WVv PR 4/49 B92B3 HW •* .-i-.'J; '. W v HfW^ «rifc^^ v ^ .vvv* v v, W«;K l^jypH/ , ; VVW ,Vo- V ■ ±,*1 •„ "f- -l-l ir 18$ s W. ^>WSb*^ vvv^gW 'life ^^yr^vvw*^. Mil** 9 t :\ k V BALLADS HERODOTUS: WITH AN INTKODUCTOEY POEM. BY J. E, BODE, M.A. LATE STUDENT OF CHBISTCHURCH. LONDON: LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS. 1853. tf 4$.* s <$> *£ London: Spottiswoodes and Shaw, New -street- Square. PREFACE. So unpretending a volume as the present collection of Ballads perhaps scarcely needs, or claims, the pomp of a Preface. Nevertheless, the Author wishes to be allowed to state that the idea of re- producing these stories in an English metrical dress does not owe its origin either to Mr. Macaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome," or to a little volume entitled " Stories from Herodotus," consisting chiefly of prose, but with a sprinkling of verse, published by Mr. Moberly. In fact, the idea occurred to the Author as early as the year 1841. He had been lately reading many of our old English and Scotch ballads ; and was naturally, or even necessarily (as a tutor of Christ Church), familiar with Herodotus ; and the poetical character of these episodes having occurred to his mind, he was not satisfied without attempting to give them a poetical form. About half of the Ballads were written at that time ; and one of them, " Cleobis and Biton," which, though one of the shortest, may be regarded as a specimen of the plan, appeared in Blackwood's Magazine in A 2 IV PREFACE. April, 1842 — some six months before the publication of Mr. Macaulay's " Lays," and about a year before the appearance of Mr. Moberly's " Stories." In the course of writing these Ballads, the Author became acquainted with Mr. Lockhart's " Spanish Ballads," the perusal of which added impulse to his scheme, as well as suggested the more frequent use of the double rhyme in the long ballad metre. In stating these facts, the Author has no wish to invite comparison between his book and either of those which he has mentioned. With Mr. Macaulay's spirited and popular " Lays" he especially declines to place his Ballads in competition. He is well aware that, to say nothing of inferiority of execution, the stories here presented to the English reader do not possess either that national interest which is derived from being connected with the struggles of a great people for freedom, or for empire, or that excitement which attends upon tales of battle, or of feud, — es- pecially when the warriors, or the victims, have been familiar to our minds from childhood. The senti- mental interest of the Spanish stories is also wanting. There is, moreover, a gentleness and repose, even in the pathos of these stories, which to some may seem tame. Still the pathos is often so exquisite, and the simplicity so engaging, that the Author is fain to hope that, in spite of all that may be lost in a paraphrase, 2 " Polycrates " and " Syloson " appeared in " Black-wood " in the year 1843. PREFACE. or in a poem founded on an inimitable prose narra- tive, these Ballads may possess some interest for the general reader; as well as, perhaps, recall to those acquainted with the original, something of its pe- culiar charm. With a view of treading on less beaten ground, and being able to present to the reader some novel scenes and associations, the less-known stories were for the most part selected. Atys and Adrastus, Pac- tyas and Aristodicus, Syloson, Agarista — nay, even Grorgo, and Perdiccas I., are names which, even to the classical reader, are not hackneyed, even if they are familiar. The general plan of the Ballads has been to dramatise the story, where it appeared desirable — to bring out the moral in some cases more vividly — and occasionally to enlarge on some incident which appeared capable of being thus rendered more inter- esting. The reader of Herodotus will, at the same time, observe that, where it appeared possible, the phrases of the original have been almost literally translated. The Metrical Introduction seems to require a word of further apology. It is the relic of a more ambitious plan, which aimed at no less than introducing the Ballads, each in its proper place, in a framework purporting to be " The History of Herodotus as read by himself at the Olympian games." On re- ferring, however, to Bishop Thirlwall's " History of VI PEEFACE. Greece," * it appeared doubtful whether that interest- ing event ever took place — and the somewhat pon- derous design was instantly abandoned. But the disappointment of the Author (not perhaps un- mingled with a sense of relief), added to a natural wish to provide some substitute for so respectable a " Proxenus" as Herodotus himself, found vent in the present Introductory Lines, which are not to be regarded as expressing the Author's individual opinion as to the value of modern historical criticism ; but as a kind of Herodotean dirge over the progress of a too-sifting incredulity. 1 The passage is as follows (i. 391.): — " The story that Hero- dotus read his history at Olympia has been disputed, on grounds which certainly render it doubtful." CONTENTS, Page Introduction 1 Cleobis and Biton ......... 10 Atys and Adrastus 13 Crcesus on the Pyre 23 Pactyas and Aristodicus 27 The Temple of Bubastis 35 A Glance at the Pyramids with Herodotus ... 38 The Nasamonian Tale about the Nile 40 The Samian Oasis ......... 44 psammenitus ; or, the grief too deep for tears . . 48 The Fate of Polycrates 52 The Purple Cloak ; or, the Return of Syloson to Samos 56 Aristagoras at Sparta 62 The Wooing of Agarista 68 The Olive of Minerva 75 A Legend of Macedon ; or, the Tale of Perdiccas . . 78 The Feast of Attaginus . .93 Thermopylae ........... 97 BALLADS FROM HERODOTUS. INTKODUCTION. THE LEGEND OF HERODOTUS READING HIS HISTORY AT THE OLYMPIAN GAMES. Alas ! the critic's skill has swept away Too many a vision of the earlier day ; And left, the candles of our youth put out, A darkened blank of reasonable doubt ! Heroes and kings from storied lands afar — Unrivalled deeds of wisdom and of war — Now stand enveloped in a misty cloud, Expressions forged of ages scarce allowed : The simple records, which had nourished long, Theme of the patriot's l boast, the poet's song, Philosophized, but oft entirely free From truth's irregular philosophy, And nature's charm, who will not shape her deeds To normal forms and well-adjusted creeds, 1 The allusions to the early Roman legends in Cicero, as well as in Virgil, will at once suggest themselves to the mind of the classical reader. INTRODUCTION. But shocks the dogmatist's reluctant sight With random facts, that are not there by right ! Vanished each legend, which perchance might be A probable impossibility, Yet seemed of real men and deeds to speak, Could stir the reader's heart, and flush his cheek, Lo ! in their stead conjecture rears anew Cold lifeless forms of things that may be true, But oft mere transcripts of some later time, Strange flowers transplanted to an unknown clime, Types of the past, cast in the present's mould, Ingenious medley of the new and old. Lo ! the keen critic in his ruthless den Destroying heroes with uplifted pen, Blotting whole periods from th' historic page, Then wooing art to weave a measured age — He waves his hand, and palaces of gold, Where admiration shrined the forms of old, Sink in the dust — and in their place are seen Trim modern halls, conveniently mean ! A sea of doubt cleaves the continuous shore ; Dauntless he spans the wide hiatus o'er, And on the bridge erects a thousand structures more ! Enough of this ! nor do I now complain Where with much loss is mixed no little gain ; I only grieve the blow has fallen on thee, Romantic poet-sage of history ! Not on thy witness — which researches new For ever prove more wonderfully true — But on thy life, and that most glorious hour When, in the pride of mind's acknowledged power, INTRODUCTION. We seemed to see thee winning welcome meet, The Muses clustering o'er their votary's seat, An eager concourse standing breathless round, Or in the Altis l or on neighbouring ground, Regardless of the tumult from afar, The wrestler's strife, the swift and rattling car, (As 'mid the olive grove the coursers glide, Renowned Alpheus, by thy sacred tide,) To hear thee read, for the first time unfurled, Thy tale, the gathered records of the world ! Lo ! mighty empires rise and pass away ; Assyria crumbles piecemeal in decay ; And upon Media's ripening glories come The rugged Persians from their mountain home ; Hark the wild tale of rude Cimmerian horde ! Lo ! the soft grace of Lydia's generous lord ! See fated Cyrus march at nightfall down Through his own stream on Belus' festive town, That town whose walls, like some wide-spreading course, Bore the proud chariot and the four-yoked horse. Lo ! Egypt's Pyramids with slumb'rous frown On sandy banks of storied Nile look down ! Trackless as this their spring, as those their date, Stretch the dim records of that ancient state, Beyond the Eastern peaks of dawning time, Where baffled history strives in vain to climb. Fair land ! who oft hast charmed the invader's eye, Doomed to a changeful night of slavery ! 