 | Pastoral poetry and an essay on criticism (1961) |  |
365
POLYPHEMUS and ACIS.
Out of the thirteenth Book of OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.
Connexion of the FABLE.
On occasion of Æneas's Passage by Scylla and Charybdis, the Poet introduces an Account of the former; who was, before her Transformation, an Attendant of Galatea. As she is employed in dressing her Mistress, she relates to her the following Story of her Amours with Acis, and the Love of Polyphemus.
From fair Symæthis and her Faunus came
A lovely youth, and Acis was his name;
His parents joy, who did a comfort prove
To them by nature, but to me by love:
To me the boy did an affection bear,
His only pleasure, and his early care.
E'er sixteen passing years had overlaid
His downy cheeks with a beginning shade,
Acis I lov'd, and Polyphemus too
With equal ardour did my love pursue;
Nor knew I then which passion greater prov'd,
If most I hated, or if most I lov'd.
Great queen of love! how boundless is thy sway;
Which monsters wild, and savages obey!
Thy force the barb'rous Polyphemus try'd,
The proud despiser of all heav'n beside;
Ev'n he, the terror of his native grove,
Dismiss'd his fierceness, and cou'd learn to love!
A lovely youth, and Acis was his name;
His parents joy, who did a comfort prove
To them by nature, but to me by love:
To me the boy did an affection bear,
His only pleasure, and his early care.
E'er sixteen passing years had overlaid
His downy cheeks with a beginning shade,
Acis I lov'd, and Polyphemus too
With equal ardour did my love pursue;
Nor knew I then which passion greater prov'd,
If most I hated, or if most I lov'd.
366
Which monsters wild, and savages obey!
Thy force the barb'rous Polyphemus try'd,
The proud despiser of all heav'n beside;
Ev'n he, the terror of his native grove,
Dismiss'd his fierceness, and cou'd learn to love!
Now all neglected, he forgets his home,
His flocks at random round the forest roam:
While nice, and anxious in his new disease,
He vainly studies every art to please:
To trim his beard, th'unweildy scythe prepares;
And combs with rakes, his rough, disorder'd hairs:
Adjusts his shapes; while in the crystal brook
He views and practises a milder look.
Love makes him all his cruelty forego,
And ships, in safety, wander to and fro.
His flocks at random round the forest roam:
While nice, and anxious in his new disease,
He vainly studies every art to please:
To trim his beard, th'unweildy scythe prepares;
And combs with rakes, his rough, disorder'd hairs:
Adjusts his shapes; while in the crystal brook
He views and practises a milder look.
Love makes him all his cruelty forego,
And ships, in safety, wander to and fro.
It chanc'd prophetick Telemus, who knew
The flight of birds, and thence presages drew,
Arriving then by Ætna's steepy height,
Foretold the Cyclops he shou'd lose his sight.
The laughing Cyclops gave the bard the lye,
And said, a charming female stole that eye.
Thus scorning prophecy, and warn'd in vain,
With heavy steps he sinks the sandy plain;
Then weary grown, to shady grotts retires,
But finds no shelter from his raging fires.
The flight of birds, and thence presages drew,
Arriving then by Ætna's steepy height,
Foretold the Cyclops he shou'd lose his sight.
The laughing Cyclops gave the bard the lye,
And said, a charming female stole that eye.
Thus scorning prophecy, and warn'd in vain,
With heavy steps he sinks the sandy plain;
Then weary grown, to shady grotts retires,
But finds no shelter from his raging fires.
367
Far in the main a promontory grows,
Around whose rocky sides the water flows:
High in the midst, upon this airy steep
He sate, pursu'd by all his flocks of sheep.
Before his feet his pondrous staff he cast;
A pine which ships might challenge for a mast:
His whistle (which a hundred reeds compose)
With all his strength the giant-lover blows;
The neighbouring mountains, and resounding main
Shook, and return'd the dreadful blast again.
Hid in a rock, and by my Acis laid,
The boist'rous musick did my ears invade;
While to his reeds he sung his amorous pains,
In words like these, which still my mind retains.
Around whose rocky sides the water flows:
High in the midst, upon this airy steep
He sate, pursu'd by all his flocks of sheep.
Before his feet his pondrous staff he cast;
A pine which ships might challenge for a mast:
His whistle (which a hundred reeds compose)
With all his strength the giant-lover blows;
The neighbouring mountains, and resounding main
Shook, and return'd the dreadful blast again.
Hid in a rock, and by my Acis laid,
The boist'rous musick did my ears invade;
While to his reeds he sung his amorous pains,
In words like these, which still my mind retains.
