Ourselves are not sufficient; we, alas!
Too feeble should be found, and yet to learn
How best to use the little force we own;
Else, had I pow’r, I would, myself, redress 80
The evil; for it now surpasses far
All suff’rance, now they ravage uncontroul’d,
Nor show of decency vouchsafe me more.
Oh be ashamed6 yourselves; blush at the thought Of such reproach as ye shall sure incur From all our neighbour states, and fear beside The wrath of the Immortals, lest they call Yourselves one day to a severe account. I pray you by Olympian Jove, by her Whose voice convenes all councils, and again 90 Dissolves them, Themis, that henceforth ye cease, That ye permit me, oh my friends! to wear My days in solitary grief away, Unless Ulysses, my illustrious Sire, Hath in his anger any Greecian wrong’d, Whose wrongs ye purpose to avenge on me, Inciting these to plague me. Better far Were my condition, if yourselves consumed My substance and my revenue; from you I might obtain, perchance, righteous amends 100 Hereafter; you I might with vehement suit O’ercome, from house to house pleading aloud For recompense, till I at last prevail’d. But now, with darts of anguish ye transfix My inmost soul, and I have no redress. He spake impassion’d, and to earth cast down His sceptre, weeping. Pity at that sight Seiz’d all the people; mute the assembly sat Long time, none dared to greet Telemachus With answer rough, till of them all, at last, 110 Antinoüs, sole arising, thus replied. Telemachus, intemp’rate in harangue, High-sounding orator! it is thy drift To make us all odious; but the offence Lies not with us the suitors; she alone Thy mother, who in subtlety excels, And deep-wrought subterfuge, deserves the blame. It is already the third year, and soon Shall be the fourth, since with delusive art Practising on their minds, she hath deceived 120 The Greecians; message after message sent Brings hope to each, by turns, and promise fair, But she, meantime, far otherwise intends. Her other arts exhausted all, she framed This stratagem; a web of amplest size And subtlest woof beginning, thus she spake. Princes, my suitors! since the noble Chief Ulysses is no more, press not as yet My nuptials, wait till I shall finish, first, A fun’ral robe (lest all my threads decay) 130 Which for the antient Hero I prepare, Laertes, looking for the mournful hour When fate shall snatch him to eternal rest; Else I the censure dread of all my sex, Should he, so wealthy, want at last a shroud. So spake the Queen, and unsuspicious, we With her request complied. Thenceforth, all day She wove the ample web, and by the aid Of torches ravell’d it again at night. Three years by such contrivance she deceived 140 The Greecians; but when (three whole years elaps’d) The fourth arriv’d, then, conscious of the fraud, A damsel of her train told all the truth, And her we found rav’ling the beauteous work. Thus, through necessity she hath, at length, Perform’d the task, and in her own despight. Now therefore, for the information clear Of thee thyself, and of the other Greeks, We answer. Send thy mother hence, with charge That him she wed on whom her father’s choice 150 Shall fall, and whom she shall, herself, approve. But if by long procrastination still She persevere wearing our patience out, Attentive only to display the gifts By Pallas so profusely dealt to her, Works of surpassing skill, ingenious thought, And subtle shifts, such as no beauteous Greek (For aught that we have heard) in antient times E’er practised, Tyro, or Alcemena fair, Or fair Mycene, of whom none in art 160 E’er match’d Penelope, although we yield To this her last invention little praise, Then know, that these her suitors will consume So long thy patrimony and thy goods, As she her present purpose shall indulge, With which the Gods inspire her. Great renown She to herself insures, but equal woe And devastation of thy wealth to thee; For neither to our proper works at home Go we, of that be sure, nor yet elsewhere, 170 Till him she wed, to whom she most inclines. Him prudent, then, answer’d Telemachus. Antinoüs! it is not possible That I should thrust her forth against her will, Who both produced and reared me. Be he dead, Or still alive, my Sire is far remote, And should I, voluntary, hence dismiss My mother to Icarius, I must much Refund, which hardship were and loss to me. So doing, I should also wrath incur 180 From my offended Sire, and from the Gods Still more; for she, departing, would invoke Erynnis to avenge her, and reproach Beside