Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The House of Sleep
11:836 Near the Cymmerians, in his dark abode,
11:837 Deep in a cavern, dwells the drowzy God;
11:838 Whose gloomy mansion nor the rising sun,
11:839 Nor setting, visits, nor the lightsome noon;
11:840 But lazy vapours round the region fly,
11:841 Perpetual twilight, and a doubtful sky:
11:842 No crowing cock does there his wings display,
11:843 Nor with his horny bill provoke the day;
11:844 Nor watchful dogs, nor the more wakeful geese,
11:845 Disturb with nightly noise the sacred peace;
11:846 Nor beast of Nature, nor the tame are nigh,
11:847 Nor trees with tempests rock'd, nor human cry;
11:848 But safe repose without an air of breath
11:849 Dwells here, and a dumb quiet next to death.
11:850 An arm of Lethe, with a gentle flow
11:851 Arising upwards from the rock below,
11:852 The palace moats, and o'er the pebbles creeps,
11:853 And with soft murmurs calls the coming sleeps.
11:854 Around its entry nodding poppies grow,
11:855 And all cool simples that sweet rest bestow;
11:856 Night from the plants their sleepy virtue drains,
11:857 And passing, sheds it on the silent plains:
11:858 No door there was th' unguarded house to keep,
11:859 On creaking hinges turn'd, to break his sleep.
11:860 But in the gloomy court was rais'd a bed,
11:861 Stuff'd with black plumes, and on an ebon-sted:
11:862 Black was the cov'ring too, where lay the God,
11:863 And slept supine, his limbs display'd abroad:
11:864 About his head fantastick visions fly,
11:865 Which various images of things supply,
11:866 And mock their forms; the leaves on trees not more,
11:867 Nor bearded ears in fields, nor sands upon the shore.
11:868 The virgin ent'ring bright, indulg'd the day
11:869 To the brown cave, and brush'd the dreams away:
11:870 The God disturb'd with this new glare of light,
11:871 Cast sudden on his face, unseal'd his sight,
11:872 And rais'd his tardy head, which sunk again,
11:873 And sinking, on his bosom knock'd his chin;
11:874 At length shook off himself, and ask'd the dame,
11:875 (And asking yawn'd) for what intent she came.
11:876 To whom the Goddess thus: O sacred rest,
11:877 Sweet pleasing sleep, of all the Pow'rs the best!
11:878 O peace of mind, repairer of decay,
11:879 Whose balms renew the limbs to labours of the day,
11:880 Care shuns thy soft approach, and sullen flies away!
11:881 Adorn a dream, expressing human form,
11:882 The shape of him who suffer'd in the storm,
11:883 And send it flitting to the Trachin court,
11:884 The wreck of wretched Ceyx to report:
11:885 Before his queen bid the pale spectre stand,
11:886 Who begs a vain relief at Juno's hand.
11:887 She said, and scarce awake her eyes could keep,
11:888 Unable to support the fumes of sleep;
11:889 But fled, returning by the way she went,
11:890 And swerv'd along her bow with swift ascent.
11:891 The God, uneasy 'till he slept again,
11:892 Resolv'd at once to rid himself of pain;
11:893 And, tho' against his custom, call'd aloud,
11:894 Exciting Morpheus from the sleepy crowd:
11:895 Morpheus, of all his numerous train, express'd
11:896 The shape of man, and imitated best;
11:897 The walk, the words, the gesture could supply,
11:898 The habit mimick, and the mein bely;
11:899 Plays well, but all his action is confin'd,
11:900 Extending not beyond our human kind.
11:901 Another, birds, and beasts, and dragons apes,
11:902 And dreadful images, and monster shapes:
11:903 This demon, Icelos, in Heav'n's high hall
11:904 The Gods have nam'd; but men Phobetor call.
11:905 A third is Phantasus, whose actions roul
11:906 On meaner thoughts, and things devoid of soul;
11:907 Earth, fruits, and flow'rs he represents in dreams,
11:908 And solid rocks unmov'd, and running streams.
11:909 These three to kings, and chiefs their scenes display,
11:910 The rest before th' ignoble commons play.
11:911 Of these the chosen Morpheus is dispatch'd;
11:912 Which done, the lazy monarch, over-watch'd,
11:913 Down from his propping elbow drops his head,
11:914 Dissolv'd in sleep, and shrinks within his bed.