1 The Altis was the name of the ground at Olympia, consecrated to the games. INTRODUCTION. Not unavenged to-day ; for shorn his pride, The wretch who dared thy sacred beast 1 deride, And in Egbatana 2 , so fate had said, The son of Cyrus rests his phrenzied head ; Median or Syrian town, what matter to the dead ? " But where is Smerdis, whom we now revere ? Sleeps he in bloody grave, or reigns he here ? " The puzzled slaves the earless Magian 3 own, But lo ! the Seven have risen, and one ascends the throne. Held by a single thread o'er Ister floats, The foiled invader's hope, his bridge of boats ; The while o'er Scythian streams, o'er steppes that grow, Vainly he hunts his ever-flying foe. Let but Ionia's 4 princes speak the word, And the wide East shall serve another lord ! But selfish slavery that hugs her chain Gives the mild despot to his realm again. Lo ! soft Ionia kindling seems to feel, Too soon to fade, the glow of patriot zeal ; 1 Cambyses first, mocked the priests of Apis, and then slew the sacred ox. 2 The reader of Shakspeare will remember the death of Henry IV. in the Jerusalem chamber. " In this Jerusalem shall Henry die." 3 Smerdis the Magian, who for seven months personated success- fully Smerdis the son of Cyrus, had had his ears cut off for some offence, which aided in his detection. The " one," is Darius, who is also spoken of in the next paragraph. * The tyrants of Ionia, who owed their posts to the Persian Monarch, determined by a majority to preserve the bridge of boats, and so secure the return of Darius, and the continuance of their own power. INTRODUCTION. And Athens' ships are sailing o'er the sea To aid the slaves who care not to be free, Those ships that brought the East to Hellas' shore, Source of her woe but of her greatness more ! And from that hour in loftier tones he read Of Persia's coming, and of Hellas' dread ; And how, that dread dispersed, a wondrous glory Lit l plain, and pass, and gulf renowned in story ! While from the veil, that shrouds her perfect form Till those who woo with heartfelt love are warm. Flashed forth, too seldom seen by mortal eye, The virgin smile of genuine liberty ! And some are 2 fighting side by side with those Whom but of late they deemed their deadliest foes, And some 3 have left their land (for honour calls), Embarking houseless in their " wooden walls," While slighted 4 Persia's fire devours again Each pleasant home, each consecrated fane — Yet better thus than there as slaves remain ! E'en selfish Sparta, for a moment, caught The pure contagion of the patriot thought, And won between the mountains and the sea, Leonidas, a deathless name for thee ! Twice 5 on the land, twice routed on the main, The Persian flies, and Hellas breathes again ; So runs the mild narrator's glowing strain ! 1 Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis. 2 The Athenians and iEginetans. 3 The Athenians. The oracle had warned them to seek for safety in " wooden walls," rightly judged by the majority to be their ships. 4 " Slighted." The Persians had made most advantageous offers to Athens if she would desert the common cause. 5 At Marathon and Platsea, and at Salamis and Mycale. *B 3 INTRODUCTION. He weighs the glories of each rival state, Records each high emprise, each grave debate, The spring of resolute will, the crushing wheels of fate. And now and then, 'mid feud and battle's din, A people's phrenzy or a tyrant's sin, A welcome guest intrudes, some pleasant tale, Like sweet notes wafted on the evening gale To one who musing in a lonely room Peoples the past with images of gloom : — The Argive brethren draw their mother's car ; Fades the proud court, and sinks the crash of war. The Phrygian bows beneath his sorrow's load, And tears are in the eyes that lately glowed. The Lydian monarch climbs his fiery grave, And Athens weeps whom Solon's name could save ; The Archer-god defends the suppliant's cause, And pious hearts beat high in mute applause. Anon some old Egyptian fane he shows, Sleeping unchanged in mystical repose ; Or darkling maze, an unimagined pile, Or sourceless river, or enchanted isle ; And magic waters play, and green oases smile ! Pale Psammenitus mourns his tearless lot, And Afric's wondrous shows are all forgot. The Samian prince, who listened all too long To the soft music of Anacreon's song:, INTRODUCTION. By dreams and loving fears detained in vain, Leaves the bright isle he ne'er shall see again, By dark Orsetes' lure and vengeful treachery slain. Restored from exile by the Persian's power, Why weeps his brother in his victory's hour ? Boasts new-made royalty no blither cheer ? Ah ! lonely state ; ah ! conquest bought too dear ! In early virtue wise, see Gorgo now, A maiden flush upon her daring brow, Warns her weak sire, that child of eight years' old, To fly, ere yet too late, the stranger's gold. Fair Agarista wins all Greece to woo ; From every land the rivals pass in view, And, prized o'er all when came the eventful hour, Victorious Athens culls the royal flower. See rising deathless from it's withered root Athena's olive darts its wondrous shoot ; Blest plant ! nor fire nor steel can check thy spring, Nor Persia's youthful lord, nor Sparta's aged king. 1 Lo ! Alexander, eager for the start, Amid the runners stands with throbbing heart, The while th' impartial hallowed judges trace From far Perdiccas his Hellenic race, What time, defrauded of his promised pay, He bore Lebasa's proffered sun away, Mysterious emblem of his destined sway ! 1 Xerxes and Archidamus. The allusion is to the famous chorus in Sophocles. v£d. Col. 701. B 4 INTRODUCTION. The pensive Persian at the festive board Foretells, yet cannot shun, the fated sword, With tales like these he studs his shadowy sky, Bright stars around the moon of history ; Or islets round some larger island spread, Which oft the traveller turns aside to tread, Where gleams some pillared cave or sleep th' ancestral dead Green resting places, lest we toil too fast Along the dusty desert of the past ; Or tasseled fringe round purple robe of state, Which, while it lengthens, seems to break its weight. And now and then, 'mid strange description true, While art or nature's marvels court our view, Pausing he deals his quaintly-wise applause To seemly customs or to blameless laws, Or from some simple fact some sage conclusion draws ! A daedal mass the vast embroidery grows ; And with a thousand varied colours glows ; Yet, ne'er displaced, one thread pervades the whole, The artless musing of a loving soul ! Entranced they heard ; and, in his generous youth, The sage enthusiast * of historic truth, The warrior annalist, who lived to climb By sterner paths to kindred heights sublime, 1 Thucydides. This anecdote must of course fall with that of the history being read at Olympia. INTRODUCTION. Saw Hellas breathless while the stranger spoke, Heard the loud shouts which when he ended woke, And doubtful half, half-conscious of his worth, Into a flood of emulous tears broke forth. While thus I laboured in my task of love, (Happy if gentle souls, like thine, approve, Old friend, whose tales, though much beschooled they be, Unhackneyed wear their early charm for me,) And for a moment, in that pleasant dream, Drank in thy voice beside Alpheus' stream, Sudden there fell upon the structure fair The critic's bolt, " Perchance he was not there ! " 10 CLEOBXS MD BITON. The story of Cleobis and Biton was related 2 , according to Herodotus, by- Solon, the Athenian lawgiver and philosopher, to Croesus, king of Lydia, in the course of the memorable conversation in which he astonished the prosperous monarch by refusing him the title of " Happy" or " Blessed," on account of the uncertainty that enveloped his future lot. Cleobis and Biton, as well as Tellus the Athenian, are for this reason preferred by the philosopher before the mightiest prince " on this side the Halys." The notion of the mother of the heroes of the story being priestess of the temple is taken from Cicero (Tusc. Qusest. i. 47.), and Servius (on Virg. JEn. iii. 532.). I. To-day it is the holy feast in Juno's temple fair — To-day the priestess to the fane must in her car repair ; All in her car she rides in state, amidst the sacred band, And mail-clad youths before her march, the noblest of the land ! II. But wherefore is the priestess' brow so sorrowful to-day ? And wherefore in her chamber high doth she so long delay ? And where are they, the oxen white, that must her chariot draw Unto the temple's holy gates, according to the law ? 1 Herod, i. 31. 2 It appears doubtful whether this visit of Solon to the court of Croesus ever took place. CLEOBIS AND BITON. 