Oh! lovely nymph, and more than lilies fair,
More sweet than winter's sun, or summer's air,
And smooth as shells that gliding waters wear;
Not ice or crystal equal splendor yield,
O far more pleasing than the flow'ry field!
Wanton as kids; and more delicious far,
Than grapes mature, or blushing apples are;
More strait than alders, taller than the planes;
And soft as down upon the breast of swans:
As gardens fresh, where running rivers stray,
But, ah! like rivers, swift to glide away;
And what alone must all my hopes remove,
Swift as the wind before pursuing love;
More sweet than winter's sun, or summer's air,
And smooth as shells that gliding waters wear;
Not ice or crystal equal splendor yield,
O far more pleasing than the flow'ry field!
Wanton as kids; and more delicious far,
Than grapes mature, or blushing apples are;
More strait than alders, taller than the planes;
And soft as down upon the breast of swans:
368
But, ah! like rivers, swift to glide away;
And what alone must all my hopes remove,
Swift as the wind before pursuing love;
Yet know, coy maid, and curse your long delay,
Know from whose arms you fly so fast away.
Behold the rocky caverns where I dwell,
Which summer suns, and winter frosts expel.
See how my fruits the loaded branches bend,
And grapes in clusters from the vine depend;
These bright, like gold, and those with purple shine;
And these and those, my dearest, shall be thine.
Here cornels rise, and in the shady grove
Grow scarlet strawberries to feast my love:
The chesnut, wilding, plum, and every tree,
For thee shall bear their fruits, and offer all to thee!
Know from whose arms you fly so fast away.
Behold the rocky caverns where I dwell,
Which summer suns, and winter frosts expel.
See how my fruits the loaded branches bend,
And grapes in clusters from the vine depend;
These bright, like gold, and those with purple shine;
And these and those, my dearest, shall be thine.
Here cornels rise, and in the shady grove
Grow scarlet strawberries to feast my love:
The chesnut, wilding, plum, and every tree,
For thee shall bear their fruits, and offer all to thee!
These flocks are mine, and more are pen'd at home,
Range in the woods, and in the vallies roam:
So great the tale, I scarce can count them o'er;
The poorest shepherd best may tell his store.
Believe not me, but come and witness here,
How, scarce, my ewes their strutting udders bear;
What tender lambkins here my folds contain,
And there what kids of equal age remain.
Nor boast we only common dainties here,
But roes and lev'rets, and the fallow deer;
The goat, the hare, with ev'ry forest beast;
And turtles taken from their airy nest.
Two cubs I have, as like as twins can be;
And these, dear nymph, are kept to play with thee:
Two little bears, I found them, and did please
Myself to think, my mistress shou'd have these.
Range in the woods, and in the vallies roam:
So great the tale, I scarce can count them o'er;
The poorest shepherd best may tell his store.
Believe not me, but come and witness here,
How, scarce, my ewes their strutting udders bear;
What tender lambkins here my folds contain,
369
Nor boast we only common dainties here,
But roes and lev'rets, and the fallow deer;
The goat, the hare, with ev'ry forest beast;
And turtles taken from their airy nest.
Two cubs I have, as like as twins can be;
And these, dear nymph, are kept to play with thee:
Two little bears, I found them, and did please
Myself to think, my mistress shou'd have these.
Come Galatea, from the sea arise,
And see my presents, nor the gifts despise.
I'm not so monst'rous; I my face did view
In yon clear lake, and thought it handsome too:
How great I look'd! of what a godlike size!
Not Jove himself (your Jove that sways the skies)
Is half so mighty, half so large, my love;
Your beauty charms a greater man than Jove.
Hairs, like a wood, my head and shoulders grace,
And cast a majesty on all my face:
The comely steeds are grac'd with flowing manes;
With fleeces sheep, and birds with plumy trains;
Leaves deck the stately trees; and man is fair,
By bearded cheeks, and members rough with hair.
With one large eye my ample front is grac'd,
Round like a shield, and in the middle plac'd:
The sun all objects views beneath the sky,
And yet, like me, has but a single eye.
My father o'er your seas presides; and he
Will be your father by your wedding me.
Oh! yeild at last, nor still remain severe;
I worship you, and you alone I fear!
Jove's harmless lightning unregarded flies;
No lightning wounds me but your angry eyes.
Nor thy contempt cou'd cause me thus to mourn,
If thou all others didst despise and scorn:
But Acis, Acis is thy dear delight;
For his embraces you the Cyclops slight.
Well, he may please himself, and you may share
His pleasures too (tho' that I scarce can bear)
Yet he shall find, wou'd time th'occasion shew,
The strength and fury of a giant foe.
