Page:The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer (IA iliadodysseyofho02home).pdf/291

Book XII. And to Hyperion's all-pervading beams. With that soft liniment I fill'd the ears Of my companions, man by man, and they My feet and arms with strong coercion bound Of cordage to the mast-foot well secured. Then down they sat, and, rowing, thresh'd the brine. But when with rapid course we had arrived Within such distance as a voice may reach, Not unperceived by them the gliding bark Approach'd, and, thus, harmonious they began. Ulysses, Chief by ev'ry tongue extoll'd, Achaia's boast, oh hither steer thy bark! Here stay thy course, and listen to our lay! These shores none passes in his sable ship Till, first, the warblings of our voice he hear, Then, happier hence and wiser he departs. All that the Greeks endured, and all the ills Inflicted by the Gods on Troy, we know, Know all that passes on the boundless earth. So they with voices sweet their music poured Melodious on my ear, winning with ease My heart's desire to listen, and by signs I bade my people, instant, set me free. But they incumbent row'd, and from their seats Eurylochus and Perimedes sprang With added cords to bind me still the more. This danger past, and when the Sirens' voice, Now left remote, had lost its pow'r to charm,