11:915 Darkling the demon glides, for flight prepar'd,
11:916 So soft, that scarce his fanning wings are heard.
11:917 To Trachin, swift as thought, the flitting shade,
11:918 Thro' air his momentary journey made:
11:919 Then lays aside the steerage of his wings,
11:920 Forsakes his proper form, assumes the king's;
11:921 And pale, as death, despoil'd of his array,
11:922 Into the queen's apartment takes his way,
11:923 And stands before the bed at dawn of day:
11:924 Unmov'd his eyes, and wet his beard appears;
11:925 And shedding vain, but seeming real tears;
11:926 The briny waters dropping from his hairs.
11:927 Then staring on her with a ghastly look,
11:928 And hollow voice, he thus the queen bespoke.
11:929 Know'st thou not me? Not yet, unhappy wife?
11:930 Or are my features perish'd with my life?
11:931 Look once again, and for thy husband lost,
11:932 Lo all that's left of him, thy husband's ghost!
11:933 Thy vows for my return were all in vain,
11:934 The stormy south o'ertook us in the main,
11:935 And never shalt thou see thy living lord again.
11:936 Bear witness, Heav'n, I call'd on thee in death,
11:937 And while I call'd, a billow stop'd my breath.
11:938 Think not, that flying fame reports my fate;
11:939 I present, I appear, and my own wreck relate.
11:940 Rise, wretched widow, rise; nor undeplor'd
11:941 Permit my soul to pass the Stygian ford;
11:942 But rise, prepar'd in black, to mourn thy perish'd lord.
11:943 Thus said the player-God; and adding art
11:944 Of voice and gesture, so perform'd his part,
11:945 She thought (so like her love the shade appears)
11:946 That Ceyx spake the words, and Ceyx shed the tears;
11:947 She groan'd, her inward soul with grief opprest,
11:948 She sigh'd, she wept, and sleeping beat her breast;
11:949 Then stretch'd her arms t' embrace his body bare;
11:950 Her clasping arms inclose but empty air:
11:951 At this, not yet awake, she cry'd, O stay;
11:952 One is our fate, and common is our way!
11:953 So dreadful was the dream, so loud she spoke,
11:954 That starting sudden up, the slumber broke:
11:955 Then cast her eyes around, in hope to view
11:956 Her vanish'd lord, and find the vision true:
11:957 For now the maids, who waited her commands,
11:958 Ran in with lighted tapers in their hands.
11:959 Tir'd with the search, not finding what she seeks,
11:960 With cruel blows she pounds her blubber'd cheeks;
11:961 Then from her beaten breast the linnen tare,
11:962 And cut the golden caul that bound her hair.
11:963 Her nurse demands the cause; with louder cries
11:964 She prosecutes her griefs, and thus replies.
11:965 No more Alcyone; she suffer'd death
11:966 With her lov'd lord, when Ceyx lost his breath:
11:967 No flatt'ry, no false comfort, give me none,
11:968 My shipwreck'd Ceyx is for ever gone:
11:969 I saw, I saw him manifest in view,
11:970 His voice, his figure, and his gestures knew:
11:971 His lustre lost, and ev'ry living grace,
11:972 Yet I retain'd the features of his face;
11:973 Tho' with pale cheeks, wet beard, and dropping hair,
11:974 None but my Ceyx could appear so fair:
11:975 I would have strain'd him with a strict embrace,
11:976 But thro' my arms he slipt, and vanish'd from the place:
11:977 There, ev'n just there he stood; and as she spoke,
11:978 Where last the spectre was she cast her look:
11:979 Fain would she hope, and gaz'd upon the ground,
11:980 If any printed footsteps might be found.
11:981 Then sigh'd, and said: This I too well foreknew,
11:982 And my prophetick fears presag'd too true:
11:983 'Twas what I begg'd, when with a bleeding heart
11:984 I took my leave, and suffer'd thee to part;
11:985 Or I to go along, or thou to stay,
11:986 Never, ah never to divide our way!
11:987 Happier for me, that all our hours assign'd
11:988 Together we had liv'd; ev'n not in death disjoin'd!