11 HI. She said, " It is the holy feast in Juno's temple fair ; But T, the priestess of the fane, to-day shall not be there ; For the lazy herdsmen have not brought the oxen for my car : The hour is late — the people wait — and oh ! the fane is far !" IV. " Now smile again, dear Mother, smile ! we will soon that loss repair, Thy sons will take the oxen's place, and quickly draw thee there. Come, Brother, come, put forth thy strength, our task will soon be o'er ; Hurrah ! was ever lady drawn so gallantly before ? " v. For four long miles they drew the car, those brethren bold and strong, And soon before the temple stood amid the wondering throng ; And all the host from Argos town came nocking round them there, To see the mother and the sons, — a goodly sight, and rare ! VI. And Argos' sons those brethren praised, for their strength and courage bold — " Were never seen such stately forms of so strong and fair a mould!" And Argos' daughters one and all around the mother press'd — " Oh, happy thou with two such sons as these bold brethren blest !" vn. Oh ! brightly shone that mother's eye, and her glance was high and proud, For the noble deed her sons had done, and the praises of the crowd ; And she s'ood before the imaged form in Juno's temple fair, And her mother's heart was beating high, as she breathed her eager prayer : — ; 12 CLEOBIS AND BITON. VIII. " Oh ! Goddess, whom in Argos town we reverence and obey, To Cleobis and Biton grant the boon I ask to-day ; For the honour they have done to me to them I pray be given, The choicest gift, whate'er it be, that man may ask of heaven." IX. The holy rites are over now, and the feasting is begun ; And there the happy mother sits between each gallant son ; Till sleep stole o'er their weary eyes, and on the hallowed ground, Together sank those sons so true, in deepest slumber bound. x. Why wake they not ? the feast is o'er, the shades of night are come, And from the temple-gates the crowd is slowly wending home. Why wake they not ? what spell has caused a rest so long and deep ? Away ! they ne'er shall wake again ; they sleep the last long sleep. XI. With favouring ear the Goddess heard the mother's fond request, And she gave of all her heavenly gifts the kindest and the best : All placidly, without a pang, without a single sigh, They yielded up their blameless lives, — and call ye this to die ? XII. Oh ! no, 'tis but a rest prolonged, a waking on the shore, Where the stormy blasts of mortal life shall rave and howl no more ; Where in th' Elysian fields the good repose in endless rest ; Oh ! 'tis of all the gifts of heaven the choicest and the best ! 13 ATYS AND ADEASTUS. In this Ballad the " envy" or "indignation" of the Gods, which, according to the peculiar notion of the Greeks, only hided its time to assail the too great prosperity of man, first "begins to fall upon Croesus. The first part of the Ballad is little more than a paraphrase of the story as told by Herodotus. In the second the author is responsible for the attempt to describe the departure for the hoar- hunt, and the preliminary circumstances of it ; and also for the moonlight " effect," to use the language of the artist, and the soliloquy of Adrastus. PART I. ' ; Plead no more, ye Mysian strangers, Take your band, my warriors' pride ; But let Atys, free from danger, Stay and cheer his new-made bride." " Say not so, my noble father, Put not thou this slight on me ; Let me to the hunting rather, With the country's, chivalry. Once it was my joy and glory Manfully my arms to wield In the plain of battle gory Or on gallant hunting field. 14 ATYS AND ADRASTUS. Now deprived of both I linger, Idly wandering up and down, Mark for scorn's insulting finger, Once the gaze of Sardis town. What of me with shame thus laden Will the Lydian people say ? What will she, th' admired maiden, Made my bride but yesterday ? While fair Mysia, wasted, bleeding, Calls me in her hour of need, Shall I sit at home unheeding, Nor essay one generous deed ? Dost thou then a recreant deem me ? Father, am I fall'n so low ? Let my deeds from shame redeem me ! Let me to the hunting go ! " Spake the youth, while filial duty Strove with passion in his breast ; Atys famed for manly beauty, And in prowess deemed the best. " Not for want of noble bearing," Thus the monarch sage begun, " Not .for aught of blame impairing Thy bright deeds, my gallant son ! But in dreams a form stood o'er me, And thy fate it did reveal, Saying thou shouldst die before me, Smitten down by lance of steel ! Therefore have I kept thee near me, Far from danger and affray, ATYS AND ADRASTUS. 15 To preserve thy life to cheer me Till my own shall pass away. Child, thou know'st, I have no other. Were I thus deprived of thee, For thy sad and speechless brother, He, alas, is nought to me. Therefore free from chance or malice, In thy nuptial bower abide, Quaffing love's still brimming chalice, With thy newly married bride ! " " If my lot by steel to perish," All unmoved the youth 'gan say ; " Yet, oh ! wherefore shouldst thou cherish, Good my sire, these fears to-day ? From the monster's tusks unsightly, Danger there perchance may be, But of this thy visions nightly Have not aught reveal'd to thee. If no more where trumpets sounding Summon forth the warrior train, Where the battle steeds are bounding, It be mine renown to gain, While in Lydia's warlike story Others shall achieve their fame, Let the hunter's humbler glory Gild at least thy Atys' name ! " " Many a form of death assembling, Fancy pales thy father's cheek ; E'en to day my heart is trembling, Though no human foe ye seek. 16 ATYS AND ADEASTUS. All too wisely hast thou pleaded, Nor can I thy words gainsay ; Go, my child, yet not unheeded Cast thy father's prayers away ; But when youth's warm pulse is beating, And on danger bids you run, When the monster ye are meeting, Think, oh, think, on me, my son ! " Slowly thus the king consenting Yielded to his son's request ; Soon, alas, in vain repenting, He shall smite his hopeless breast. And he bade them call the stranger, Who to Lydia's court had come, By a father's ruthless anger Banished from his Phrygian home. Through his native forests riding At the prey he hurl'd his dart, But the fates the arrow guiding, Plung'd it in his brother's heart. Lydia's lord with generous pity Cleansed his stain and soothed his woe, And in Sardis' royal city Bade his hours in pleasure flow. Yet a gloom, all joys o'erpowering, Shrouds him still with darksome wing, And his brow is sad and lowering As he stands before the king. But he gave him courteous greeting, And in gentle accents said, ATYS AND ADRASTUS. . 17 " Youth, my friend, is quickly fleeting, Tears cannot restore the dead. Wherefore, then, in fruitless weeping, Shouldst thou waste thy golden prime ? He who in the grave is sleeping Brands not thee with taint of crime. Cleansed by me, by me befriended Since the sad disastrous day, When thy brother's hours were ended, — Wouldst thou now that boon repay ? Go where Lydia's youth are arming For the boar-hunt fierce and wild, Go, and from each danger's harming. Guard thy friend thy patron's child ! Go, the toil, the glory sharing, Join the hunter-warrior train : Noble birth, and strength, and daring, Should not e'er be given in vain." Slow replied the mournful stranger, " If it thus, O king, must be ; I will guard thy son from danger, And restore him safe to thee. Though the clash of spears and lances Jars upon my alter'd ear, And my dull eye coldly glances Upon all it once held dear ; Though no more my depth of sadness Cheering sights or sounds illume, And for me each thought of gladness Sleeps within my brother's tomb, c 18 ATYS AND ADRASTUS. When I came, a blood-stained stranger, Thou didst pity's claim allow, And my grateful hand from danger Well shall guard young Atys now ! " PART II. From the city's frowning barriers, On a morn without a cloud, Pass the gallant hunter-warriors Slowly through th' admiring crowd. Gay his mien, his bright eye sparkling, Princely Atys leads the van, And beside him, sad and darkling, Rides Adrastus, mournful man. With a deep unsated sorrow Still his heart seems iron-bound ; He no thoughts of joy can borrow From the joyous scenes around. Down the mountain steeps defiling Of the palace-fortress high, Onward where Pactolus smiling Greets them with his golden eye ; Ere his waters swift descending, Mix with Hermus' ampler tide, To the right their course is bending Round by Tmolus' northern side. Soon the Mysian oaks are waving O'er each hunter's fearless brow, And the danger they are braving Soon shall burst upon them now. ATYS AND ADKASTUS. 19 High each youthful heart is bounding, As, through copse or forest glade, Many a pipe's shrill music sounding, Sweeps the lordly cavalcade. Mysia's peasants, nocking round them, Guide them on their venturous way ; Shouts of grateful joy surround them, " Soon the boar shall fall a prey ! " Hark ! a sound 'mid yonder bushes — Gallants, halt ! the charge prepare For the monster when he rushes Fierce from his invaded lair. O'er the stranger's dark brow glancing Gleam'd a transient smile of joy, As, beside him gaily prancing, Rein'd his steed that princely boy. See the tangled copse-wood parting, For the grisly beast makes way ! From his covert wildly starting, Proudly now he stands at bay. Hark ! his deadly tusks he crashes, Stamping on the echoing ground ; Lo ! his red eye grimly flashes, As he fiercely glares around. Round the beast, the danger scorning, Swiftly forms the spearmen's ring : Where is now the stranger's warning ? Where the hope of Lydia's king ? Many an eager eye is beaming In that young and lordly band, Many a quivering lance is gleaming, Grasped in valour's trusty hand, c 2 20 ATYS AND ADRASTUS. Who, before his comrades pressing, Shall the meed of honour gain ? Who shall earn a nation's blessing, Slain the scourge of Mysia's plain ? See Adrastus bold advancing Spurs his steed beyond the rest — Flew the spear, — but faithless glancing Pierced young Atys' fated breast. From the plain of death they bore him, Sight to greet a father's* eye ! Lydia's warriors marched before him, And Adrastus followed nigh. Fast before them rumour speeding On her dark, ill-omened wing, Told the tale of Atys bleeding To the sad and childless king. Onward on his bier they bore him, Last of Gryges' line of fame ! Sadly marched his friends before him, And behind the slayer came. To the king himself he yielded, — " Haste ! for me the doom prepare ; By the hand that should have shielded, Slaughtered lies thy dear-loved heir. Cleansed by thee, by thee befriended, Thus have I that boon repaid ! Oh, that I, my sorrows ended, Were with Atys lowly laid ! " Desolate and broken-hearted, Reft of him he held so dear, While the salt tears freshly started As he gazed upon the bier, ATYS AND ADRASTUS. 