The Metamorphoses of Publius Ovidus Naso in English blank verse Part 12

"Yet these persisted;--obstinate refus'd "To grant her wish, and with opprobrious speech "And threats revil'd her, should she there remain.

"Nor rested thus,--the lake with hands and feet "Muddy they trouble; with malicious leaps "They agitate the pool, and upward stir "From the deep bottom clouds of slimy ooze.

"Anger her thirst diverted. Rage deny'd "More supplication from th' indignant dame.

"Their threatening words, no more the G.o.ddess brook'd; "But raising high to heaven her hands, she cry'd,-- "Be this your home for ever!--Gracious heard, "Her prayer was granted. Now they joy to plunge, "Beneath the waters; now they deep immerge "Their bodies in the hollow fen; now raise "Their heads, and skim the surface of the pool, "Often they rest upon the margin's brink, "And oft light-springing, in the cool lake plunge.

"Now still their rude contentious tongues they use, "Still squabbling, lost to shame beneath the waves: "Beneath the waves they still abusings strive "To utter. Hoa.r.s.ely still their voice is heard, "Through their wide-bloated throats. Their railing words, "Their jaws more wide dilate. Depriv'd of neck, "Their head and back in junction seem to meet; "Green s.h.i.+ne their backs; their bellies, hugely swol'n "Are white; and frogs they plunge within the pool."

Thus as the man, the fate destructive told Of Lycia's clowns, to mind another call'd The satyr's fate, who vanquish'd in the strife Of skill, on Pallas' pipe, Latona's son Severely punish'd.--"Wherefore thus,"--he cries, "Rent from myself? O, penitent I bow.

"The pipe," he shrieks, "should not such rage provoke."

Exclaiming thus, o'er his extremest limbs Stript was his skin; he one continuous wound!

Blood flow'd from every part; the naked nerves Bare started; and the trembling veins full throbb'd, By skin uncover'd. Every beating part Inward, the breast's translucent fibres plain Display'd to sight. Him every forest fawn; Each brother satyr; and each sylvan G.o.d; And every nymph, with fam'd Olympus wept: And every swain, the woolly flock who fed; Or on the mountain watch'd the horned herd.

Wash'd by their falling tears, the fertile earth Is soak'd,--absorbs them in her inmost veins; Then form'd to water, spouts them high in air.

Rapid 'twixt banks declivitous, they seek The ocean. Marsya, is the river call'd; The clearest stream through Phrygia's land which flows.

Thus far the crowd;--and then lamenting turn To present griefs:--Amphion's race extinct, Unanimous they wail; but hated still Remains the mother's pride. For her alone Weep'd Pelops;--rent his garments, bare expos'd His breast and shoulders lay, and fair display'd The ivory joint. This shoulder at his birth In fleshy substance, and carnation tinge, Equall'd the right. When by his sire his limbs Disjointed lay, the G.o.ds, 'tis said, quick join'd The sever'd members: every fragment found, Save what combin'd the neck and upper arm; The part destroy'd, with ivory they replace; And Pelops perfect from the gift became.

The neighbouring lords a.s.semble;--every town Their kings intreat condolence to bestow, And all to Thebes repair. First Argos sends; Sparta; Mycene; Calydon, not yet By stern Diana hated; Corinth, fam'd For beauteous bra.s.s; Orchomenus the fierce; Messene fertile; Patrae; Pylos, rul'd By Neleus; Trzen, yet unus'd to own The sway of Pittheus; Cleona the low; And all those towns the two-sea'd isthmus holds; And all those towns the isthmus views without.

Athens, incredible! was absent sole.

War all her energy demanded. Borne O'er ocean, fierce barbarian troops, the walls Mopsopian threaten'd. Thracian Tereus, these With arms auxiliar routed; bright his name Shone from the conquest. Him in riches great, Mighty in power, and from the G.o.d-like Mars, His lineage tracing, Procne's nuptial hand Close to Pandion bound. Their marriage bed Nor Grace, nor Hymen, nor the nuptial queen Attended. Furies held the torches, s.n.a.t.c.h'd From biers funereal. Furies spread the couch: And all night long an owl, ill-omen'd bird, Perch'd on the roof that crown'd the marriage dome.

