The Odyssey of Homer


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And her rich valleys wave with golden corn.  
No want, no famine, the glad natives know,  
Nor sink by sickness to the shades below;  
But when a length of years unnerves the strong,  
Apollo comes, and Cynthia comes along.  
They bend the silver bow with tender skill,  
And, void of pain, the silent arrows kill.  
Two equal tribes this fertile land divide,  
Where two fair cities rise with equal pride.  
But both in constant peace one prince obey,  
And Ctesius there, my father, holds the sway.  
Freighted, it seems, with toys of every sort,  
A ship of Sidon anchor'd in our port;  
What time it chanced the palace entertain'd,  
Skill'd in rich works, a woman of their land:  
This nymph, where anchor'd the Phoenician train,  
To wash her robes descending to the main,  
A smooth tongued sailor won her to his mind  
(For love deceives the best of womankind).  
A sudden trust from sudden liking grew;  
She told her name, her race, and all she knew,  
'I too (she cried) from glorious Sidon came,  
My father Arybas, of wealthy fame:  
But, snatch'd by pirates from my native place,  
The Taphians sold me to this man's embrace.'  
393  


Page
391 392 393 394 395

Quick Jump
1 153 306 459 612