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>ffrTHE CENTAUR.>ffrTHE BACCHANTE.

ja Translated from the French of

Maurice de Guerin by T. S. Moore.

TOUTES CHOSES MIEUX RES-SENTIES QUE SENTIES.

>^|^ Happiness -wrhile it lasts embarrasses me«and I even suffer from a certain chill-withwhichI am impressed by it ; but once it is over, I havenot taken two steps, beforeatumultinvades me,an infinite regret, an ecstasy of remembrance,recapitulations "which exalt the whole past and"which are richer than even the hour of happi-ness ; indeed all that makes—what is, it "wouldseem, a law of my nature—everything better

felt as recollection than at first hand (toutes

choses mieux ressenties que senties).

fi. Fragment from a letter of Dc Gu^rin's.

THE CENTAUR,

ff>

M

It was given mc to be born in the caves of

thesemountains. Aswiththe river ofthis valley,whose first drops flow^ from some rock wreep*-

ing in a deep recess, the earliest moments ofmylife fell upon the gloom of a secluded abode,and that without disturbing its silence. Whenthe mothers of our race feel themselves aboutto be delivered, they keep apart, and near the

caverns; then in the most foroidding depths, in

the thickest of the darkness, they bear, withouta cry, offspring as silent as themselves. Theirmighty milk enables us to surmount the early

straits of lifewithout languor or doubtful strug--

gle; nevertheless we leave our caverns later

than you your cradles. For it is generally re--

ceived among us, that one should w^ithholdi andevery w^ay shield existence at the outset, count*-

ing those days to be engrossed by the gods*My growing'-up ran almost its entire course in

that darkness -wrherein I was bom. Our abode

at its innermost lay so far within the thickness

of the mountain, that I should not have knownon which side there might be an issue, if, turn'-

ing astray through the entrance, the winds hadnot sometimes driven in thither freshets of air

and sudden commotions. Also, at times, mymother returned, having about her the perfumeof valleys, or streaming from waters which shefrequented. These home-'comings, which shemade without ever instructing me about glens

or rivers, but followed bytheir emanations, dis--

quieted my spirit, so that, restlessly, I roamedthe darkness. "What are they," I saidtomyself,

"these 'withouts' whither my mother betakesherself, and what is it that reigns there of suchpower as to call her to itself so frequently ^ Butwhat can that be, w^hich is experienced there,

of nature so contrarious that she returns everydaydiverselymoved ^ " Mymothercamehome,now^ animated by a deep'-seated joy, then againsad, trailing her limbs, and as it were wounded.The joy w^hich she brought back announceditself from afar in certain features of her walkand was shed abroad in her glances. It wascommunicated throughout my w^hole being;but her prostration gained on me even moreand drevsr me much farther along those conjee-'

tures into w^hich my spirit would go forth. Atsuch moments I was perturbed on account of

my own powers, and used to recognise therein

a principle that could not dwell alone; thenbe-taking myself either to whirl my arms about, or

to redouble my galloping in the spacious dark-ness of the cavern, I spurred myself on to dis-

6

cover, by the blows which I struck in the voidand the rush of the pace I made, that tow^ard

w^hich my arms w^ere intended to reach out andmy feet to carrv me. . . . Since then I have knot*-

ted my arms aoout the bust of centaurs, and the

bodies of heroes, and the trunks of oaks; myhands have gained experience of rocks, of

waters, of the innumerable plants, and of sub--

tilest impressions from the air; for I liftthemup,on blind calm nights, in order that they maytake knowledge of any passing breaths anddravsr from thence signs ofaugury to determinemy path. My feet, behold, O Melampus! how^they are worn away! And nevertheless, all

numbed as I am in these last remnants of oldage, there are days whereon, in broad daylight

upon the hilltops, I start off on those racings ofmy youth in the caverns and to the same end,brandishing my arms and putting forth all that

remains ofmy jfleetness.

>4[^ Those fits of turbulence w^ould alternate

w^ith long periods of cessation from all unquietmovement. Straightway, throughout my en--

tire being, I no longer possessed any othersensationsave that of growth,andof thegradualprogress of life as it mounted within my breast.

jMo more caring to career about, recoiled on anabsolute repose, I used to savour in its integrity

the boon of the gods working throughout me.Calm and darkness preside over the secret

charm of conscious life. Ye glooms, w^hichdwell in caverns of these mountains, to yourtendance I owe the underlying education that

has so powerfully fostered me, and this, also,

7

that in your keeping I tasted life ^vholly pure,

such as it flows at first, welling from the gods.

When I descended from your fastnesses into

the light of day, I staggered and saluted it not.

For it laid hold on me with violence, makingme drunk as some malignant liquor might havedone, suddenly poured through my veins; andI felt that my being, till then so compact andsimple, underwent shaking and loss, as thoughit were bound to disperse upon the winds.