Join'd with such omens, with such omens bore Procne a son to Tereus. Wide through Thrace Congratulations sound: glad thanks to heaven The parents give, and hail the happy day Which gave Pandion's daughter to the king; And gave the pair a son. So ignorant still Mankind of real happiness remain!

Now through five autumns had the cheerful sun The whirling year renew'd. When Procne, bland Her spouse besought.--"If grace within thy sight "Claim my deserts,--or suffer me to see "In her own clime my sister, or to ours "My sister bring: a quick return thou well "Our sire may'st promise. This high boon obtain'd, "My sister's presence,--to my sight thou'lt seem, "A deity in goodness."--On the main He bids them launch the vessel; in the port Cecropian enters, urg'd by oar and sail; And treads Piraeus' sh.o.r.e. Soon as he gain'd His audience; soon as hand with hand was clasp'd, His ill-presaging speech he open'd. First The journey's cause narrating; fond desire Of Procne; and the promis'd quick return Of Philomela, should the sire comply.

Lo! Philomela enters, splendid robes Attire her; still more splendid s.h.i.+ne her charms: Such they describe within the forests rove Dryad, and Naiad nymphs; such would they seem Their shape like hers adorn'd, like hers attir'd.

Instant was Tereus at the sight inflam'd; So instant would the h.o.a.ry harvest burn, The torch apply'd: so burn the wither'd leaves; Or h.o.a.rded hay. Well might her charms inspire Such love in any;--him his inbred l.u.s.t More goaded, more his country's warmth which burns Intense; he flames from nature, and from clime.

First to corrupt th' attendants he designs, And faithful nurse; and Philomel' to tempt With gifts immense,--his kingdom's mighty price.

Or forceful s.n.a.t.c.h her, and the rape defend, With all the powers of war. Nought but he dares.

Impell'd by love's unbridled power; his breast The raging fire contains not. Irksome seems Delay:--and eager to the anxious wish Of Procne, turns his converse; her desires His wishes aiding. Eloquent he spoke; For love inspir'd him. Often as he press'd More close than prudent, all his earnest speech, Procne, he said, dictated. Heavens! how dark The gloom that blinds the view of human souls.

Tereus for tenderest piety esteem'd, More as for vice he labors: praise he gains, for every crime. Now Philomela begs, His prayer a.s.sisting; flings her winning arms Around Pandion's neck, and suppliant sues A sight of Procne; for her woe she begs, But deems she begs delight. Her Tereus views;-- Antic.i.p.ates his joys; her every kiss, Her arms around her parent's neck entwin'd, But goad his pa.s.sion: fuel fresh they add; Food for his flame. And when her sire she clasps, He longs that sire to be. Parent, not more His impious purpose would the wretch delay!

The king by both their warm beseechings won, Consents;--she joyful to her father gives Glad thanks;--and hapless, deems completely blest, Herself and sister, both most deeply curst;

Now Phbus' toil nigh spent, his coursers' feet Sweep'd down the slope of heaven. The royal feast, And golden goblets, fill'd with Bacchus' gift, The board bespread. From hence in slumbers soft, Each sought repose. All but the Thracian king, Though far remov'd, still burning; all her face, Her hands and gesture he recals, and paints At pleasure all her beauties yet unseen: Feeding his flame, and sleep repelling far.

'Twas morn;--Pandion, pressing warm the hand Of Tereus, as they parted, while the tears Gush'd sudden, thus bespeaks his friendly care.

"Dear son, to thee I give her, pious claims "Compel me: suppliant let me thee adjure "By faith, by kindred, and by all the G.o.ds, "Thy care paternal, shall protect the maid; "And the soft solace of my anxious years, "Speedy restore, for each delay is long.

