The Complete Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley

  While he conceived another piece of fun,

  One of his old tricks—which the God of Day

  690

  Perceiving, said:—‘I fear thee, Son of May;—

  LXXXVIII

  ‘I fear thee and thy sly chameleon spirit,

  Lest thou should steal my lyre and crookèd bow;

  This glory and power thou dost from Jove inherit,

  To teach all craft upon the earth below;

  695

  Thieves love and worship thee—it is thy merit

  To make all mortal business ebb and flow

  By roguery:—now, Hermes, if you dare

  By sacred Styx a mighty oath to swear

  LXXXIX

  ‘That you will never rob me, you will do

  700

  A thing extremely pleasing to my heart.’

  Then Mercury sware by the Stygian dew,

  That he would never steal his bow or dart,

  Or lay his hands on what to him was due,

  Or ever would employ his powerful art

  705

  Against his Pythian fane. Then Phoebus swore

  There was no God or Man whom he loved more.

  XC

  ‘And I will give thee as a good-will token,

  The beautiful wand of wealth and happiness;

  A perfect three-leaved rod of gold unbroken,

  710

  Whose magic will thy footsteps ever bless;

  And whatsoever by Jove’s voice is spoken

  Of earthly or divine from its recess,

  It, like a loving soul, to thee will speak,

  And more than this, do thou forbear to seek.

  XCI

  715

  ‘For, dearest child, the divinations high

  Which thou requirest, ’tis unlawful ever

  That thou, or any other deity

  Should understand—and vain were the endeavour;

  For they are hidden in Jove’s mind, and I,

  720

  In trust of them, have sworn that I would never

  Betray the counsels of Jove’s inmost will

  To any God—the oath was terrible.

  XCII

  Then, golden-wanded brother, ask me not

  To speak the fates by Jupiter designed;

  725

  But be it mine to tell their various lot

  To the unnumbered tribes of human-kind.

  Let good to these, and ill to those be wrought

  As I dispense—but he who comes consigned

  By voice and wings of perfect augury

  730

  To my great shrine, shall find avail in me.

  XCIII

  ‘Him will I not deceive, but will assist;

  But he who comes relying on such birds

  As chatter vainly, who would strain and twist

  The purpose of the Gods with idle words,

  735

  And deems their knowledge light, he shall have missed

  His road—whilst I among my other hoards

  His gifts deposit. Yet, O son of May,

  I have another wondrous thing to say.

  XCIV

  ‘There are three Fates, three virgin Sisters, who

  740

  Rejoicing in their wind-outspeeding wings,

  Their heads with flour snowed over white and new,

  Sit in a vale round which Parnassus flings

  Its circling skirts—from these I have learned true

  Vaticinations of remotest things.

  745

  My father cared not. Whilst they search out dooms,

  They sit apart and feed on honeycombs.

  XCV

  ‘They, having eaten the fresh honey, grow

  Drunk with divine enthusiasm, and utter

  With earnest willingness the truth they know;

  750

  But if deprived of that sweet food, they mutter

  All plausible delusions;—these to you

  I give;—if you inquire, they will not stutter;

  Delight your own soul with them:—any man

  You would instruct may profit if he can.

  XCVI

  755

  ‘Take these and the fierce oxen, Maia’s child—

  O’er many a horse and toil-enduring mule,

  O’er jaggèd-jawèd lions, and the wild

  White-tuskèd boars, o’er all, by field or pool,

  Of cattle which the mighty Mother mild

  760

  Nourishes in her bosom, thou shalt rule—

  Thou dost alone the veil from death uplift—

  Thou givest not—yet this is a great gift.’

  XCVII

  Thus King Apollo loved the child of May

  In truth, and Jove covered their love with joy.

  765

  Hermes with Gods and Men even from that day

  Mingled, and wrought the latter much annoy,

  And little profit, going far astray

  Through the dun night. Farewell, delightful Boy,

  Of Jove and Maia sprung,—never by me,

  770

  Nor thou, nor other songs, shall unremembered be.

  HOMER’S HYMN TO CASTOR AND POLLUX

  YE wild-eyed Muses, sing the Twins of Jove,

  Whom the fair-ankled Leda, mixed in love

  With mighty Saturn’s Heaven-obscuring Child,

  On Taygetus, that lofty mountain wild,

  5

  Brought forth in joy: mild Pollux, void of blame,

  And steed-subduing Castor, heirs of fame.

  These are the Powers who earth-born mortals save

  And ships, whose flight is swift along the wave.

