Page:The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer (IA iliadodysseyofho02home).pdf/201

Book IX. Thy thoughts hast turn'd to ask me whence my groans And tears, that I may sorrow still the more. What first, what next, what last shall I rehearse, On whom the Gods have show'r'd such various woes? Learn first my name, that even in this land Remote I may be known, and that escaped From all adversity, I may requite Hereafter, this your hospitable care At my own home, however distant hence. I am Ulysses, fear'd in all the earth For subtlest wisdom, and renown'd to heaven, The offspring of Laertes; my abode Is sun-burnt Ithaca; there waving stands The mountain Neritus his num'rous boughs, And it is neighbour'd close by clust'ring isles All populous; thence Samos is beheld, Dulichium, and Zacynthus forest-clad. Flat on the Deep she lies, farthest removed Toward the West, while, situate apart, Her sister islands face the rising day; Rugged she is, but fruitful nurse of sons Magnanimous; nor shall these eyes behold, Elsewhere, an object dear and sweet as she. Calypso, beauteous Goddess, in her grot Detain'd me, wishing me her own espoused; Ææan Circe also, skill'd profound In potent arts, within her palace long Detain'd me, wishing me her own espoused;