Page:Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902).djvu/58

28 28 HOMER

And all the covenants of men complete ;

Nor h^iXQ they shipwrights who might build them

such ; Else would they soon have colonized this seat. leo Not worthless is it, but at human touch Would take the seasons well, and yield exceeding

much.

Fast by the margin of the hoary deep Lie soft well-watered meadows. There the vine Would bloom for ever. If to plough and reap, les Observant of the hours,^ one's heart incline, Black with fertility the soil doth shine. Smooth is the haven, nor is need at all Of anchor, cable, and shore-fastened line. Floating in shelter of the firm sea-wall 170

Sailors at will may wait till prosperous breezes call.

There a white waterfall beneath the cave Springs forth, and flashes at the haven-head ; Round it the whispering alders darkly wave. Thitherward sailing through the night we sped, 175 Yea, some divinity the swift ships led Through glooms not pierceable by power of eye. Hound us the deep night-air swung listless, dead ; Nor moon nor stars looked down from the wide sky. Hid by the gross cloud-curtain brooding heavily. leo

No mariner beheld the nearing strand,

Helmsman expert or wielder of the oar.

Nor marked the long waves rolling on the land.

Still with a steady prow we onward bore

Till the keels grated on the shelving shore. iss

Then we the sails take down, and, past the line

^ Hours, in the Greek sense, seasons.