I'll from his bleeding breast his entrails tear,
And hurl his mangled carcass in the air;
Or cast his limbs into thy guilty flood,
And mix thy waters with his reeking blood!
For oh! I burn, nor you my flames asswage;
And love disdain'd revives with fiercer rage.
This said, he rose, and frantick with his pain,
Roar'd out for rage, and hurried o'er the plain:
So bulls in forests hunt their absent loves,
And stung with anguish bellow through the groves.
But as around his rowling orb he cast,
Myself and Acis he descry'd at last.
These thefts, false nymph, thou shalt enjoy no more,
He cry'd, and Ætna trembled with the roar!
Frighted, beneath my native deeps I fled;
Acis too run, and help, oh help! he said,
A wretch undone: O parents help, and deign
T'admit your offspring in your watry reign!
The Cyclops follow'd, and a stone he threw,
Torn from the rock, which threatned as it flew;
No further speech the thundering rock affords,
O'ertakes the flying boy, and smothers half his words.
Yet what we cou'd, and what no fates deny'd,
We soon perform'd, and Acis deify'd,
To rule in streams to which he was ally'd:
His body press'd beneath the stone, the blood
Flow'd from the marble in a crimson flood;
Which lost its native red; and first appear'd
A troubled stream; the troubled stream was clear'd;
The rock asunder cleav'd, and thro' the chink
Long reeds sprung up as on a fountain's brink:
Strait from the hollow cliff, and yawning ground,
Insulting waters yield a murmuring sound:
At last a youth above the waist arose,
Whose horned temples reedy wreaths inclose;
And, but he seem'd a larger bulk to bear,
With looks more azure, Acis might appear;
And Acis was; who now transform'd became
A crystal fountain, and preserv'd the name.
And see my presents, nor the gifts despise.
I'm not so monst'rous; I my face did view
In yon clear lake, and thought it handsome too:
How great I look'd! of what a godlike size!
Not Jove himself (your Jove that sways the skies)
Is half so mighty, half so large, my love;
Your beauty charms a greater man than Jove.
370
And cast a majesty on all my face:
The comely steeds are grac'd with flowing manes;
With fleeces sheep, and birds with plumy trains;
Leaves deck the stately trees; and man is fair,
By bearded cheeks, and members rough with hair.
With one large eye my ample front is grac'd,
Round like a shield, and in the middle plac'd:
The sun all objects views beneath the sky,
And yet, like me, has but a single eye.
My father o'er your seas presides; and he
Will be your father by your wedding me.
Oh! yeild at last, nor still remain severe;
I worship you, and you alone I fear!
Jove's harmless lightning unregarded flies;
No lightning wounds me but your angry eyes.
Nor thy contempt cou'd cause me thus to mourn,
If thou all others didst despise and scorn:
But Acis, Acis is thy dear delight;
For his embraces you the Cyclops slight.
Well, he may please himself, and you may share
His pleasures too (tho' that I scarce can bear)
Yet he shall find, wou'd time th'occasion shew,
The strength and fury of a giant foe.
I'll from his bleeding breast his entrails tear,
371
Or cast his limbs into thy guilty flood,
And mix thy waters with his reeking blood!
For oh! I burn, nor you my flames asswage;
And love disdain'd revives with fiercer rage.
This said, he rose, and frantick with his pain,
Roar'd out for rage, and hurried o'er the plain:
So bulls in forests hunt their absent loves,
And stung with anguish bellow through the groves.
But as around his rowling orb he cast,
Myself and Acis he descry'd at last.
These thefts, false nymph, thou shalt enjoy no more,
He cry'd, and Ætna trembled with the roar!
Frighted, beneath my native deeps I fled;
Acis too run, and help, oh help! he said,
A wretch undone: O parents help, and deign
T'admit your offspring in your watry reign!
372
Torn from the rock, which threatned as it flew;
No further speech the thundering rock affords,
O'ertakes the flying boy, and smothers half his words.
Yet what we cou'd, and what no fates deny'd,
We soon perform'd, and Acis deify'd,
To rule in streams to which he was ally'd:
His body press'd beneath the stone, the blood
Flow'd from the marble in a crimson flood;
Which lost its native red; and first appear'd
A troubled stream; the troubled stream was clear'd;
The rock asunder cleav'd, and thro' the chink
Long reeds sprung up as on a fountain's brink:
Strait from the hollow cliff, and yawning ground,
Insulting waters yield a murmuring sound:
At last a youth above the waist arose,
373
And, but he seem'd a larger bulk to bear,
With looks more azure, Acis might appear;
And Acis was; who now transform'd became
A crystal fountain, and preserv'd the name.
Memorandum. Done at 14 years old.
| Pastoral poetry and an essay on criticism (1961) | |