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152
POEMS.
Was not thy long-determined counsel this,
That, in good time, Ulysses should return,
To be avenged? Guide, then, Tolemachus,
Wisely, for so thou canst, that, all unharmed,
He reach his native land, and, in their barks,
Homeward the suitor-train retrace their way."
He spoke, 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 Pheacians, kinsmen of the gods.
They like a god shall honor him, and thence
Send him to his loved country in a ship,
That, in good time, Ulysses should return,
To be avenged? Guide, then, Tolemachus,
Wisely, for so thou canst, that, all unharmed,
He reach his native land, and, in their barks,
Homeward the suitor-train retrace their way."
He spoke, 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 Pheacians, kinsmen of the gods.
They like a god shall honor him, and thence
Send him to his loved country in a ship,