11:989 So had my Ceyx still been living here,
11:990 Or with my Ceyx I had perish'd there:
11:991 Now I die absent, in the vast profound;
11:992 And me, without my self, the seas have drown'd.
11:993 The storms were not so cruel: should I strive
11:994 To lengthen life, and such a grief survive;
11:995 But neither will I strive, nor wretched thee
11:996 In death forsake, but keep thee company.
11:997 If not one common sepulchre contains
11:998 Our bodies, or one urn our last remains,
11:999 Yet Ceyx and Alcyone shall join,
11:1000 Their names remember'd in one common line.
11:1001 No farther voice her mighty grief affords,
11:1002 For sighs come rushing in betwixt her words,
11:1003 And stop'd her tongue; but what her tongue deny'd,
11:1004 Soft tears, and groans, and dumb complaints supply'd.
11:1005 'Twas morning; to the port she takes her way,
11:1006 And stands upon the margin of the sea:
11:1007 That place, that very spot of ground she sought,
11:1008 Or thither by her destiny was brought,
11:1009 Where last he stood: and while she sadly said,
11:1010 'Twas here he left me, lingring here delay'd
11:1011 His parting kiss, and there his anchors weigh'd.
11:1012 Thus speaking, while her thoughts past actions trace,
11:1013 And call to mind, admonish'd by the place,
11:1014 Sharp at her utmost ken she cast her eyes,
11:1015 And somewhat floating from afar descries:
11:1016 It seems a corps a-drift to distant sight,
11:1017 But at a distance who could judge aright?
11:1018 It wafted nearer yet, and then she knew,
11:1019 That what before she but surmis'd, was true:
11:1020 A corps it was, but whose it was, unknown,
11:1021 Yet mov'd, howe'er, she made the cause her own.
11:1022 Took the bad omen of a shipwreck'd man,
11:1023 As for a stranger wept, and thus began.
11:1024 Poor wretch, on stormy seas to lose thy life,
11:1025 Unhappy thou, but more thy widow'd wife;
11:1026 At this she paus'd: for now the flowing tide
11:1027 Had brought the body nearer to the side:
11:1028 The more she looks, the more her fears increase,
11:1029 At nearer sight; and she's her self the less:
11:1030 Now driv'n ashore, and at her feet it lies,
11:1031 She knows too much in knowing whom she sees:
11:1032 Her husband's corps; at this she loudly shrieks,
11:1033 'Tis he, 'tis he, she cries, and tears her cheeks,
11:1034 Her hair, and vest; and stooping to the sands,
11:1035 About his neck she cast her trembling hands.
11:1036 And is it thus, o dearer than my life,
11:1037 Thus, thus return'st thou to thy longing wife!
11:1038 She said, and to the neighbouring mole she strode,
11:1039 (Rais'd there to break th' incursions of the flood).
11:1040 Headlong from hence to plunge her self she springs,
11:1041 But shoots along, supported on her wings;
11:1042 A bird new-made, about the banks she plies,
11:1043 Not far from shore, and short excursions tries;
11:1044 Nor seeks in air her humble flight to raise,
11:1045 Content to skim the surface of the seas:
11:1046 Her bill tho' slender, sends a creaking noise,
11:1047 And imitates a lamentable voice.
11:1048 Now lighting where the bloodless body lies,
11:1049 She with a fun'ral note renews her cries:
11:1050 At all her stretch, her little wings she spread,
11:1051 And with her feather'd arms embrac'd the dead:
11:1052 Then flick'ring to his palid lips, she strove
11:1053 To print a kiss, the last essay of love.
11:1054 Whether the vital touch reviv'd the dead,
11:1055 Or that the moving waters rais'd his head
11:1056 To meet the kiss, the vulgar doubt alone;
11:1057 For sure a present miracle was shown.
11:1058 The Gods their shapes to winter-birds translate,
11:1059 But both obnoxious to their former fate.
11:1060 Their conjugal affection still is ty'd,
11:1061 And still the mournful race is multiply'd:
11:1062 They bill, they tread; Alcyone compress'd,
11:1063 Sev'n days sits brooding on her floating nest:
11:1064 A wintry queen: her sire at length is kind,
11:1065 Calms ev'ry storm, and hushes ev'ry wind;
11:1066 Prepares his empire for his daughter's ease,
11:1067 And for his hatching nephews smooths the seas.
Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The House of Sleep
11:836 Near the Cymmerians, in his dark abode,
11:837 Deep in a cavern, dwells the drowzy God;
11:838 Whose gloomy mansion nor the rising sun,
11:839 Nor setting, visits, nor the lightsome noon;
11:840 But lazy vapours round the region fly,
11:841 Perpetual twilight, and a doubtful sky:
11:842 No crowing cock does there his wings display,
11:843 Nor with his horny bill provoke the day;
11:844 Nor watchful dogs, nor the more wakeful geese,
11:845 Disturb with nightly noise the sacred peace;
11:846 Nor beast of Nature, nor the tame are nigh,
11:847 Nor trees with tempests rock'd, nor human cry;
11:848 But safe repose without an air of breath
11:849 Dwells here, and a dumb quiet next to death.
11:850 An arm of Lethe, with a gentle flow
11:851 Arising upwards from the rock below,
11:852 The palace moats, and o'er the pebbles creeps,
11:853 And with soft murmurs calls the coming sleeps.
11:854 Around its entry nodding poppies grow,
11:855 And all cool simples that sweet rest bestow;
11:856 Night from the plants their sleepy virtue drains,
11:857 And passing, sheds it on the silent plains:
11:858 No door there was th' unguarded house to keep,
11:859 On creaking hinges turn'd, to break his sleep.
11:860 But in the gloomy court was rais'd a bed,
11:861 Stuff'd with black plumes, and on an ebon-sted:
11:862 Black was the cov'ring too, where lay the God,
11:863 And slept supine, his limbs display'd abroad:
11:864 About his head fantastick visions fly,
11:865 Which various images of things supply,
11:866 And mock their forms; the leaves on trees not more,
11:867 Nor bearded ears in fields, nor sands upon the shore.
11:868 The virgin ent'ring bright, indulg'd the day
11:869 To the brown cave, and brush'd the dreams away:
11:870 The God disturb'd with this new glare of light,
11:871 Cast sudden on his face, unseal'd his sight,
11:872 And rais'd his tardy head, which sunk again,
11:873 And sinking, on his bosom knock'd his chin;
11:874 At length shook off himself, and ask'd the dame,
11:875 (And asking yawn'd) for what intent she came.
11:876 To whom the Goddess thus: O sacred rest,
11:877 Sweet pleasing sleep, of all the Pow'rs the best!
11:878 O peace of mind, repairer of decay,
11:879 Whose balms renew the limbs to labours of the day,
11:880 Care shuns thy soft approach, and sullen flies away!
11:881 Adorn a dream, expressing human form,
11:882 The shape of him who suffer'd in the storm,
11:883 And send it flitting to the Trachin court,
11:884 The wreck of wretched Ceyx to report:
11:885 Before his queen bid the pale spectre stand,
11:886 Who begs a vain relief at Juno's hand.
11:887 She said, and scarce awake her eyes could keep,
11:888 Unable to support the fumes of sleep;
11:889 But fled, returning by the way she went,
11:890 And swerv'd along her bow with swift ascent.
11:891 The God, uneasy 'till he slept again,
11:892 Resolv'd at once to rid himself of pain;
11:893 And, tho' against his custom, call'd aloud,
11:894 Exciting Morpheus from the sleepy crowd:
11:895 Morpheus, of all his numerous train, express'd
11:896 The shape of man, and imitated best;
11:897 The walk, the words, the gesture could supply,
11:898 The habit mimick, and the mein bely;
11:899 Plays well, but all his action is confin'd,
11:900 Extending not beyond our human kind.
11:901 Another, birds, and beasts, and dragons apes,
11:902 And dreadful images, and monster shapes:
11:903 This demon, Icelos, in Heav'n's high hall
11:904 The Gods have nam'd; but men Phobetor call.
11:905 A third is Phantasus, whose actions roul
11:906 On meaner thoughts, and things devoid of soul;
11:907 Earth, fruits, and flow'rs he represents in dreams,
11:908 And solid rocks unmov'd, and running streams.
11:909 These three to kings, and chiefs their scenes display,
11:910 The rest before th' ignoble commons play.
11:911 Of these the chosen Morpheus is dispatch'd;
11:912 Which done, the lazy monarch, over-watch'd,
11:913 Down from his propping elbow drops his head,
11:914 Dissolv'd in sleep, and shrinks within his bed.
