Read Delphi Poetry Anthology: The World's Greatest Poems (Delphi Poets Series Book 50) for Free Online Page A

thence receding, deep infix’dMy sword bright-studded in the sheath again.The noble prophet then, approaching, drankThe blood, and, satisfied, address’d me thus.   Thou seek’st a pleasant voyage home again,Renown’d Ulysses! but a God will make    120 That voyage difficult; for, as I judge,Thou wilt not pass by Neptune unperceiv’d,Whose anger follows thee, for that thou hastDeprived his son Cyclops of his eye.At length, however, after num’rous woesEndur’d, thou may’st attain thy native isle,If thy own appetite thou wilt controulAnd theirs who follow thee, what time thy barkWell-built, shall at Thrinacia’s shore arrive,Escaped from perils of the gloomy Deep.    130 There shall ye find grazing the flocks and herdsOf the all-seeing and all-hearing Sun,Which, if attentive to thy safe return,Thou leave unharm’d, though after num’rous woes,Ye may at length arrive in Ithaca.But if thou violate them, I denounceDestruction on thy ship and all thy band,And though thyself escape, late shalt thou reachThy home and hard-bested, in a strange bark,All thy companions lost; trouble beside    140 Awaits thee there, for thou shalt find withinProud suitors of thy noble wife, who wasteThy substance, and with promis’d spousal giftsCeaseless solicit her to wed; yet wellShalt thou avenge all their injurious deeds.That once perform’d, and ev’ry suitor slainEither by stratagem, or face to face,In thy own palace, bearing, as thou go’st,A shapely oar, journey, till thou hast foundA people who the sea know not, nor eat    150 Food salted; they trim galley crimson prow’dHave ne’er beheld, nor yet smooth-shaven oar,With which the vessel wing’d scuds o’er the waves.Well thou shalt know them; this shall be the sign —When thou shalt meet a trav’ler, who shall nameThe oar on thy broad shoulder borne, a van,There, deep infixing it within the soil,Worship the King of Ocean with a bull,A ram, and a lascivious boar, then seekThy home again, and sacrifice at home    160 An hecatomb to the Immortal Gods,Adoring each duly, and in his course.So shalt thou die in peace a gentle death,Remote from Ocean; it shall find thee late,In soft serenity of age, the ChiefOf a blest people. — I have told thee truth.   He spake, to whom I answer thus return’d.Tiresias! thou, I doubt not, hast reveal’dThe ordinance of heav’n. But tell me, Seer!And truly. I behold my mother’s shade;    170 Silent she sits beside the blood, nor wordNor even look vouchsafes to her own son.How shall she learn, prophet, that I am her’s?   So I, to whom Tiresias quick replied.The course is easy. Learn it, taught by me.What shade soe’er, by leave of thee obtain’d,Shall taste the blood, that shade will tell thee truth;The rest, prohibited, will all retire.   When thus the spirit of the royal SeerHad his prophetic mind reveal’d, again    180 He enter’d Pluto’s gates; but I unmovedStill waited till my mother’s shade approach’d;She drank the blood, then knew me, and in wordsWing’d with affection, plaintive, thus began.   My son! how hast thou enter’d, still alive,This darksome region? Difficult it isFor living man to view the realms of death.Broad rivers roll, and awful floods between,But chief, the Ocean, which to pass on foot,Or without ship, impossible is found.    190 Hast thou, long wand’ring in thy voyage homeFrom Ilium, with thy ship and crew arrived,Ithaca and thy consort yet unseen?   She spake, to whom this answer I return’d.My mother! me necessity constrain’dTo Pluto’s dwelling, anxious to consultTheban Tiresias; for I have not yetApproach’d Achaia, nor have touch’d the shoreOf Ithaca, but suff’ring ceaseless woeHave roam’d, since first in Agamemnon’s train    200 I went to combat with the sons of Troy.But speak, my mother, and the truth alone;What stroke of fate slew thee ? Fell’st thou a preyTo some slow malady? or by the shaftsOf gentle Dian suddenly subdued?Speak to me also of my