  When wintry tempests o’er the savage sea

  10

  Are raging, and the sailors tremblingly

  Call on the Twins of Jove with prayer and vow,

  Gathered in fear upon the lofty prow,

  And sacrifice with snow-white lambs,—the wind

  And the huge billow bursting close behind,

  15

  Even then beneath the weltering waters bear

  The staggering ship—they suddenly appear,

  On yellow wings rushing athwart the sky,

  And lull the blasts in mute tranquillity,

  And strew the waves on the white Ocean’s bed,

  20

  Fair omen of the voyage; from toil and dread

  The sailors rest, rejoicing in the sight,

  And plough the quiet sea in safe delight.

  HOMER’S HYMN TO THE MOON

  DAUGHTERS of Jove, whose voice is melody,

  Muses, who know and rule all minstrelsy,

  Sing the wide-wingèd Moon! Around the earth,

  From her immortal head in Heaven shot forth,

  5

  Far light is scattered—boundless glory springs;

  Where’er she spreads her many-beaming wings

  The lampless air glows round her golden crown.

  But when the Moon divine from Heaven is gone

  Under the sea, her beams within abide,

  10

  Till, bathing her bright limbs in Ocean’s tide,

  Clothing her form in garments glittering far,

  And having yoked to her immortal car

  The beam-invested steeds whose necks on high

  Curve back, she drives to a remoter sky

  15

  A western Crescent, borne impetuously.

  Then is made full the circle of her light,

  And as she grows, her beams more bright and bright

  Are poured from Heaven, where she is hovering then,

  A wonder and a sign to mortal men.

  20

  The Son of Saturn with this glorious Power

  Mingled in love and sleep—to whom she bore

  Pandeia, a bright maid of beauty rare

  Among the Gods, whose lives eternal are.

  Hail Queen, great Moon, white-armed Divinity, r />
  25

  Fair-haired and favourable! thus with thee

  My song beginning, by its music sweet

  Shall make immortal many a glorious feat

  Of demigods, with lovely lips, so well

  Which minstrels, servants of the Muses, tell.

  HOMER’S HYMN TO THE SUN

  OFFSPRING of Jove, Calliope, once more

  To the bright Sun, thy hymn of music pour;

  Whom to the child of star-clad Heaven and Earth

  Euryphaëssa, large-eyed nymph, brought forth;

  5

  Euryphaëssa, the famed sister fair

  Of great Hyperion, who to him did bear

  A race of loveliest children; the young Morn,

  Whose arms are like twin roses newly born,

  The fair-haired Moon, and the immortal Sun,

  10

  Who borne by heavenly steeds his race doth run

  Unconquerably, illuming the abodes

  Of mortal Men and the eternal Gods.

  Fiercely look forth his awe-inspiring eyes,

  Beneath his golden helmet, whence arise

  15

  And are shot forth afar, clear beams of light;

  His countenance, with radiant glory bright,

  Beneath his graceful locks far shines around,

  And the light vest with which his limbs are bound,

  Of woof aethereal delicately twined,

  20

  Glows in the stream of the uplifting wind.

  His rapid steeds soon bear him to the West;

  Where their steep flight his hands divine arrest,

  And the fleet car with yoke of gold, which he

  Sends from bright Heaven beneath the shadowy sea.

  HOMER’S HYMN TO THE EARTH: MOTHER OF ALL

  O UNIVERSAL Mother, who dost keep

  From everlasting thy foundations deep,

  Eldest of things, Great Earth, I sing of thee!

  All shapes that have their dwelling in the sea,

  5

  All things that fly, or on the ground divine

  Live, move, and there are nourished—these are thine;

  These from thy wealth thou dost sustain; from thee

  Fair babes are born, and fruits on every tree

  Hang ripe and large, revered Divinity!

  10

  The life of mortal men beneath thy sway

  Is held; thy power both gives and takes away!

  Happy are they whom thy mild favours nourish;

  All things unstinted round them grow and flourish.

  For them, endures the life-sustaining field

  15

  Its load of harvest, and their cattle yield

  Large increase, and their house with wealth is filled.

  Such honoured dwell in cities fair and free,

  The homes of lovely women, prosperously;

  Their sons exult in youth’s new budding gladness,

  20

  And their fresh daughters free from care or sadness,

  With bloom-inwoven dance and happy song,

  On the soft flowers the meadow-grass among,

  Leap round them sporting—such delights by thee

  Are given, rich Power, revered Divinity.

  25

  Mother of gods, thou Wife of starry Heaven,

  Farewell! be thou propitious, and be given

  A happy life for this brief melody,

  Nor thou nor other songs shall unremembered be.