>^^ O Melampus, by w^hat design of the godshave you, w^ho desire know^ledge of the life led

by centaurs, been guided to me, the oldest andsaddest ofthem all ^ It is now a long w^hile that

I have ceased from all active share m their life.

I no longer leave the heights of this mountainwhereon age has confined me. The point of

my arrow serves now only to dig up plants of

tenacious root. Tranquillakesknowme still,butthe rivers have forgotten me. To you I will im-part certain things concerning my youth; butsuch memories, issuing from adwindled source,lag like drops ofa niggard libation, falling froma damagea urn. I easily pictured for you myearliest years, because tney were calm aind per-fect ; simple life, and that only, slaked all craving.

Such things are both retained in the mind andrecounted without difficulty. If a god werebesought to relate his life, it w^ould be done, OMelampus, in two w^ords.

'd^ft My youth was of w^ont hurried and full of

agitation. I lived for movement and knew nolimit to my going. In the pride ofmyunfettered

pow^ers, I wandered about, visiting all parts of

8

these wildernesses. One day as 1 -was foUoW'-ing a valley little frequented by centaurs, I cameupon a man making his way along by the river,

on its opposite bank. He was the first my eyeshad chanced upon; I despised him. "There at

most/' said I, "is but the half ofme! How short

his steps are, and how uneasy his gait ! His eyesseem tomeasure spacewith sadness. Doubtlessit is some centaur, degraded by the gods, onewhom they have reduced to dragging himselfalong like that."

>^ Often, after my day, for relaxation I w^ouldseek some river bed. One half of me, beneaththe surface, was exerted to keep me up, w^hile

the other raised itself tranquilly, and I carried

my arms idly, out of reach of the waves. Be-coming'oblivious thus in themidst of thewaters,I yielded to the sweep of their course, whichwould bear me far away, and escort their wildguest past every charm of their banks. How

b 9

many times, overtaken by night, have I not fol-

lowed the streamunder tne spreading darkness,

that let fall, even to the depths of valleys, the

nocturnal influence ofthe gods! Thenmyhead-long life would become tempered till there wasleft buta faint sense ofexistence, equablyappor-tioned throughout my w^hole being; even as

throughout the waters in w^hich I was swim-ming, there was a glimmer infused, shed by that

goddess w^ho traverses the night. Melampus,my old age yearns after the rivers; peaceful andmonotonous for the most part, they take their

appointed w^ay with more calm than centaurs,

and with awisdommore beneficent than that of

men. On coming up out ofthem Iwas followedby their bounties, w^hich would continue withme for whole days, and take long in dispersing,

after the manner of perfumes.

>4^ Mysteps used to be atthe disposalofawildand blind waywardness. In the midst of the

most violent racings it would happen that mygallop was suddenly broken off, as though myfeet had stopped short of an abyss, or as thougha god stood upright before me. Such suddenimmobility would allow mc to savour my life

thrilled through by the rapture of vigour I

had reached. In those days, too, I have cut

branches in the forest, that, while running, I

held above my head; the sw^iftness of my mo-tion would suspend the restless foliage, whichno longer gave forth any but the faintest rustle;

but on the least pause, thewnd and tumult re-

entered the bouch, which again resumed the

volume of its winted m«rmur. Thus my life,

lO

on the sudden inteffuption of the impetuousrush that I could command across these valleys,

quivered throughout me. I used to hear it

course, all boiling, as it drove on the internal

firewhich had beenkindledbypassagethroughspace so ardently traversed. My flanks, exhil--

arated, opposed the tides by which they werecrushed fromwithin, and savoured, during suchstorms, that luxury, only known else to the

shores ofthe sea, of shutting in, without chanceof escape, a life raised to acme pitch andgoadedstill. Meanwhile, w^ith head inclined to the

breeze, which brought me a cool freshness, I

contemplated the summits of mountains, dis'^

tant since a few moments only—I consideredtoo the trees on the banks and the waters in

the rivers, these borne on by a lagging flow,

those fastened into the bosom of the earth andonly so far endow^ed with movement as their

branches are submissive to the breath of air that

compels them to sigh. *' Mine only," I said, " is

free motion; at w^ill, I transportmy life from oneend of these valleys to the other. I am happierthan torrents that descend mountains never to

rc'-ascend. The sound of my going is morebeautiful than the sighing of woods, or thanthe noise of waters, and, with a voice as of

thunder, bespeaks the wandering centaur,whois his own guide." Thus w^hile my flanks werestill possessed by the intoxication of the race,

higher up I indulged its pride and, turning myhead, remained so, for some time, in contem--plation ofmy smoking crupper.

>4(^ Similar to green and leafy forests teased byII

winds, Youth heaves to every side with the

rich dower of life, and some profound murmurcontinuously prevails throughout its foliage.

