“Stranger, I first must ask thee who thou art, And of what race of men. From whom hast thou Received those garments? Sure thou dost not say That thou art come from wandering o’er the sea.”
Ulysses, the sagacious, answered thus:— “ ’Twere hard, O sovereign lady, to relate In order all my sufferings, for the gods Of heaven have made them many; yet will I Tell all thou askest of me, and obey Thy bidding. Far within the ocean lies An island named Ogygia, where abides Calypso, artful goddess, with bright locks, Daughter of Atlas, and of dreaded power. No god consorts with her, nor anyone Of mortal birth. But me in my distress Some god conveyed alone to her abode, When, launching his white lightning, Jupiter Had cloven in the midst of the black sea My galley. There my gallant comrades all Perished, but I in both my arms held fast The keel of my good ship, and floated on Nine days till, on the tenth, in the dark night, The gods had brought me to Ogygia’s isle, Where dwells Calypso of the radiant hair And dreaded might, who kindly welcomed me, And cherished me, and would have made my life Immortal, and beyond the power of age In all the coming time. And there I wore Seven years away, still moistening with my tears The ambrosial raiment which the goddess gave. But when the eighth year had begun its round She counselled my departure, whether Jove Had so required, or she herself had changed Her purpose. On a raft made strong with clamps She placed me, sent on board an ample store Of bread and pleasant wine, and made me put Ambrosial garments on, and gave a soft And favorable wind. For seventeen days I held my steady course across the deep, And on the eighteenth day the shadowy heights Of your own isle appeared, and then my heart, Ill-fated as I was, rejoiced. Yet still Was I to struggle with calamities Sent by earthshaking Neptune, who called up The winds against me, and withstood my way, And stirred the boundless ocean to its depths. Nor did the billows surfer me to keep My place, but