Page:The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer (IA iliadodysseyofho02home).pdf/196

188 He gave the praise of wasting all beside, But told how, fierce as Mars, Ulysses join'd With godlike Menelaus, to the house Flew of Deiphobus; him there engaged In direst fight he sang, and through the aid Of glorious Pallas, conqu'ror over all. So sang the bard illustrious, at whose song Ulysses melted, and tear after tear Fell on his cheeks. As when a woman weeps, Her husband, who hath fallen in defence Of his own city and his babes before The gates; she, sinking, folds him in her arms And, gazing on him as he pants and dies, Shrieks at the sight; meantime, the enemy Smiting her shoulders with the spear to toil Command her and to bondage far away, And her cheek fades with horror at the sound; Ulysses, so, from his moist lids let fall, The frequent tear. Unnoticed by the rest Those drops, but not by King Alcinoüs, fell Who, seated at his side, his heavy sighs Remark'd, and the Phæacians thus bespake. Phæacian Chiefs and Senators attend! Now let Demodocus enjoin his harp Silence, for not alike grateful to all His music sounds; during our feast, and since The bard divine began, continual flow