21 Still with generous pity glowing, Half his grief the king represt, And the soft kind words are flowing To console his frantic guest : — " Envious gods, my glory viewing, Keen with hate my race pursue ; ADd thy fated hand is doing What the gods have willed thee do. Grieve not thou, — thy lance unwilling Has my son's best life-blood spilt, Ruthless fate's decrees fulfilling ; — Thine the deed but not the guilt I " To the tomb the monarch bore him, Whom in vain he strove to save ; Many a mournful dirge sung o'er him, Low he lies within the grave. O'er the saddened city stealing, Eve brings on the hour of rest ; Can it lull each anguished feeling In Adrastus' hopeless breast ? When the shades of night descended, And the mournful crowd was gone, And the funeral rites were ended, By the grave he stood alone. And he looked, where, vainly weeping, Lay the monarch of the land, Griefs unceasing vigils keeping ; And he gazed upon his hand. " Hand accurst ! shall Hermus' water Wash thee twice with blood defiled ? c 3 22 ATYS AND ADRASTUS. Thou hast wrought a brother's slaughter, Thou hast slain my patron's child ! With a doom of ceaseless sorrow Who like me by fate opprest ? Wherefore live to meet a morrow That can bring me nought of rest ? Wherefore live ? shall aught of gladness Pierce again my night of grief? Live accurst ! the thought is madness ! Come, oh, death, my sole relief ! " From a cloud the fair moon gleaming Doth the mournful scene illume, And her soft pale light is streaming On Adrastus' brow of gloom. In his hand a sword is shining — Who his darksome thoughts shall scan ? Or the anguish, past denning, Of the miserable man ? For awhile he gazed around him On the heaven and on the earth ; Cursed the ties to life that bound him, And the day that gave him birth. — When again the dark clouds blended, And obscured that transient ray, All was o'er, — his sorrows ended, Low in death Adrastus lay. When the day, to night succeeding, Tinged the hills with roseate hue, There the Lydians found him bleeding On the grave of him he slew. 23 CKCESUS ON THE PYEE. In this ballad the storm of divine indignation has burst upon the head of the too prosperous monarch ; but it is appeased in some degree by his complete fall, and the humility with which he bears it. The story does not appear to require any explanation. Its probability must be left to the tender mercies of the critical historian. — See Bishop ThirlwaWs History of Greece, vol. ii. p. 167. I. It was the Lydian monarch kind lay stretched upon the pyre, And Persia's lord has given the word to light the deadly fire. Twice seven fair youths of Sardis' town all chained around him lie — Such was the conqueror's grim command — doomed with their king to die. ii. Where shall the mighty monarch be when yonder sun goes down ? A heap of unremembered dust, before his native town ! With tearful eyes on those fair walls a lingering glance he cast — The stately towers he loved so well — that look must be his last ! in. With chained hands the Lydian bands stand mute and sad around ; And now their eyes are on their lord, now fixed upon the ground. But what relief can looks of grief or tears of anguish bring ? What mortal power can save from death the heaven-forsaken king? c 4 24 CROESUS Otf THE PYRE. IV. Is it to prove the faith of heaven — to see if Jove will save — That the Persian dooms his brother king to yonder fiery grave ? Is it a vow that binds him now and checks his softer mood — The first-fruits of his victory due to the god of wars and blood ? v. There is a silence, sad and deep, like the silence of the tomb — With awestruck eye each stander-by awaits the monarch's doom ; When hark ! his voice from forth the pyre in hurried accents came, And thrice, in tones of hopeless woe, he call'd on Solon's name. VI. For the days of old came o'er him ; he bethought him of the hour, When to Sardis came th' Athenian sage, and saw his pride of power ; Yet, all surveyed, he calmly said, " I may not call thee blest Till life is o'er and change no more in the realms of endless rest." VII. Then Cyrus called th' interpreters, and bade them quickly show, " Now who is this yon king calls on in his hour of doom and woe i Is it a god to whom he prays to shield him from his fate ? Methinks his prayer he well may spare, — 'tis utter'd all too late." VIII. Awhile the Lydian scorned reply, and ne'er a word he spake ; But at length with warning voice and grave the mournful silence brake, " Oh ! 'tis a man for whom a king might give his crown of gold No treasures rare can e'er compare with a friend so wise and bold.' 3 CRCESUS ON THE PYRE. 25 IX. " Now speak again, thou man of woe ! and to the king relate What counsel gave that sage to thee, whose wisdom was so great ? " Thus sorely pressed, he told the rest, and how to Sardis' tower, In days of yore, th' Athenian came and gazed on all his power ; x. Yet, all surveyed, he calmly said, " I may not call thee blest Till life is o'er and change no more in the realms of endless rest." " Oh ! had I to that lesson sage applied a listening ear, Had I known to prize that counsel wise, I had not now been here." XI. The victor heard the warning word, and it seemed both sad and true, And he gazed awhile on the fatal pile with a fixed and thoughtful view ; He thought upon the wondrous change that captive prince had known, — And, musing on another's fate, he bethought him of his own. xn. " To-morrow's hour the sky may lower, the storm descend on me, And I, like yonder victim pale, may doomed and^helpless be'; For who can tell the ways of fate, and what a day may bring?" — And he bade them quench the kindling pyre, and save his brother-king. xm. With water from the golden stream they strive to quench the fire, But the forked flames above their heads rise higher still and higher : 26 CRCESUS ON THE PYRE, In vain the haughty Persian owns the wondrous ways of fate, And feels that he is but a man — his mercy is too late. XIV. They strive in vain — the flames ascend — still nearer and more near They close around the fated king — oh, sight most sad and drear ! The pious king who loved the gods, and to each temple high Sent presents rare beyond compare — is it thus that he must die ? xv. He looked around — no help was found — the flames around him glare ; With streaming eye to Phoebus high he breathed a broken prayer : " If e'er my gifts in former days were pleasant unto thee, Oh, Delphian king ! some succour bring, in mercy look on me ! " XVI. The piteous words were scarcely said, when the wind rose loud and high, And cloud on cloud began to shroud the brightness of the sky. That mournful cry to Phoebus high has not been breathed in vain : Hark, hark ! I hear upon the bier the plashing of the rain. XVII. The holy power has sent the shower his worshipper to save ; For on Delphi's shrine the eye divine beheld the gifts he gave. The fire is quenched ; the pious king from harm and danger free ; For they who love the gods above shall ne'er forsaken be ! 27 PACTYAS AND ABISTODICUS. 1 The time of the events recorded in this "ballad is immediately after the first conquest of Lydia by Cyrus. Tabalus was a Persian, left governor of Sardis ; Pactyas a Lydian, rashly entrusted by Cyrus with the guardianship of his treasure. The temple of Apollo at Branchidse was to the coast of Asia- Minor what his temple at Delphi was to Greece proper. He was, we are in- formed by Miiller (Dorians, i. 254., English translation), worshipped here under the title of Eicdepyos, the Far-darter. Miiller also quotes from Quinctilian a passage describing the sound called Bpdyxos, from which he supposes the founder of the temple to have derived his name. This passage is attempted to be rendered in the ballad, in the line, — Ere hoarse and tremulous came forth the long-drawn words of fate. To the same source is due the account of the sacred way from the temple to the harbour Panormus, and particularly the mention of the Egyptian lion. The curse of the Lydians on the Chians for giving up Pactyas to the Persians, in consideration of being put into possession of the tract of land called " the Atanian Field " (as we have in Scripture, "the Field of Machpelah "), is an interpolation of the author. Herodotus, however, states as a fact, that for some time the land thus obtained was unfruitful. He also mentions the mis- fortune which befel the band of youths whom the Chians sent to consult the oracle at Delphi, as having foreshadowed their future destruction on the occa- sion of the Ionian revolt (v. 26, &c). The author therefore hopes that in placing it as a prophecy in the mouth of the Lydians, he is not departing from the spirit of the original. The term " Xenian " Jove, i. e. Jove who presides over hospitality, has been borrowed from the Greek. In reading the story the mind cannot help recalling the recent declarations of our own statesmen on the subject of refugees. I. On Sardis' royal city 5 on Hermus' golden stream, Reviving freedom's sun has shed a momentary gleam ; 1 Herod, i. 153—161. 