Andromeda and Other Poems Part 1

Andromeda and Other Poems.

by Charles Kingsley.

ANDROMEDA

Over the sea, past Crete, on the Syrian sh.o.r.e to the southward, Dwells in the well-tilled lowland a dark-haired AEthiop people, Skilful with needle and loom, and the arts of the dyer and carver, Skilful, but feeble of heart; for they know not the lords of Olympus, Lovers of men; neither broad-browed Zeus, nor Pallas Athene, Teacher of wisdom to heroes, bestower of might in the battle; Share not the cunning of Hermes, nor list to the songs of Apollo.

Fearing the stars of the sky, and the roll of the blue salt water, Fearing all things that have life in the womb of the seas and the livers, Eating no fish to this day, nor ploughing the main, like the Phoenics, Manful with black-beaked s.h.i.+ps, they abide in a sorrowful region, Vexed with the earthquake, and flame, and the sea-floods, scourge of Poseidon.

Whelming the dwellings of men, and the toils of the slow-footed oxen, Drowning the barley and flax, and the hard-earned gold of the harvest, Up to the hillside vines, and the pastures skirting the woodland, Inland the floods came yearly; and after the waters a monster, Bred of the slime, like the worms which are bred from the slime of the Nile- bank, Shapeless, a terror to see; and by night it swam out to the seaward, Daily returning to feed with the dawn, and devoured of the fairest, Cattle, and children, and maids, till the terrified people fled inland.

Fasting in sackcloth and ashes they came, both the king and his people, Came to the mountain of oaks, to the house of the terrible sea-G.o.ds, Hard by the gulf in the rocks, where of old the world-wide deluge Sank to the inner abyss; and the lake where the fish of the G.o.ddess, Holy, undying, abide; whom the priests feed daily with dainties.

There to the mystical fish, high-throned in her chamber of cedar, Burnt they the fat of the flock; till the flame shone far to the seaward.

Three days fasting they prayed; but the fourth day the priests of the G.o.ddess, Cunning in spells, cast lots, to discover the crime of the people.

All day long they cast, till the house of the monarch was taken, Cepheus, king of the land; and the faces of all gathered blackness.

Then once more they cast; and Ca.s.siopoeia was taken, Deep-bosomed wife of the king, whom oft far-seeing Apollo Watched well-pleased from the welkin, the fairest of AEthiop women: Fairest, save only her daughter; for down to the ankle her tresses Rolled, blue-black as the night, ambrosial, joy to beholders.

Awful and fair she arose, most like in her coming to Here, Queen before whom the Immortals arise, as she comes on Olympus, Out of the chamber of gold, which her son Hephaestos has wrought her.

Such in her stature and eyes, and the broad white light of her forehead.

Stately she came from her place, and she spoke in the midst of the people.

'Pure are my hands from blood: most pure this heart in my bosom.

Yet one fault I remember this day; one word have I spoken; Rashly I spoke on the sh.o.r.e, and I dread lest the sea should have heard it.

Watching my child at her bath, as she plunged in the joy of her girlhood, Fairer I called her in pride than Atergati, queen of the ocean.

Judge ye if this be my sin, for I know none other.' She ended; Wrapping her head in her mantle she stood, and the people were silent.

Answered the dark-browed priests, 'No word, once spoken, returneth, Even if uttered unwitting. Shall G.o.ds excuse our rashness?

That which is done, that abides; and the wrath of the sea is against us; Hers, and the wrath of her brother, the Sun-G.o.d, lord of the sheepfolds.

Fairer than her hast thou boasted thy daughter? Ah folly! for hateful, Hateful are they to the G.o.ds, whoso, impious, liken a mortal, Fair though he be, to their glory; and hateful is that which is likened, Grieving the eyes of their pride, and abominate, doomed to their anger.

What shall be likened to G.o.ds? The unknown, who deep in the darkness Ever abide, twyformed, many-handed, terrible, shapeless.

Woe to the queen; for the land is defiled, and the people accursed.

