ULY. Be silent, O ye savages, restrain
Those clamorous tongues: by Heaven ye shall not breathe,
Nor wink your eyes, nor cough, lest ye awaken
This pest, the Cyclops, ere he of his eyesight
Is by the fire bereft.
CHOR. We will be silent,
And in our jaws confine the very air.
ULY. The ponderous weapon seize with dauntless hands,
Entering the cavern; for ’tis fully heated.
CHOR. Will you not give directions who shall first
Manage the glowing lever, and burn out
The Cyclops’ eye, that in one common fortune
We all may share.
1st SEMICHOR. We who before the portals
Are stationed, are not tall enough to drive
Full on its destined mark the hissing brand.
2nd SEMICHOR. But I am with a sudden lameness seized.
1st SEMICHOR. The same calamity which you experience
To me hath also happened; for my feet
Are by convulsions tortured, though the cause
I know not.
ULY. If ye feel such dreadful spasms,
How can ye stand?
CHOR. Our eyes are also filled
With dust or ashes.
ULY. These allies of mine
Are worthless cowards.
CHOR. We forsooth want courage
Because we feel compassion for our shoulders,
Nor would be beaten till our teeth drop out.
But I a magic incantation know,
Devised by Orpheus, which hath such effect,
That of its own accord the brand shall pierce
The skull of him, the one-eyed son of earth.
ULY. Long have I known ye are by nature such;
But more than ever do I know you now.
On my own friends I therefore must rely.
Yet if thou hast no vigour in that arm,
Exhort my drooping friends to act with valour
And let thy counsels aid the bold emprise.
[_Exit_ ULYSSES.
CHOR. Such be my province: we this Carian’s life
Will hazard. But my counsels shall induce them
To burn the Cyclops. Ho! with courage whirl
The brand, delay not to scorch out the eye
Of him who banquets on the stranger’s flesh.
With fire assail the savage, pierce the front
Of Ætna’s shepherd, lest, with anguish stung,
On you he perpetrate some deed of horror.
POL. [_within._] Ah me! by burning coals I am deprived
Of eyesight.
CHOR. That was a melodious pæan:
To me, O Cyclops, sing th’ enchanting strain.