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HELEN OF TROY

A. LANG

LONDON: GEORGE BELL AND SONS YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN 1882

CHISWICK PRESS:--CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE.

To all old Friends; to all who dwell Where Avon dhu and Avon gel Down to the western waters flow Through valleys dear from long ago; To all who hear the whisper'd spell Of Ken; and Tweed like music swell Hard by the Land Debatable, Or gleaming Shannon seaward go,-- To all old Friends!

BOOK I--THE COMING OF PARIS

Of the coming of Paris to the house of Menelaus, King of Lacedaemon, and of the tale Paris told concerning his past life.

All day within the palace of the King In Lacedaemon, was there revelry, Since Menelaus with the dawn did spring Forth from his carven couch, and, climbing high The tower of outlook, gazed along the dry White road that runs to Pylos through the plain, And mark'd thin clouds of dust against the sky, And gleaming bronze, and robes of purple stain.

Then cried he to his serving men, and all Obey'd him, and their labour did not spare, And women set out tables through the hall, Light polish'd tables, with the linen fair. And water from the well did others bear, And the good house-wife busily brought forth Meats from her store, and stinted not the rare Wine from Ismarian vineyards of the North.

The men drave up a heifer from the field For sacrifice, and sheath'd her horns with gold; And strong Boethous the axe did wield And smote her; on the fruitful earth she roll'd, And they her limbs divided; fold on fold They laid the fat, and cast upon the fire The barley grain. Such rites were wrought of old When all was order'd as the Gods desire.

And now the chariots came beneath the trees Hard by the palace portals, in the shade, And Menelaus knew King Diocles Of Pherae, sprung of an unhappy maid Whom the great Elian River God betray'd In the still watches of a summer night, When by his deep green water-course she stray'd And lean'd to pluck his water-lilies white.

Besides King Diocles there sat a man Of all men mortal sure the fairest far, For o'er his purple robe Sidonian His yellow hair shone brighter than the star Of the long golden locks that bodeth war; His face was like the sunshine, and his blue Glad eyes no sorrow had the spell to mar Were clear as skies the storm hath thunder'd through.

Then Menelaus spake unto his folk, And eager at his word they ran amain, And loosed the sweating horses from the yoke, And cast before them spelt, and barley grain. And lean'd the polish'd car, with golden rein, Against the shining spaces of the wall; And called the sea-rovers who follow'd fain Within the pillar'd fore-courts of the hall.

The stranger-prince was follow'd by a band Of men, all clad like rovers of the sea, And brown'd were they as is the desert sand, Loud in their mirth, and of their bearing free; And gifts they bore, from the deep treasury And forests of some far-off Eastern lord, Vases of gold, and bronze, and ivory, That might the Pythian fane have over-stored.

There were they seated at the King's right hand, And maidens bare them bread, and meat, and wine, Within that fair hall of the Argive land Whose doors and roof with gold and silver shine As doth the dwelling-place of Zeus divine. And Helen came from forth her fragrant bower The fairest lady of immortal line, Like morning, when the rosy dawn doth flower.

Adraste set for her a shining chair, Well-wrought of cedar-wood and ivory; And beautiful Alcippe led the fair, The well-beloved child, Hermione,-- A little maiden of long summers three-- Her star-like head on Helen's breast she laid, And peep'd out at the strangers wistfully As is the wont of children half afraid.

Now when desire of meat and drink was done, And ended was the joy of minstrelsy, Queen Helen spake, beholding how the sun Within the heaven of bronze was riding high: "Truly, my friends, methinks the hour is nigh When men may crave to know what need doth bring To Lacedaemon, o'er wet ways and dry, This prince that bears the sceptre of a king?

"Yea, or perchance a God is he, for still The great Gods wander on our mortal ways, And watch their altars upon mead or hill And taste our sacrifice, and hear our lays, And now, perchance, will heed if any prays, And now will vex us with unkind control, But anywise must man live out his days, For Fate hath given him an enduring soul.

"Then tell us, prithee, all that may be told, And if thou art a mortal, joy be thine! And if thou art a God, then rich with gold Thine altar in our palace court shall shine, With roses garlanded and wet with wine, And we shall praise thee with unceasing breath; Ah, then be gentle as thou art divine, And bring not on us baneful Love or Death!"

Then spake the stranger,--as when to a maid A young man speaks, his voice was soft and low,-- "Alas, no God am I; be not afraid, For even now the nodding daisies grow Whose seed above my grassy cairn shall blow, When I am nothing but a drift of white Dust in a cruse of gold; and nothing know But darkness, and immeasurable Night.