Take thou her therefore by night, thou ill-starred Ca.s.siopoeia, Take her with us in the night, when the moon sinks low to the westward; Bind her aloft for a victim, a prey for the gorge of the monster, Far on the sea-girt rock, which is washed by the surges for ever; So may the G.o.ddess accept her, and so may the land make atonement, Purged by her blood from its sin: so obey thou the doom of the rulers.'

Bitter in soul they went out, Cepheus and Ca.s.siopoeia, Bitter in soul; and their hearts whirled round, as the leaves in the eddy.

Weak was the queen, and rebelled: but the king, like a shepherd of people, Willed not the land should waste; so he yielded the life of his daughter.

Deep in the wane of the night, as the moon sank low to the westward, They by the shade of the cliffs, with the horror of darkness around them, Stole, as ashamed, to a deed which became not the light of the suns.h.i.+ne, Slowly, the priests, and the queen, and the virgin bound in the galley, Slowly they rowed to the rocks: but Cepheus far in the palace Sate in the midst of the hall, on his throne, like a shepherd of people, Choking his woe, dry-eyed, while the slaves wailed loudly around him.

They on the sea-girt rock, which is washed by the surges for ever, Set her in silence, the guiltless, aloft with her face to the eastward.

Under a crag of the stone, where a ledge sloped down to the water; There they set Andromeden, most beautiful, shaped like a G.o.ddess, Lifting her long white arms wide-spread to the walls of the basalt, Chaining them, ruthless, with bra.s.s; and they called on the might of the Rulers.

'Mystical fish of the seas, dread Queen whom AEthiops honour, Whelming the land in thy wrath, unavoidable, sharp as the sting-ray, Thou, and thy brother the Sun, brain-smiting, lord of the sheepfold, Scorching the earth all day, and then resting at night in thy bosom, Take ye this one life for many, appeased by the blood of a maiden, Fairest, and born of the fairest, a queen, most priceless of victims.'

Thrice they spat as they went by the maid: but her mother delaying Fondled her child to the last, heart-crushed; and the warmth of her weeping Fell on the breast of the maid, as her woe broke forth into wailing.

'Daughter! my daughter! forgive me! Oh curse not the murderess! Curse not!

How have I sinned, but in love? Do the G.o.ds grudge glory to mothers?

Loving I bore thee in vain in the fate-cursed bride-bed of Cepheus, Loving I fed thee and tended, and loving rejoiced in thy beauty, Blessing thy limbs as I bathed them, and blessing thy locks as I combed them; Decking thee, ripening to woman, I blest thee: yet blessing I slew thee!

How have I sinned, but in love? Oh swear to me, swear to thy mother, Never to haunt me with curse, as I go to the grave in my sorrow, Childless and lone: may the G.o.ds never send me another, to slay it!

See, I embrace thy knees--soft knees, where no babe will be fondled-- Swear to me never to curse me, the hapless one, not in the death-pang.'

Weeping she clung to the knees of the maid; and the maid low answered-- 'Curse thee! Not in the death-pang!' The heart of the lady was lightened.

Slowly she went by the ledge; and the maid was alone in the darkness.

Watching the pulse of the oars die down, as her own died with them, Tearless, dumb with amaze she stood, as a storm-stunned nestling Fallen from bough or from eave lies dumb, which the home-going herdsman Fancies a stone, till he catches the light of its terrified eyeball.

So through the long long hours the maid stood helpless and hopeless, Wide-eyed, downward gazing in vain at the black blank darkness.

Feebly at last she began, while wild thoughts bubbled within her-- 'Guiltless I am: why thus, then? Are G.o.ds more ruthless than mortals?

Have they no mercy for youth? no love for the souls who have loved them?

Even as I loved thee, dread sea, as I played by thy margin, Blessing thy wave as it cooled me, thy wind as it breathed on my forehead, Bowing my head to thy tempest, and opening my heart to thy children, Silvery fish, wreathed sh.e.l.l, and the strange lithe things of the water, Tenderly casting them back, as they gasped on the beach in the suns.h.i.+ne, Home to their mother--in vain! for mine sits childless in anguis.h.!.+

O false sea! false sea! I dreamed what I dreamed of thy goodness; Dreamed of a smile in thy gleam, of a laugh in the plash of thy ripple: False and devouring thou art, and the great world dark and despiteful.'

