mate I will be
\nFor speedier riddance of thy task, since soon
\nThe days of thy virginity shall end;
\nFor thou art woo\u2019d already by the prime
\nOf all Ph\u00e6acia, country of thy birth.
\nCome then\u2014solicit at the dawn of day
\nThy royal father, that he send thee forth
\nWith mules and carriage for conveyance hence
\nOf thy best robes, thy mantles and thy zones.
\nThus, more commodiously thou shalt perform
\nThe journey, for the cisterns lie remote.
\nSo saying, Minerva, Goddess azure-eyed,
\nRose to Olympus, the reputed seat
\nEternal of the Gods, which never storms
\nDisturb, rains drench, or snow invades, but calm
\nThe expanse and cloudless shines with purest day.
\nThere the inhabitants divine rejoice
\nFor ever, (and her admonition giv\u2019n)
\nC\u00e6rulean-eyed Minerva thither flew.
\nNow came Aurora bright-enthroned, whose rays
\nAwaken\u2019d fair Nausicaa; she her dream
\nRemember\u2019d wond\u2019ring, and her parents sought
\nAnxious to tell them. Them she found within.
\nBeside the hearth her royal mother sat,
\nSpinning soft fleeces with sea-purple dyed
\nAmong her menial maidens, but she met
\nHer father, whom the Nobles of the land
\nHad summon\u2019d, issuing abroad to join
\nThe illustrious Chiefs in council. At his side
\nShe stood, and thus her filial suit preferr\u2019d.
\nSir![1]<\/sup><\/a> <\/sup>wilt thou lend me of the royal wains
\nA sumpter-carriage? for I wish to bear
\nMy costly cloaths but sullied and unfit
\nFor use, at present, to the river side.
\nIt is but seemly that thou should\u2019st repair
\nThyself to consultation with the Chiefs
\nOf all Ph\u00e6acia, clad in pure attire;
\nAnd my own brothers five, who dwell at home,
\nTwo wedded, and the rest of age to wed,
\nAre all desirous, when they dance, to wear
\nRaiment new bleach\u2019d; all which is my concern.
\nSo spake Nausicaa; for she dared not name
\nHer own glad nuptials to her father\u2019s ear,
\nWho, conscious yet of all her drift, replied.
\nI grudge thee neither mules, my child, nor aught
\nThat thou canst ask beside. Go, and my train
\nShall furnish thee a sumpter-carriage forth
\nHigh-built, strong-wheel\u2019d, and of capacious size.
\nSo saying, he issued his command, whom quick
\nHis grooms obey\u2019d. They in the court prepared
\nThe sumpter-carriage, and adjoin\u2019d the mules.
\nAnd now the virgin from her chamber, charged
\nWith raiment, came, which on the car she placed,
\nAnd in the carriage-chest, meantime, the Queen,
\nHer mother, viands of all kinds disposed,
\nAnd fill\u2019d a skin with wine. Nausicaa rose
\nInto her seat; but, ere she went, received
\nA golden cruse of oil from the Queen\u2019s hand
\nFor unction of herself, and of her maids.
\nThen, seizing scourge and reins, she lash\u2019d the mules.
\nThey trampled loud the soil, straining to draw
\nHerself with all her vesture; nor alone
\nShe went, but follow\u2019d by her virgin train.
\nAt the delightful rivulet arrived
\nWhere those perennial cisterns were prepared
\nWith purest crystal of the fountain fed
\nProfuse, sufficient for the deepest stains,
\nLoosing the mules, they drove them forth to browze
\nOn the sweet herb beside the dimpled flood.
\nThe carriage, next, light\u2019ning, they bore in hand
\nThe garments down to the unsullied wave,
\nAnd thrust them heap\u2019d into the pools, their task
\nDispatching brisk, and with an emulous haste.
