Book I

TH E grief of Calypso for the departure of Ulysses, would admit of no comfort; and she regretted her immortaHty, as that which could only perpetuate affliction, and aggravate calamity by despair: her grotto no more echoed with the music of her voice; and her nymphs waited at a distance, with timidity and silence. She often wandered alone along the borders of her.island, amidil the luxuriance of a perpetual spring; but

2 B O O K I.

the beauties that bloomed around her, instead of foothing her grief, only impreiled more flrongly upon her mind the idea of Ulysses, who had been fo often the companion of her walk. Sometimes she Hood motionlefs upon the beach; and while her eyes were fixed on that part of the horizon, where the leflening bark of the hero at length disappeared, they overflowed with tears. Here she was one day furprized with the sudden appearance of a shipwreck: broken benches and oars were scattered about upon the fand; and a rudder, a mafl:, and some cordage, were floating near the shore. Soon after she perceived at a distance two men, one of whom appeared to be ancient, and in the other, although a youth, she discovered a strong resemblance of Ulysses; the fame benevolence and dignity were uniced in his afped, his fl:ature was equally tall, and his port majeftic. The Goddefs knew immediately that this was Telemachus; bur, notwithstanding the penetration of divine fagacity, Ihe could not discover who was his companion; for it is the prerogative of fuperiour cieities to conceal whatever they please from those of a lower class; and it was the pleasure of Minerva, who accompanied Telemachus in the likepefs of Mentor, to be concealed from Calypso. Calypso, however, rejoiced in the happy Ihip^ wrgck, which had restored Ulysses to her willies in the person of his son. She advanced to meet him; and affecfting not to know him, " How hast thou prefumed, said she, to land on this island? Knowefl thou not, that from my dominions no daring intruder departs unpunifhed I" By this menace, Ihe hoped to conceal the joy which glowed in her bosom, and which she could not prevent from fparkling in her countenance. " Whoever thou art, replied Telemachus; whether thou art indeed a Goddefs, or whether, with all the appearance of divinity, thou art ^^et a mortal; canst thou regard with infenfibility the misfortunes of a son, who, committing his life to the caprice of the winds

B O O K r. 3 winds and waves in fcarch of a father, has fufFcFcd shipwreck against these rocks?" " Who then is that father, whom thou feekeft?" replied the Goddefs: " He is one of the confederate kings, answered Telemachus, who, after a siege of ten years, laid Troy in ashes, and his name is Ulysses; a name which he has rendered famous by his prowefs, and yet more by his wisdom, not only through all Greece, but to the remoteft boundaries of Asia. This Ulysses, the mighty and the wife, is now a wanderer on the deep, the fport of tempefts which no force can resist, and the prey of dangers which no fagacity can elude: his country seems to fly before him; Penelope, his wife, defpairs at Ithaca of his return; and I, though equally deftitute of hope, pursue him through all the perils that he has past, and seek him upon every coast: I seek him; but alas! perhaps the sea has already closed over him for ever! O Goddefs, companionate our distress; and, if thou knowest what the fates have wrought, either to save or to deflroy Ulysses, vouchfafe this knowledge to Telemachus his son!"

Such force of eloquence, such maturity of wisdom, and such blooming youth, filled the bosom of Calypso with astonishment and tenderness: she gazed upon him with a fixed attention; but her eyes were Hill unfatisfied, and she remained some time silent. At length llie said, " We will acquaint Telemachus with the adventures of his father; but the story will be loug: it is now time that you should renew that strength by rest, which has been exhausted by labour. 1 will receive you to my dwelling, as my son; you shall be my comfort in this folitudc; and, if you are not voluntarily wretched, I will be your felicity."

