long Telemachus has known That he was here, but wisely kept from all His father’s secret, till he should avenge Upon those violent men their guilty deeds.”
She ended, and her mistress, overjoyed, Sprang from her couch, embraced the aged dame, And wept, and said to her in winged words:—
“Tell me, dear nurse, and truly, if indeed Ulysses have returned as thou hast said. How smote he those proud suitors?—he alone, And they so many, gathered in the hall.”
And thus the well-beloved nurse replied: “I saw it not, nor knew of it. I heard Only the moanings of the slain, while we The maids, affrighted, sat in a recess Of that well-vaulted chamber; the firm doors Closed us all in, until at length thy son, Sent by his father, called me forth. I found Ulysses standing midst the dead that lay Heaped on each other, everywhere along The solid pavement. Thou wouldst have rejoiced To see him like a lion with the stains Of slaughter on him. Now the suitors lie Before the portals of the palace-court, And he has kindled a great fire, and