\nWhen they had all purified, and no spot
\nCould now be seen, or blemish more, they spread
\nThe raiment orderly along the beach
\nWhere dashing tides had cleansed the pebbles most,
\nAnd laving, next, and smoothing o\u2019er with oil
\nTheir limbs, all seated on the river\u2019s bank,
\nThey took repast, leaving the garments, stretch\u2019d
\nIn noon-day fervour of the sun, to dry.
\nTheir hunger satisfied, at once arose
\nThe mistress and her train, and putting off
\nTheir head-attire, play\u2019d wanton with the ball,
\nThe princess singing to her maids the while.
\nSuch as shaft-arm\u2019d Diana roams the hills,
\nT\u00e4ygetus sky-capt, or Erymanth,
\nThe wild boar chasing, or fleet-footed hind,
\nAll joy; the rural nymphs, daughters of Jove,
\nSport with her, and Latona\u2019s heart exults;
\nShe high her graceful head above the rest
\nAnd features lifts divine, though all be fair,
\nWith ease distinguishable from them all;
\nSo, all her train, she, virgin pure, surpass\u2019d.
\nBut when the hour of her departure thence
\nApproach\u2019d (the mules now yoked again, and all
\nHer elegant apparel folded neat)
\nMinerva azure-eyed mused how to wake
\nUlysses, that he might behold the fair
\nVirgin, his destin\u2019d guide into the town.
\nThe Princess, then, casting the ball toward
\nA maiden of her train, erroneous threw
\nAnd plunged it deep into the dimpling stream.
\nAll shrieked; Ulysses at the sound awoke,
\nAnd, sitting, meditated thus the cause.
\nAh me! what mortal race inhabit here?
\nRude are they, contumacious and unjust?
\nOr hospitable, and who fear the Gods?
\nSo shrill the cry and feminine of nymphs
\nFills all the air around, such as frequent
\nThe hills, clear fountains, and herbaceous meads.
\nIs this a neighbourhood of men endued
\nWith voice articulate? But what avails
\nTo ask; I will myself go forth and see.
\nSo saying, divine Ulysses from beneath
\nHis thicket crept, and from the leafy wood
\nA spreading branch pluck\u2019d forcibly, design\u2019d
\nA decent skreen effectual, held before.
\nSo forth he went, as goes the lion forth,
\nThe mountain-lion, conscious of his strength,
\nWhom winds have vex\u2019d and rains; fire fills his eyes,
\nAnd whether herds or flocks, or woodland deer
\nHe find, he rends them, and, adust for blood,
\nAbstains not even from the guarded fold,
\nSuch sure to seem in virgin eyes, the Chief,
\nAll naked as he was, left his retreat,
\nReluctant, by necessity constrain\u2019d.
\nHim foul with sea foam horror-struck they view\u2019d,
\nAnd o\u2019er the jutting shores fled all dispersed.
\nNausicaa alone fled not; for her
\nPallas courageous made, and from her limbs,
\nBy pow\u2019r divine, all tremour took away.
\nFirm she expected him; he doubtful stood,
\nOr to implore the lovely maid, her knees
\nEmbracing, or aloof standing, to ask
\nIn gentle terms discrete the gift of cloaths,
\nAnd guidance to the city where she dwelt.
\nHim so deliberating, most, at length,
\nThis counsel pleas\u2019d; in suppliant terms aloof
\nTo sue to her, lest if he clasp\u2019d her knees,
\nThe virgin should that bolder course resent.
\nThen gentle, thus, and well-advised he spake.
\nOh Queen! thy earnest suppliant I approach.
\nArt thou some Goddess, or of mortal race?
\nFor if some Goddess, and from heaven arrived,
\nDiana, then, daughter of mighty Jove
\nI deem thee most, for such as hers appear
\nThy form, thy stature, and thy air divine.
