Her bosom heaves and spreads, her stature grows; And she expects the issue in repose. O joy! O terror! what hath she perceived? Mild Hermes spake, and touched her with his wand That calms all fear: "Such grace hath crowned thy prayer, Laodamía! that at Jove's command Thy Husband walks the paths of upper air: Forth sprang the impassioned Queen her Lord to clasp ; Again that consummation she essayed; “Protesiláus, lo! thy guide is gone! Confirm, I pray, the vision with thy voice: This is our palace, yonder is thy throne; Speak, and the floor thou tread'st on will rejoice. — "Great Jove, Laodamía! doth not leave And something also did my worth obtain; "Thou knowest, the Delphic oracle foretold And forth I leapt upon the sandy plain; "Supreme of Heroes! bravest, noblest, best! art A nobler counsellor than my poor heart. "But thou, though capable of sternest deed, Redundant are thy locks, thy lips as fair As when their breath enriched Thessalian air. Come, blooming Hero, place thee by my side! "This visage tells thee that my doom is past: And surely as they vanish. Earth destroys "Be taught, O faithful Consort, to control "Ah, wherefore? Did not Hercules by force Wrest from the guardian Monster of the tomb Alcestis, a reanimated corse, Given back to dwell on earth in vernal bloom? Medea's spells dispersed the weight of years, And Æson stood a youth 'mid youthful peers. "The Gods to us are merciful, and they Yet further may relent: for mightier far Than strength of nerve and sinew, or the sway Of magic potent over sun and star, Is love, though oft to agony distrest, And though his favorite seat be feeble woman's She looked upon him and was calmed and cheered In his deportment, shape, and mien appeared Brought from a pensive, though a happy place. He spake of love, such love as Spirits feel The past unsighed for, and the future sure; Of all that is most beauteous, imaged there And fields invested with purpureal gleams; Climes which the sun, who sheds the brightest day Earth knows, is all unworthy to survey. Yet there the Soul shall enter which hath earned That privilege by virtue." Ill," said he, "The end of man's existence I discerned, Who from ignoble games and revelry Could draw, when we had parted, vain delight, While tears were thy best pastime, day and night; "And while my youthful peers before my eyes (Each hero following his peculiar bent) Prepared themselves for glorious enterprise By martial sports, or, seated in the tent, Chieftains and kings in council were detained; What time the fleet at Aulis lay enchained. "The wished-for wind was given : volved The oracle, upon the silent sea; And, if no worthier led the way, resolved That, of a thousand vessels, mine should be "Yet bitter, ofttimes bitter, was the pang The paths which we had trod, — these fountains, flowers, My new-planned cities, and unfinished towers. |