Awed by her own rash words she was still: and her eyes to the seaward Looked for an answer of wrath: far off, in the heart of the darkness, Blight white mists rose slowly; beneath them the wandering ocean Glimmered and glowed to the deepest abyss; and the knees of the maiden Trembled and sunk in her fear, as afar, like a dawn in the midnight, Rose from their seaweed chamber the choir of the mystical sea-maids.

Onward toward her they came, and her heart beat loud at their coming, Watching the bliss of the G.o.ds, as they wakened the cliffs with their laughter.

Onward they came in their joy, and before them the roll of the surges Sank, as the breeze sank dead, into smooth green foam-flecked marble, Awed; and the crags of the cliff, and the pines of the mountain were silent.

Onward they came in their joy, and around them the lamps of the sea-nymphs, Myriad fiery globes, swam panting and heaving; and rainbows Crimson and azure and emerald, were broken in star-showers, lighting Far through the wine-dark depths of the crystal, the gardens of Nereus, Coral and sea-fan and tangle, the blooms and the palms of the ocean.

Onward they came in their joy, more white than the foam which they scattered, Laughing and singing, and tossing and twining, while eager, the Tritons Blinded with kisses their eyes, unreproved, and above them in wors.h.i.+p Hovered the terns, and the seagulls swept past them on silvery pinions Echoing softly their laughter; around them the wantoning dolphins Sighed as they plunged, full of love; and the great sea-horses which bore them Curved up their crests in their pride to the delicate arms of the maidens, Pawing the spray into gems, till a fiery rainfall, unharming, Sparkled and gleamed on the limbs of the nymphs, and the coils of the mermen.

Onward they went in their joy, bathed round with the fiery coolness, Needing nor sun nor moon, self-lighted, immortal: but others, Pitiful, floated in silence apart; in their bosoms the sea-boys, Slain by the wrath of the seas, swept down by the anger of Nereus; Hapless, whom never again on strand or on quay shall their mothers Welcome with garlands and vows to the temple, but wearily pining Gaze over island and bay for the sails of the sunken; they heedless Sleep in soft bosoms for ever, and dream of the surge and the sea-maids.

Onward they pa.s.sed in their joy; on their brows neither sorrow nor anger; Self-sufficing, as G.o.ds, never heeding the woe of the maiden.

She would have shrieked for their mercy: but shame made her dumb; and their eyeb.a.l.l.s Stared on her careless and still, like the eyes in the house of the idols.

Seeing they saw not, and pa.s.sed, like a dream, on the murmuring ripple.

Stunned by the wonder she gazed, wide-eyed, as the glory departed.

'O fair shapes! far fairer than I! Too fair to be ruthless!

Gladden mine eyes once more with your splendour, unlike to my fancies; You, then, smiled in the sea-gleam, and laughed in the plash of the ripple.

Awful I deemed you and formless; inhuman, monstrous as idols; Lo, when ye came, ye were women, more loving and lovelier, only; Like in all else; and I blest you: why blest ye not me for my wors.h.i.+p?

Had you no mercy for me, thus guiltless? Ye pitied the sea-boys: Why not me, then, more hapless by far? Does your sight and your knowledge End with the marge of the waves? Is the world which ye dwell in not our world?'

Over the mountain aloft ran a rush and a roll and a roaring; Downward the breeze came indignant, and leapt with a howl to the water, Roaring in cranny and crag, till the pillars and clefts of the basalt Rang like a G.o.d-swept lyre, and her brain grew mad with the noises; Cras.h.i.+ng and lapping of waters, and sighing and tossing of weed-beds, Gurgle and whisper and hiss of the foam, while thundering surges Boomed in the wave-worn halls, as they champed at the roots of the mountain.