\nBut if, of mortal race, thou dwell below,
\nThrice happy then, thy parents I account,
\nAnd happy thrice thy brethren. Ah! the joy
\nWhich always for thy sake, their bosoms fill,
\nWhen thee they view, all lovely as thou art,
\nEnt\u2019ring majestic on the graceful dance.
\nBut him beyond all others blest I deem,
\nThe youth, who, wealthier than his rich compeers,
\nShall win and lead thee to his honour\u2019d home.
\nFor never with these eyes a mortal form
\nBeheld I comparable aught to thine,
\nIn man or woman. Wonder-wrapt I gaze.
\nSuch erst, in Delos, I beheld a palm
\nBeside the altar of Apollo, tall,
\nAnd growing still; (for thither too I sail\u2019d,
\nAnd num\u2019rous were my followers in a voyage
\nOrdain\u2019d my ruin) and as then I view\u2019d
\nThat palm long time amazed, for never grew
\nSo strait a shaft, so lovely from the ground,
\nSo, Princess! thee with wonder I behold,
\nCharm\u2019d into fixt astonishment, by awe
\nAlone forbidden to embrace thy knees,
\nFor I am one on whom much woe hath fall\u2019n.
\nYesterday I escaped (the twentieth day
\nOf my distress by sea) the dreary Deep;
\nFor, all those days, the waves and rapid storms
\nBore me along, impetuous from the isle
\nOgygia; till at length the will of heav\u2019n
\nCast me, that I might also here sustain
\nAffliction on your shore; for rest, I think,
\nIs not for me. No. The Immortal Gods
\nHave much to accomplish ere that day arrive.
\nBut, oh Queen, pity me! who after long
\nCalamities endured, of all who live
\nThee first approach, nor mortal know beside
\nOf the inhabitants of all the land.
\nShew me your city; give me, although coarse,
\nSome cov\u2019ring (if coarse cov\u2019ring thou<\/i> canst give)
\nAnd may the Gods thy largest wishes grant,
\nHouse, husband, concord! for of all the gifts
\nOf heav\u2019n, more precious none I deem, than peace
\n\u2019Twixt wedded pair, and union undissolved;
\nEnvy torments their enemies, but joy
\nFills ev\u2019ry virtuous breast, and most their own.
\nTo whom Nausicaa the fair replied.
\nSince, stranger! neither base by birth thou seem\u2019st,
\nNor unintelligent, (but Jove, the King
\nOlympian, gives to good and bad alike
\nProsperity according to his will,
\nAnd grief to thee, which thou must patient bear,)
\nNow, therefore, at our land and city arrived,
\nNor garment thou shalt want, nor aught beside
\nDue to a suppliant guest like thee forlorn.
\nI will both show thee where our city stands,
\nAnd who dwell here. Ph\u00e6acia\u2019s sons possess
\nThis land; but I am daughter of their King
\nThe brave Alcino\u00fcs, on whose sway depends
\nFor strength and wealth the whole Ph\u00e6acian race.
\nShe said, and to her beauteous maidens gave
\nInstant commandment\u2014My attendants, stay!
\nWhy flee ye thus, and whither, from the sight
\nOf a mere mortal? Seems he in your eyes
\nSome enemy of ours? The heart beats not,
\nNor shall it beat hereafter, which shall come
\nAn enemy to the Ph\u00e6acian shores,
\nSo dear to the immortal Gods are we.
\nRemote, amid the billowy Deep, we hold
\nOur dwelling, utmost of all human-kind,
\nAnd free from mixture with a foreign race.
\nThis man, a miserable wand\u2019rer comes,
\nWhom we are bound to cherish, for the poor
\nAnd stranger are from Jove, and trivial gifts
\nTo such are welcome. Bring ye therefore food
\nAnd wine, my maidens, for the guest\u2019s regale,
\nAnd lave him where the stream is shelter\u2019d most.
\nShe spake; they stood, and by each other\u2019s words
\nEncouraged, placed Ulysses where the bank
\nO\u2019erhung the stream, as fair Nausicaa bade,
\nDaughter of King Alcino\u00fcs the renown\u2019d.