"Quick, Philomela, quick my child, rejoin "Thy sire, if filial duty sways thee. Much "Thy sister's absence pains me."--Speaking thus He press'd with kisses soft, the maiden's lips, And dripping tears with each behest let fall.

Their hands he asks as pledge of faith, and joins Their hands in his presented; tender begs His salutations to his daughter dear; And his young grandson. Scarce the last adieu, Chok'd with deep sighs, he breathes: his boding mind Foreseeing future woes.

Now Philomel'

Safely on board the painted vessel plac'd, The land far left, as with their laboring oars The surges move;--exulting Tereus, cry'd, "Victorious,--lo! my utmost wishes borne Safe with me."--Scarce his burning soul defers His hop'd-for joys. His eyes are never turn'd From the lov'd face. Thus Jove's protected bird Rapacious bears, with his sharp talons pierc'd, An hare defenceless to his lofty nest: No flight remains, the spoiler calmly views His prey. Now ended is their voyage, now Weary'd they quit their s.h.i.+p, and joyful touch Their native beach; and now the Thracian king Pandion's daughter to a lofty stall Conducts; by ancient trees the spot well screen'd.

There he inclos'd the pale, the trembling maid, Of all things fearful, as with tears she press'd Her sister's face to see: his purpose dire Disclosing,--force the helpless maid o'ercame, Loudly exclaiming to her sire; and loud Her sister's help invoking, equal vain: But chief she begs celestial powers to aid.

Trembling she lies; so seems a shuddering lamb Wounded, and from the h.o.a.ry wolf's fierce jaws Just 'scap'd, not sure his safety yet he deems: So seems a dove, her plumes in blood deep-drench'd, With fear still s.h.i.+vering; still the hungry claws Dreading, that lately pierc'd her. Soon restor'd Her mental powers, while scatter'd hung the locks Rent in her anguish, high her arms she rais'd, Livid with blows, as those that mourn the dead; Exclaiming,--"O, barbarian! wretch supreme!

"In cruelty and vice; whom not the charge "Parental, seal'd with pious tears could move; "A sister's charge entrusted: not her state, "Virgin defenceless; not the sacred vows, "Conjugal plighted. In confusion all "Commixt, by thee, adulteress here I lie, "Against my sister. Thou a double spouse, "To both. This scourge is sure to me not due.

"Why, villain, not my hated life destroy?

"Perfect in deeds atrocious; would my breath "Before the horrid act supprest had been: "Then had I guiltless sought the shades. But still "If powers celestial view this act; if sway "On earth they hold; if all not sinks with me, "Thy fate hence-forward from me dread; myself "Shall unabash'd, thy acts proclaim. If power "Is granted, when in public walks I roam: "If here in woods imprison'd, all the woods "Shall with my plaints resound; the conscious rocks "I'll move. May heaven me hear! and if in heaven "A G.o.d abides, me hear!"--Rous'd by her words, The fierce king's anger burns; no less his fear Than anger moves him: strongly spurr'd by each, His weapon from the pendent sheath he drew: Dragg'd by the hair, her limbs he forc'd to yield To fetters; twisting rough her arms behind.

Glad Philomel' to him her throat presents, Death from the glittering sword expecting. Grasp'd In pincers, fierce her tongue he tore away; Griev'd, and indignant, as her father's name She strove to utter: trembling still appear'd The b.l.o.o.d.y root; trembling the tongue itself Murmur'd as on the gore-stain'd earth it lay: As leaps the serpent's sever'd tail, the tongue, Quivering in death, still to her feet advanc'd.

This deed of horror done, 'tis said that oft (Incredible the fact) repeated force Upon her mangled form the wretch employ'd.