Abandoning myself to existence as rivers do,

ceaselessly mhaling the effluence of Cybele,

were it in the lap of valleys or upon the sum'-

mit of the mountains, I bounded along every^

w^hither, a mere life, blind and at large. Butw^hen the night, replete w^ith the calm of the

gods, found me upon the mountain slopes, she

constrained me to seek the threshold of somecavern, and soothed me there as she soothes

the billow^s of the sea, permitting survival of

such gentle undulations as kept sleep aloof,

w^ithout how^ever flaw^ing the perfection of

repose. Couched on the threshold of my re'-

treat, w^ith flanks hidden in the cavern, andhead under the sky, I foUow^ed the pageant of

the dark hours with my eyes. Then it w^as that

the foreign life w^hich interpenetrated me dur--

ing the day, detached itself little by little, re--^

turning to the peaceful bosom of Cybele, as,

after the downpour, fragments of rain, caughtin the foliage, fall, they too, and rejoin the run--

nels. It is said that the gods of the sea, duringthe night-watches, quit their palaces in the

deep, and, seating themselves on promontories,

gaze out over the waves. Even so did I keepwatch, having at my feet a livC'-expanse resem--

bling a sea drowsed to torpor. Rendered backto full and clear consciousness, it would seemto me as though I came forth from a womb, andthat the deep waters, which had conceived me,were but just returned from depositing me

upon the height of the mountain, even as a dol'-

phin is left stranded on quicksands by the

waves of Amphitrite.

>4[^ My gaze roved freely and pierced to im."

mense distances. Like an ever humid sea-

beach, the range of mountains in the west re-

tained traces ofa glory but ill expunged by the

darkness. Out there in the wan clearness, per-

sisted, live yet, peaks naked and pure. ThereI used to watch coming down, now the godPan, habitually solitary ; now a choir of occult

divinities; or else a mountain nymph wouldpass, intoxicated by the night. Sometimes the

eagles ofMountOlympus traversed the highest

heaven and melted away among remote con-stellations, or vanished, dipping under the in-

spired woods. The potency of the gods, sud-denly rousing into activity, troubled the calmof the old oaks.

You pursue wisdoin, O Mclampus, w^is-

13

dom which is science concerning the will of

the gods ; and you wander among the nations

like a mortal turned from his true path by the

destinies. There is hereabouts a stone w^hich,

so soon as it is touched, gives forth a sound like

to that of the snapping chord of an instrument,

and men tell how Apollo, having set down his

lyre on this stone, left therein that melodiouscry. O Melampus ! the wandering gods haverested their lyres upon stones, but none—nonehas ever forgotten his there. Of old, when I

used to keep the night--watches in the caverns,

I have sometimes believed that I was about to

overhear the dreams of sleeping Cybele, andthat the mother of the gods, betrayed by a

vision, would let secrets escape her; but I havenever made out more than sounds w^hich dis'-

solved in the breath of night, or words in-

articulate as the bubbling hum of rivers.

>^[^"0 Macareus," said to me one day the

great Chiron, whom I was accustomed to fol-

low in his old age, "both of us are mountain-bred centaurs, but how^ diverse are w^e in ourhabits ! As you see, all the study of my days is

given to discovery of plants, but you resemblethose mortals who have picked up on the

waters or in the w^oods, and carried to their lips,

fragments of some reed-pipe broken by godPan ; thenceforth those mortals, having inhaled

from such relics of the god a zest for wild life,

or being seized on by some occult frenzy, enter

the wilderness, plunge into forests, keep com-pany w^ith running waters, or become involvedamong the mountains, restless, and carried for-

14

ward on some unconscious enterprise. Mares,paramours of the wind in farthest Scythia, are

not wilder than you, nor more downcast at

night-fall, when Aquilo has withdraw^n him-self. Search you after the gods, O Macareus,inquisitive as to whence are derived men,animals and the elements of universal fire.^

But the old Ocean, father of all things, keepeththese secrets to himself, and, chanting, the

nymphs ring him round in an eternal choir,

that they may drown whatever might else es-

cape from his lips parted in slumber. Mortals,

who byreason ofvirtue have touched the gods,

have received from their hands lyres w^here-with to charm nations, or the seeds of newplants w^herew^ith to enrich them; but fromtheir inexorable lips, nothing.

>^"In my youth Apollo inclined my heart

toward the plants, and taught me how to de-spoil their veins of cordial juices. Since then I

have remained faithful to these mountains, mygrand abode, restless, but turning with everrenewed application to the quest for simples,

and to making known the virtues that I disco-

ver.Doyou seeyonderthebaldcrown ofMountCEta.'' Alcides stripped it in order to construct

his pyre. O Macareus ! that heroes, children ofthe gods, should spread out the spoil of lions

upon their pyres, and burn themselves to deathupon the mountain tops ! that the infections of

earth should so ravage blood derived from the

immortals ! And we, centaurs, begotten by aninsolent mortal in the womb of a cloud w^hichhad the semblance of a goddess, w^hat help

