Part 24

A lofty tower there stood, whose summit bore A beacon; grateful object to the sight Of weary mariners. Thither they mount, And see with sighs the herd strew'd o'er the beach; The monster ravaging with gory jaw, And his long shaggy hairs in blood bedy'd. Thence Peleus, stretching to the wide sea shore His arms, to Psamathé cerulean pray'd, To finish there her rage, and grant relief. Unmov'd she heard Æäcides implore: But Thetis, suppliant, from the goddess gain'd The favor for her spouse. Uncheck'd, the wolf The furious slaughter quits not, fierce the more From the sweet taste of blood, till to a stone Transform'd, as on a bull's torn neck he hung. His form remains; and, save his color, all; The color only shews him wolf no more: And shews no terror he shall now inspire.

Still in this realm the angry fates deny'd Peleus to stay; exil'd, he wander'd on, And reach'd Magnesia: from Acastus there Thessalian, expiation he receiv'd.

Ceÿx meantime, with anxious doubts disturb'd; First with the prodigy, his brother's change, Then those which follow'd; to the Clarian god Prepar'd to go, the oracles to seek, Which sweetly solace men's uneasy minds. Delphos was inaccessible; the road Phorbas prophane, with all his Phlegians barr'd. Yet first Alcyöné, most faithful spouse! He tells thee of his purpose. Instant seiz'd A death-like coldness on her inmost heart: A boxen paleness o'er her features spread; And down her cheeks the tears in torrents roll'd. Thrice she attempted words, but thrice her tears Her words prevented; then her pious plaints, Broken by interrupted sobs, she spoke. "My dearest lord! what hapless fault of mine "Thy soul has alter'd? Where that love for me "Thou wont'st to shew? Canst thou now unconcern'd "Depart, and leave Alcyöné behind? "Glads thee this tedious journey? Am I lov'd "Most dearly farthest absent? Yet by land "Was all thy journey, then I should but grieve, "Not tremble: sighs would then of fears take place. "The sea, the dread appearance of the main, "Me terrifies. But lately I beheld "Torn planks bestrew the shore: and oft I've read "On empty tombs, the names of dead inscrib'd. "Let not fallacious confidence thy mind "Mislead, that Æölus I call my sire; "Who binds the furious winds in caves, and smoothes "At will the ocean. No! when issu'd once, "They sweep the main, no power of his can rule: "And uncontroll'd they ravage all the land: "Nor checks them aught on ocean. Clouds of heaven, "They clash; and ruddy lightnings hurl along "In fierce encounter. More their force I know, "(For well I knew, and oft have mark'd their power, "While yet an infant at my sire's abode,) "The more I deem them such as should be fear'd. "Yet dearest spouse, if thy firm-fixt resolve "No prayers can change, and obstinate thou stand'st "For sailing, let me also with thee go: "Together then the buffeting we'll bear. "Then shall I fear but what I suffer; then "Whate'er we suffer we'll together feel: "Together sailing o'er the boundless main."

Her words and tears the star-born husband mov'd; For less of love he felt not. Yet his scheme To voyage o'er the deep he could not change; Nor yet consent Alcyöné should share His peril: and with soothing soft replies, He try'd to calm her timid breast. Nor yet Himself approv'd the arguments he try'd, His consort to persuade consent to yield To his departure. This at length he adds As solace, which alone her bosom mov'd. "All absence tedious seems; but by the fires "My father bears, I swear, if fates permit, "Returning, thou shalt see me, ere the moon "Shall twice have fill'd her orb." Hope in her breast Thus rais'd by promise of a quick return, Instant the vessel, from the dock drawn forth, He bids them launch in ocean, and complete In all her stores and tackling. This beheld Alcyöné; and, presaging again Woes of the future, trembled, and a flood Of tears again gush'd forth; again she clasp'd His neck; at length, as, wretched wife, she cry'd,-- "Farewell" she, swooning, lifeless sunk to earth.