"The dawn, or noon, or twilight, draweth near When one shall smite me on the bridge of war, Or with the ruthless sword, or with the spear, Or with the bitter arrow flying far. But as a man's heart, so his good days are, That Zeus, the Lord of Thunder, giveth him, Wherefore I follow Fortune, like a star, Whate'er may wait me in the distance dim.

"Now all men call me PARIS, Priam's son, Who widely rules a peaceful folk and still. Nay, though ye dwell afar off, there is none But hears of Ilios on the windy hill, And of the plain that the two rivers fill With murmuring sweet streams the whole year long, And walls the Gods have wrought with wondrous skill Where cometh never man to do us wrong.

"Wherefore I sail'd not here for help in war, Though well the Argives in such need can aid. The force that comes on me is other far; One that on all men comes: I seek the maid Whom golden Aphrodite shall persuade To lay her hand in mine, and follow me, To my white halls within the cedar shade Beyond the waters of the barren sea."

Then at the Goddess' name grew Helen pale, Like golden stars that flicker in the dawn, Or like a child that hears a dreadful tale, Or like the roses on a rich man's lawn, When now the suns of Summer are withdrawn, And the loose leaves with a sad wind are stirr'd, Till the wet grass is strewn with petals wan,-- So paled the golden Helen at his word.

But swift the rose into her cheek return'd And for a little moment, like a flame, The perfect face of Argive Helen burn'd, As doth a woman's, when some spoken name Brings back to mind some ancient love or shame, But none save Paris mark'd the thing, who said, "My tale no more must weary this fair dame, With telling why I wander all unwed."

But Helen, bending on him gracious brows, Besought him for the story of his quest, "For sultry is the summer, that allows To mortal men no sweeter boon than rest; And surely such a tale as thine is best To make the dainty-footed hours go by, Till sinks the sun in darkness and the West, And soft stars lead the Night along the sky."

Then at the word of Helen Paris spoke, "My tale is shorter than a summer day,-- My mother, ere I saw the light, awoke, At dawn, in Ilios, shrieking in dismay, Who dream'd that 'twixt her feet there fell and lay A flaming brand, that utterly burn'd down To dust of crumbling ashes red and grey, The coronal of towers and all Troy town.

"Then the interpretation of this dream My father sought at many priestly hands, Where the white temple doth in Pytho gleam, And at the fane of Ammon in the sands, And where the oak tree of Dodona stands With boughs oracular against the sky,-- And with one voice the Gods from all the lands, Cried out, 'The child must die, the child must die.'

"Then was I born to sorrow; and in fear The dark priest took me from my sire, and bore A wailing child through beech and pinewood drear, Up to the knees of Ida, and the hoar Rocks whence a fountain breaketh evermore, And leaps with shining waters to the sea, Through black and rock-wall'd pools without a shore,-- And there they deem'd they took farewell of me.

"But round my neck they tied a golden ring That fell from Ganymedes when he soar'd High over Ida on the eagle's wing, To dwell for ever with the Gods adored, To be the cup-bearer beside the board Of Zeus, and kneel at the eternal throne,-- A jewel 'twas from old King Tros's hoard, That ruled in Ilios ages long agone.

"And there they left me in that dell untrod,-- Shepherd nor huntsman ever wanders there, For dread of Pan, that is a jealous God,-- Yea, and the ladies of the streams forbear The Naiad nymphs, to weave their dances fair, Or twine their yellow tresses with the shy Fronds of forget-me-not and maiden-hair,-- There had the priests appointed me to die.

"But vainly doth a man contend with Fate! My father had less pity on his son Than wild things of the woodland desolate. 'Tis said that ere the Autumn day was done A great she-bear, that in these rocks did wonn, Beheld a sleeping babe she did convey Down to a den beheld not of the sun, The cavern where her own soft litter lay.

"And therein was I nurtured wondrously, So Rumour saith: I know not of these things, For mortal men are ever wont to lie, Whene'er they speak of sceptre-bearing kings: I tell what I was told, for memory brings No record of those days, that are as deep Lost as the lullaby a mother sings In ears of children that are fallen on sleep.

"Men say that now five autumn days had pass'd, When Agelaus, following a hurt deer, Trod soft on crackling acorns, and the mast That lay beneath the oak and beech-wood sere, In dread lest angry Pan were sleeping near, Then heard a cry from forth a cavern grey, And peeping round the fallen rocks in fear, Beheld where in the wild beast's tracks I lay.

