Page:The Works of Alexander Pope (1717).djvu/390
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354
Part of the XIIIth BOOK of
Ulysses sleeping, on his couch they bore,
And gently plac'd him on the rocky shore:
His treasures next, Alcinous' gifts, they laid
In the wild olive's unfrequented shade;
Secure from theft: then launch'd the bark again,
And tugg'd their oars, and measur'd back the main.
Mean while Ulysses in his country lay,
Releas'd from sleep; and round him might survey
The solitary shore, and rowling sea.
Yet had his mind, thro' tedious absence, lost
The dear remembrance of his native coast;
Besides Minerva, to secure her care,
Diffus'd around a veil of thicken'd air:
For so the Gods ordain'd, to keep unseen
His royal person from his friends and Queen,
Till the proud suitors, for their crimes, afford
An ample vengeance to her injur'd Lord.
Now all the land another prospect bore,
Another port appear'd, another shore;
And gently plac'd him on the rocky shore:
His treasures next, Alcinous' gifts, they laid
In the wild olive's unfrequented shade;
Secure from theft: then launch'd the bark again,
And tugg'd their oars, and measur'd back the main.
Mean while Ulysses in his country lay,
Releas'd from sleep; and round him might survey
The solitary shore, and rowling sea.
Yet had his mind, thro' tedious absence, lost
The dear remembrance of his native coast;
Besides Minerva, to secure her care,
Diffus'd around a veil of thicken'd air:
For so the Gods ordain'd, to keep unseen
His royal person from his friends and Queen,
Till the proud suitors, for their crimes, afford
An ample vengeance to her injur'd Lord.
Now all the land another prospect bore,
Another port appear'd, another shore;
And