The rowers now, while Ceÿx sought delays, To their strong breasts the double-ranking oars Drew back, and cleft with equal stroke the surge. Her humid eyes she rais'd, and first beheld Her husband standing on the crooked poop, Waving his hand as signal; she his sign Return'd. When farther from the land they shot, Her straining eyes no more indulg'd to know His features; still, while yet they could, her eyes Pursu'd the flying vessel. This at length Increasing distance her forbade to see; Still she perceiv'd the floating sails, which spread From the mast's loftiest summit. Sails at length Were also lost in distance: then she sought Anxious her widow'd chamber; and her limbs Threw on the couch. The bed, the vacant space, Renew'd her tears, reminding of her loss.

Now far from port they'd sail'd, when the strong ropes The breeze began to strain; the rowers turn Their oars, and lash them to the vessel's side; Hoist to the mast's extremest height their yards; And loose their sails to catch the coming breeze. Scarce half, not more than half, the sea's extent The vessel now had plough'd; and either land Was distant far; when, as dim night approach'd, The sea seem'd foaming white with rising waves; And the strong East more furious 'gan to blow. Long had the master cry'd,--"Lower down your yards, "And close furl every sail!"--he bids; the storm Adverse, impedes the sound; the roaring waves Drown every voice in noise. Yet some, untold, Haste to secure the oars; part bind the sails; Part fortify the sides: this water laves, Ejecting seas on seas; that lowers the yards. While thus they toil unguided, rough the storm Increases; from each quarter furious winds Wage warfare, and with mounting billows join. Trembles the ruler of the bark, and owns His state; he knows not what he should command, Nor what forbid; so swift the sudden storm; So much more strong the tempest than his skill. Men clamorous shout; cords rattle; mighty waves Roar, on waves rushing; thunders roll through air; In billows mounts the ocean, and appears To meet the sky, and o'er the hanging clouds Sprinkles its foam. Now from the lowest depths, As yellow sands they turn, the billows shine; Now blacker seem they than the Stygian waves; Now flatten'd, all with spumy froth is spread. The ship Trachinian too, each rapid change In agitation heaves; now rais'd sublime The deepen'd vale she views as from a ridge So lofty: down to Acheron's low depths, Now in the hollow of the wave she falls, And views th' o'erhanging heaven from hell's deep gulf. Oft bursting on her side with loud report The billows sound; nor with less fury beat Than the balista, or huge battering ram, Driv'n on the tottering fort: or lions fierce, Whose strength and rage increasing with their speed, Rush on the armour'd breast and outstretch'd spear. So rush'd the waves with wind-propelling power High o'er the decks; and 'bove the rigging rose.

Now shook the wedges; open rents appear'd, The pitchy covering gone, and wide-display'd, A passage opens to the deadly flood. Then from the breaking clouds fell torrent showers; All heaven seem'd sweeping down to swell the main; And the swol'n main, ascending to invade Celestial regions, soak'd with floods each sail: And ocean's briny waters mix'd with rain. No light the firmament possess'd, and night Frown'd blacker through the tempest. Lightning oft Reft the thick gloom, and gave a brilliant blaze; And while the lightnings flame the waters burn.

Now o'er the vessel's cover'd deck the waves High tower; and as a soldier, braver far Than all his fellows, urg'd by thirst of fame, (The well-defended walls to scale oft try'd,) At length his hope obtains, and singly keeps His post, by foes on every side assail'd: So when the furious billows raging beat The lofty side, the tenth impetuous rears Above the rest, and forceful rushes on; The battery ceasing not on the spent bark, Till o'er the wall, as of a captur'd town, Downward it rushes. Part without invade, And part are lodg'd within. In terror all In trembling panic stand: not more the crowd Which fill a city's walls, when foes without Mine their foundations; while an entrance gain'd Within, part rage already. Art no more Can aid; all courage droops; as many deaths Seem rapid rushing as the billows break. This wails in tears his fate; that stupid stands; This calls those blest whom funeral rites await: One to his deity rich offerings vows, And vainly stretching forth to heaven his arms, The heaven he sees not, begs for aid: his friends, Brethren and parents, fill of this the mind; Of that his children, or whate'er he leaves.