\nApparel also at his side they spread,
\nMantle and vest, and, next, the limpid oil
\nPresenting to him in the golden cruse,
\nExhorted him to bathe in the clear stream.
\nUlysses then the maidens thus bespake.
\nYe maidens, stand apart, that I may cleanse,
\nMyself, my shoulders from the briny surf,
\nAnd give them oil which they have wanted long.
\nBut in your presence I bathe not, ashamed
\nTo show myself uncloath\u2019d to female eyes.
\nHe said; they went, and to Nausicaa told
\nHis answer; then the Hero in the stream
\nHis shoulders laved, and loins incrusted rough
\nWith the salt spray, and with his hands the scum
\nOf the wild ocean from his locks express\u2019d.
\nThus wash\u2019d all over, and refresh\u2019d with oil,
\nHe put the garments on, Nausicaa\u2019s gift.
\nThen Pallas, progeny of Jove, his form
\nDilated more, and from his head diffused
\nHis curling locks like hyacinthine flowers.
\nAs when some artist, by Minerva made
\nAnd Vulcan wise to execute all tasks
\nIngenious, binding with a golden verge
\nBright silver, finishes a graceful work,
\nSuch grace the Goddess o\u2019er his ample chest
\nCopious diffused, and o\u2019er his manly brows.
\nRetiring, on the beach he sat, with grace
\nAnd dignity illumed, where, viewing him,
\nThe virgin Princess, with amazement mark\u2019d
\nHis beauty, and her damsels thus bespake.
\nMy white-arm\u2019d maidens, listen to my voice!
\nNot hated, sure, by all above, this man
\nAmong Ph\u00e6acia\u2019s godlike sons arrives.
\nAt first I deem\u2019d him of plebeian sort
\nDishonourable, but he now assumes
\nA near resemblance to the Gods above.
\nAh! would to heaven it were my lot to call
\nHusband, some native of our land like him
\nAccomplish\u2019d, and content to inhabit here!
\nGive him, my maidens, food, and give him wine.
\nShe ended; they obedient to her will,
\nBoth wine and food, dispatchful, placed, and glad,
\nBefore Ulysses; he rapacious ate,
\nToil-suff\u2019ring Chief, and drank, for he had lived
\nFrom taste of aliment long time estranged.
\nOn other thoughts meantime intent, her charge
\nOf folded vestments neat the Princess placed
\nWithin the royal wain, then yoked the mules,
\nAnd to her seat herself ascending, call\u2019d
\nUlysses to depart, and thus she spake.
\nUp, stranger! seek the city. I will lead
\nThy steps toward my royal Father\u2019s house,
\nWhere all Ph\u00e6acia\u2019s Nobles thou shalt see.
\nBut thou (for I account thee not unwise)
\nThis course pursue. While through the fields we pass,
\nAnd labours of the rural hind, so long
\nWith my attendants follow fast the mules
\nAnd sumpter-carriage. I will be thy guide.
\nBut, once the summit gain\u2019d, on which is built
\nOur city with proud bulwarks fenced around,
\nAnd laved on both sides by its pleasant port
\nOf narrow entrance, where our gallant barks
\nLine all the road, each station\u2019d in her place,
\nAnd where, adjoining close the splendid fane
\nOf Neptune, stands the forum with huge stones
\nFrom quarries thither drawn, constructed strong,
\nIn which the rigging of their barks they keep,
\nSail-cloth and cordage, and make smooth their oars;
\n(For bow and quiver the Ph\u00e6acian race
\nHeed not, but masts and oars, and ships well-poised,
\nWith which exulting they divide the flood)
\nThen, cautious, I would shun their bitter taunts
\nDisgustful, lest they mock me as I pass;
\nFor of the meaner people some are coarse
\nIn the extreme, and it may chance that one,
\nThe basest there seeing us shall exclaim\u2014
\nWhat handsome stranger of athletic form
\nAttends the Princess? Where had she the chance
\nTo find him? We shall see them wedded soon.
