Page:The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer (IA iliadodysseyofho02home).pdf/189

VIII. So saying, the might of Vulcan loos'd the snare, And they, detain'd by those coercive bands No longer, from the couch upstarting, flew, Mars into Thrace, and to her Paphian home The Queen of smiles, where deep in myrtle groves Her incense-breathing altar stands embow'r'd. Her there, the Graces laved, and oils diffused O'er all her form, ambrosial, such as add Fresh beauty to the Gods for ever young, And cloath'd her in the loveliest robes of heav'n. Such was the theme of the illustrious bard. Ulysses with delight that song, and all The maritime Phæacian concourse heard. Alcinoüs, then, (for in the dance they pass'd All others) call'd his sons to dance alone, Halius and Laodamas; they gave The purple ball into their hands, the work Exact of Polybus; one, re-supine, Upcast it high toward the dusky clouds, The other, springing into air, with ease Received it, ere he sank to earth again. When thus they oft had sported with the ball Thrown upward, next, with nimble interchange They pass'd it to each other many a time, Footing the plain, while ev'ry youth of all The circus clapp'd his hands, and from beneath The din of stamping feet fill'd all the air.