Alcyöné, alone in Ceÿx' soul Found place; and but Alcyöné, his lips Nought utter'd. Her alone he wish'd to see; Yet joy'd she far was absent. Much he long'd To view once more his dear paternal shores; And turn his last looks tow'rd his regal dome: But where to turn he knows not; in a whirl So boils the sea; and all the heaven is hid In shade, by more than pitchy clouds produc'd: Night doubly darken'd. Now the whirlwind's force Shivers the mast, and tears the helm away: And like a victor, proud to view his spoils, Mounts an high wave, and scornfully beholds The lower billows; thundering down it sweeps, Impell'd by force that Athos might o'erturn, Or Pindus, from their roots; and plunge in sea. Down in the lowest depths, the weight and blow Bury'd the vessel; with her most the crew Sunk in the raging gulf: some met their fate, Ne'er to return to air: some floated still; To splinter'd fragments of the bark they clung. Ceÿx himself, grasp'd only in that hand A shatter'd plank, which once a sceptre held; And Æölus and Phosphor' call'd in vain: But chiefly from his lips was, as he swam, Alcyöné resounded; that lov'd name Remember'd constant, and repeated most. He prays the billows may his body bear To meet her eyes; and prays her friendly hands His burial may perform. While thus he swims, Alcyöné he names, whene'er the waves To gasp for breath permit him; and beneath The billows, tries Alcyöné to sound. Lo! a black towering arch of waters broke Midst of the surges; in the boiling foam Involv'd, o'erwhelm'd he sunk. That mournful night Was Phosphor' dark, impalpable to view: And since stern fate to heaven his post fast bound, He veil'd in densest clouds his grieving face.

Meantime Alcyöné her height of woe Unknown, counts each sad night, and now with haste The garments he should wear prepares; and now Those to adorn herself when him she meets; Cherishing emptiest hopes of his return. Devoutest offerings to the heavenly powers She bore; but incense far before the rest On Juno's altar burn'd; and oft she pray'd For him who was not. For his safety pray'd; For his return; and that his love might still Without a rival hers remain: the last Of all her ardent prayers indulgence found. But longer bore the goddess not to hear Such vain petitions for the dead; these hands Polluted, from her altars to remove, To Iris thus she spoke:--"O, faithful maid! "Most trusty messenger, with speed repair "To Somnus' drowsy hall; him bid to send "A vision form'd in lifeless Ceÿx' shape "To tell Alcyöné her woes' extent." She ended: in her various-teinted robe Attir'd, and spreading o'er the spacious heaven Her sweeping arch, Iris the dwelling sought The goddess order'd. Hid beneath a steep Near the Cimmerians, in a deep dug cave, Form'd in a hollow mountain, stands the hall And secret dwelling of inactive sleep; Where Phoebus rising, or in mid-day height, Or setting-radiance, ne'er can dart his beams. Clouds with dim darkness mingled, from the ground Exhale, and twilight makes a doubtful day. The watchful bird, with crested head, ne'er calls Aurora with his song; no wakeful dog, Nor goose more wakeful, e'er the silence breaks; No savage beasts, no pastur'd flocks, no boughs Shook by the breeze; no brawl of human voice There sounds: but death-like silence reigns around. Yet from the rock's foundation, gently flows A stream of Lethe's water, whose dull waves In gentle murmuring o'er the pebbles purl, Tempting to slumber. At the cavern door The fruitful poppy, and ten thousand plants, From which moist night the drowsy juices drains, Then scatters o'er the shady earth, grew thick. Round all the house no gate was seen, which, turn'd On the dry hinge should creak; no centry strict The threshold to protect. But in the midst The lofty bed of ebon form'd, was plac'd. Black were the feathers; all the coverings black, And stretch'd at length the god was seen; his limbs With lassitude relax'd. Around him throng'd In every part, vain dreams, in various forms, In number more than what the harvest bears Of bearded grains; the woods of verdant leaves; Or shore of yellow sands. Here came the nymph; Th' opposing dreams push'd sideways with her hands, And through the sacred mansion from her robe Scatter'd refulgent light. With pain the god, His eyelids weigh'd with slothful torpor, rais'd; But at each effort down they sunk again: And on his breast his nodding chin still smote. At length he rous'd him from his drowsy state; And, on his elbow resting, ask'd the nymph, For well he knew her, why she thither came. Then she--"O Somnus! peaceful rest of all! "Somnus! most placid of immortal powers; "Calm of the soul; whom care for ever flies; "Who soothest bosoms, with diurnal toil "Fatigu'd; and renovat'st for toil again; "Dispatch a vision to Trachinia's town, "(By great Alcides founded,) in the form "Its hapless monarch bore: let it display "The lively image of her husband's wreck, "To sad Alcyöné. This Juno bids."-- Iris, her message thus deliver'd, turn'd: For more the soporific mist, which rose Around, she bore not; soon as sleep she felt Stealing upon her limbs, abrupt she fled, Mounting the bow by which she glided down.

