But vainly would'st alone stand out in strife
Against the Omnipotent, as yon clear lamps,
That measure and divide the weary years
From which there is no refuge, long have taught,
And long must teach. Even now thy torturer comes
With the strange might of unimagined pains,
The powers who scheme slow agonies in hell;
And my commission is to lead them here,
Or what more subtle, foul, or savage fiends
People the abyss, and leave them to their task.
Be it not so! there is a secret known
To thee, and to none else of living things,
Which may transfer the sceptre of wide Heaven,
The fear of which perplexes the Supreme:
Clothe it in words, and bid it clasp his throne
In intercession; bend thy soul in prayer,
And, like a suppliant in some gorgeous fane,
Let the will kneel within thy haughty heart;
For benefits and meek submission tame
The fiercest and the mightiest.
552. She shuns her sisters' gay companionship,
Seeks out the wildest mountains, leaves her couch
Before the crowing of the morning cock,
And, in the dreaded hour when men are wont
Confidingly to seek their fellow-men,
She, like the solitary bird, creeps forth,
And in the fearful spirit-realm of night
To yon crossway repairs, and there alone
Holds secret commune with the mountain wind.
Why does she she always choose that lonely place?
Why ever there precisely drive her herd?
For hours together I have seen her sit
In dreamy musing 'neath the Druid tree,
Which every happy creature shuns with awe ;
For 'tis not holy there, an evil spirit
Hath, since the fearful pagan days of old,
Beneath its branches fix'd its dread abode.
The oldest of our villagers relate
Strange tales of horror of the Druid tree:
"Tis said that from its dark mysterious shade
Unearthly voices often meet the ear;
And once, when in the gloomy twilight hour
My pathway led me past it, I myself
Beheld a female spectre sitting there,
Which slowly from its long and ample robe
Stretch'd forth its wither'd hand, and beckon❜d me;
But on I went with speed, nor look'd behind.
553. Anon I heard, while yet I lay confounded
At that most strange and savage cruelty,
A loud, a furious, an appalling voice;
And thrice it called me by my name. I trembled,
I shudder'd, and my hair did stand on end;
My countenance fell, and the quick-ebbing blood
Left my extremities cold and dead, retreating
To succour the cold terror-stricken heart;
And here I turn'd and there I turn'd mine eyes,
To see whence came the sound; and then I heard
That self-same voice cry out—“Ah! guilty woman,
Still hear'st thou not? still wilt thou not behold me?”
And lo! half hidden in a cloud, appear’d
A lady beautiful at once and fierce —
For her wild fierceness quench'd not all her beauty —
Menacing her gesture, and her look in wrath:
In her left hand a glittering sword she shook,
And in her right a blazing torch. Anon
Pursuing her discourse, she said—“O once
A shameless harlot, now an infamous wife,
Source of so many evils, art thou still
Number'd among the living? art thou here,
Here breathing, false adulteress? and so long
Dar'st thou offend me, thus with mincing tread
Within my chamber wantoning? The bower
Wherein thou sleep'st is mine, and thou usurp'st;
Mine is this palace of this spacious realm;
And of this stately city I am queen.
But, my loving kinsmen,
Mistake me not; for what I spake was true,
Bear witness all the gods. I told you, first,
I was to inhabit in a place unknown.
'Tis very certain; for this reverend seat
Receives me as a pupil, rather gives
Ornament to the person than our person
The least grace unto it. I show'd you next
I am to travail. "Tis a certain truth:
Look by how much the labour of the mind
Exceeds the body's, so far am I bound
With pain and industry, beyond the toil
Of any artizan. Pale cheeks and sunk eyes,
A head with watching dizzied, and a hair
Turn'd white in youth; all these, at a dear rate,
We purchase speedily that tend a state.
I told you I must leave you. 'Tis most true:
Henceforth the face of a barbarian
And yours shall be all one; henceforth I'll know you
But only by your virtue: brother or father
In a dishonest suit shall be to me
As is the branded slave; Justice should have
No kindred, friends nor foes, nor hate nor love,
As free from passion as the gods above.