Now dares he, all those acts atrocious done, Return to Procne. Eager as he comes, For Philomel' she asks. False tears and groans He gives: the hapless nymph he feigns deceas'd: His tears convince. Now from her shoulders torn, Her robes with gold bright-glittering, sable vests Her limbs enfolded. High an empty tomb She rais'd, and pious obsequies perform'd To manes pretended: for her sister's fate She mourn'd, whose fate such mourning ill deserv'd.

Through twice six signs had Phbus journey'd on, The year completing. What, alas! remains For Philomela? Guards prevent her flight.

Of stone erected, high the ma.s.sive walls Circle her round. Her lips so mute, refuse The deed to blazon. Keen the sense of grief Sharpens the soul:--in misery the mind Ingenious sparkles. Skillful she extends The Thracian web, and on the snow-white threads, In purple letters, weaves the dreadful tale.

Complete, a servant with expressive signs, The present to the queen she bids to bear.

To Procne was it borne, witless the slave Of what he carry'd. Savage Tereus' spouse The web unfolded; read the mournful tale Her hapless sister told, and wonderous! sate In silence; grief her rising words repress'd: Indignant, chok'd, her throat refus'd to breathe, The angry accents to her plaining tongue.

To weep she waits not, in turmoil confus'd, Justice and flagrance undistinguished lie; Her mind sole bent for vengeance on her spouse.

Now was the time Sithonia's matrons wont, The rites triennial of the jovial G.o.d To tend. Those rites to conscious shade alone Confided. Rhodope, the brazen sound Shrill tinkling, hears by night;--by night the queen The palace quits, attir'd as Bacchus' rites Demand; and weapon'd with the Bacchant arms.

A vine her forehead girds; the nimble deer Clothes with his skin her sides; her shoulder bears A slender spear. Thus maddening, Procne seeks The woods in ire terrific, crowded round By all her followers: rack'd by inward pangs, The furious rant of Bacchus veils her woes.

The lonely stable seen at length, she howls Aloud,--"Evoe, ho!"--and bursts the door; Drags thence her sister;--her thence dragg'd, invests I In Baccha.n.a.lian robes; her face inshrouds In ivy foliage; and astonish'd leads The trembling damsel o'er the palace steps.

The horrid dome when Philomela saw, Perforce she enter'd; through her frame she shook; The blood her face deserted. Procne sought A spot retir'd, and from her features flung The sacred trappings, and her sister's face, Sorrowing and blus.h.i.+ng, to the light unveil'd; Then ran to clasp her. She the sight not bore; Her eyes she rais'd not; her dejected brows Bent to the ground; thus by her sister seen, Encroacher on her bed. Her hands still spoke, When oaths she wish'd to utter, and to call Th' attesting G.o.ds, her foul disgrace by force To prove accomplish'd. Furious, Procne burns, Nor curbs her ire; her sister's streaming tears Reproving checks, and cries;--"no period now "For tears, we ask the sword! But if than sword "Vengeance more keen thou hop'st for, sister dear, "Behold me for most horrid deeds prepar'd.

"Shall I with flaming torches blaze on high "His hall imperial, and the villain king "Heave in the conflagration? Shall I rend "As thine his tongue? or from his sockets tear, "His eye-b.a.l.l.s? or what other member maim?

"Or this, or instant send his guilty soul "Thro' thousand wounds to judgment? What thou speak'st "Be mighty. I for mightiest acts prepare.

"To fix I hesitate." As Procne speaks, Lo! infant Itys to his mother runs; His sight her mind determines; cruel turn Her eyes, exclaiming;--"See, how like his sire's "Appear his features!"--More she spoke not, fixt Was straight her dread resolve: now fiercer burn'd Within her smother'd rage;--yet when the boy Approach'd, and round her neck his infant arms Threw, and his kisses printed on her lips, With bland caresses mingled, even the soul Of Procne melted. Mollify'd her rage, Tears hard constrain'd flow'd from unwilling eyes.

