The Story of Orpheus and Eurydice



10:1 Thence, in his saffron robe, for distant Thrace,
10:2 Hymen departs, thro' air's unmeasur'd space;
10:3 By Orpheus call'd, the nuptial Pow'r attends,
10:4 But with ill-omen'd augury descends;
10:5 Nor chearful look'd the God, nor prosp'rous spoke,
10:6 Nor blaz'd his torch, but wept in hissing smoke.
10:7 In vain they whirl it round, in vain they shake,
10:8 No rapid motion can its flames awake.
10:9 With dread these inauspicious signs were view'd,
10:10 And soon a more disastrous end ensu'd;
10:11 For as the bride, amid the Naiad train,
10:12 Ran joyful, sporting o'er the flow'ry plain,
10:13 A venom'd viper bit her as she pass'd;
10:14 Instant she fell, and sudden breath'd her last.

10:15 When long his loss the Thracian had deplor'd,
10:16 Not by superior Pow'rs to be restor'd;
10:17 Inflam'd by love, and urg'd by deep despair,
10:18 He leaves the realms of light, and upper air;
10:19 Daring to tread the dark Tenarian road,
10:20 And tempt the shades in their obscure abode;
10:21 Thro' gliding spectres of th' interr'd to go,
10:22 And phantom people of the world below:
10:23 Persephone he seeks, and him who reigns
10:24 O'er ghosts, and Hell's uncomfortable plains.
10:25 Arriv'd, he, tuning to his voice his strings,
10:26 Thus to the king and queen of shadows sings.

10:27 Ye Pow'rs, who under Earth your realms extend,
10:28 To whom all mortals must one day descend;
10:29 If here 'tis granted sacred truth to tell:
10:30 I come not curious to explore your Hell;
10:31 Nor come to boast (by vain ambition fir'd)
10:32 How Cerberus at my approach retir'd.
10:33 My wife alone I seek; for her lov'd sake
10:34 These terrors I support, this journey take.
10:35 She, luckless wandring, or by fate mis-led,
10:36 Chanc'd on a lurking viper's crest to tread;
10:37 The vengeful beast, enflam'd with fury, starts,
10:38 And thro' her heel his deathful venom darts.
10:39 Thus was she snatch'd untimely to her tomb;
10:40 Her growing years cut short, and springing bloom.
10:41 Long I my loss endeavour'd to sustain,
10:42 And strongly strove, but strove, alas, in vain:
10:43 At length I yielded, won by mighty love;
10:44 Well known is that omnipotence above!
10:45 But here, I doubt, his unfelt influence fails;
10:46 And yet a hope within my heart prevails.
10:47 That here, ev'n here, he has been known of old;
10:48 At least if truth be by tradition told;
10:49 If fame of former rapes belief may find,
10:50 You both by love, and love alone, were join'd.
10:51 Now, by the horrors which these realms surround;
10:52 By the vast chaos of these depths profound;
10:53 By the sad silence which eternal reigns
10:54 O'er all the waste of these wide-stretching plains;
10:55 Let me again Eurydice receive,
10:56 Let Fate her quick-spun thread of life re-weave.
10:57 All our possessions are but loans from you,
10:58 And soon, or late, you must be paid your due;
10:59 Hither we haste to human-kind's last seat,
10:60 Your endless empire, and our sure retreat.
10:61 She too, when ripen'd years she shall attain,
10:62 Must, of avoidless right, be yours again:
10:63 I but the transient use of that require,
10:64 Which soon, too soon, I must resign entire.
10:65 But if the destinies refuse my vow,
10:66 And no remission of her doom allow;
10:67 Know, I'm determin'd to return no more;
10:68 So both retain, or both to life restore.

10:69 Thus, while the bard melodiously complains,
10:70 And to his lyre accords his vocal strains,
10:71 The very bloodless shades attention keep,
10:72 And silent, seem compassionate to weep;
10:73 Ev'n Tantalus his flood unthirsty views,
10:74 Nor flies the stream, nor he the stream pursues;
10:75 Ixion's wond'ring wheel its whirl suspends,
10:76 And the voracious vulture, charm'd, attends;
10:77 No more the Belides their toil bemoan,
10:78 And Sisiphus reclin'd, sits list'ning on his stone.

10:79 Then first ('tis said) by sacred verse subdu'd,
10:80 The Furies felt their cheeks with tears bedew'd:
10:81 Nor could the rigid king, or queen of Hell,
10:82 Th' impulse of pity in their hearts repell.

