The Odyssey of Homer


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Sunk were at once the winds; the air above,  
And waves below, at once forgot to move;  
Some demon calm'd the air and smooth'd the deep,  
Hush'd the loud winds, and charm'd the waves to sleep.  
Now every sail we furl, each oar we ply;  
Lash'd by the stroke, the frothy waters fly.  
The ductile wax with busy hands I mould,  
And cleft in fragments, and the fragments roll'd;  
The aerial region now grew warm with day,  
The wax dissolved beneath the burning ray;  
Then every ear I barr'd against the strain,  
And from access of frenzy lock'd the brain.  
Now round the masts my mates the fetters roll'd,  
And bound me limb by limb with fold on fold.  
Then bending to the stroke, the active train  
Plunge all at once their oars, and cleave the main.  
"
While to the shore the rapid vessel flies,  
Our swift approach the Siren choir descries;  
Celestial music warbles from their tongue,  
And thus the sweet deluders tune the song:  
"'Oh stay, O pride of Greece! Ulysses, stay!  
Oh cease thy course, and listen to our lay!  
Blest is the man ordain'd our voice to hear,  
The song instructs the soul, and charms the ear.  
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Page
311 312 313 314 315

Quick Jump
1 153 306 459 612