 | Silenus |  |
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BOOK I.
Silenus, radiant as a summer morn,Smiling exultant in the might of youth,
Loved of the loveliest, Syrinx; in her grace
Surpassing swallows turning on the wing
At even over water brimmed with gold.
And Syrinx loved Silenus. Never yet
Until he loved her had the nymph been moved
By other than the love of tranquil streams;
The witchery of birds; flowers, and the growth
Of woodlands wild, and woodland happiness.
But they must part; these lovers fair and true;
For he with Dionysus now must range
Far Indian lands to bear the pregnant vine;
Compelled by prime affection's ancient bond
To labour for the God wherever led.
Self-thwarting, therefore, in his love content
The dear delight awaiting him delayed
Till his return.
For he with Dionysus now must range
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Compelled by prime affection's ancient bond
To labour for the God wherever led.
Self-thwarting, therefore, in his love content
The dear delight awaiting him delayed
Till his return.
And Syrinx drooped not tho'
No more beholding at the dewy dawn
Her lover's advent thro' the morning sun
To take her in his arms. Tho' now no more
She felt his living kisses drain her soul;
The memory of his presence and his love,
Made every day a wonder full of joy,
And gave the darkness such auroral dreams
She fain on waking sank again to sleep.
No more beholding at the dewy dawn
Her lover's advent thro' the morning sun
To take her in his arms. Tho' now no more
She felt his living kisses drain her soul;
The memory of his presence and his love,
Made every day a wonder full of joy,
And gave the darkness such auroral dreams
She fain on waking sank again to sleep.
Ofttimes beside a solitary pool
She looked down laughing to her face within,
Wondering what passages of grace it bore
Beyond the grace of other forest nymphs
That won her Demigod to gaze entranced!
She looked down laughing to her face within,
Wondering what passages of grace it bore
Beyond the grace of other forest nymphs
That won her Demigod to gaze entranced!
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One summer noon in idle bliss she lay
Fingered by slender grass, and flower-bekissed,
Her glances wandering daintily adown
Those undulating beauties half concealed,
He ever likened unto all things fair!
Pleased with his similes, she stretched her limbs
Their utmost gleaming length, and moving tossed
Aside her garment that her beauty lay
Open and perfect to the wistful wind.
Fingered by slender grass, and flower-bekissed,
Her glances wandering daintily adown
Those undulating beauties half concealed,
He ever likened unto all things fair!
Pleased with his similes, she stretched her limbs
Their utmost gleaming length, and moving tossed
Aside her garment that her beauty lay
Open and perfect to the wistful wind.
Enfolded arms behind her resting head
Eyes half-way closed, she dreamed of gladness past
And joy to come, when she should hold her Love
Safe in her arms, and lose him nevermore.
Tho' fair the dream she felt her will enthralled,
And some uncertain fear of danger nigh
That hovered thro' the changes of her bliss.
With all too broad a gaze shone the bright day;
From overhanging branches little birds
Pried curiously; and hovering butterflies,
Familiarly descending on her charms,
Outspread their glimmering splendours; while the spell
Held her fast bound as Cepheus' chain held fast
Andromeda's white beauty, whereon glared
Poseidon's dreadful monster of the sea.
Thus tranced she lay in durance, till a flush
Of twittering birds, dived in the neighbouring shade,
And in the leaves a rustling near, unlike
The peaceable soft wind, lifted her gaze
Where stared two brilliant goat-eyes; cheeks agrin,
Ruddy and strained; and long white clashing teeth!
“O tempting nymph; fairly and plainly done;
Eyes half-way closed, she dreamed of gladness past
And joy to come, when she should hold her Love
Safe in her arms, and lose him nevermore.
Tho' fair the dream she felt her will enthralled,
And some uncertain fear of danger nigh
That hovered thro' the changes of her bliss.