Hour after hour in the darkness the wind rushed fierce to the landward, Drenching the maiden with spray; she s.h.i.+vering, weary and drooping, Stood with her heart full of thoughts, till the foam-crests gleamed in the twilight, Leaping and laughing around, and the east grew red with the dawning.

Then on the ridge of the hills rose the broad bright sun in his glory, Hurling his arrows abroad on the glittering crests of the surges, Gilding the soft round bosoms of wood, and the downs of the coastland; Gilding the weeds at her feet, and the foam-laced teeth of the ledges, Showing the maiden her home through the veil of her locks, as they floated Glistening, damp with the spray, in a long black cloud to the landward.

High in the far-off glens rose thin blue curls from the homesteads; Softly the low of the herds, and the pipe of the outgoing herdsman, Slid to her ear on the water, and melted her heart into weeping.

Shuddering, she tried to forget them; and straining her eyes to the seaward, Watched for her doom, as she wailed, but in vain, to the terrible Sun-G.o.d.

'Dost thou not pity me, Sun, though thy wild dark sister be ruthless; Dost thou not pity me here, as thou seest me desolate, weary, Sickened with shame and despair, like a kid torn young from its mother?

What if my beauty insult thee, then blight it: but me--Oh spare me!

Spare me yet, ere he be here, fierce, tearing, unbearable! See me, See me, how tender and soft, and thus helpless! See how I shudder, Fancying only my doom. Wilt thou s.h.i.+ne thus bright, when it takes me?

Are there no deaths save this, great Sun? No fiery arrow, Lightning, or deep-mouthed wave? Why thus? What music in shrieking, Pleasure in warm live limbs torn slowly? And dar'st thou behold them!

Oh, thou hast watched worse deeds! All sights are alike to thy brightness!

What if thou waken the birds to their song, dost thou waken no sorrow; Waken no sick to their pain; no captive to wrench at his fetters?

Smile on the garden and fold, and on maidens who sing at the milking; Flash into tapestried chambers, and peep in the eyelids of lovers, Showing the blissful their bliss--Dost love, then, the place where thou smilest?

Lovest thou cities aflame, fierce blows, and the shrieks of the widow?

Lovest thou corpse-strewn fields, as thou lightest the path of the vulture?

Lovest thou these, that thou gazest so gay on my tears, and my mother's, Laughing alike at the horror of one, and the bliss of another?

What dost thou care, in thy sky, for the joys and the sorrows of mortals?

Colder art thou than the nymphs: in thy broad bright eye is no seeing.

Hadst thou a soul--as much soul as the slaves in the house of my father, Wouldst thou not save? Poor thralls! they pitied me, clung to me weeping, Kissing my hands and my feet--What, are G.o.ds more ruthless than mortals?

Worse than the souls which they rule? Let me die: they war not with ashes!'

Sudden she ceased, with a shriek: in the spray, like a hovering foam-bow, Hung, more fair than the foam-bow, a boy in the bloom of his manhood, Golden-haired, ivory-limbed, ambrosial; over his shoulder Hung for a veil of his beauty the gold-fringed folds of the goat-skin, Bearing the bra.s.s of his s.h.i.+eld, as the sun flashed clear on its clearness.

Curved on his thigh lay a falchion, and under the gleam of his helmet Eyes more blue than the main shone awful; around him Athene Shed in her love such grace, such state, and terrible daring.

Hovering over the water he came, upon glittering pinions, Living, a wonder, outgrown from the tight-laced gold of his sandals; Bounding from billow to billow, and sweeping the crests like a sea-gull; Leaping the gulfs of the surge, as he laughed in the joy of his leaping.

Fair and majestic he sprang to the rock; and the maiden in wonder Gazed for a while, and then hid in the dark-rolling wave of her tresses, Fearful, the light of her eyes; while the boy (for her sorrow had awed him) Blushed at her blushes, and vanished, like mist on the cliffs at the sunrise.

Fearful at length she looked forth: he was gone: she, wild with amazement, Wailed for her mother aloud: but the wail of the wind only answered.