Soon as the mother's feelings softening seem To melt in extreme fondness; Procne quits The sight, and to her sister's face reverts Again her visage; then on each in turn Full bent her view, she cries;--"Must one me melt "With blandish'd soothings? Must the other mute, "With tongue dismember'd stand? Must he exclaim "O, mother!--she, O, sister! never more?

"To what a spouse, Pandion's daughter, see "Art thou, degenerate wife, conjoin'd! Thy sin "A spouse like Tereus to have us'd too well."

More she delays not, infant Itys drags, Swift as the Indian tiger sweeps the fawn Through shady forests. Then the lofty dome, For rooms remote well search'd, in one arrives, Where she the infant pierces; 'twixt the breast And side the weapon enters, while his hands, Suppliant, his fate foreseeing, he extends, And,--"mother! O, my mother!"--loudly cries.

Nor mov'd her countenance fell;--the single wound Was deadly. Philomela, with her steel The throat divided, and the quivering limbs Dissever'd, whilst of animation still Some glimmering sparks remain'd. Of these, they part In brazen cauldrons boil: part on the spit Crackling they turn: with gore the secret rooms Offensive float. Her unsuspecting spouse Procne to feast invites; delusive feigns Her country's customs,--where 'twas given, but one The husband should be nigh; all menial slaves Far distant. On his ancestorial seat High-lifted, Tereus sate, and feasted there: And in his bowels deep he there entomb'd Bowels his own. So blind are human souls,-- "Call Itys to the feast,"--he cries. No more Could Procne veil her savage joy;--full bent The slaughter to announce, she loud proclaim'd "Thou seek'st who with thee rests!"--Around he looks.

Wondering where rests he. Philomela rush'd, Her tresses sprinkled with the ireful blood, As griev'd he, Itys calling loud, and flung, With savage fury Itys' gory head Full in his father's face; nor ever mourn'd Lost speech so much; her well-earn'd joy to show, More griev'd lost power. With outcry loud the king O'er-turn'd the table; from the Stygian vale, Invok'd the viper'd sisters: hard he strove To tear his bosom, and from thence disgorge The dire repast, the half-digested ma.s.s Of Itys' limbs. Now weeping, wild he mourns, Himself his offspring's tomb. Now fierce pursues Pandion's daughters with his unsheath'd sword.

From him escaping, on light wings upborne Th' Athenians seem'd; light wings their limbs upbore!

One sheltering in the woods: protecting roofs The other seeking; still the murderous deed, Mark'd on her breast remains; still on her plumes The teint of blood is seen. Rapid in rage And hope of vengeance, Tereus too is chang'd, And flits a bird; a plumy crest he bears, High on his head: the lengthen'd sword he bore, A beak enormous grows. A lapwing now With fierce-arm'd face he flies.

Untimely sought Pandion, when the mournful tale he heard, The Stygian shades, ere yet the lengthen'd date Of years commanded. Next th' Athenian realm Erechtheus rul'd, the sceptre dubious held By right or forceful arms. Proud could he boast Four sons;--and daughters four to him were given.

Beauteous the maids; in beauty equal two: Of these aeolian Cephalus was bless'd With thee as spouse, O, Procris!--Tereus long, Boreas withstanding, with the power of Thrace, Long Orithya, by the G.o.d belov'd, Was lov'd in vain; while soft beseechings more And prayers, the power to strenuous force preferr'd.

But now those soothings bland so vainly try'd, Fierce swol'n with rage, his most accustom'd feel (Too much that pa.s.sion knows this wind) he cries;-- "Well I deserve it, all my proper arms "Relinquish'd: savage fierceness, strength, stern rage, "And threatening force. With humble softening prayers "Fool have I su'd; in each attempt have fail'd.