11:915 Darkling the demon glides, for flight prepar'd,
11:916 So soft, that scarce his fanning wings are heard.
11:917 To Trachin, swift as thought, the flitting shade,
11:918 Thro' air his momentary journey made:
11:919 Then lays aside the steerage of his wings,
11:920 Forsakes his proper form, assumes the king's;
11:921 And pale, as death, despoil'd of his array,
11:922 Into the queen's apartment takes his way,
11:923 And stands before the bed at dawn of day:
11:924 Unmov'd his eyes, and wet his beard appears;
11:925 And shedding vain, but seeming real tears;
11:926 The briny waters dropping from his hairs.
11:927 Then staring on her with a ghastly look,
11:928 And hollow voice, he thus the queen bespoke.
11:929 Know'st thou not me? Not yet, unhappy wife?
11:930 Or are my features perish'd with my life?
11:931 Look once again, and for thy husband lost,
11:932 Lo all that's left of him, thy husband's ghost!
11:933 Thy vows for my return were all in vain,
11:934 The stormy south o'ertook us in the main,
11:935 And never shalt thou see thy living lord again.
11:936 Bear witness, Heav'n, I call'd on thee in death,
11:937 And while I call'd, a billow stop'd my breath.
11:938 Think not, that flying fame reports my fate;
11:939 I present, I appear, and my own wreck relate.
11:940 Rise, wretched widow, rise; nor undeplor'd
11:941 Permit my soul to pass the Stygian ford;
11:942 But rise, prepar'd in black, to mourn thy perish'd lord.
11:943 Thus said the player-God; and adding art
11:944 Of voice and gesture, so perform'd his part,
11:945 She thought (so like her love the shade appears)
11:946 That Ceyx spake the words, and Ceyx shed the tears;
11:947 She groan'd, her inward soul with grief opprest,
11:948 She sigh'd, she wept, and sleeping beat her breast;
11:949 Then stretch'd her arms t' embrace his body bare;
11:950 Her clasping arms inclose but empty air:
11:951 At this, not yet awake, she cry'd, O stay;
11:952 One is our fate, and common is our way!
11:953 So dreadful was the dream, so loud she spoke,
11:954 That starting sudden up, the slumber broke:
11:955 Then cast her eyes around, in hope to view
11:956 Her vanish'd lord, and find the vision true:
11:957 For now the maids, who waited her commands,
11:958 Ran in with lighted tapers in their hands.
11:959 Tir'd with the search, not finding what she seeks,
11:960 With cruel blows she pounds her blubber'd cheeks;
11:961 Then from her beaten breast the linnen tare,
11:962 And cut the golden caul that bound her hair.
11:963 Her nurse demands the cause; with louder cries
11:964 She prosecutes her griefs, and thus replies.
11:965 No more Alcyone; she suffer'd death
11:966 With her lov'd lord, when Ceyx lost his breath:
11:967 No flatt'ry, no false comfort, give me none,
11:968 My shipwreck'd Ceyx is for ever gone:
11:969 I saw, I saw him manifest in view,
11:970 His voice, his figure, and his gestures knew:
11:971 His lustre lost, and ev'ry living grace,
11:972 Yet I retain'd the features of his face;
11:973 Tho' with pale cheeks, wet beard, and dropping hair,
11:974 None but my Ceyx could appear so fair:
11:975 I would have strain'd him with a strict embrace,
11:976 But thro' my arms he slipt, and vanish'd from the place:
11:977 There, ev'n just there he stood; and as she spoke,
11:978 Where last the spectre was she cast her look:
11:979 Fain would she hope, and gaz'd upon the ground,
11:980 If any printed footsteps might be found.
11:981 Then sigh'd, and said: This I too well foreknew,
11:982 And my prophetick fears presag'd too true:
11:983 'Twas what I begg'd, when with a bleeding heart
11:984 I took my leave, and suffer'd thee to part;
11:985 Or I to go along, or thou to stay,
11:986 Never, ah never to divide our way!
11:987 Happier for me, that all our hours assign'd
11:988 Together we had liv'd; ev'n not in death disjoin'd!