28 PACTYAS AND ARISTODICUS. It flashed awhile, that parting smile, o'er town, and mount, and river ; A mocking light, 'mid slavery's night — and then it sank for ever ! n. The patriot bands have made a stand before their native town — " Once more," they said, " on Croesus' head shall shine his father's crown ;" And Tabalus with fury sees their troops surround his hold, Whom Pactyas 'gainst Persia's king has hired with Persian gold. in. On wings of fame the tidings came on the conqueror's home- ward track ; But a nobler prey before him lay, and he scorned to turn him back ; For Babylon's unconquered towers invite their destined lord ; And the old renown of Egypt's crown — if 'scaped the Scythian sword. IV. But he bade Mazares take a band, and seek that ill-starred coast : " Our leaguered garrison set free — disperse the Lydian host ! Who stands at bay thou needst must slay ; but Pactyas bring alive ; We'll take the sting," grim smiled the king, " from yonder rebel hive. 1 v. " Their leader ta'en, their bravest slain, the vulgar herd disarm ; The loom to ply, to trade and lie, shall be my peaceful charm. Better for us to tame them thus than to enslave or kill ; Such women-men will ne'er again uprise to work us ill." 1 Cyrus is made by Herodotus (i. 141.) to use similar metaphorical lan- guage to the Ionians. PACTYAS AND AMSTODICUS. 29 VI. Right soon upon the leaguered town his troops Mazares led — But without a blow the rebel foe before that rumour fled. All suddenly the patriot bands have melted from the plain ; Like snow 1 from Tmolus' fragrant steeps when spring returns again. VII. " And is the traitor Pactyas fled ? methinks we soon shall know What town so bold as dare to hold the Persian monarch's foe ! Ho ! ride ye straight to Cumae's gate, and say, ' Mazares calls — Yon slave to me must yielded be, or straight we storm your walls.' " vin. Old Cumae's startled sons have heard Mazares' message proud, And doubt is at the council-board and panic in the crowd — For words are rife — " The cause of strife 'twere better to remove ; " And " Dare ye break, for Cyrus' sake, the laws of Xenian Jove ? " IX. " Who draw the sword 'gainst Persia's lord, in all unequal fight, Their wives and they shall fall a prey, although their cause be right." " But who the hospitable laws of Xenian Jove invades His deed shall rue, if bards speak true, for ever 'mid the shades." x. Then spoke good Aristodicus, " When good men's counsels fail, The gods, I ween, from heaven will lean, to hear their whispered tale ; 1 " And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword, Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord." Byron's Hebrew Melodies. 30 PACTYAS AND ARISTODICUS. At Branchidae the archer-god will grant us counsel true, And whatsoever Phoebus says be this our care to do ! XI. "For oh ! whate'er our country's fate in future days may be, Whether like Sardis fair enslaved, or gallant Xanthus free, A life of shame with tarnished name it boots not, friends', to live ; For a heart at rest is still the best that God to man can give ! " XII. Thus spoke that upright councillor, and none his word gainsaid, Perplexed mid awe for Jove's high law, and fear of Persia's blade ; And a solemn embassy is gone to the great Far-Darter's shrine, Resolved to know, come weal, come woe, what wills the voice divine. XIII. Ah ! wherefore sent they to the god his mystic word to hear, When the thrilling voice of their inner choice was sounding in their ear ? Ah ! wherefore to the holy shrine in doubtful guise repair ? Why look not to their own true heart for the heavenly writing there ? XIV. Alas ! the fear of Persia's spear has stilled that voice within, And the letters bright elude the sight of those who toy with sin. And vainly at Apollo's shrine they ask for heaven's high will Who dare to slight the holy light that conscience kindles still. xv. Near soft Miletus' peaceful town they seek Panormus bay, And towards the glorious temple pace along the sacred way ; PACTYAS AND AKISTODICUS. 31 On either side the pavement wide stand sculptured figures brave, And Egypt's lion thoughtful glares which conquering Necho gave. XVI. They have reached the temple's hallowed gate at Branchidas divine, And humbly wait the words of fate before the prescient shrine. And from the tripod came a voice they ne'er had thought to hear, " Yield Pactyas straight to meet his fate ! why tempt the Persian spear ? " xvn. They have hied them back to Cumse's town, and told the god's reply. And the good and wise with wondering eyes look upward to the sky. " Where now," said they, "the ancient sway of Jove, the stranger's friend ? If deeds like these the gods can please, where will foul treachery end?" XVIII. But all the bad relieved and glad have heard the god's decree, " Full well we knew the answer true of peaceful Branchidae ! 'Tis better far the cause of war from our country to remove, Than to risk our head from idle dread of the wrath of Xenian Jove." XIX. But outspoke Aristodicus with voice serene and stern : The laws of Jove are fixed above, unchanging and eterne. " Ye hear," quoth he, " the impious glee that greets the answer strange — Perchance to please such souls as these they have dared the Word to change." 32 PACTYAS AND AKISTODICUS. XX. Oh ! deep within the heart of man there stands a secret cell, Where, placed by Jove 'twixt wrath and love, prophetic answers dwell ; And then I ween from that cave unseen came forth a warning strain, That bade the doubting people send to Phoebus' shrine again. XXI. They have sent their wisest and their best to Phoebus' temple now, And Aristodicus is there with firm yet clouded brow ; Once more they wait the words of fate before the awful shrine, And the priestess on the tripod sits to hear the voice divine. XXII. With laurel clad before the shrine the Pythia sitteth late, Ere hoarse and tremulous came forth the long-drawn words of fate : " Why seek again, misguided men, to hear Apollo's word ? Yield Pactyas straight to meet his fate ! why tempt the Persian sword ? " XXIH. Along the temple's 1 hallowed roof, the time-worn walls among, The sparrow loves to build her nest and rear her callow young ; No birds of prey come there to slay, no truant boys molest, But all around the holy ground is peaceful and at rest. XXIV. But thither Cumce's ruthless son hath bent his steps to-day, Those harmless sojourners to scare from their peaceful home away ; And plaintive cries are heard to rise, as all the precincts round From sheltering nests the birds he wrests and flings them on the ground. 1 The author's obligation to the language of the 84th Psalm will be obvious The incident itself is in the original. PACTYAS AND ARISTODICUS. 33 XXV. But hark ! from out the inmost shrine an awful voice is heard ; It seemed to seek that daring man, the great Far-Darter's word. " Oh, wretch accurst, that darest first my suppliants to molest, Who beneath the wing of the Archer-king have sought their place of rest." XXVI. " The Archer-king beneath his wing his suppliants shieldeth well, The feathered race in the holy place uninjured claim to dwell ; But man must slight the suppliant's right, who hopeless and distrest, From tyrant's hands and slavery's bands comes 'neath his shade to rest!" XXVII. 'Twas thus that daring man replied, nor feared the Archer's might, For well he knew his words were true, and in truth the gods delight ; And from the shrine the voice divine hath issued forth again, But now its tone is milder grown, though grave the warning strain. xxvin. " Oh ! man, to lure you to your doom that answer strange was given, Who dared to doubt the suppliant's right, and doubting tempted heaven ; And had ye yielded Pactyas up at Persia's king's demand, I had left no trace of Cumas's place, uprooted from the land. XXIX. "Yea, one and all, both great and small, had felt th' avenging ire Of Branchidse's far-darting lord, and Xenian Jove his sire ; For holy is the suppliant's head, and wheresoe'er he goes Wide-ruling Jove from heaven above his aegis o'er him throws." D 34 PACTYAS AND AKISTODICUS. XXX. He has sought his native city's walls, and told that true decree ; And Pactyas to the Persian king shall ne'er surrendered be ; But on the town the foe came down, when spurned the king's demand, And the suppliant is from danger sent to Chios' sea-girt land. XXXI. Oh ! Persia's scimitars are sharp, and true the Persian bow, But they cannot reach from beach to beach to smite an island x foe ; And well upon the battle-field the Persian horsemen ride, But they cannot leap the yawning deep, or breast the iEgean's tide ! XXXII. "Then blessings crown old Cumas's town, who Pactyas shielded well; But deadliest blight on Chios light, who dared his blood to sell ; No kindly soil repay their toil, nor trees their produce yield, Nor dews of God enrich the sod in the curst Atarnian field ! XXXIII. " And when in after days they send to the Archer's Delphian shrine, Some crushing blow shall lay them low from the slighted power divine. God grant that they," the Lydians pray, "may drink of slavery's cup, Who to tyrant's hands and slavish bands the suppliant yielded up !" 