Telemachus followed the Goddefs, who was encircled by a crowd of young nymphs, among whom she was distinguished by the fuperiority of her ftaturc, as the towering branches of a lofty

4 B O O K I.

oak arc seen in the midst of a forest above all the trees that furround it. He \vas struck with the splendour of her beauty, the rich purple of her long and flowing robe, her hair that was tied with graceful negligence behind her, and the vivacity and foftnefs that were mingled in her eyes. Mentor followed Telemachus modeilly silent, and looking downward. When they arrived at the entrance of the grotto, Telemachus was furprized to discover, under the appearance of rural simplicity, whatever could captivate the fight: there was, indeed, neither gold nor silver, nor marble; no decorated columns, no paintings, no statues were to be seen; but the grotto consisted of several vaults cut in the rock; the roof of it was embelliflied with lliells and pebbles; and the want of tapeftry was supplied by the luxuriance of ayoung vine, which extended its branches equally on every fide: here the heat of the sun was tempered by the frelhnefs of thebreeze; the rivulets, that, with foothing murmurs, wandered through meadows of intermingled violets and amaranth, formed innumerable baths that were pure and tranfparent as cryflal; the verdant carpet which nature had spread round the grotto, was adorned with a thousand flowers; and, at a small diltancey there was a wood of those trees that, in every season, unfold new bloflbms, which diffufe ambrofial fragrance, and ripen into golden fruit: in this wood, which was impervious to the rays of the sun, and heightened the beauty of the adjacent meadows by an agreeable opposition of light and fhade, nothing was to be heard but the melody of birds, or the fall of water, which, precipitated from the fummit of a rock, was daflied into foam beloAv, where forming a small rivulet it fled in hafte over the meadow.

The grotto of Calypso was situated on the declivity of an hill, and commanded a profpe(Sl of the sea, sometimes fmooth peaceful and limpid, sometimes fwelling into mountains, and breaking

B O O K I. 5 breaking with idle rage against the shore. At another view, a river was discovered, in which were many islands, surrounded. with hmes that were covered with flowers, and poplars that raifcd their heads to the clouds: the ftreams which formed these islands, seemed to ftray through the fields with a kind of fportful wantonncfs; some rolled along in tranflucent waves, with a tumultuous rapidity; some glided away in silence, with a motion that was fcarce perceptible; and others, after a long circuit, turned back as if they wished to ifllie again from their source, and were unwilling to quit the paradise through which they flowed: the diflant hills and mountains hid their fummits in the blue vapours -that hovered over them, and divcrfified the horizon with cloudy figures that were equally pleasing and romantic: the mountains that were less remote were covered with vines, the branches of which were interwoven with each other, and hung down in fefloons; the grapes, which furpafTed in lullre the richeii purple, were too exuberant to be concealed by the foliage, and the branches bowed under the weight of the fruit: the fig, the olive, the pomgranate, and other, trees without number, overfpread the plain; lb that the whole country had the appearance of a garden, infinitely varied and without bounds.

The Goddefs having displayed this profufion of beauty to Telemachus, difmifilxl him: " Go now, said she, and refrefli yourself, and change your apparel which is wet: I will afterwards see you again, and relate such things, as Ihall not amufe your ear only but afFe6t your heart." She then caused him to enter, with his friend, into the most secret recefs of a grotto- adjoining to her own: here the nymphs had already kindled afire v/ith some billets of cedar which perfumed the place,, and.had left change of apparel for the new guefts. TjiLEMACHus perceiving that a tunic of the finest wool whiter than snow, and a purple robe richly embroidered with gold, were intended for him,

6 B O O K L him, contemplated the magnificence of his dress with a pleasure^ to which young minds are easily betrayed.

Mentor perceived his weakness, and reproved it: "Are these then, said he, O Telemachus, such thoughts as become the son of Ulysses? Be rather ftudious to appropriate the character of thy father, and to furmount the persecutions of fortune. The youth, who, like a woman, loves to adorn his person, has renounced all claim both to wisdom and to glory; glory is due to those only who dare to aflbciate with pain, and have trampled pleasure under their feet."

