Page:The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer (IA iliadodysseyofho02home).pdf/125

V. She opposite to the illustrious Chief Reposed, by her attendant maidens served With nectar and ambrosia. They their hands Stretch'd forth together to the ready feast, And when nor hunger more nor thirst remain'd Unsated, thus the beauteous nymph began. Laertes' noble son, for wisdom famed And artifice! oh canst thou thus resolve To seek, incontinent, thy native shores? I pardon thee. Farewell! but could'st thou guess The woes which fate ordains thee to endure Ere yet thou reach thy country, well-content Here to inhabit, thou would'st keep my grot And be immortal, howsoe'er thy wife Engage thy ev'ry wish day after day. Yet can I not in stature or in form Myself suspect inferior aught to her, Since competition cannot be between Mere mortal beauties, and a form divine. To whom Ulysses, ever-wise, replied. Awful Divinity! be not incensed. I know that my Penelope in form And stature altogether yields to thee, For she is mortal, and immortal thou, From age exempt; yet not the less I wish My home, and languish daily to return. But should some God amid the sable Deep Dash me again into a wreck, my soul