15

should wc look for from Jupiter, whose thun-derbolt struck dovv^n the father of our race ^ Bythe god's decree a vulture eternally tears at the

entrails of him who fashioned the first man. OMacareus! men and centaurs alike recognise,

in the authors of their race, subtracters from the

privileges of immortals, apart from whom, per-haps, all that moves is only a petty theft—mere dust of their essence, borne abroad, like

seed that floats in the air, by the almighty cur-

rent of destiny. It is noised about, that iEgeus,father of Theseus, hid, under the weight of aboulder by the sea-side, remembrances andtokens by w^hich his son might on a future day,

recognise his parentage. Somew^here the jeal-

ous gods have buried the evidences of univer-

sal descent; but by the shore of what sea havethey rolled to the stone that covers them, OMacareus ^

"

>^& Such was the wisdom toward which the

great Chiron inclined my heart. Brought dow^nto the extreme verge of eld age, that centaur

used still to foster in his spirit the loftiest dis-

course. His bust, vigorous yet, had but little

settled back upon his flanks, slightly inclined

o'er w^hich, it rose like an oak saddened by the

winds; and the firmness of his step had scarcely

been shaken in the course of years. One mighthave said that he still kept some remnants of

the immortality received by him in time past

from Apollo, but w^hich he had delivered backto the god.

>^[^ As for me, O Melampus, I decline into old

age calmly, as do the setting constellations.

46

Though I preserve vigour enough to enableme to gain the summit of crags, whereon I be--

late myself at nightfall, be it to consider the

restless and inconstant clouds, be it to watchmounting up from the horizon the rainy Hy-ades, the Pleiades or the giant Orion; none the

less I perceive that I dwmdle away and suffer

loss rapidly, even as a clot ofsnow floating on a

stream, and that in a little I shall make hence,

to be mingled w^ith the rivers that take their

w^ay across the vast bosom of the earth.

«HII»«>^«>^4^>^ The End >^

17

THE BACCHANT»

i8

*>

1

There stands the mountain bereaved ofthe choirs which lately overran its summits.Priestesses and torches with the sacred outcryhave streamed back into the valleys, the festival

breaks up, the mysteries have returned home to

the gods. I am youngest of those bacchantsw^ho have been up on Mount Cithaeron. Thechoirs had not before this carried me away withthem to the peaks, for the holy rites held aloof

mytender years and enjoined on me to accom-plish in full measure the seasons of which anoffering should be made before bearing a part

at the solemnities. At length the hours, those

unseen nurses w^ho yet employ so long a whilein rendering us fit for the gods, have placed meamong the bacchants and to-day I come forth

from the first mysteries that have envelopedme.>^ Whilst yet I w^as attaining that age re-

quired for the rites, I resembled young nsher-

19

men who dwell by the sea'-side. At the summitof a rock they are seen for a w^hile, both armsstretched toward the waters and body bendeddownwards, like a sea'-god about to divehome; but their souls waver in their mortal

bosoms and hold them back. At last theyplunge in and some are reported to have re*-

turned above the waves, crowned. Xhus didI long remain suspended above the mysteries,

thus did I at length yield, and my head has re--

appeared crowned too and streaming,

"d^^ Bacchus, Spirit of Eternal Youth, Godunsearchable and everyw^here present, I bed-

times recognised thy tokens within me andconcentrated mybest pains that I might devoteall to thy divinity. I betook myself one day tO"

wrards that quarter w^hence the Sun would rise,

at a time when the rays of that god crown the

full maturity of fruits and add a final virtue to

the labours of the earth. I gained the hills there

to offer myself unto his shafts, and to loose mytresses at the first breaking forth of his light

above the horizon; for wre are taught that locks

inundated by the morning lambency becomethereby more fruitful and are endowed withbeauty which equals them wth the hair ofDiana. My eyes on setting forth had caughtsight of the border edges of darkness whichwere then once more going dow^n beneath the

pole. Certain heavenly signs tardy in com^pleting their descent toward the waves wereyet traceable on the almost abandoned sky, andthe silence left by night occupied the countryside. But even as in Thessaly s fresh vales, the

2Q

fivers arc wont to put up a breath resemblingclouds, which reposes upon them, so the virtue

of thy spirit, O Bacchus ! had been exhaled

from the bosom of the earth, during the dark"

watches, and now on the sun's return prevailed

over the whole stretch of plain. Constellations,

pale at their rising, gain less in glory as they

advance on the depths of night than my life

waxing great in my bosom gained both of

power and of radiance the farther I pushedamong the fields. When I stayedmy feet uponthe hilltops I staggered as does the statue

whichbelongs to the gods in the arms of priests

w^ho lift it up on to the sacred pedestal. Mybosom, having received into it that effluence of

the god which lay spread upon the plain, hadconceived therefromanagitation which hurriedmy steps and troubled my thoughts till theywere as waves maddened by the winds.Doubtless it was favoured by such bcw^ilder-

ment that thou didst precipitate thyself into mybosom, O Bacchus ! for it is thus tnat gods suf"

prise the souls of mortals, even as the sun,

lealously bent on penetrating thick and sha-

dowy Doughs, w^iU have them parted byAquilo.