"More apt to me is force! by force I drive "The lowering clouds before me: Ocean's waves "Forceful I turn; forceful the knotted oak "Root from its deep foundation; hard the frost "I bind; and beat the sounding earth with hail: "I when in open sky, for there our field "Lies in display, my bl.u.s.tering brethren meet, "Oppose such might, that midmost sky resounds "Echoing our forceful conflict; flas.h.i.+ng flames "From the cleft bodies of the hollow clouds, "Elicited: I too, earth's secret womb "Fierce entering, in her deepest caverns strain "My strength, 'till trembling wide through all her frame, "The ghosts below are troubled. These the aid "My nuptial wish should seek; no longer pray "Erechtheus for my sire;--my sire by force, "The monarch shall be made."--So spoke the G.o.d, Or thus, or more in fury, as he shook His plumes, whose motion sweep'd through earth's extent, And made the wide main tremble. Lofty hills His dusty mantle covers; as the plains Rapid he brushes; shrouded deep in mist, In his dark wings the furious lover clasps His Orithya, trembling, pale with fear: Flying his flames were fann'd, and fiercer blaz'd.

Nor check'd the ravisher his lofty flight, Till seen the town of Cicones, whose walls Receiv'd him. There th' Athenian nymph became The freezing monarch's bride: a mother there, A double birth she brought, whose shoulders bear The father's pinions; all their semblance else Their mother's. Not at first, 'tis said, appear'd The feathers: Calas and Zethes, boys Were yet unplum'd; when yet with ruddy hair, Their beards appear'd not. From each shoulder shot The feathers bird-like, at the self-same time, Their manly cheeks were thick with yellow down.

Now when their youth matur'd to man appear'd, Through seas unplough'd before, they sought the fleece Splendid with glittering wool; with all the train Of Minyae, in the first-built vessel borne.

*The Seventh Book.*

Expedition of the Argonauts. Jason obtains the golden fleece, by the a.s.sistance of Medea. aeson restored to youth by her magic powers. Murder of Pelias by his daughters. Medea's flight to Corinth. Murder of her rival and infants. Marriage with aegeus.

Adventures of Theseus. War with Minos. Plague in aegina. Change of ants into Myrmidons. Cephalus and Procris.

THE *Seventh Book* OF THE METAMORPHOSES OF OVID.

Now in the Pagasaean vessel borne, Plough'd the wide sea the Argonauts, and saw The fate of Phineus; whose old age the curse Of hunger felt, and felt perpetual night.

The youths from Boreas sprung, quick sped to flight The virgin-featur'd birds, his hapless face, Far distant. 'Neath great Jason's rule much toil They bore ere on the oozy banks they stay'd Of rapid Phasis. Here the king they seek; And here demand the golden fleece; and here An answer big with fearful labors learn The Grecian crew. Meantime the royal maid Burns with fierce fires: with reason struggling long, Still her hot flame to quench unable, cries Aloud Medea;--"vainly I oppose!

"Some unknown G.o.d controls. Perhaps 'tis love!

"If love 'tis not, no sentiment more near "To love can come. Why else my sire's commands "So harsh appear? But harsh in truth they are.

"But why his failing dread? Why dread his death, "But barely seen? What cause such fear can give?

"O, hapless maid! would from my virgin breast "Those flames to fling were given. If mine the power "More wisdom would I use. But me this force, "Before unknown, unwilling drags; this love "Persuades, oppos'd to reason: plain I see "The better track,--approve it most, yet swerv'd, "I tread the worse. Why, royal virgin, burn "Thus for a stranger guest? Why long'st thou thus, "A foreign partner in the marriage bed "To clasp? Thy country well can thee supply "What e'er thou lovest. In the G.o.ds' decree "His death or safety rests. Yet may he live!

"Pray may'st thou for him sure,--love unconcern'd.

"But what has Jason done? Savage, indeed!

"Were those his youth, his birth, and brilliant deeds "Not touch'd: how savage too the soul must be "His beauty touch'd not, were there nought beside; "My bosom sure it moves. But were my aid "Deny'd, the furious bulls with flaming breath "His fate would compa.s.s; or the foes that spring "From earth, his harvest, slay him in the fight; "Or last, he'd fall the ravenous dragon's prey.