Telemachus answered withaCgh; " May the Gods deflroy me, rather than suffer me to be enflaved by voluptuous effeminacy! No, the son of Ulysses shall never be feduced by the charms of enervating and inglorious ease. But how gracious is Heaven, to have directed us, deftitute and fliipwrecked, to this Goddefs, or this mortal, who has loaded us with benefits!" " Fear rather, replied Mentor, left her wiles should overwhelm thee with ruin: fear her deceitful blandifhments, more than the rocks on which thou hast futfered Ihipwreck; for shipwreck and death are less dreadful, than those pleasures by which virtue is fubverted. BeUeve not the tales which she shall relate: the prefumpcion of youth hopes all things from itself, and, however impotent, believes it has power over every event; it dreams of fecuriry in the midst of danger, and liftens to fubtilty without suspicion. Beware of the feducing eloquence of Calypso; that mischief which, like a serpent, is concealed by the flowers under which it ap. proaches; dread the latent poison! Trust not thyself, but confide implicidy in my counsel."

They then returned to Calypso, who waited for them; and her nymphs, who v/ere drefled in white, and had their hair braided, set before them a repaft, which, though it was simple, and consisted

2 only

B O O K I. 7 only of Aich game as they had either taken with their nets or killed in the chace, was yet of exquifite taste, and fcrved up with the utmofl elegance: wine more richly flavoured than nedlar, was poured from large lilvcr vafes, and fparkled in cups of gold that were wreathed with flowers; and bafkcts were heaped with all the variety of fruit, that is promised by spring and bestowed by autumn. In the mean time, four of the attendant nymphs began to fmg: their first theme was the battle of the Gods and Titans; then they celebrated the loves of Jupiter and Semele, the birth of Bacchus, and his education under old Silenus; the race of Atalanta with Hippomenes, whom she conquered by golden apples that were gathered in the gardens of the Hefperides: the wars of Troy were reserved to the last; the prowefs and the wisdom of Ulyssfs were extolled with all the hyberbole of praise; and the principal nymph, whole name was Leucothoe, to the harmonious voices of the chorus, joined the music of her lyre. When Ti L'^MACHBS heard the name of his father, the tears which stole down his checks, added new luftre to his beauty: but Calypso perceiving that he was too fenfibly touched, and neglecfted to eat, made a signal to her nymphs; and they immediately changed the fubje(ft, to the battle of the Centaurs with the Lapithas, and the descent of Orpheus to bring back his Eurydice from hell.

When the repaft was ended, Calypso took Telemachus aflde, and addrelFed him thus: " Thou seest, O son of the great Ulyss • s } with what favour I have received thee: know, that I am immortal: no human foot prophanes this island unpunifhed; nor would even Ihipwreck have averted my indignation from thee, if my heart were not touched with more than thy misfortunes. Thy father was equally distinguished by my favour; but alas! he knew not how to improve the advantage. I detained him long in this elyfium: and here he might have lived for ever in a Hate of immortality with me j but a fond desire of returning to

8 B O O K I.

to his wretched if! and, blinded him to the profped of fuperiour feHcity. Thou seest what he has lost for hhaca, a country to which he can never return: he refolvcd to leave me, and departed; but a tempeft revenged the infult, and the veflel in which he was embarked, having been long the fport of the storm, was at last fwallowed up in the deep. Let this example influence thy condudl: all hopes of again seeing thy father, and of succeeding to his throne, are now at an end: but do not too deeply regret this loss, fmce thou hast found a Goddefs, who offers thee fuperiour dominion, and more permanent felicity;" Calypso, after this declaration, exerted all her eloquence to difplay the happiness which she had conferred upon Ulysses: she also related his adventure in the cave of Polypheme the Cyclop, and in the country of Antiphates king of the Lasftrygones; she forgot neither what happened to him in the island of Circe, the daughter of the Sun, nor the dangers of his pafTage between Scylla and Charibdis; she described the last tempeft that had been raifcd against him by Neptune, after his departure from her, in which she inftnuated that he had perillied, concealing his arrival in the island of the Pheacians. Telemachus, who had too haftily congratulated himself upon the bounty of Calypso, now perceived the mischief of her designs, and the wisdom of that counsel which had been just given him by Mentor; he, therefore, answered in few words, " Forgive, O Goddefs! involuntary sorrow; my heart is now fufceptible only of regret; but I may hereafter be again capable of felicity: suffer me now to pay at least a few tears to the memory. of my father, fmce thou knowcft, better than his son, how well he deserves the tribute."

