“I spake; he answered with a wailing voice:— ‘Now, woe is me! the ancient oracles Concerning me have come to pass. Here dwelt A seer named Telemus Eurymides, Great, good, and eminent in prophecy, And prophesying he grew old among The Cyclops. He foretold my coming fate— That I should lose my sight, and by the hand And cunning of Ulysses. Yet I looked For one of noble presence, mighty strength, And giant stature landing on our coast. Now a mere weakling, insignificant And small of stature, has put out my eye, First stupefying me with wine. Yet come Hither, I pray, Ulysses, and receive The hospitable gifts which are thy due; And I will pray to Neptune, and entreat The mighty god to guide thee safely home. His son am I, and he declares himself My father. He can heal me if he will, And no one else of all the immortal gods Or mortal men can give me back my sight.’
“He spake; I answered: ‘Rather would I take Thy life and breath, and send thee to the abode Of Hades, where thou wouldst be past the power Of even Neptune to restore thine eye.’
“As thus I said, the Cyclops raised his hands, And spread them toward the starry heaven, and thus Prayed to the deity who rules the deep:—
“ ‘Hear, dark-haired Neptune, who dost swathe the earth! If I am thine, and thou dost own thyself My father, grant that this Ulysses ne’er May reach his native land! But if it be The will of fate that he behold again His friends, and enter his own palace-halls In his own country, late and sorrowful Be his return, with all his comrades lost, And in a borrowed ship, and may he find In his own home new griefs awaiting him.’
“He prayed, and Neptune hearkened to his prayer. And then the Cyclops seized another stone, Far larger than the last, and swung it round, And cast it with vast strength. It fell behind Our black-prowed