Page:The poetical works of Matthew Arnold, 1897.djvu/364

326 The son of an Arcadian noble, I

Was chosen his companion from a boy;

And on the hunting-rambles which his heart,

Unquiet, drove him ever to pursue

Through all the lordships of the Arcadian dales,

From chief to chief, I wander'd at his side,

The captain of his squires, and his guard.

On such a hunting-journey, three morns since,

With beaters, hounds, and huntsmen, he and I

Set forth from Tegea, the royal town.

The prince at start seem'd sad, but his regard

Clear'd with blithe travel and the morning air.

We rode from Tegea, through the woods of oaks,

Past Arnê spring, where Rhea gave the babe

Poseidon to the shepherd-boys to hide

From Saturn's search among the new-yean'd lambs,

To Mantineia, with its unbaked walls;

Thence, by the Sea-God's Sanctuary and the tomb

Whither from wintry Mænalus were brought

The bones of Arcas, whence our race is named,

On, to the marshy Orchomenian plain,

And the Stone Coffins;—then, by Caphyæ Cliffs,

To Pheneos with its craggy citadel.

There, with the chief of that hill-town, we lodged

One night; and the next day at dawn fared on

By the Three Fountains and the Adder's Hill

To the Stymphalian Lake, our journey's end,

To draw the coverts on Cyllenê's side.

There, on a high green spur which bathes its point

Far in the liquid lake, we sate, and drew

Gates from our hunters' pouch, Arcadian fare,

Sweet chestnuts, barley-cakes, and boar's-flesh dried;

And as we ate, and rested there, we talk'd

Of places we had pass'd, sport we had had,