>4i^ Then there came Aello. This bacchant,

daughter of Typho, the most turbulent of all

the w^inds, and of a mother vagrant among the

Thracian mountains, had been brought up bythe nymphs of those regions, in the womb of

their caverns and apart from all men; for the

gods entrust to rivers who bend their course

tow^ard the vastest w^ilds, or to nymphs w^ho in-

21

habit the least accessible quarters of forests,

the rearing of children sprung from their unionwith the daughters of theelements orof mortals.Aellowason herwaydownfrom Scythiawhereshe had betaken herself even to the summits of

Mount Riphaeus, and was now^ goii^g abroadover all Greece, everyw^here setting the mys--

teries in motion and carrying her clamourson to

all the mountains. She had attained that age at

vsrhich the gods, like to shepherds w^ho turn the

runnels asidefrom the meads, shut off those cur-rents which water our mortal youth. Althoughshe still possessed the assurance of a life quite

full, its borders, onewas forcedto acknow^ledge,began to grow dry, and moreover the usage ofthe mysteries had blurred the orderofherbeau-ty,^vhichpresentedunmistakeable traces ofpal-lor. Her tresses, numerous as those of night, lay

ever spread upon her shoulders, testifyingto the

vigour and opulence of gifts which she had re-

ceived from the gods. But whether she had toooften shaken them out to the eddying rush of

hyperborean gales, or whether within her headsne underwent the travail of some secret des-tiny, alreadya blighting of thoselockswascomebefore the ravages of age hardly set in as yet.

Her eyes made clear on the first encounter that

they had received for empire the vastest pros-pects and the profoundest altitudes of sky ; theyexerted sovereignty at all times and in movingwere never hurried; yearning forth by prefer-

ence towards those shores of space where thesacred shadows arc drawn upwhich receive in-to their bosom all that disappears over the ho-22

rizon. Nevertheless, at intervals, thatgrandgazewrith its immense reach became irresolute, androlled uneasily much as that of an eagle whenits eyes first become conscious of the darkbeams of night. She betrayed also some in-

constancy as to the ordering ofher steps. Nowshe would wend along river- or forest-side

gradually inspiriting her firm light walk, andanon pursued her w^ay w^ith a gait like that ofLatonaseeking,uponherlongadventure,aplaceof safetywherein she might bringforth thegodswhich her w^omb had conceived. Sometimesfrom the hesitation of her steps w^hich soughtto steady themselves and from the constrainedand laden air of her head, one had fancied that

she was walking at the bottom of an ocean.When her bosom yielding to the persuasion ofnight grew at one with the universal calm, hervoice would w^ell forth in the darkness, peace-ful and sustained for hours, like the song of theHesperides in the uttermost ends of the sea.

>^^ Aello absorbed me in her friendship andinstructed me with all the care that gods ex-pend upon mortals marked out for their favour,

and w^hom they desire themselves to bring up.Like the young Arcadians who go dow^n w^ith

the god Pan to the most secret heart of forests

in order to learn of him how^ to place their fin-

gers on sylvan flutes, and also that they maygarner into their spirits the sweet plaining ofreeds, even so I walked with the great bac-chant who every day addressed her steps to-

wards some lonely spot. It was in such desert

places that her discourse w^as revealed and that

23

I listened to her words taking their flovvr as it

might have been beside the hidden source of a

river:

>^ "The nymphs "who reign in the forests/'

she would say, " take delight in arousing, on the

borders of woods, perfumes or melodies so

sw^eet that the passer-by breaks from his path

and pushes, in order to foUow^ them, as far as

thedimmest of these coverts. A subtle influence

penetrates the stranger's spirit, the bew^ilder-

mient which follows thereupon unsteadies his

steps, and, while he advances like unto rustic

demi'-gods who ever bear somewhat of inebri^

ation in their veins, the nymphs vaunt them-selves on the might which their dwelling ex-erts over the spirit of mortals.

>^^ ButBacchus causes the intoxicatingpow^erwhich he exhales to be recognised by every-thing that breathes and even by the steadfast

famfly of gods. The breath of his life for-ever

renew^ed runneth abroad through the w^holcearth, fostereth to its uttermost ends the eternal

intoxication of the Ocean, and, pressing onthrough the holy air, causcth to tremble the stars

v^rho ceaselessly draw their circles about the

darkling pole. When, in the depth of night Sa-turn mutilated the sleeping Uranus, both earth

and seas received w^ith the blood shed abroad anew fecundity, of which the earliest fruits to a-rise w^ere nymphs on the earth and Aphroditeonthe vvraters. Bacchus, constantlydetainedlikeawarmvapour w^ithin the humid bosom ofCy-bele, sustains the heat of that aged blood whichstill engenders w^hole choirs of nymphs in the

24

densityof forestsand in the immortalfoam uponthe \vaters.