10:83 Now, from a troop of shades that last arriv'd,
10:84 Eurydice was call'd, and stood reviv'd:
10:85 Slow she advanc'd, and halting seem to feel
10:86 The fatal wound, yet painful in her heel.
10:87 Thus he obtains the suit so much desir'd,
10:88 On strict observance of the terms requir'd:
10:89 For if, before he reach the realms of air,
10:90 He backward cast his eyes to view the fair,
10:91 The forfeit grant, that instant, void is made,
10:92 And she for ever left a lifeless shade.

10:93 Now thro' the noiseless throng their way they bend,
10:94 And both with pain the rugged road ascend;
10:95 Dark was the path, and difficult, and steep,
10:96 And thick with vapours from the smoaky deep.
10:97 They well-nigh now had pass'd the bounds of night,
10:98 And just approach'd the margin of the light,
10:99 When he, mistrusting lest her steps might stray,
10:100 And gladsome of the glympse of dawning day,
10:101 His longing eyes, impatient, backward cast
10:102 To catch a lover's look, but look'd his last;
10:103 For, instant dying, she again descends,
10:104 While he to empty air his arms extends.
10:105 Again she dy'd, nor yet her lord reprov'd;
10:106 What could she say, but that too well he lov'd?
10:107 One last farewell she spoke, which scarce he heard;
10:108 So soon she drop'd, so sudden disappear'd.

10:109 All stunn'd he stood, when thus his wife he view'd
10:110 By second Fate, and double death subdu'd:
10:111 Not more amazement by that wretch was shown,
10:112 Whom Cerberus beholding, turn'd to stone;
10:113 Nor Olenus cou'd more astonish'd look,
10:114 When on himself Lethaea's fault he took,
10:115 His beauteous wife, who too secure had dar'd
10:116 Her face to vye with Goddesses compar'd:
10:117 Once join'd by love, they stand united still,
10:118 Turn'd to contiguous rocks on Ida's hill.

10:119 Now to repass the Styx in vain he tries,
10:120 Charon averse, his pressing suit denies.
10:121 Sev'n days entire, along th' infernal shores,
10:122 Disconsolate, the bard Eurydice deplores;
10:123 Defil'd with filth his robe, with tears his cheeks,
10:124 No sustenance but grief, and cares, he seeks:
10:125 Of rigid Fate incessant he complains,
10:126 And Hell's inexorable Gods arraigns.
10:127 This ended, to high Rhodope he hastes,
10:128 And Haemus' mountain, bleak with northern blasts.

10:129 And now his yearly race the circling sun
10:130 Had thrice compleat thro' wat'ry Pisces run,
10:131 Since Orpheus fled the face of womankind,
10:132 And all soft union with the sex declin'd.
10:133 Whether his ill success this change had bred,
10:134 Or binding vows made to his former bed;
10:135 Whate'er the cause, in vain the nymphs contest,
10:136 With rival eyes to warm his frozen breast:
10:137 For ev'ry nymph with love his lays inspir'd,
10:138 But ev'ry nymph repuls'd, with grief retir'd.

10:139 A hill there was, and on that hill a mead,
10:140 With verdure thick, but destitute of shade.
10:141 Where, now, the Muse's son no sooner sings,
10:142 No sooner strikes his sweet resounding strings.
10:143 But distant groves the flying sounds receive,
10:144 And list'ning trees their rooted stations leave;
10:145 Themselves transplanting, all around they grow,
10:146 And various shades their various kinds bestow.
10:147 Here, tall Chaonian oaks their branches spread,
10:148 While weeping poplars there erect their head.
10:149 The foodful Esculus here shoots his leaves,
10:150 That turf soft lime-tree, this, fat beach receives;
10:151 Here, brittle hazels, lawrels here advance,
10:152 And there tough ash to form the heroe's lance;
10:153 Here silver firs with knotless trunks ascend,
10:154 There, scarlet oaks beneath their acorns bend.
10:155 That spot admits the hospitable plane,
10:156 On this, the maple grows with clouded grain;
10:157 Here, watry willows are with Lotus seen;
10:158 There, tamarisk, and box for ever green.
10:159 With double hue here mirtles grace the ground,
10:160 And laurestines, with purple berries crown'd.
10:161 With pliant feet, now, ivies this way wind,
10:162 Vines yonder rise, and elms with vines entwin'd.
10:163 Wild Ornus now, the pitch-tree next takes root,
10:164 And Arbutus adorn'd with blushing fruit.
10:165 Then easy-bending palms, the victor's prize,
10:166 And pines erect with bristly tops arise.
10:167 For Rhea grateful still the pine remains,
10:168 For Atys still some favour she retains;
10:169 He once in human shape her breast had warm'd,
10:170 And now is cherish'd, to a tree transform'd.