Thence through his breast its bloody passage tore;

Flat falls he thundering on the marble floor,

And his crush'd forehead marks the stone with gore.

He left his javelin in the dead, for fear

The long encumbrance of the weighty spear

To the fierce foe advantage might afford,

To rash between and use the shorten'd sword.

With speedy ardour to his sire he flies,

And, "Arm, great father! arm (in haste he cries).

Lo, hence I run for other arms to wield,

For missive javelins, and for helm and shield;

Fast by our side let either faithful swain

In arms attend us, and their part sustain."

"Haste, and return (Ulysses made reply)

While yet the auxiliar shafts this hand supply;

Lest thus alone, encounter'd by an host,

Driven from the gate, the important past be lost."

With speed Telemachus obeys, and flies

Where piled in heaps the royal armour lies;

Four brazen helmets, eight refulgent spears,

And four broad bucklers to his sire he bears:

At once in brazen panoply they shone.

At once each servant braced his armour on;

Around their king a faithful guard they stand.

550

The Odyssey of Homer