The drowsy sire, from 'midst a thousand sons, Calls Morpheus forth, an artful god, who well All shapes can feign. None copies else so close The bidden gait, the features, and the mode Of converse; vesture too the same he wears, And language such as most they wont to speak. Mankind alone he imitates. To seem Fierce beasts, and birds, and long-extended snakes Another claims: this Icelos the gods Have nam'd; by mortals as Photebor known. A third is Phantasus of different skill; His change is happiest when he earth becomes, Or rocks, or waves, or trees, or substance aught That animation lacks. These shew their forms By night to mighty heroes and to kings; The rest before th' ignobler crowd perform. All these the ancient Somnus pass'd, and chose Morpheus alone from all his brethren crowd, The deed Thaumantian Iris bade, to do; Then, weigh'd with slumber, dropp'd again his head, And shrunk once more within the sable couch.

He flies through darkness on unrustling wings, And short the space, ere in Trachinia's town He lights; and from his shoulders lays aside His pinions; when he Ceÿx' form assumes. In Ceÿx' ghastly shape pallid he stood, Despoil'd of garments, at the widow'd bed Of the sad queen: soak'd was his beard, and streams Seem'd from his heavy dripping locks to flow. Then leaning o'er the couch, while gushing tears O'erspread his cheeks, he thus his wife bespoke;-- "Know'st thou thy Ceÿx, wretched, wretched wife? "Or are my features chang'd by death? Again "View me, and here behold thy husband's shade, "Instead of husband: all thy pious prayers "For me, Alcyöné, were vain. I'm lost! "No more false hopes encourage, me to see. "The showery southwind, on th' Ægean main, "Seiz'd on our vessel, and with mighty blast "Shiver'd it wide in fragments; and the waves "Rush'd in my throat as loud thy name I call'd; "But call'd in vain. No doubtful author brings "To thee these tidings; no vague rumor this, "In person I relate it. Shipwreck'd I, "My fate to thee detail. Rise, and assist! "Pour forth thy tears; in sable garments clothe; "Nor send my ghost to wander undeplor'd, "In shady Tartarus." Thus Morpheus spoke; And in such accents, that the queen, deceiv'd, Believ'd her husband spoke. Adown his cheeks Seem'd real tears to flow; and even his hand With Ceÿx' motion mov'd. Deeply she groan'd, Ev'n in her sleep, and rais'd her longing arms To clasp his body; empty air she clasp'd: Exclaiming;--"stay; O whither dost thou fly? "Together let us hence!"--Rous'd with the noise, And spectre of her spouse; sleep fled her eyes, And round she cast her gaze for that to seek Which she but now beheld. Wak'd by her voice, Her slaves approach'd with lights; but when in vain She search'd for what she lack'd, her face she struck; Rent from her breasts her garments; beat her breasts Themselves: nor stay'd her twisted hair to loose, But tore the bands away; then to her nurse Anxious the subject of her grief to learn-- "Alcyöné,"--she cries--"is now no more! "She with her Ceÿx in one moment fell. "Hence with your soothing words; shipwreck'd he dy'd. "I saw; I knew him; as he fled me, stretch'd "My arms to hold the fugitive.--Ah! no! "The shadow fled, 'twas but his ghost; but shade "My husband mere resembling ne'er was form'd. "Yet had he not his wonted looks, nor shone "In former brightness his beloved face. "I saw him, hapless stand with pallid cheek, "Naked, with tresses dropping still. Lo! here "Wretched he stood, just on the spot I point:"-- Then anxious try'd his footmarks there to trace.