1 At the time of the conquest of Lydia hy Cyrus, Herodotus writes thus of the islanders : — " Now to those of them who were islanders there was no cause of dread ; for the Phoenicians were not yet subject to the Persians, and the Persians themselves were not sea-faring men." 35 THE TEMPLE OF BUBASTIS. 1 With the exception of the praise of the temples at Samos and Ephesus (which occurs in Herodotus, but not in this particular passage), and of a few ornamental phrases which could not well be avoided, this ballad is nothing but a free translation of the chapter in Herodotus. The extreme simplicity of the lines was intentional. Bubastis was the Egyptian Artemis, or Diana. I. There be other temples larger, More rich in gifts and gold ; But ne'er I saw a temple So lovely to behold. Stately is Juno's temple, That on Samos' shore looks down ; And fair our own Diana's, Pride of th' Ephesian town ! But for joy to the beholder No temple can compare With the fane of great Bubastis, Whose glories 1 declare. n. The beauteous temple standeth^ E'en as it ever stood ; 'Mid lines of gleaming water, 'Mid groves of waving wood. 1 Herod, ii. 137, 138. d 2 36 THE TEMPLE OF BUBASTIS. They have raised the town's foundations, They have raised each house and wall ; But the temple of the Goddess They have not touched at all ; And if you walk around it, As once to me befel, Your eye looks down upon it, And you trace its beauties well. in. With lofty trees o'ershaded, From the sacred stream of Nile Two broad canals roll onward To form the holy isle : On every side the precincts, Each side a stade I ween, The tranquil waters slumber The darksome trees between ; Save where the entrance-gateway Its sculptured front extends ; For on either side the gateway Each stream of water ends. IV. And all about the gateway, Carved by some sculptor old, Tall forms stand forth to greet you, Right worthy to be told ; And, as you pass the gateway Into the holy ground, Within the gleaming waters A sculptured wall runs round. THE TEMPLE OP BUBASTIS. And in the midst, embowering The holiest ground of all, A grove of trees ariseth, With shadowy branches tall ; And mid those trees umbrageous The spacious shrine is seen, And in the shrine a statue, The statue of the Queen. v. And from the entrance -gateway G-oes forth a paved road, From the market-place right eastward, Full long, and smooth, and broad ; And on either side the pavement Gigantic trees arise, Far-shadowing, Tiigh ascending Until they reach the skies. Right onward through the market It goes without a wind, Until you reach the temple Where Hermes sits enshrined. VI. Such is Bubastis' temple ; And never yet, say I, Was seen on earth a temple With its loveliness to vie ! d 3 38 A GLANCE AT THE PYRAMIDS WITH HEEODOTITS.* The following lines were intended to give a general idea of Hero- dotus' account of the Pyramids, and also of his style of narrative and argument in many of his episodes. A kind of dreamy inconse- quence often blends with an appearance and evident intention of ex- actness and investigation ; we feel as if a great deal had passed before our eyes, but had only left a vague and not very definite impression of grandeur and antiquity. The inscription on the fifth, or brick pyramid, in which it deprecates contemptuous comparisons, is slightly altered. In Herodotus it is addressed to the passer by ; and no allusion is made, as in the ballad, to the " guilt " connected with the origin of the stone pyramids. But as some doubt may be felt as to the correctness of the interpretation given to Herodotus by the priests, it is hoped the liberty taken with the text may be excused. I. They rose in wicked Cheops' reign, And his worse son Chephreen ; So say the priests who tend the fane Of the great Egyptian Queen ; And the royal maid her lovers prayed, Who built a third between. n. Memorials of those evil days The mighty monsters stand, And all on them with wonder gaze Who seek th' Egyptian land, 1 ii. 134 — 137, passim. A GLANCE AT THE PYRAMIDS WITH HERODOTUS. 39 And near the three a fourth they see, Though smaller and less grand. HI. And some of Mycerinus tell, Some of Rhodopis speak ; But scarce could she its builder be, That fair alluring Greek, Although she sold her smiles for gold With bright unblushing cheek. IV. " Despise me not," the fifth exclaims, " My stone-built brethren tall, For I was built, without tour guilt, More wondrously than all ; For in the lake they dipt to make The bricks that frame my wall." V. Unchanged they stand : they awe the land, Beneath the clear dark sky ; But at what time their points sublime They heavenward reared, and why — The gods, that see all things that be, Can better tell than I. D 4 40 THE NASAMONIAN TALE ABOUT THE NILE. 1 This is one of the quaintest stories in Herodotus, and is told with the most amusing simplicity. In endeavouring to give effect to it the author has been guilty of a slight exaggeration in the third and fourth lines of the seventh stanza, which seemed necessary, in order to do justice to the original in a paraphrase. The river seen, or said to be seen, by the Nasamonians is thought to have been the Niger. The author has been told that in an Oxford prize poem on the Niger, a few years ago, was a line very much resembling the last line of the fifth stanza of this ballad, — " A pigmy race, enchanters every one" He therefore begs to say that the words in question are a translation of the original. I. " I ne'er have seen the sacred head From whence its waters spring ; — ' 'Twas thus that Etearchus said, The great Ammonian king : " I ne'er have seen its fountain, Nor know I if 'tis true, Oh ! children of Cyrenze, The tale I tell to you. 1 ii. 32, 33. THE NASAMONIAN TALE ABOUT THE NILE. 41 n. " There is a land beside the foam, Beside the eddying sand ; The Nasamonian shepherds roam In that untravelled land ; And there among the nobles Five haughty youths arose, Who fain would know the desert More than the wisest knows. m. " With many an earthen water- jar, With store of flesh and bread, Lo ! they have left behind them far The < land inhabited ; ' l And through the mighty desert Are wandering to and fro, That they may know its treasures More than the wisest know. IV. " At length amid that dreary scene A grassy plain they won, Where pleasant trees were waving green, And goodly fruit thereon ; And, as the fruit they gathered That on the branches grew, Upon them came the people, A strange, mysterious crew. " Until they came to ' a land inhabited.' " Exod. xvi. 35. 42 THE NASAMONIAN TALE ABOUT THE NILE. V. " They seized each Nasamonian youth, That people dark and strange ; " — " Oh king," said they, " we tell thee sooth, But four feet high they range ! They are the darkest people Beneath th' all-seeing sun ; A dark and dwarfish people, And conjurors every one ! VI. " They bare them to their city straight, These pigmies swift and bold, And close beside that city's gate A mighty river rolled ; They saw that river rolling, And it was deep and wide ; And what our mind conjectures Oh king, we will not hide. vn. " Basking upon its banks they saw The Egyptian crocodile ; Therefore, oh king ! by nature's law, It needs must be the Nile. And towards the bright sunrising l It stretched for many a mile From where the sunsets darken ; We doubt not 'tis the Nile." 1 " Toward the sun-rising," which is an exact translation of the original, has, as an English phrase, the authority of our version of the Bible. THE NASAMONIAN TALE ABOUT THE NILE. 43 VIII. " Oh ! children of old Battus' town, Ye hear the tale they told ; A stream from Jove at once come down No eye did e'er behold. I ne'er have seen its waters, But without doubt or guile I give my royal judgment, — That river is the Mle." 44 THE SAMIAtf OASIS. 1 The following stanzas are supposed to be addressed by the Samians of the Oasis to the Greek stragglers from the army of Cambyses, which was destroyed by the simoon. Herodotus mentions no such invitation. He only states that the army, on its way to the country of the Ammonians, arrived at a city Oasis inhabited by Samians, said to belong to the iEschrionian tribe ; and that this tract of land is called in the Greek tongue an " Island of the Blessed." The " twelve fair cities " are the cities of the Panionium, of which Samos was one. The " Encampment " was the name given to the place where Psammetichus settled the Carian and Ionian auxiliaries, who enabled him to get the better of his eleven partners in the Dode- carchy, then established in Egypt. I. Within th' Icarian Ocean A pleasant island lies, All in a tempered climate Beneath soft smiling skies : A pleasant isle and famous, And Samos is its name ; Off Caria's coast it sparkles, And thence our fathers came. n. They left the proud Encampment Where the Ionians dwell, Who 'gainst his faithless rivals Served Egypt's monarch well ; 1 Herod, iii. 26. THE SAMIAN OASIS. 