With all too broad a gaze shone the bright day;
From overhanging branches little birds
Pried curiously; and hovering butterflies,
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Outspread their glimmering splendours; while the spell
Held her fast bound as Cepheus' chain held fast
Andromeda's white beauty, whereon glared
Poseidon's dreadful monster of the sea.
Thus tranced she lay in durance, till a flush
Of twittering birds, dived in the neighbouring shade,
And in the leaves a rustling near, unlike
The peaceable soft wind, lifted her gaze
Where stared two brilliant goat-eyes; cheeks agrin,
Ruddy and strained; and long white clashing teeth!
I saw thee spurn the foolish folds away;
Well conscious they were not the charm I sought,
In that I munch the kernel not the shell.
Praise thou shalt have, for rarely can be seen
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More softly moulded to ensure my joy!
Then why delay? If hungry, and the fruit
Hang ripe before us, why not pluck and eat?
Thou canst not ripening more richly blush,
Nor I more hungered wax. Ah, then be wise,
Frankly embrace the offering of Fate,
And pass with me to immortality.”
“Away, thou evil-spoken, misformed God!
Who thief-like crouched and slyly watched to gloat
In stolen espial on my quietude.
Swine that crunch acorns and that grunt are tuned
As much to clemency and tender care
For purity of earthly maid or nymph
As thou art, God of goats insatiate!
Know thou this beauty, that excites thy hope
To hateful grinning leer, shall never know
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Nay, not if mighty Zeus himself should smile,
To thwart Silenus, who commands my love.”
“Prettily spoken, O voluptuous nymph!
Another wile to fan the flame yet higher
By coy resistance irresistible!
Erewhile I said rarely had beauty been
Temptation in more captivating shape;
But now so glowingly hath passion's fire
Inspired its blushes to the full-blown rose,
No other fruit can blush so ripe and sweet
To quench with sweetness lips of God athirst.
Then heed the speeding chance; in forest shade
Let us away to regions unexplored.”
“You may perversely close your eyes from light,
In feigning bluntness to a plain intent;
But now my meaning you shall not mistake.
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Feed upon garbage than to spirit me
By flatteries rank within thy loathly arms.
A nymph am I perfect in life; and pure
As any flower breathing its native air.
The wind and streams, the sparkling summer showers
That waken laughter in delighted leaves,
And music from the flowery grass, have been
Companions I have loved from infancy;
And tuneful songsters from my fingers feed.
Why should I leave this fair Elysian world
For horror, darkness, and my own contempt?”
“Nay, Syrinx, mine, by conquest justified,
Gazing unhindered on thy beauty thrown
Consentingly wide open to the day!
If I sagaciously can scent my game
And track to capture, must I then forego
My natural recompense because the prize
Loves freedom better than fair forfeiture?
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Merely increase itself in vain affray,
Making my strength grow stronger with the strife!
Unwisely rash, shouldst thou attempt escape,
And flutter uselessly thy milky breath;
What could outstrip my rapid-leaping hoofs,
Whose clatter calls the nymph and satyr throngs,
Hands spread, to admiration as I flit:
One hoof drawn tight to ham, down click; anon
The other up, down click; and then along
The rocky river margin click on click;
Till envious birds would interchange their wings
For hoofs whose nimble play outspeeds the wind!”
Whereat, high-puffed in pride, the goat-legged God
Crying to Syrinx, “Now, behold! Behold!”
Went at a rate to prove no wily boast
His threat of certain capture in the chase.
Crying to Syrinx, “Now, behold! Behold!”
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His threat of certain capture in the chase.
As she beheld afar his goat-limbs wane,
And vanishing, his upper man-shaped form
Seemed moved by will alone; suddenly then
Hope smiled and beckoned her the other way;
And, like a creature hunted for its life,
She flew toward the sheltering river sedge;
But scarce had started ere the crafty God
Caught her intent and, as on pivot, turned;
And had he been a prey-bent vulture winged
He had not grown more rapidly to view
While leaping over the dividing space.
