his native land, and, in their barques, Homeward the suitor-train retrace their way.”
He spake, and turned to Hermes, his dear son:— “Hermes—for thou in this my messenger Art, as in all things—to the bright-haired nymph Make known my steadfast purpose—the return Of suffering Ulysses. Neither gods Nor men shall guide his voyage. On a raft, Made firm with bands, he shall depart and reach, After long hardships, on the twentieth day, The fertile shore of Scheria, on whose isle Dwell the Phaeacians, kinsmen of the gods. They like a god shall honor him, and thence Send him to his loved country in a ship, With ample gifts of brass and gold, and store Of raiment—wealth like which he ne’er had brought From conquered Ilion, had he reached his home Safely, with all his portion of the spoil. So is it preordained that he behold His friends again, and stand once more within His high-roofed palace, on his native soil.”
He spake; the herald Argicide obeyed, And hastily beneath his feet he bound The fair, ambrosial golden sandals, worn To bear him over ocean like the wind, And o’er the boundless land. His wand he took, Wherewith he softly seals the eyes of men, And opens them at will from sleep. With this In hand, the mighty Argus-queller flew, And, lighting on Pieria, from the sky Plunged downward to the deep, and skimmed its face Like hovering seamew, that on the broad gulfs Of the unfruitful ocean seeks her prey, And often dips her pinions in the brine; So Hermes flew along the waste of waves.
But when he reached that island, far away, Forth from the dark-blue ocean-swell he stepped Upon the sea-beach, walking till he came To the vast cave in which the bright-haired nymph Made her abode. He found the nymph within; A fire blazed brightly on the hearth, and far Was wafted o’er the isle the fragrant smoke Of cloven cedar, burning in the flame, And cypress-wood. Meanwhile, in her recess, She sweetly sang, as busily she threw The golden shuttle through the web she wove. And all