>4[^ Rivers have for their home the deep pa--

lacesofearth, vastandresoundingabodeswherethose brooding gods preside over the birth anddeparture of streams. They reign therewith ear

for ever fed by abundant gurglings and eye ri--

veted upon the destiny of their w^aters. Butnei*-

ther the depth nor the impenetrability of thosevaults is able to cloister these divinities fromBacchus. For access no -whither has been for*-

bidden him by the Destinies. The Rivers turn

upon their beds and the ancient mud clouds upin the w^omb of their troubled urns.

"^^f^ Once, throughout the reign of a simimer, I

took up my abode on the summit of MountPangaeus. Byintimatepromptings,which Ire^

cognise ane^v every year, the approaching joyof the earth and beauty of the country constrain

me to take to the mountain slopes. Mortals ac-ceptable to the gods, or those who by reason of

excessive woes touched their hearts, have beenconducted on high and have taken rank amongthe celestial signs : Maia, Cassiopeia, the great

Chiron, Cynosura and the sad Hyades haveentered on that silent march of the constella-

tions. Guided by the Destinies they climb upinto the sky and go down again w^ithout paus-ing or turning aside, and doubtless this perse-verance in a course w^hich rises, then falls, andever again commences where it began, sets upa state of which the blessedness has no neces-sary bounds, borrow^ing monotony from roads

and sow^n w^ith some flow^ers of sleep. I desir-

d 25

ed that a slow progfcss, kept true to the steep

outline of the hills, should beget in me a dispO'-

sition such as the stars draw from their paths,

my road bearing me toward the highest of the

mountains even as they mount the grades of

night. But fruit cannot turn aside its maturity

w^henthatapproaches; everyday, fromtheearth,there penetrate it yet more urgent gifts ofwhichthe consuming heat is signalled on the surface

byhues continuallyheightened. In like mannerattackedandovercome Jtomwithin Iwas po'W'-

erless to reject or slacken the life toward w^hich

I was prompted. A slow^ pace, search underforests for refuges sacredtotnose divinitiesmuteand so powerful by reason of calm, that theyhave soothed the most acute anguish, longpauses under streams of air setting in from the

w^est after sundown, neitherthe emptydarknessof the night nor yet dreams could arrest for amoinent the inward dogging from which myspirit suffered. I went up on the mountains to

that level which receives the print of immortalfeet; for among the gods some it pleases to fol--

low the high ranges holding their steadfastwayalong the undulating peaks, w^hilst others, fromcrags which dominate afar, consume hours in

fathomingthedepths ofvalleys orin consideringhow shadows and dreams gain entrance w^ith-

in the spirits of mortals. Arrived in these highregions I obtained those bounties of the night,

calm and slumber, which subdue restlessness

even when it has been caused by the gods. Butthis repose resembled that of birds, friends of

thew^ind and ever ready to be borne alongw^ith26

its rush. When, obedient to the coming dark"

ness, they lower their flight toward the forest,

their feet lay hold on such branches as, piercing

into the sky ,are easilyheaved bydraughtswhichtraverse the night ; for even into their sleep they

revel in the seizure of the wind and desire that

their plumage may shiver and part at the least

breathwhichcomesacross thetop of thewoods.Thus, at the very heart of slumber, my spirit rc'-

mained accessible to the breath of Bacchus.This living breath as it spreadeth abroad abid"eth by an everlasting proportion and is com"municated to everything which rejoiceth in

light ; but of mortals a few only, privileged bydestiny, learn to take knowledge of its passage.

It reigneth unto the loftiest summit of Olympusand passeth through the bosoms even of those

gods who wear the ^gis and of those w^ho are

robed in impenetrablevests. Itresoundethfromthe brass, that is forever clanging around Cy--

27

bclc, and guidcth the lips of the Muses who lift

aloft in their songs the whole history concern^ing the generation of deities in the humidboW"els of the earth, in thewomb of boundless night,or in the Ocean which has nourished so many-immortals.

>4^ On rising from sleep, I would resign mycourse to the guidance ofthe Hours. They or-

dered my steps in accordance w^ith the day's

progression, and, drawn on by the sun, I wentround upon the mountain like a shadow w^hichperforms its revolution at the foot of an oak.

1 he feet of some mortalshaveby the godsbeenbrought to a standstill in the neighbourhood of

waters, in the depth of forests, or on a hill'-side

slope. Sudden roots have drawn their feet into

the soil, and all the life that w^as in them has

spreadforth in branches and unfolded in leaves.