Sudden he flashed into sight, by her side; in his pity and anger Moist were his eyes; and his breath like a rose-bed, as bolder and bolder, Hovering under her brows, like a swallow that haunts by the house-eaves, Delicate-handed, he lifted the veil of her hair; while the maiden Motionless, frozen with fear, wept loud; till his lips unclosing Poured from their pearl-strung portal the musical wave of his wonder.

'Ah, well spoke she, the wise one, the gray-eyed Pallas Athene,-- Known to Immortals alone are the prizes which lie for the heroes Ready prepared at their feet; for requiring a little, the rulers Pay back the loan tenfold to the man who, careless of pleasure, Thirsting for honour and toil, fares forth on a perilous errand Led by the guiding of G.o.ds, and strong in the strength of Immortals.

Thus have they led me to thee: from afar, unknowing, I marked thee, s.h.i.+ning, a snow-white cross on the dark-green walls of the sea-cliff; Carven in marble I deemed thee, a perfect work of the craftsman.

Likeness of Amphitrite, or far-famed Queen Cythereia.

Curious I came, till I saw how thy tresses streamed in the sea-wind, Glistening, black as the night, and thy lips moved slow in thy wailing.

Speak again now--Oh speak! For my soul is stirred to avenge thee; Tell me what barbarous horde, without law, unrighteous and heartless, Hateful to G.o.ds and to men, thus have bound thee, a shame to the sunlight, Scorn and prize to the sailor: but my prize now; for a coward, Coward and shameless were he, who so finding a glorious jewel Cast on the wayside by fools, would not win it and keep it and wear it, Even as I will thee; for I swear by the head of my father, Bearing thee over the sea-wave, to wed thee in Argos the fruitful, Beautiful, meed of my toil no less than this head which I carry, Hidden here fearful--Oh speak!'

But the maid, still dumb with amazement, Watered her bosom with weeping, and longed for her home and her mother.

Beautiful, eager, he wooed her, and kissed off her tears as he hovered, Roving at will, as a bee, on the brows of a rock nymph-haunted, Garlanded over with vine, and acanthus, and clambering roses, Cool in the fierce still noon, where streams glance clear in the mossbeds, Hums on from blossom to blossom, and mingles the sweets as he tastes them.

Beautiful, eager, he kissed her, and clasped her yet closer and closer, Praying her still to speak-- 'Not cruel nor rough did my mother Bear me to broad-browed Zeus in the depths of the bra.s.s-covered dungeon; Neither in vain, as I think, have I talked with the cunning of Hermes, Face unto face, as a friend; or from gray-eyed Pallas Athene Learnt what is fit, and respecting myself, to respect in my dealings Those whom the G.o.ds should love; so fear not; to chaste espousals Only I woo thee, and swear, that a queen, and alone without rival By me thou sittest in Argos of h.e.l.las, throne of my fathers, Wors.h.i.+pped by fair-haired kings: why callest thou still on thy mother?

Why did she leave thee thus here? For no foeman has bound thee; no foeman Winning with strokes of the sword such a prize, would so leave it behind him.'

Just as at first some colt, wild-eyed, with quivering nostril, Plunges in fear of the curb, and the fluttering robes of the rider; Soon, grown bold by despair, submits to the will of his master, Tamer and tamer each hour, and at last, in the pride of obedience, Answers the heel with a curvet, and arches his neck to be fondled, Cowed by the need that maid grew tame; while the hero indignant Tore at the fetters which held her: the bra.s.s, too cunningly tempered, Held to the rock by the nails, deep wedged: till the boy, red with anger, Drew from his ivory thigh, keen flas.h.i.+ng, a falchion of diamond-- 'Now let the work of the smith try strength with the arms of Immortals!'

Dazzling it fell; and the blade, as the vine-hook shears off the vine-bough, Carved through the strength of the bra.s.s, till her arms fell soft on his shoulder.

Once she essayed to escape: but the ring of the water was round her, Round her the ring of his arms; and despairing she sank on his bosom.