I was your friend and kinsman, now your judge;
And whilst I hold the scales, a downy feather
Shall as soon turn them, as a mass of gold.
555. O haunt his midnight dreams, black Nemesis !
Whom, self-conceiving, in the utmost depths
Of Chaos, blackest Night long labouring bore,
When the stern Destinies, her elder brood,
And shapeless Death, from that more monstrous birth
Leapt shuddering! Haunt his slumbers, Nemesis ! '
Scorch with the fires of Phlegethon his heart,
Till, helpless, hopeless, heaven-abandon'd wretch,
He too shall seek beneath the unfathom'd deep
To hide him from thy fury. How the sea
Far distant glitters as the sunbeams smile
And gaily wanton o'er its heaving breast!
Phoebus shines forth, nor wears one cloud to mourn
His votary's sorrows! God of day, shine on!
By men despised, forsaken by the gods,
I supplicate no more. How many a day,
O pleasant Lesbos, in thy secret streams
Delighted have I plunged, from the hot sun
Screen'd by the o'erarching grove's delightful shade,
And pillow'd on the waters! now the waves
Shall chill me to repose.
Scarce to the brink will these rebellious limbs
Support me. Hark! how the rude deep below
Roars round the rugged base, as if it called
Its long reluctant victim! I will come.
One leap and all is over! The deep rest
Of death, or tranquil apathy's dead calm,
Welcome alike to me. Away, vain fears!
556. O. Madame, c'en est fait, et vous êtes servie :
Pyrrhus rend à l'autel son infidèle vie.
H. Il est mort? O. Il expire, et nos Grecs irrités
Ont lavé dans son sang ses infidélités.
Je vous l'avais promis; et, quoique mon courage
Se fit de ce complot une funeste image,
J'ai couru vers le temple, où nos Grecs dispersés
Se sont jusqu'à l'autel dans la foule glissés.
Pyrrhus m'a réconnu, mais sans changer de face;
Il semblait que ma vue excitât son audace,
Que tous les Grecs, bravés en leur ambassadeur,
Dussent de son hymen relever la splendeur.
Enfin, avec transport, prenant son diadème,
Sur le front d'Andromaque il l'a posé lui-même.
Je vous donne, a-t-il dit, ma couronne et ma foi :
Andromaque, regnez sur l'Epire et sur moi;
Je voue à votre fils une amitié de père;
J'en atteste les dieux, je le jure à sa mère.
Pour tous mes ennemis je déclare les siens,
Et je le reconnais pour le roi des Troyens.
A ces mots, qui du peuple attiraient le suffrage,
Nos Grecs n'ont répondu que par un cri de rage;
L'infidèle s'est vu partout envelopper,
Et je n'ai pu trouver de place pour frapper.
Chacun se disputait la gloire de l'abattre :
Je l'ai vu dans leurs bras quelque tems se débattre;
Tout sanglant, à leurs coups vouloir se dérober;
Mais enfin à l'autel il est allé tomber.
557. Well hath the great Creator of the world
Form'd it in that exact and perfect form
That by itself immovable might stand,
Supported only by His Providence.
Well hath His powerful wisdom ordered
The in nature disagreeing elements,
That all, affecting their peculiar place,
Maintain the conservation of the whole.
Well hath He taught the swelling ocean
To know his bounds, lest in luxurious pride
He should insult upon the conquer'd land.
Well hath He placed those torches in the heavens
To give light to our else all darken'd eyes,
The crystal windows thorough which our soul,
Looking upon the world's most beauteous face,
Is blest with sight and knowledge of His works.
Well hath He all things done; for how, alas!
Would any strength or wit of feeble man
Sustained have that greater universe,
Too weak an Atlas for one commonwealth?
How could he make the earth, the water, air,
And fire in peace their duties to observe
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