-- "This did my mind foreboding fear; I pray'd "When me thou fled'st, the winds thou would'st not trust: "But since to sure destruction forth thou went'st, "Would that by me companion'd thou had'st gone. "With thee my bliss had been;--with thee to go. "Unwasted then one moment of the space "For life allow'd; not ev'n in death disjoin'd. "But now I perish, and upon the waves, "Though absent, float; the main me overwhelms, "Though from the main far distant. Mental storms "To me more cruel were than ocean's waves, "Should I but longer seek to spin out life, "And combat such deep grief? I will not strive "Nor wretched thee desert; but now, though late, "Now will I join thee; and the funeral verse "Shall us unite; not in the self-same urn, "Yet in the self-same tomb; bones join'd with bones, "Allow'd not, yet shall name with name be seen."-- The rest by grief was chok'd, and sounding blows Each sentence interrupted; while deep groans Burst from her raving bosom. Morning shone, And forth she issu'd to the shore, and sought In grief the spot, where last his face she view'd Departing. "Here,"--she said,--"as slow he went, "As slow he loos'd his cables; on this beach "The parting kiss he gave." While her mind's eye Retraces every circumstance, she looks, And something sees far floating on the waves, Not much unlike a man: dubious at first What it may be, she views it: nearer now The billows drive it; and though distant still, Plain to the eye a body was descry'd. Whose body, witless, still a shipwreck'd wretch With boding omen mov'd her; and in tears She wail'd him as a stranger in these plaints.-- "Unhappy wretch! whoe'er thou art; and she "Thy wife, if wife thou had'st"--but now the surge More near the body bore. The more she views Nearer the corps; the more her senses fly. And now close driven to shore it floats, and now Well she discern'd it was, it was--her spouse! "'Tis he!"--she loudly shriek'd, and tore her face, Her hair, her garments. Then her trembling arms To Ceÿx stretching; "Dearest husband!"--cry'd. "Art thou restor'd thus to my wretched breast?"

High-rais'd by art, adjoining to the beach A mole was form'd, which broke the primal strength Of ocean's fury, and the fierce waves tir'd. Hither she sprung, and, wond'rous that she could! She flew; the light air winnowing with her wings New-sprung; a mournful bird she skimm'd along The water's surface. As she flies, her beak Slender and small, a creaking noise sends forth, Of mournful sound, and full of sad complaint. Soon as the silent bloodless corse she reach'd, Around his dear-lov'd limbs her wings she clasp'd, And gave cold kisses with her horny bill. If Ceÿx felt them, or his head was rais'd To meet her by the waves, th' unlearned doubt. But sure he felt them. Both at length, the gods Commisserating, chang'd to feather'd birds. The same their love remains, and subject still To the same fates; and in the plumag'd pair The nuptial bond is sacred; join'd in one Parents they soon become; and Halcyon sits Sev'n peaceful days 'mid winter's keenest rule Upon her floating nest. Safe then the main: For Æölus with watchful care the winds Guards, and prevents their egress; and the seas Smooths for the offspring, with a grandsire's care.