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Thus the sweet charmers warbled o'er the main;
My soul takes wing to meet the heav'nly strain;
I give the sign, and struggle to be free:

Swift row my mates, and shoot along the sea; 235
New chains they add, and rapid urge the way,
Till, dying off, the distant sounds decay;
Then scudding swiftly from the dang'rous ground,
The deafen'd ear unlock'd, the chains unbound.

Now all at once tremendous scenes unfold; 240
Thunder'd the deeps, the smoking billows roll'd!
Tumultuous wayes embroil'd the bellowing flood:
All trembling, deafen'd, and aghast we stood!
No more the vessel plough'd the dreadful wave,
Fear seiz'd the mighty, and unnerv'd the brave;
Each dropp'd his oar: but swift from man to man
With look serene I turn'd, and thus began:
O friends! Oh often tried in adverse storms!
With ills familiar in more dreadful forms!
Deep in the dire Cyclopean den you lay,
Yet safe return'd-Ulysses led the way.
Learn courage hence! and in my care confide:
Lo! still the same Ulysses is your guide!

Attend my words! your oars incessant ply;

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Strain ev'ry nerve, and bid the vessel fly. 255

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If from yon justling rocks and wavy war
Jove safety grants, he grants it to your care.
And thou whose guiding hand directs our way,
Pilot, attentive listen and obey!

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Bear wide thy course, nor plough those angry waves
Where rolls yon smoke, yon tumbling ocean raves:
Steer by the higher rock; lest whirl'd around
We sink, beneath the circling eddy drown'd.

While yet I speak, at once their oars they seize, Stretch to the stroke, and brush the working seas. Cautious the name of Scylla I supprest;

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That dreadful sound had chill'd the boldest breast.

Meantime, forgetful of the voice divine,

All dreadful bright my limbs in armour shine; High on the deck I take my dang'rous stand, 270

Two glitt❜ring jav'lins lighten in

my hand;

Prepar'd to whirl the whizzing spear I stay,
Till the fell fiend arise to seize her prey.
Around the dungeon, studious to behold

The hideous pest, iny lab'ring eyes I roll'd; 275
In vain! the dismal dungeon, dark as night,
Veils the dire monster, and confounds the sight.
Now thro' the rocks, appall'd with deep dismay,
We bend our course, and stem the desp'rate way;

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Dire Scylla there a scene of horror forms,
And here Charybdis fills the deep with storms.
When the tide rushes from her rumbling caves
The rough rock roars; tumultuous boil the waves;
They toss, they foam, a wild confusion raise,
Like waters bubbling o'er the fiery blaze;
Eternal mists obscure th' aërial plain,

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And high above the rock she spouts the main;
When in her gulfs the rushing sea subsides,
She drains the ocean with the refluent tides:
The rock rebellows with a thund'ring sound; 290
Deep, wond'rous deep below, appears the ground.
Struck with despair, with trembling hearts we

view'd

The yawning dungeon, and the tumbling flood; When lo! fierce Scylla stoop'd to seize her prey, Stretch'd her dire jaws, and swept six men away; Chiefs of renown! loud echoing shrieks arise; 296 I turn, and view them quiv'ring in the skies; They call, and aid with outstretch'd arms implore: In vain they call! those arms are stretch'd no more. As from some rock that overhangs the flood, 300 The silent fisher casts th' insidious food,

With fraudful care he waits the finny prize,

And sudden lifts it quiv'ring to the skies:

So the foul monster lifts her prey on high,
So pant the wretches, struggling in the sky; 305
In the wide dungeon she devours her food,

And the flesh trembles while she churns the blood.
Worn as I am with griefs, with care decay'd;
Never, I never, scene so dire survey'd!

My shiv'ring blood, congeal'd, forgot to flow: 310 Aghast I stood, a monument of woe!

Now from the rocks the rapid vessel flies, And the hoarse din like distant thunder dies; To Sol's bright isle our voyage we pursue, And now the glitt'ring mountains rise to view. 315 There sacred to the radiant god of day, Graze the fair herds, the flocks promiscuous stray; Then suddenly was heard along the main

To low the ox, to bleat the woolly train :

Straight to my anxious thoughts the sound convey'd

The words of Circe and the Theban shade;

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Warn'd by their awful voice these shores to shun, With cautious fears oppress'd, I thus begun:

O friends! Oh ever exercis'd in care!

Hear heav'n's commands, and rev'rence what ye

hear!

To fly these shores the prescient Theban shade

And Circe warns! O be their voice obey'd!

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Some mighty woe relentless heav'n forebodes:
Fly these dire regions, and revere the gods!

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While yet I spoke, a sudden sorrow ran Thro' ev'ry breast, and spread from man to man, Till wrathful thus Eurylochus began:

O cruel thou! some fury sure has steel'd That stubborn soul, by toil untaught to yield!

From sleep debarr'd, we sink from woes to woes; And cruel, enviest thou a short repose?

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Still must we restless rove, new seas explore,
The sun descending, and so near the shore?

And lo! the night begins her gloomy reign,
And doubles all the terrors of the main.
Oft in the dead of night loud winds arise,

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Lash the wild surge, and bluster in the skies;
Oh should the fierce south-west his rage display,
And toss with rising storms the watʼry way,
Tho' gods descend from heav'n's aërial plain 345
To lend us aid, the gods descend in vain:
Then while the night displays her awful shade,
Sweet time of slumber! be the night obey'd!
Haste ye to land! and when the morning ray
Sheds her bright beams, pursue the destin'd way.
A sudden joy in ev'ry bosom rose;
So will'd some demon, minister of woes!

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