Someamongthem, rootedtothebanks of sleep-ing water, maintain an holy calm and welcomehome on the eve of dawn the swarm of dreamswho take shelter among their gloomy boughs.Others, added to the forests of Jupiter or raised

aloft on barren hill-crests, hold up aged heads,

wild to look upon, which take every w^ind that

blows, and constantly tempt to halt some oneof such lonely birds as arc observed in the au-guries of mortals. Theirs is an irrevocable fate

since the divine earth hath hold upon them, andfornourishmenttheyaredependent on her eter-

nal bosom; nevertheless, such as they have be-come and in their stationarycondition, they still

retain certain secret movements proper to their

formerestate. Whether seasons be in decline or

?8

•waxing once more, they wait hccdfuUy uponthe sun ; of all that moves in the universe theyno longer discern aught save him, and to himalone it is that they address whatever confuseddesires they are yet able to form. A few^ even,

such is the strength of their love, ordertheman-neroftheirgrowthaccordingtothatgod's course,directing a greater abundance of their boughstoward those regions through which he passes.

In the path on which I would enter in order to

follow the day I have found my feet flagging

though my forces were still in full vigour, andthey would slacken into immobility at last.

Xhen it was I became like unto those mortals

who have been straitened within the bark of atree and brought wholly to a standstill on the

mighty bosom of the earth. Rooted in repose,

I received the life of thegods as itwentby, with-out a sign ofmotion andwith outstretched armsleant round towards the sun. It was then aboutthat time of day which showers forth the mostpowerful radiance ; everything stood still uponthe mountain ; the deep bosom of the forest nolonger breathed, fecundating flames wroughtCybele to a glow, and Bacchus intoxicated

even to the roots of islands far down within the

Ocean-bed.

>4I^ The sun's downwardmarch would deter-

mine thedirectionofmy steps along those spursof the mountain which lay farthest towards the

west. The god once vanished and the light heleft behind suffering change by an admixtureof darkness, the laps of valleys and wholestretches ofcountryagain, though slowly, avail-

29

ed themselves offreedom to breathe. Birds rose

above the woods searching in the sky if the

going of the winds were re-established; buttheir w^ings drunken still with difficulty afford-

ed a reeling flight full of error. A murmur bornupon the top of the forest testified that breezeswere aw^akening, yet the summits of the trees

responded onlyby a slight tremour not equal to

thatwhich cypressboughsundergo at thehandsof Pan when he w^ithdraws from choirs -whichupon likely nights he animates with his pres-

ence; the impetuous measure of the dance hav-ing got hold upon his feet causes him to return

homereelinginto theslumberingw^oods. Comeforth from their deep hidden lairs, beasts of preyarrived upon the heights that they might draw-

in more vigorous breath ; their eyes seemedto be bathed afresh in flame, but their terrible

voices had dwindled to a murmur and theirun-daunted carriage to a slouching languor.

"S^fr Meanwhile darkness was overflowingfrom the depth of the valleys ; it mounted to-

wardsme,apportioningto allthings that breathe

sleepanddreams; at last itreachedandenvelop-ed me, without however finding its way with-in. I remained compact and alive under the

night's heaviness, while the earth, steeped in

slumber, communicated repose to my limbsand won them into accord with the prevailing

stillness ; mybrowhoweverworeoutthe night-watches without being stricken by languor.

Itwas invigoratedwith allthosebountieswhichthe gods had shed abroad during the day, their

charm hung round it still, and that new life,

30

"wrhich I had garnered in, poured through it aspirit as of ardent flame.

>^ " Callisto, clothed in the likeness of a bearby the jealousy of Juno,long roamed about the

wilds. But Jupiter,who had loved her,broughther forth from the woods to associate her withthe stars, and guided her destinywithin a peacefrom which it can never again go astray. Shehath a mansion allotted to her in those depthsof the night sky which, of old, shed the ele--

ments, gods and mortals into the bosom of

Cybele. The heavens rank around her their

most ancient deeps of darkness and cause her

to breathe as much as they yet possess of the

principles of life, adding thereto the full glowof that unweariable fire whose emanations ani--

mate the universe. Penetrated with an eternal

intoxication, Callistobroods overthepolewhilethe entire order of constellations passes by andtakes itswaydownto theOcean. Thus thenight

through I remained on the highest of the hills,

with my head wreathed about by a kind of

ecstasy which weighed upon it like the crownof vine-'Sprays and bunches of grapes whichfosters in the temples of Bacchus an unalterable

youth."

>^ In this w^ay would Aello instruct me byrecounting her fortunes. Once afoot to followthe voice that called it on to knowledge of the

gods, my spirit returned no more toward the

crowd witn whom at first it had made somesojourn; but distanced with its guide towardthe least frequented mysteries. Every day the

discourse of the great bacchant rose up striking

31

out before me through the obscuritv in whichthe paths lay. Often will the Muses fereak fromtherapidmovement of the choricdance tobeginat a slow pace walking through the depth of

the night. Cloaked w^ith their thickest veils

and bending their steps towardoutlying shoul--ders of the mountains, they pour forth divine

songs under the shades of night. The words of

Aello drew me forwards toward the gods, ad--

vancing like such a voice borne on by the

Muses through the darkness. Some cavernopening over the plain, summitswhich take the