would follow me from all mankind. That word I, therefore, never will pronounce. No, if ye judge your treatment at her hands Injurious to you, go ye forth yourselves, Forsake my mansion; seek where else ye may Your feasts; consume your own; alternate feed Each at the other’s cost. But if it seem 190 Wisest in your account and best to eat Voracious thus the patrimonial goods Of one man, rend’ring no account of all, Bite to the roots; but know that I will cry Ceaseless to the eternal Gods, in hope That Jove, in retribution of the wrong, Shall doom you, where ye have intruded, there To bleed, and of your blood ask no account. So spake Telemachus, and while he spake, The Thund’rer from a lofty mountain-top 200 Turn’d off two eagles; on the winds, awhile, With outspread pinions ample side by side They floated; but, ere long, hov’ring aloft, Right o’er the midst of the assembled Chiefs They wheel’d around, clang’d all their num’rous plumes, And with a downward look eyeing the throng, Death boded, ominous; then rending each The other’s face and neck, they sprang at once Toward the right, and darted through the town. Amazement universal, at that sight, 210 Seized the assembly, and with anxious thought Each scann’d the future; amidst whom arose The Hero Halitherses, antient Seer, Offspring of Mastor; for in judgment he Of portents augural, and in forecast Unerring, his coevals all excell’d, And prudent thus the multitude bespake. Ye men of Ithaca, give ear! hear all! Though chief my speech shall to the suitors look, For, on their heads devolved, comes down the woe. 220 Ulysses shall not from his friends, henceforth, Live absent long, but, hasting to his home, Comes even now, and as he comes, designs A bloody death for these, whose bitter woes No few shall share, inhabitants with us Of pleasant Ithaca; but let us frame Effectual means maturely to suppress Their violent deeds, or rather let themselves Repentant cease; and soonest shall be best. Not inexpert, but well-inform’d I speak 230 The future, and the accomplishment announce Of all which when Ulysses with the Greeks Embark’d for Troy, I to himself foretold. I said that, after many woes, and loss Of all his people, in the twentieth year, Unknown to all, he should regain his home, And my prediction shall be now fulfill’d. Him, then, Eurymachus thus answer’d rough The son of Polybus. Hence to thy house, Thou hoary dotard! there, prophetic, teach 240 Thy children to escape woes else to come. Birds num’rous flutter in the beams of day, Not all predictive. Death, far hence remote Hath found Ulysses, and I would to heav’n That, where he died, thyself had perish’d too. Thou hadst not then run o’er with prophecy As now, nor provocation to the wrath Giv’n of Telemachus, in hope to win, Perchance, for thine some favour at his hands. But I to thee foretell, skilled as thou art 250 In legends old, (nor shall my threat be vain) That if by artifice thou move to wrath A younger than thyself, no matter whom, Woe first the heavier on himself shall fall, Nor shalt thou profit him by thy attempt, And we will charge thee also with a mulct, Which thou shalt pay with difficulty, and bear The burthen of it with an aching heart. As for Telemachus, I him advise, Myself, and press the measure on his choice 260 Earnestly, that he send his mother hence To her own father’s house, who shall, himself, Set forth her nuptial rites, and shall endow His daughter sumptuously, and as he ought. For this expensive wooing, as I judge, Till then shall never cease; since we regard No man—no—not Telemachus, although In words exub’rant; neither fear we aught Thy vain prognostics, venerable sir! But only hate thee for their sake the more. 270 Waste will continue and disorder foul Unremedied, so long as she shall hold The suitors in suspense, for, day by day, Our emulation goads us to the strife, Nor shall we, going hence, seek to espouse Each his own comfort suitable elsewhere. To whom, discrete, Telemachus replied. Eurymachus, and ye the suitor train Illustrious, I have spoken: ye shall hear No more this supplication urged by me. 280 The Gods, and all the Greeks, now know the truth. But give me instantly a gallant bark With twenty rowers, skill’d their course to win To whatsoever haven; for I go To sandy Pylus, and shall hasten thence To Lacedemon, tidings to obtain Of my long-absent Sire, or from the lips Of man, or by a word from Jove vouchsafed Himself, best source of notice to mankind. If, there inform’d that still my father lives, 290 I hope