Page:The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer (IA iliadodysseyofho02home).pdf/145

VI. So shrill the cry and feminine of nymphs Fills all the air around, such as frequent The hills, clear fountains, and herbaceous meads. Is this a neighbourhood of men endued With voice articulate? But what avails To ask; I will myself go forth and see. So saying, divine Ulysses from beneath His thicket crept, and from the leafy wood A spreading branch pluck'd forcibly, design'd A decent skreen effectual, held before. So forth he went, as goes the lion forth, The mountain-lion, conscious of his strength, Whom winds have vex'd and rains; fire fills his eyes, And whether herds or flocks, or woodland deer He find, he rends them, and, adust for blood, Abstains not even from the guarded fold, Such sure to seem in virgin eyes, the Chief, All naked as he was, left his retreat, Reluctant, by necessity constrain'd. Him foul with sea foam horror-struck they view'd, And o'er the jutting shores fled all dispersed. Nausicaa alone fled not; for her Pallas courageous made, and from her limbs, By pow'r divine, all tremour took away. Firm she expected him; he doubtful stood, Or to implore the lovely maid, her knees Embracing, or aloof standing, to ask In gentle terms discrete the gift of cloaths,