very latest glow of daylight, beds of the mostluxuriant valleys, such were the spots whitherAello guidedmebypreference. Thetimewhichshe spent with me would stretch often far into

the night, and then she withdrew alone, leaV'-

ing her discourse suspended in my spirit just

as nymphs, who having hung their humid gar-

ments on a drooping branch, go in once moreto the seclusion of their abodes.'3^^ None the less the mysteries still drew^ ^ighwhichw^ere at last towhirl me awaywith them,but their first stir among the bacchants arrived

long before their true rising. Each of us, havingrecognised within her signs given by the god,began thenceforth to keep apart; for mortalsw^hen divinities take hold upon them, w^raptheir goings in secrecy and are led of new in-

clinations. We entered every one on a coursetow^ardw^hich the trend of our spirits carried us.

Like unto the nymphs, daughters of Earth andSky,w^ho evenfrom their verybirth distributed

themselves among spring-heads, in diverse

32

quarters of the forests, and in all places -where

Cybele had brought together tokens of her fe^

cundity, soournaturalleanings dispersedusoverall the country regions. We were admitted to a

share in the destinies of gods who apply theni"

selves to ruling over the elements. Powerful in

their effect upon rivers, woods, fertile valleys,

they are gladdened as they ponder upon the life

w^hich takes itsw^ayunder tneir eyes. But in the

course of this studUous leisure w^hich they leadbowed overthebillowyexpanse, their immortallife tends toconformitywith its monotonous rise

and fall, and their nature goes forth unto the

elements they contemplate, even as happens to

a man overtaken, on the brink of a river, bysleep and dreams, whose mantle spreads itself

out w^ithin the stream. Every bacchant allied

herself thus to some spot w^hich bore a signal

character as birth place of a natural destiny.

Aelloappeared at the summit of hills and rested

her head for a long time on the bosom of the

Earth; she seemed to b^ awaiting like Melam^pus, son of Amithaon, till the serpent, w^hosemarkings resemble a poppy, should come andbind itself about her temples. Hippothea, seat*-

ed nearthegushing forth of fountains,was there

rendered motionless ; her hair, which she hadshaken out, her arms in their abandonment, andher gaze fastened on the swift waters, showedclearly her leaning tow^ards their destiny andthat her spirit w^ould soon be at one w^ith their

flow^. Plexaura's path plunged w^ith her into

the most extensive forests. When an Ocean-nymph, w^hile crossing the open sea, is over^

e 33

taken by sleep, her limbs succumb and take the

lie of the waves; she has abandoned the direc"

tion of her voyage to the inconstant waters.

To see her floating, from a distance, one hadthought her the corpse of some mortal, butw^ithin the w^avc that bears her aw^ay she is

stretched out with the buoyancy of life and her

bosom profits by a sleep which the Ocean in^

spires. Of a like kind appeared the slumberof Plcxaura couched in the bed of the forest.

Arrested on the brink of abrupt declivities,

Telesto leanedover holding her arms stretched

out toward the valleys, like unto Ceres, on the

summit of Etna, w^hen that goddess advancingto the crater's mouth lit her pinew^ood torch in

the flames of the volcano.

'b^^ As for me who as yet had no experienceof the god, I ran disorderly about the country-side, in my flight carrying w^ith me a serpent,

w^hich to the hand seemed not to be there, butwhich nevertheless I felt passing over my en-tire body. Similar to a sun ray w^ound in coils

about a mortal bv the pow^er of the gods, its

knots laced me with a subtle warmth which ir-

ritated my forces and pricked me forward like

a goad. On I w^ent accusing Bacchus anddreaming on "waves of the sea, tow^ard w^hich

I believed myself to be compelled with diffi-

culty, but erelong the god had exhausted mystrength. Toppling to fall, I implored the earth

who giveth rest, when the serpent redoublingits knots, fixed upon my breast w^ith a pro-longed bite. It w^as not pain that enterea myriven side; it was calm and a sort of languor,

34

asthough that serpenthadbeforehanddrenchedhis sting in the cup of Cybcle. A light arose

as tranquillywithin my spirit as over some altar,

erected in the -wild to mountain divinities, the

flames it nourishes will hover during the night.

Attentive and peaceful as a nymph of Nysatreasuring the infant Bacchus in her arms I so-

|ourned in caverns until the hour when, a cry

from Acllo giving signal that the mysteries hadarrived, I rose up in the steps of that bacchantw^ho walked before us like the night, w^hcnw^ith head turned back to call on the shades,

she takes her way tow^ards the w^est. . . .

«^4f^«>4^«>4[»«^4[» The End -^

35

One hundred 0* fifty

?.F.

THEWOODCUTS

TOTHIS EDITION OF

. THE CENTAUR . e. THE BACCHANT

.

ARE BY T. S. MOOREPRINTED AT

THEBALLANTYNE PRESS

THIS BOOKIS PUBLISHED BY

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