Calypso, perceiving that it was not now her intej-est to press him farther, feigned to participate his sorrow, and to regret the fate of.

■ -Ulysses?

Ulysses: But that she liiiglit gain a more perfecfi knowledge of the li^cans by which his afFeftidn was to be engaged, llie enquired the particulars 6f his shipwreck, and by what accidents he had been thrown upon her coast. " The llory of my misfortunes, said he, will be too long." " However long, said Calypso, I am inipatient to hear it; indulge me, therefore, without delay." Te- LEMACHus often refused; but flic continued her felicitation, and at length he complied.

J " I ftt oiit froiri Ithaca, to enquire after my father of those princes j Who had returned from the siege of Troy. The fuitors of PENELdPfc, my mother, were surprised at my departure; because, from thertij whom I knew td be perfidious, I had concealed my purpose. But neither Neftor whom I saw at Pylos, nor Menelaus who received me with affeftion at Lacedemon, knew whether my father was among the living or the dead. I was at length impatient of perpetual fufpenfe and uncertainty; and, therefore, formed a resolution to go into Sicily, whither my father was said to have been driven by contrary winds: but the prudence of Mentor, who is here the companion of my fortunes, opposed the execution of fo rafli a design, by representing my danger on the one hand from the Cyclops, the gigantic monfters who riot upon human flesh; and oh the other, from the fleet of iEneas and the Trojans, who were hovering about those coails. " The Trojans, said he, are irritated againllall the Greeks; but, above all, against Ulysses, whofefon, therefore, they would rejoice to deflroy: return, then, to Ithaca; perhaps, your father, who is beloved of the Gods,^ may be returned; already: hut if Heaven has decreed his death, if he shall see Ithaca, lio more, it is fit that you return to avenge him, and to deliver youtfnotlier; to difplay your Wifdora to attentive nations; and to let all Greece behold, in T'elemachus, a- sovereign, not. less worthy of the throne than Ulysses." This couTifel, which was the voice of reason, I rejefted, and liflencd only to the fuggeilions of my paf*-. iions: but fuph w^s the afredion of m,y friend, thai: he embarked

G. with?

lO with me for that voyage, which, in the folly of my prefmnption, I undertook contrary to his advice; and the Gods, perhaps, permitted the fault, that the calamity which it drew upon me might teach me wisdom I"

While Telemachus had been speaking. Calypso had attentively considered Mentor, and was suddenly chilled with astonishment: she imagined, that she perceived in him, something more than human; and not being able to resolve the perplexity of her thoughts into any probable determination, the presence of this infcrutable Being continued to agitate her mind with suspicion and dread: but fearing yet more that her confusion should be perceived, "Proceed, said she to Telemachus, to gratify my curiosity j" and Telemachus accordingly continued his flory.

" We fleered some time with a favourable wind for Sicily; but at length a tempefl overcaft the sky, and involved us in fuddcn darkness. By the tranfient gleams of the lightening, we perceived other veflels that were exposed to the fame danger; and were soon convinced, that they were part of the Trojan fleet, which were not less to be dreaded by us thanlhoals and rocks: then, but it was too late, I perfedlly comprehended, what the ardour of youth had before prevented me from considering with sufficient attention. In this dreadful exigence. Mentor appeared not only fearlefs and calm, but more than usually chearful: he encouraged me to hope; and, as he spoke, I perceived myself inspired with invincible fortitude. While he was directing the navigation of the vefTel with the utmofl tranquillity, the pilot being incapacitated by terror and confu- ' sion, " My dear Mentor, said I, why did I reje(5l your advice? What greater evil canbefalme, than a confidence in my own opinion, at an age which can form no judgment of the future, has gained no ex^perience from the past, and knows not how to employ the prcient? If we furvive this tempeft, I will diftrufl myself as my moll dangerous enemy, and confide only in Mentor as my friend."