The Return of Ulysses.
suitors, at which she looks through the open door, I tremble with excitement.
'Penelope: Alas! what cries! Say, is the prince still safe?
The Maid: He shieldeth himself well, and striketh surely;
His foes fall down before him. Ah! now what can I see?
Who Cometh? Lo! a dazzling helm, a spear
Of silver or electron; sharp and swift
The piercings. How they fall! Ha! shields are raised
In vain. I am blinded, or the beggar-man
Hath waxed in strength. He is changed, he is young.
O strange!
He is all in golden armour. These are gods
That slay the suitors. (Runs to Penelope) O lady, forgive me.
Tis Ares' self. I saw his crispèd beard;
I saw beneath his helm his curlèd locks.'
The coming of Athene helmed 'in silver or electron' and her transformation of Ulysses are not, as the way is with the only modern dramas that popular criticism holds to be dramatic, the climax of an excitement of the nerves, but of that unearthly excitement which has wisdom
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