Page:The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer (IA iliadodysseyofho02home).pdf/248

240 O Circe! let us prove thy promise true; Dismiss us hence. My own desires, at length, Tend homeward vehement, and the desires No less of all my friends, who with complaints Unheard by thee, wear my sad heart away. So I; to whom the Goddess in return. Laertes' noble son, Ulysses famed For deepest wisdom! dwell not longer here, Thou and thy followers, in my abode Reluctant; but your next must be a course Far diff'rent; hence departing, ye must seek The dreary house of Ades and of dread Persephone there to consult the Seer Theban Tiresias, prophet blind, but blest With faculties which death itself hath spared. To him alone, of all the dead, Hell's Queen Gives still to prophesy, while others flit Mere forms, the shadows of what once they were. She spake, and by her words dash'd from my soul All courage; weeping on the bed I sat, Reckless of life and of the light of day. But when, with tears and rolling to and fro Satiate, I felt relief, thus I replied. O Circe! with what guide shall I perform This voyage, unperform'd by living man? I spake, to whom the Goddess quick replied. Brave Laertiades! let not the fear To want a guide distress thee. Once on board,