Page:The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer (IA iliadodysseyofho02home).pdf/126

118 Shall bear that also; for, by practice taught, I have learned patience, having much endured By tempest and in battle both. Come then This evil also! I am well prepared. He ended, and the sun sinking, resign'd The earth to darkness. Then in a recess Interior of the cavern, side by side Reposed, they took their amorous delight. But when Aurora, daughter of the dawn, Look'd rosy forth, Ulysses then in haste Put on his vest and mantle, and, the nymph Her snowy vesture of transparent woof, Graceful, redundant; to her waist she bound Her golden zone, and veil'd her beauteous head, Then, musing, plann'd the noble Chief's return. She gave him, fitted to the grasp, an ax Of iron, pond'rous, double-edg'd, with haft Of olive-wood, inserted firm, and wrought With curious art. Then, placing in his hand A polish'd adze, she led, herself, the way To her isles' utmost verge, where tallest trees But dry long since and sapless stood, which best Might serve his purposes, as buoyant most, The alder, poplar, and cloud-piercing fir. To that tall grove she led and left him there, Seeking her grot again. Then slept not He, But, swinging with both hands the ax, his task Soon finish'd; trees full twenty to the ground