Page:The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer (IA iliadodysseyofho02home).pdf/318

310 Thus then Minerva the cærulean-eyed. Such caution in thy breast always prevails Distrustful; but I know thee eloquent, With wisdom and with ready thought endued, And cannot leave thee, therefore, thus distress'd For what man, save Ulysses, new-return'd After long wand'rings, would not pant to see At once his home, his children, and his wife? But thou preferr'st neither to know nor ask Concerning them, till some experience first Thou make of her whose wasted youth is spent In barren solitude, and who in tears Ceaseless her nights and woeful days consumes. I ne'er was ignorant, but well foreknew That not till after loss of all thy friends Thou should'st return; but loth I was to oppose Neptune, my father's brother, sore incensed For his son's sake deprived of sight by thee. But, I will give thee proof—come now—survey These marks of Ithaca, and be convinced. This is the port of Phorcys, sea-born sage; That, the huge olive at the haven's head; Fast by it, thou behold'st the pleasant cove Umbrageous, to the nymphs devoted named The Naiads; this the broad-arch'd cavern is Where thou wast wont to offer to the nymphs Many a whole hecatomb; and yonder stands The mountain Neritus with forests cloath'd.