45 And as they southward wandered To seek a place of rest, The gods to them discovered This " island of the blest." HI. They say our fathers' island Is by a tyrant held ; It was not thus they left it In days of happier eld. They say the twelve fair cities To Persia's monarch bow, That time has left no traces Of free Ionia now. IV. We hear the tale with pity, Yet are not much distrest, Such distant sorrows vex not Our island of the blest. We hear the tale, and doubt not Our severed lot is best, And we love our lonely island, The island of the blest. v. A desert stretches round us As barren as the sea ; But tall trees wave about us, And in their shade dwell we. 46 THE SAMIAN OASIS. Arcadia boast not meadows More fresh and green than ours, And clear our virgin fountains, And bright our desert flowers. VI. A desert stretches round us, To us no foemen come. We envy not the Ocean That girds your Grecian home. We too have gods above us, And oft we catch their smile : We are not at all deserted In this our sand-set isle. vn. We are not at all deserted, For safe we are and free, And human hearts we cherish, Though far from men we be. Then mourn not for your comrades Who sleep beneath the sand ; But dwell with us contented, In this lone but lovely land. VIII. And mourn not for your cities, Though dear they be to fame ; Our fathers here found comfort, And ye shall find the same ! THE SAMIAN OASIS. 47 Here from all life's commotions, Some God has given you rest ; Then smile with us, and call it The "island of the blest!" 48 PSAMMENITUS; OE, THE GRIEF TOO DEEP FOE TEARS. 1 The story in this ballad seems to require no elucidation. But the author has a pleasure in acknowledging his obligation to Mr. Words- worth for the expression " too deep for tears." The exact expres- sion in Herodotus is " too great for one to weep at." Thucydides (b. vii.), has a similar expression : " having suffered things greater than after the measure of tears." He sat unsceptred and uncrowned Before his city's gate, His fellow-captives ranged around ; That monarch desolate ! 'Twas but of late in yonder towers He held unchallenged sway ; A prince amid his kingdom's powers — Alas ! how changed to-day ! The guards of Persia's victor lord Hem in that mournful ring, To watch each glance and note each word Of Egypt's captive king. Darkling he sat, while onward came, In servile garb arrayed, Oh ! sight of sorrow and of shame ! Old Egypt's royal maid. 1 Herod, iii. 14. PSAMMENITUS ; OK, THE GKIEF TOO DEEP FOR TEARS. 49 To fill her urn at yonder spring, — ■ Such was her lord's command, — She goes, the daughter of a king, With all unwonted hand. The father sees his child pass by, The maid he loved so dear ; Bent upon earth his stedfast eye, He doth not shed a tear. Another mournful band comes on, With step and brow of gloom ; Among them walks his only son, — He goes to meet his doom ! His hands are bound, his head is bare ? Death's chill is on his brow ! Yes ! 'tis thy child, thy kingdom's heir — Weeps not the captive now ? Loud rose each father's piteous cry, His son's dark fate to see ; But Egypt's monarch's eyes are dry, No tear to shed has he. When lo ! an aged wanderer past That scene of sorrow by ; And upward for a moment cast His melancholy eye. His garb with age and travel torn, His tall form earthward bent, With listless step and look forlorn He begged from tent to tent. Why doth the monarch sudden start, Why beat his careworn brow ? The pent-up fountains of his heart Why are they bursting now ? £ 50 PSAMMENITUS; OK, Through want and sorrow's grim disguise His ancient friend he knew ; And from his eyes the sad surprise The' imprisoned tear-drops drew. Straight to Cambyses' throne of state The tale of wonder came ; " He wept not for his son's sad fate, Nor for his daughter's shame ; It seemed his heart was all grown cold, Such sights unmoved to see ; But for yon beggar poor and old His tears flow fast and free." Marvelled the Persian at the tale, And straight he bade them go And ask of yonder captive pale The secret of his woe. The captive monarch bowed his head, And mournful made reply : " And ask'st thou, Cyrus' son," he said, " My sorrow's mystery ? The sad philosophy of grief, Taught in misfortune's school, Hails the eyes' dew a sweet relief The burning heart to cool. For common sorrows tears may flow, Like these that stain my cheek ; But, prince, there is a depth of woe That tears can never speak. To see my comrade's cheerless state, The friend of happier years, I weep — but oh! my children's fate Lies all too deep for tears. THE GRIEF TOO DEEP FOR TEARS. 51 Far in the heart's most secret shrine Those springs of sorrow sleep ; Who bends 'neath woes as dark as mine Must grieve — he cannot weep." E 2 52 THE FATE OF POLYCBATES. 1 There is more amplification and management of the materials afforded by Herodotus in this "ballad, than in most of its companions. The dream of the daughter of Polycrates, and her remonstrance to her father just as he was starting, and his reply, — are recorded by the historian. But the author of the Ballads is responsible for the lengthened dialogue in which the ambitious designs and character of Polycrates are attempted to be de- scribed. One of the reasons given by Herodotus for the enmity of Oroetes, viceroy of Sardis, towards Polycrates, is that to which the ballad alludes in the second stanza, viz. the neglect with which the king of Samos treated an am- bassador or herald of the viceroy ; not caring to look round to speak to him, being absorbed in listening to the strains of Anacreon. The reader of Schiller will notice, that the present author has not intruded on the ground pre-occupied by the great German poet ; for which, however, he can take no credit to himself, as he had not, at the time of writing this ballad, become acquainted with " the Ring of Polycrates " even through the medium of a translation. I. " Oh ! go not forth, my father dear ! oh ! go not forth to-day, And trust not thou that satrap dark, for he fawns but to betray ; His courteous smiles are treacherous wiles his foul designs to hide, Deep in his vengeful heart he bears the smart of wounded pride. II. " He hates thee, father ! since the day when his herald vainly came, The while the Teian poured his lay of soft melodious flame — Deep in his heart he bears the smart of answer all denied, — Then go not forth, my father dear — in thy own fair towers abide ! " 1 Herod, iii. 124—126. THE FATE OF POLYCRATES. 53 III. " Now say not so, dear daughter mine, I pray thee say not so ! Where glory calls, a monarch's feet must never fear to go ; And safe to-day shall be my way through proud Magnesia's halls, As if I stood 'mid my bowmen good beneath my Samian walls. IV. " The satrap is my friend, sweet child ; my trusty friend is he ; The ruddy gold his coffers hold he shares it all with me : No more amid these clustering isles alone shall be my sway, But Hellas wide from side to side my empire shall obey. v. " And of all the maids of Hellas, though they be rich and fair, With the daughter of Polycrates, oh ! who shall then compare ? Then dry thy tears, no idle fears should damp our joy to-day ; And let me see thee smile once more before I sail away ! " VI. " Oh, father ! false would be the smile that I should wear this morn, For of all my country's daughters I shall soon be most forlorn ; I know, I know, ah ! thought of woe ! I ne'er shall see again My father's ship come sailing home across th' Icarian main. VII. " Each gifted seer with words of fear forbids thee to depart, And their warnings find an echo in every faithful heart ; A maiden weak, e'en I must speak — ye gods assist me now ! The characters of doom and death are graven on thy brow ! e 3 54 THE FATE OF POLYCKATES. VIII. " Last night, my sire, a vision dire thy daughter's eyes did see ; Suspended in mid air there hung a form resembling thee : Nay frown not thus, my father dear, my tale will soon be done, — Methought that form was bathed by Jove, and anointed by the Sun." IX. " My child, my child ! thy fancies wild I may not stay to hear ; A friend goes forth to meet a friend — then wherefore shouldst thou fear ? Though moon-struck seers with idle fears beguile a maiden weak, They cannot stay thy father's hand, or blanch thy father's cheek. x. " Let cowards keep within their holds, and on peril fear to run ! Such shame," quoth he, "is not for me, fair Fortune's favourite son!" Yet still the maiden did repeat her melancholy strain, " I ne'er shall see my father's fleet come sailing home again." XI. The monarch called his seamen good ; they mustered on the shore ; Waved in the gale the snow-white sail, and dashed the sparkling oar ; But by the flood that maiden stood, loud rose her piteous cry, — " Oh ! go not forth, my dear, dear sire — oh ! go not forth to die !" XII. A frown was on the monarch's brow as he spoke and turned away, " Full soon shall Samos' lord return to Samos' lovely bay ; But thou shalt aye a maiden lone within my courts abide ; No chief of fame shall ever claim my daughter for his bride. THE FATE OF POLYCRATES. 55 xm. " A long, long maidenhood to thee thy prophet tongue hath given." " Oh ! would my sire," that maid replied, " such were the will of heaven ! Though I a loveless maiden lone must ever more remain, Still let me hear that voice so dear in my native isle again ! " XIV. 