"So Agelaus bore me from the wild, Down to his hut; and with his children I Was nurtured, being, as was deem'd, the child Of Hermes, or some mountain deity; For these with the wild nymphs are wont to lie Within the holy caverns, where the bee Can scarcely find a darkling path to fly Through veils of bracken and the ivy-tree.

"So with the shepherds on the hills I stray'd, And drave the kine to feed where rivers run, And play'd upon the reed-pipe in the shade, And scarcely knew my manhood was begun, The pleasant years still passing one by one, Till I was chiefest of the mountain men, And clomb the peaks that take the snow and sun, And braved the anger'd lion in his den.

"And drave him, no word spoken, to the town: One man mine arrow lit on, and he fell; His comrades held me off, and down and down, Through golden windings of the autumn dell, They spurr'd along the beast that loved me well, Till red were his white sides; I following, Wrath in my heart, their evil deeds to tell In Ilios, at the footstool of the King.

"But ere they came to the God-builded wall, They spied a meadow by the water-side, And there the men of Troy were gathered all For joust and play; and Priam's sons defied All other men in all Maeonia wide To strive with them in boxing and in speed. Victorious with the shepherds had I vied, So boldly followed to that flowery mead.

"Maeonia, Phrygia, Troia there were met, And there the King, child of Laomedon, Rich prizes for the vanquishers had set, Damsels, and robes, and cups that like the sun Shone, but the white bull was the chiefest one; And him the victor in the games should slay To Zeus, the King of Gods, when all was done, And so with sacrifice should crown the day.

"Now it were over long, methinks, to tell The contest of the heady charioteers, Of them the goal that turn'd, and them that fell. But I outran the young men of my years, And with the bow did I out-do my peers, And wrestling; and in boxing, over-bold, I strove with Hector of the ashen spears, Yea, till the deep-voiced Heralds bade us hold.

"Then Priam hail'd me winner of the day; Mine were the maid, the cup, and chiefest prize, Mine own fair milkwhite bull was mine to slay; But then the murmurs wax'd to angry cries, And hard men set on me in deadly wise, My brethren, though they knew it not; I turn'd, And fled unto the place of sacrifice, Where altars to the God of strangers burn'd.

"At mine own funeral feast, had I been slain, But, fearing Zeus, they halted for a space, And lo, Apollo's priestess with a train Of holy maidens came into that place, And far did she outshine the rest in grace, But in her eyes such dread was frozen then As glares eternal from the Gorgon's face Wherewith Athene quells the ranks of men.

"She was old Priam's daughter, long ago Apollo loved her, and did not deny His gifts,--the things that are to be to know, The tongue of sooth-saying that cannot lie, And knowledge gave he of all birds that fly 'Neath heaven; and yet his prayer did she disdain. So he his gifts confounded utterly, And sooth she saith, but evermore in vain.

XL.

"She, when her dark eyes fell on me, did stand At gaze a while, with wan lips murmuring, And then came nigh to me, and took my hand, And led me to the footstool of the King, And call'd me 'brother,' and drew forth the ring That men had found upon me in the wild, For still I bore it as a precious thing, The token of a father to his child.

"This sign Cassandra show'd to Priam: straight The King wax'd pale, and ask'd what this might be? And she made answer, 'Sir, and King, thy fate That comes to all men born hath come on thee; This shepherd is thine own child verily: How like to thine his shape, his brow, his hands! Nay there is none but hath the eyes to see That here the child long lost to Troia stands.'

"Then the King bare me to his lofty hall, And there we feasted in much love and mirth, And Priam to the mountain sent for all That knew me, and the manner of my birth: And now among the great ones of the earth In royal robe and state behold me set, And one fell thing I fear not; even dearth, Whate'er the Gods remember or forget.

"My new rich life had grown a common thing, The pleasant years still passing one by one, When deep in Ida was I wandering The glare of well-built Ilios to shun, In summer, ere the day was wholly done, When I beheld a goodly prince,--the hair To bloom upon his lip had scarce begun,-- The season when the flower of youth is fair.

"Then knew I Hermes by his golden wand Wherewith he lulls the eyes of men to sleep; But, nodding with his brows, he bade me stand, And spake, 'To-night thou hast a tryst to keep, With Goddesses within the forest deep; And Paris, lovely things shalt thou behold, More fair than they for which men war and weep, Kingdoms, and fame, and victories, and gold.

"'For, lo! to-night within the forest dim Do Aphrodite and Athene meet, And Hera, who to thee shall bare each limb, Each grace from golden head to ivory feet, And thee, fair shepherd Paris, they entreat As thou 'mongst men art beauteous, to declare Which Queen of Queens immortal is most sweet, And doth deserve the meed of the most fair.

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