comes From banqueting and brings them food. So fawned The strong-clawed wolves and lions on my men. With fear my men beheld those beasts of prey, Yet went, and, standing in the portico Of the bright-haired divinity, they heard Her sweet voice singing, as within she threw The shuttle through the wide immortal web, Such as is woven by the goddesses— Delicate, bright of hue, and beautiful.
“Polites then, a chief the most beloved And most discreet of all my comrades, spake:—
“ ‘Someone is here, my friends, who sweetly sings, Weaving an ample web, and all the floor Rings to her voice. Whoever she may be, Woman or goddess, let us call to her.’
“He spake; aloud they called, and forth she came And threw at once the shining doors apart, And bade my comrades enter. Without thought They followed her. Eurylochus alone Remained without, for he suspected guile. She led them in and seated them on thrones. Then mingling for them Pramnian wine with cheese, Meal, and fresh honey, and infusing drugs Into the mixture—drugs which made them lose The memory of their home—she handed them The beverage and they drank. Then instantly She touched them with a wand, and shut them up In sties, transformed to swine in head and voice, Bristles and shape, though still the human mind Remained to them. Thus sorrowing they were driven Into their cells, where Circè flung to them Acorns of oak and ilex, and the fruit Of cornel, such as nourish wallowing swine.
“Back came Eurylochus to our good ship With news of our poor comrades and their fate, He strove to speak, but could not; he was stunned By that calamity; his eyes were filled With tears, and his whole soul was given to grief. We marvelled greatly; long we questioned him, And thus he spake of our lost friends at last:—
“ ‘Through yonder thickets, as thou gav’st command, Illustrious chief! we went, until we reached A stately palace of hewn stones, within A vale,