all around Is open to the sight, how will it be Should any of the ever-living gods Behold us sleeping, and to all the rest Declare it? I could never, rising thence, Enter again thy palace, save with shame. Yet if thou truly speakest thy desire, Thou hast a marriage-chamber of thine own, Which Vulcan, thy beloved son, for thee Framed, fitting to its posts the solid doors; And thither let us go to take our rest Within it, since thou hast declared thy will.”
Then spake again the Cloud-compeller Jove:— “O Juno! Fear thou not that any god Or man will look upon us. I shall throw A golden cloud around us, which the Sun Himself cannot look through, although his eye Is piercing, far beyond all other eyes.”
The son of Saturn spake, and took his wife Into his arms, while underneath the pair The sacred Earth threw up her freshest herbs— The dewy lotus, and the crocus-flower, And thick and soft the hyacinth. All these Upbore them from the ground. Upon this couch They lay, while o’er them a bright golden cloud Gathered, and shed its drops of glistening dew.
So slumbered on the heights of Gargarus The All-Father, overcome by sleep and love, And held his consort in his arms. Meanwhile The gentle Sleep made haste to seek the fleet Of Greece. He bore a message to the god Neptune, who shakes the shores, and, drawing near, He thus accosted him with wingèd words:—
“Now, Neptune, give the Greeks thy earnest aid, And though it be but for a little space, While Jupiter yet slumbers, let them win The glory of the day; for I have wrapt His senses in a gentle lethargy, To which he is betrayed by Juno’s wiles.”
He spake, and took his way, departing thence Among the tribes of men. These words inflamed The god’s desire to aid the Greeks; he sprang Far on among the foremost, and exclaimed:—