Tho' fleeing at her utmost swiftness she
And vanishing, his upper man-shaped form
Seemed moved by will alone; suddenly then
Hope smiled and beckoned her the other way;
And, like a creature hunted for its life,
She flew toward the sheltering river sedge;
But scarce had started ere the crafty God
Caught her intent and, as on pivot, turned;
And had he been a prey-bent vulture winged
He had not grown more rapidly to view
While leaping over the dividing space.
Back glancing saw his fiery eyes astart,
And hands, tho' shut and fast against his sides,
That might at any moment snatch and seize.
Shone near, gloomed far those waters of despair!
Twice doubling she was headed from her course,
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At length the river! Breathing smote her cheek,
And one red claw clutching her bosom tore
Its tender beauty as she swerving plunged
Deep in its water to escape the God.
The Demon waited by the water's edge,
Until for lack of breath she should arise,
When easy pastime then for him to bear
Her unresisting, to the woodland shade,
And leisurely devour the passive fruit.
But Syrinx, sinking to the river bed,
Anchored her fingers in the rooted sedge.
Devoted to Silenus she resolved
To hold them till she died, rather than live
And glance again at those red eyes of hell.
While thus against her own young life she strove,
Great Artemis, loving the forest nymph,
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And smote her agony to sudden peace!
From that deep river-bed dream-borne she passed
Straightway again to happy infancy,
When danced the butterflies to laughing flowers;
When merry music in tumultuous froth
The maidens milked from kine at evenfall;
When cheery reapers sheared the standing corn,
And danced at twilight in the jocund hour
When sunshine waned into the harvest moon
Lighting the chase, the capture, and the kiss!
Straightway again to happy infancy,
When danced the butterflies to laughing flowers;
When merry music in tumultuous froth
The maidens milked from kine at evenfall;
When cheery reapers sheared the standing corn,
And danced at twilight in the jocund hour
When sunshine waned into the harvest moon
Lighting the chase, the capture, and the kiss!
Then shone that day of glory when her fate
Surrendered to Silenus on the hills!
Surrendered to Silenus on the hills!
That day when tempted by the forest gloom
She rambled where huge over-clambered trees
Immeshed in trailers showered bright blossoms down
In odorous stars at every passing breeze.
Where twisting freshets sparkled from the rock,
And birds atwitter by the shallow pools
Curtseyed and sipped, or bathed their fluttering wings.
Where brooding splendour lay athwart the grass
Her feet must traverse ere she could ascend
The blessed pathway winding through the cliff
Toward regions trodden by Immortals' feet!
She rambled where huge over-clambered trees
Immeshed in trailers showered bright blossoms down
In odorous stars at every passing breeze.
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And birds atwitter by the shallow pools
Curtseyed and sipped, or bathed their fluttering wings.
Where brooding splendour lay athwart the grass
Her feet must traverse ere she could ascend
The blessed pathway winding through the cliff
Toward regions trodden by Immortals' feet!
O what a far-off world in one long stretch
Of lustrous mist and azure mountain-range
Floating on foam of oceanic light!
Of lustrous mist and azure mountain-range
Floating on foam of oceanic light!
Heedless of distance, onward eagerly
She drank new joy with every quickened breath,
And every breath winged onward her desire
Beyond the beauty seen; transcending all
She hitherto had known.
She drank new joy with every quickened breath,
And every breath winged onward her desire
Beyond the beauty seen; transcending all
She hitherto had known.
But hark! Alarmed,
Her sense awoke to harsh reality;
Hearing hard by a roaring, as of clouds
Bursting in horror. Lo, a raging bull,
Stupendous, tearing the scorned earth to dust,
Lowering his horns, made at the nymph direct;
When, conscious was she of a shadowy hand
Casting her swiftly on a heap of bines
That sinking bounded with her as in sport;
Of some great mighty Shape hurling a spear
Slantwise against the brute, that checked, then turned,
And charged again: and thereupon the Shape,
Lifting a splintered fragment of the rock,
Struck his curled brow and crushed the monster's life;
Her sense awoke to harsh reality;
Hearing hard by a roaring, as of clouds
Bursting in horror. Lo, a raging bull,
Stupendous, tearing the scorned earth to dust,
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When, conscious was she of a shadowy hand
Casting her swiftly on a heap of bines
That sinking bounded with her as in sport;
Of some great mighty Shape hurling a spear
Slantwise against the brute, that checked, then turned,
And charged again: and thereupon the Shape,
Lifting a splintered fragment of the rock,
Struck his curled brow and crushed the monster's life;
And dragging the dark carcase to a cliff
He thrust it down among the crags below.
