“I spake; their courage died within their hearts As they remembered what Antiphates, The Laestrigon, had done, and what foul deeds The cannibal Cyclops, and they wept aloud. Tears flowed abundantly, but tears were now Of no avail to our unhappy band.
“Numbering my well-armed men, I made of them * Two equal parties, giving each its chief. * Myself commanded one; Eurylochus, The hero, took the other in his charge.
“Then in a brazen helm we shook the lots; The lot of brave Eurylochus leaped forth, And he with two-and-twenty of our men Went forward with quick steps, and yet in tears, While we as sorrowful were left behind.
“They found the fair abode where Circè dwelt, A palace of hewn stone within the vale, Yet nobly seated. There were mountain wolves And lions round it, which herself had tamed With powerful drugs; yet these assaulted not The visitors, but, wagging their long tails, Stood on their hinder feet, and fawned on them, Like mastiffs on their master when he 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.’