  HOMER’S HYMN TO MINERVA

  I SING the glorious Power with azure eyes,

  Athenian Pallas! tameless, chaste, and wise,

  Tritogenia, town-preserving Maid,

  Revered and mighty; from his awful head

  5

  Whom Jove brought forth, in warlike armour dressed,

  Golden, all radiant! wonder strange possessed

  The everlasting Gods that Shape to see,

  Shaking a javelin keen, impetuously

  Rush from the crest of Aegis-bearing Jove;

  10

  Fearfully Heaven was shaken, and did move

  Beneath the might of the Cerulean-eyed;

  Earth dreadfully resounded, far and wide;

  And, lifted from its depths, the sea swelled high

  In purple billows, the tide suddenly

  15

  Stood still, and great Hyperion’s son long time

  Checked his swift steeds, till where she stood sublime

  Pallas from her immortal shoulders threw

  The arms divine; wise Jove rejoiced to view.

  Child of the Aegis-bearer, hail to thee,

  20

  Nor thine nor others’ praise shall unremembered be.

  HOMER’S HYMN TO VENUS

  [Vv. 1-55, with some omissions.]

  MUSE, sing the deeds of golden Aphrodite,

  Who wakens with her smile the lulled delight

  Of sweet desire, taming the eternal kings

  Of Heaven, and men, and all the living things

  5

  That fleet along the air, or whom the sea,

  Or earth, with her maternal ministry,

  Nourish innumerable, thy delight

  All seek O crownèd Aphrodite!

  Three spirits canst thou not deceive or quell:—

  10

  Minerva, child of Jove, who loves too well

  Fierce war and mingling combat, and the fame

  Of glorious deeds, to heed thy gentle flame.

  Diana golden-shafted queen,

  Is tamed not by thy smiles; the shadows green

  15

  Of the wild woods, the bow, the …

  And piercing cries amid the swift pursuit

  Of beasts among waste mountains,—such delight

  Is hers, and men who know and do the right.

  Nor Saturn’s first-born daughter, Vesta chaste,

  20

  Whom Neptune and Apollo wooed the last,

  Such was the will of aegis-bearing Jove;

  But sternly she refused the ills of Love,

  And by her mighty Father’s head she swore

  An oath not unperformed, that evermore

  25

  A virgin she would live mid deities

  Divine: her father, for such gentle ties

  Renounced, gave glorious gifts—thus in his hall

  She sits and feeds luxuriously. O’er all

  In every fane, her honours first arise

  30

  From men—the eldest of Divinities.

  These spirits she persuades not, nor deceives,

  But none beside escape, so well she weaves

  Her unseen toils; nor mortal men, nor gods

  Who live secure in their unseen abodes.

  35

  She won the soul of him whose fierce delight

  Is thunder—first in glory and in might.

  And, as she willed, his mighty mind deceiving,

  With mortal limbs his deathless limbs inweaving,

  Concealed him from his spouse and sister fair,

  40

  Whom to wise Saturn ancient Rhea bare.

  but in return,

  In Venus Jove did soft desire awaken,

  That by her own enchantments overtaken,

  She might, no more from human union free,

  45

  Burn for a nursling of mortality.

  For once, amid the assembled Deities,

  The laughter-loving Venus from her eyes

  Shot forth the light of a soft starlight smile,

  And boasting said, that she, secure the while,

  50

  Could bring at will to the assembled Gods

  The mortal tenants of earth’s dark abodes,

  And mortal offspring from a deathless stem

  She could produce in scorn and spite of them.

  Therefore he poured desire into her breast

  55

  Of young Anchises,

  Feeding his her
ds among the mossy fountains

  Of the wide Ida’s many-folded mountains,—

  Whom Venus saw, and loved, and the love clung

  Like wasting fire her senses wild among.

  THE CYCLOPS

  A SATYRIC DRAMA

  TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK OF EURIPIDES

  SILENUS.

  CHORUS OF SATYRS.

  ULYSSES.

  THE CYCLOPS.

  Silenus. O Bacchus, what a world of toil, both now

  And ere these limbs were overworn with age,

  Have I endured for thee! First, when thou fled’st

  The mountain-nymphs who nursed thee, driven afar

  5

  By the strange madness Juno sent upon thee;

  Then in the battle of the sons of Earth,

  When I stood foot by foot close to thy side,

  No unpropitious fellow-combatant,

  And, driving through his shield my wingèd spear,

  10

  Slew vast Enceladus. Consider now,

  Is it a dream of which I speak to thee?

  By Jove, it is not, for you have the trophies!

  And now I suffer more than all before.

  For when I heard that Juno had devised

  15

  A tedious voyage for you, I put to sea

  With all my children quaint in search of you,

  And I myself stood on the beaked prow

  And fixed the naked mast; and all my boys

  Leaning upon their oars, with splash and strain

  20

  Made white with foam the green and purple sea,—

  And so we sought you, king. We were sailing

  Near Malea, when an eastern wind arose,

  And drove us to this waste Aetnean rock;

  The one-eyed children of the Ocean God,