11:989 So had my Ceyx still been living here,
11:990 Or with my Ceyx I had perish'd there:
11:991 Now I die absent, in the vast profound;
11:992 And me, without my self, the seas have drown'd.
11:993 The storms were not so cruel: should I strive
11:994 To lengthen life, and such a grief survive;
11:995 But neither will I strive, nor wretched thee
11:996 In death forsake, but keep thee company.
11:997 If not one common sepulchre contains
11:998 Our bodies, or one urn our last remains,
11:999 Yet Ceyx and Alcyone shall join,
11:1000 Their names remember'd in one common line.
11:1001 No farther voice her mighty grief affords,
11:1002 For sighs come rushing in betwixt her words,
11:1003 And stop'd her tongue; but what her tongue deny'd,
11:1004 Soft tears, and groans, and dumb complaints supply'd.
11:1005 'Twas morning; to the port she takes her way,
11:1006 And stands upon the margin of the sea:
11:1007 That place, that very spot of ground she sought,
11:1008 Or thither by her destiny was brought,
11:1009 Where last he stood: and while she sadly said,
11:1010 'Twas here he left me, lingring here delay'd
11:1011 His parting kiss, and there his anchors weigh'd.
11:1012 Thus speaking, while her thoughts past actions trace,
11:1013 And call to mind, admonish'd by the place,
11:1014 Sharp at her utmost ken she cast her eyes,
11:1015 And somewhat floating from afar descries:
11:1016 It seems a corps a-drift to distant sight,
11:1017 But at a distance who could judge aright?
11:1018 It wafted nearer yet, and then she knew,
11:1019 That what before she but surmis'd, was true:
11:1020 A corps it was, but whose it was, unknown,
11:1021 Yet mov'd, howe'er, she made the cause her own.
11:1022 Took the bad omen of a shipwreck'd man,
11:1023 As for a stranger wept, and thus began.
11:1024 Poor wretch, on stormy seas to lose thy life,
11:1025 Unhappy thou, but more thy widow'd wife;
11:1026 At this she paus'd: for now the flowing tide
11:1027 Had brought the body nearer to the side:
11:1028 The more she looks, the more her fears increase,
11:1029 At nearer sight; and she's her self the less:
11:1030 Now driv'n ashore, and at her feet it lies,
11:1031 She knows too much in knowing whom she sees:
11:1032 Her husband's corps; at this she loudly shrieks,
11:1033 'Tis he, 'tis he, she cries, and tears her cheeks,
11:1034 Her hair, and vest; and stooping to the sands,
11:1035 About his neck she cast her trembling hands.
11:1036 And is it thus, o dearer than my life,
11:1037 Thus, thus return'st thou to thy longing wife!
11:1038 She said, and to the neighbouring mole she strode,
11:1039 (Rais'd there to break th' incursions of the flood).
11:1040 Headlong from hence to plunge her self she springs,
11:1041 But shoots along, supported on her wings;
11:1042 A bird new-made, about the banks she plies,
11:1043 Not far from shore, and short excursions tries;
11:1044 Nor seeks in air her humble flight to raise,
11:1045 Content to skim the surface of the seas:
11:1046 Her bill tho' slender, sends a creaking noise,
11:1047 And imitates a lamentable voice.
11:1048 Now lighting where the bloodless body lies,
11:1049 She with a fun'ral note renews her cries:
11:1050 At all her stretch, her little wings she spread,
11:1051 And with her feather'd arms embrac'd the dead:
11:1052 Then flick'ring to his palid lips, she strove
11:1053 To print a kiss, the last essay of love.
11:1054 Whether the vital touch reviv'd the dead,
11:1055 Or that the moving waters rais'd his head
11:1056 To meet the kiss, the vulgar doubt alone;
11:1057 For sure a present miracle was shown.
11:1058 The Gods their shapes to winter-birds translate,
11:1059 But both obnoxious to their former fate.
11:1060 Their conjugal affection still is ty'd,
11:1061 And still the mournful race is multiply'd:
11:1062 They bill, they tread; Alcyone compress'd,
11:1063 Sev'n days sits brooding on her floating nest:
11:1064 A wintry queen: her sire at length is kind,
11:1065 Calms ev'ry storm, and hushes ev'ry wind;
11:1066 Prepares his empire for his daughter's ease,
11:1067 And for his hatching nephews smooths the seas.