Then calmly smiling on her thus he spoke,
He thrust it down among the crags below.
Then calmly smiling on her thus he spoke,
“How came a nymph so young in these rough wilds
With no protection rambling here alone?
With no protection rambling here alone?
“Syrinx am I; I dwell in lower lands:
The forest wonders opening as I came
Lured me from space to space to ramble here.
But whence art thou who saved me, slaying death
With snatched-up fragment of the splintered rock?”
The forest wonders opening as I came
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But whence art thou who saved me, slaying death
With snatched-up fragment of the splintered rock?”
“Silenus I; Olympian Hermes' son,
Of Dionysus friend and follower.
That splintered fragment saved thy lovely self
From gored defacement and from mangled limbs;
And need of swiftness held the taint of chance,
Else slaying bulls I count but lightsome play,
As breaking necks of hares to puny man.
Of Dionysus friend and follower.
That splintered fragment saved thy lovely self
From gored defacement and from mangled limbs;
And need of swiftness held the taint of chance,
Else slaying bulls I count but lightsome play,
As breaking necks of hares to puny man.
“Approving once my strength Athena smiled.
For when the banded Titans made assault
To overthrow the dreaded power of Zeus;
Pallas, the winged one, soared, and gloaring down
Alit before the mighty Virgin's feet,
And strove to clutch Her garment. She withdrew
A pace, and raised Her spear, and cleaved his brain.
Knowing the Goddess would abhor the sight,
Kindled to tenfold strength, grappling the bulk
I dragged the mountain-monster to the edge
And rolled his carcase down the Olympian wall.
This bull that chilled thy blood to white dismay
Had seemed a fuming pigmy alongside
That evil Titan by Athena slain.
For when the banded Titans made assault
To overthrow the dreaded power of Zeus;
Pallas, the winged one, soared, and gloaring down
Alit before the mighty Virgin's feet,
And strove to clutch Her garment. She withdrew
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Knowing the Goddess would abhor the sight,
Kindled to tenfold strength, grappling the bulk
I dragged the mountain-monster to the edge
And rolled his carcase down the Olympian wall.
This bull that chilled thy blood to white dismay
Had seemed a fuming pigmy alongside
That evil Titan by Athena slain.
“Let us now waive ungracious memories,
And cherish what is near. Ah, were it dear
To both as dear to me! I never loved
A Goddess, nymph, or mortal maid till now:
And now, O Syrinx, my whole soul is thine;
Yield me thyself and let me know of love!”
And cherish what is near. Ah, were it dear
To both as dear to me! I never loved
A Goddess, nymph, or mortal maid till now:
And now, O Syrinx, my whole soul is thine;
Yield me thyself and let me know of love!”
“I cannot else than love thee, Demigod!
To gaze on lovely; gentle as the doves
Taking the food I offer from my lips!”
To gaze on lovely; gentle as the doves
Taking the food I offer from my lips!”
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“If like thy doves, then like thy doves I take
The food I long for from thy offering lips!”
Ah, then the wild delight of clasp and kiss
The food I long for from thy offering lips!”
And drowning in forgetfulness! The thrall
Of mazed enchantment in those saving arms;
And rapture on the music of his heart
Beating a lullaby to blessed sleep!
Thus happy died fair Syrinx; in the flow
Of never-ceasing water thro' the land
Of pleasant shade that gave her beauty birth.
| Silenus | |