\nEither she hath received some vagrant guest
\nFrom distant lands, (for no land neighbours ours)
\nOr by her pray\u2019rs incessant won, some God
\nHath left the heav\u2019ns to be for ever hers.
\n\u2019Tis well if she have found, by her own search,
\nAn husband for herself, since she accounts
\nThe Nobles of Ph\u00e6acia, who her hand
\nSolicit num\u2019rous, worthy to be scorn\u2019d\u2014
\nThus will they speak, injurious. I should blame
\nA virgin guilty of such conduct much,
\nMyself, who reckless of her parents\u2019 will,
\nShould so familiar with a man consort,
\nEre celebration of her spousal rites.
\nBut mark me, stranger! following my advice,
\nThou shalt the sooner at my father\u2019s hands
\nObtain safe conduct and conveyance home.
\nSacred to Pallas a delightful grove
\nOf poplars skirts the road, which we shall reach
\nEre long; within that grove a fountain flows,
\nAnd meads encircle it; my father\u2019s farm
\nIs there, and his luxuriant garden plot;
\nA shout might reach it from the city-walls.
\nThere wait, till in the town arrived, we gain
\nMy father\u2019s palace, and when reason bids
\nSuppose us there, then ent\u2019ring thou the town,
\nAsk where Alcino\u00fcs dwells, my valiant Sire.
\nWell known is his abode, so that with ease
\nA child might lead thee to it, for in nought
\nThe other houses of our land the house
\nResemble, in which dwells the Hero, King
\nAlcino\u00fcs. Once within the court received
\nPause not, but, with swift pace advancing, seek
\nMy mother; she beside a column sits
\nIn the hearth\u2019s blaze, twirling her fleecy threads
\nTinged with sea-purple, bright, magnificent!
\nWith all her maidens orderly behind.
\nThere also stands my father\u2019s throne, on which
\nSeated, he drinks and banquets like a God.
\nPass that; then suppliant clasp my mother\u2019s knees,
\nSo shalt thou quickly win a glad return
\nTo thy own home, however far remote.
\nHer favour, once, and her kind aid secured,
\nThenceforth thou may\u2019st expect thy friends to see,
\nThy dwelling, and thy native soil again.
\nSo saying, she with her splendid scourge the mules
\nLash\u2019d onward. They (the stream soon left behind)
\nWith even footsteps graceful smote the ground;
\nBut so she ruled them, managing with art
\nThe scourge, as not to leave afar, although
\nFollowing on foot, Ulysses and her train.
\nThe sun had now declined, when in that grove
\nRenown\u2019d, to Pallas sacred, they arrived,
\nIn which Ulysses sat, and fervent thus
\nSued to the daughter of Jove \u00c6gis-arm\u2019d.
\nDaughter invincible of Jove supreme!
\nOh, hear me! Hear me now, because when erst
\nThe mighty Shaker of the shores incensed
\nToss\u2019d me from wave to wave, thou heard\u2019st me not.
\nGrant me, among Ph\u00e6acia\u2019s sons, to find
\nBenevolence and pity of my woes!
\nHe spake, whose pray\u2019r well-pleas\u2019d the Goddess heard,
\nBut, rev\u2019rencing the brother of her sire,[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>
\nAppear\u2019d not to Ulysses yet, whom he
\nPursued with fury to his native shores.<\/p>\n

  1. In the Original, she calls him, pappa! a more natural stile of address and more endearing. But ancient as this appellative is, it is also so familiar in modern use, that the Translator feared to hazard it. ↵<\/a><\/li>
  2. Neptune. ↵<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":299,"menu_order":6,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-112","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":245,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/112\/revisions\/245"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/112\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=112"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=112"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/odyssey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}