'Twas all in vain that warning strain, the king has crossed the tide ; But never more off Samos' shore his bark was seen to ride. The satrap false his life has ta'en, that monarch bold and free, And his limbs are blackening in the blast, nailed to the gallows- tree. xv. At night the rain came down apace, and washed each gory stain ; But the sun's bright ray the next noon-day glared fiercely on tiie slain ; And the oozing gore began once more from his wounded sides to run — Good sooth, that form was bathed by Jove, and anointed by the Sun! E 4 56 THE PUEPLE CLOAK; OE, THE EETUEN OP SYLOSON TO SAMOS. 1 There is but little extraneous matter in this ballad, with the exception of the melancholy soliloquy of the restored Syloson. PART I. I. The king sat on his lofty throne 2 in Susa's palace fair ; And many a stately Persian lord and satrap proud was there ; Among his councillors he sat, and justice dealt to all ; No suppliant e'er went unredrest from Susa's palace hall. ii. There came a slave and louted 3 low before Darius' throne : "■A wayworn wanderer waits without, he is poor and all alone ; And he craves a boon of thee, oh king ! for he saith that he has done Good service in the former days to Hystaspes' royal son." m. " Now lead him hither," quoth the king, " no suitor e'er shall wait, While I am lord in Susa's halls, unheeded at the gate ; And speak thy name, thou wanderer poor, I pray thee let me know To whom the king of Persia's land this ancient debt doth owe." 1 Herod, iii. 139—149. 8 The reader of our old English ballads will be reminded of the opening of " Sir Patrick Spence ": — " The king sat in Dumfermline town." 3 This work, though unusual in modern English, has the authority of Spenser, Ben Jonson, and Drayton. THE PURPLE CLOAK; ETC. 57 IV. The stranger bowed before the king, and thus began to speak ; Full well I ween his garb was worn, and with sorrow pale his cheek ; But his air was free and noble, and proudly flashed his eye, As he stood unknown in that high hall, and thus he made reply: — v. " From Samos came I, mighty king, and Syloson my name ; My brother was Polycrates, a chief well known to fame ; That brother drove me from my home — a wanderer forth I went ; And since that hour my weary soul has never known content. VI. " Methinks I need not tell to thee my brother's mournful fate : He lies within his bloody grave — a churl usurps his state ; Maeandrius lords it o'er the land, my brother's base-born slave : — Restore me to that throne, oh king ! this, this the boon I crave. VII. " Nay, start not, let me tell my tale, — I pray thee look on me, And, prince, thou soon shalt know the cause that I ask this boon of thee : Round Persia's king a bristling ring of spearmen standeth now ; But, when Cambyses wore the crown, a spearman poor wast thou ! viu. " Rememberest not, oh ! king, the hour, when in fair Memphis town, Upon the day ye won the fray, thou wast pacing up and down ? The costly cloak that then I wore, its colours charmed thy eye, — In truth it was a gorgeous robe of purple Tyrian dye. 58 THE PURPLE CLOAK; OR, IX. " Let base-born peasants buy and sell, I gave that robe to thee And for that gift on thee bestow'd grant thou this boon to me. I ask not silver, ask not gold, — I ask of thee to stand A prince once more on Samos' shore, my own ancestral land." x. " Oh ! best and noblest," cried the king, " thou ne'er shalt rue the day When to Cambyses' spearman poor thou gavest thy cloak away ; The faithless eye each well-known form and feature may forget ; But the deeds of generous kindness done the heart remembers yet. XI. " To-day thou art a wanderer sad, — but thou shalt sit ere long Within thy fair ancestral halls, and hear the minstrel's song ; To-day thou art a homeless man, — to-morrow thou shalt stand, A conqueror and a sceptred king, upon thy native land. XII. " A cloud is on thy brow to-day, thy lot is poor and low ; To all who gaze on thee thou seem'st a man of want and woe ; But thou shalt drain the bowl ere long within thy own bright isle A wreath of roses round thy head, and on thy brow a smile ! " XIII. And he called the proud Otanes, — one of the Seven was he, Who laid the Magian traitor low, and set their country free ; And he bade him man a gallant fleet, and sail without delay To the pleasant isle of Samos in the fair Icarian bay. THE EETUEN OF SYLOSON TO SAMOS. 59 XIV. " To place yon chief on Samos' throne, Otanes, be thy care ! But bloodless let thy victory be — his Samian people spare : For thus the generous chieftain said, when he made his high demand, I had rather still an exile roam than waste my native land.'" part n. i. Oh ! " monarchs' l arms are wondrous long," their power is wondrous great ! But not to them is given to stem the rushing tide of fate ; A king can man a stately fleet, an island fair can give ; But can he blunt the sword's sharp edge, or bid the dead to live ? ii. They leave the strand that gallant band — their ships are in the bay— It was a glorious sight, I ween, to view their bright array. And there amid the Persian chiefs — himself he holds the helm — Sits lovely Samos' future lord — he comes to claim his realm. in. Mseandrius saw the Persian fleet come sailing proudly down ; And his troops he knew were all too few to guard a leaguered town ; So he laid his crown and sceptre down his recreant life to save — Who thus resigns a kingdom fair deserves to be a slave ! 1 Greek proverb, — quoted by Alexander son of Amyntas, at Athens. — (Herod, viii. 140.) 60 THE PURPLE CLOAK; OR, IV. He calls his band, he seeks the strand : they grant him passage free — " And shall they then," his brother cried, " have a bloodless victory ? No ! give me but yon spears of thine, and I soon to them will show There yet are men in Samos left to face the Persian foe." v. The traitor heard his brother's word, and he gave the youth his way— " An empty land, proud Syloson, shall lie beneath thy sway." That youth has armed those spearmen stout, three hundred men in all, And on the Persian chiefs he fell before the city's wall. VI. The Persian lords before the wall were sitting all in state, They deemed the land was all at peace, they recked not of their fate, When on them came the fiery youth 1 , with desperate charge he came ; And soon lay weltering in his gore full many a chief of fame. VII. The outrage rude Otanes viewed, and fury fired his breast, And to the winds the chieftain cast his monarch's high behest. He gave the word, that angry lord, " War, war unto the death ! " Then many a scimitar flashed forth impatient from its sheath. 1 The fiery youth ; with desperate charge, Made, for a space, an opening large. Scott's Marmion, Canto vi. THE RETURN OF STLOSON TO SAMOS. 61 vin. Through Samos wide from side to side the carnage is begun, And ne'er a mother there is seen but mourns a slaughtered son. From side to side through Samos wide Otanes hunts his prey — Few, few are left in that bright isle their monarch to obey ! IX. The new-made monarch sits in state in his fair ancestral bowers ; And he bids his minstrel strike the lyre, and he crowns his head with flowers ; But still a cloud is on his brow, — where is the promised smile ? And yet he sits, a sceptred king, in his own dear native isle. x. " Oh ! Samos dear, my native land ! I tread thy shores again, But where are they thy gallant sons ? I gaze upon the slain. A dreary kingdom mine I ween," the mournful monarch said — " Where are my subjects good and true ? I reign but o'er the dead ! XI. " Ah ! woe is me ; I would that I had ne'er to Susa gone To ask that fatal boon of thee, Hystaspes' generous son ! Oh ! deadly fight, oh ! woeful sight to greet a monarch's eyes ; All desolate my native land, reft of her children, lies ! " XII. Thus mourned the chief, and no relief his regal state could bring ; O'er such a drear unpeopled waste oh ! who would be a king ? And still, when desolate a land, and her sons all swept away, " The waste l domain of Syloson," 'tis called unto this day. 1 Greek proverb, — " e/£7jTt SuAoowtos evpux^pfy," not quoted by Herodotus, but probably referring to this event. 62 ARISTAGORAS AT SPARTA. AN ANECDOTE OP THE CHILDHOOD OP GORGO, WIFE OF LEONIDAS. 1 The author has so far departed from his original in this ballad, as to blend into one the three interviews of Aristagoras with Cleomenes. He has also ventured to represent Aristagoras as bringing with him a " bag of gold " to enforce his request ; which more material method of proceeding will, it is hoped, find some justification in the story of Leoty chides, king of Sparta and colleague of Cleomenes, being detected in receiving bribes, by being found in his tent x ei p'^ 1 7rAe 'p upyvpiov, " with the sleeve of his tunic full of money." The cha- racter assigned to Gorgo in after years seems to be borne out by the estimation in which she was held in Sparta. (See Herod, vii. 239.) " Now by the Twins of heavenly Jove," 2 Quoth Sparta's wondering king, " So far from home our troops to move Would be a monstrous thing ! Oh ! stranger from Ionia's land, An idle task is thine, To lure the Spartans from their land So far across the brine. 1 Herod, v. 49—51. 2 Nal Tcb