Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE HOUSE OF ALCINOUS, by HOMER Poet's Biography First Line: The blue-eyed pallas, having spoken thus Last Line: Bestowed on king alcinous and his house. Subject(s): Corfu (island), Greece | ||||||||
THE blue-eyed Pallas, having spoken thus, Departed o'er the barren deep. She left The pleasant isle of Scheria, and repaired To Marathon and to the spacious streets Of Athens, entering there the massive halls Where dwelt Erectheus, while Ulysses toward The gorgeous palace of Alcinous turned His steps, yet stopped and pondered ere he crossed The threshold. For on every side beneath The lofty roof of that magnanimous king A glory shone as of the sun or moon. There from the threshold, on each side, were walls Of brass that led towards the inner rooms, With blue steel cornices. The doors within The massive building were of gold, and posts Of silver on the brazen threshold stood, And silver was the lintel, and above Its architrave was gold; and on each side Stood gold and silver mastiffs, the rare work Of Vulcan's practised skill, placed there to guard The house of great Alcinous, and endowed With deathless life, that knows no touch of age. Along the walls within, on either side, And from the threshold to the inner rooms, Were firmly planted thrones on which were laid Delicate mantles, woven by the hands Of women. The Phaeacian princes here Were seated; here they ate and drank, and held Perpetual banquet. Slender forms of boys In gold upon the shapely altars stood, With blazing torches in their hands to light At eve the palace guests; while fifty maids Waited within the halls, where some in querns Ground small the yellow grain; some wove the web Or twirled the spindle, sitting, with a quick Light motion, like the aspen's glancing leaves. The well-wrought tissues glistened as with oil. As far as the Phaeacian race excel In guiding their swift galleys o'er the deep, So far the women in their woven work Surpass all others. Pallas gives them skill In handiwork and beautiful design. Without the palace-court, and near the gate, A spacious garden of four acres lay. A hedge enclosed it round, and lofty trees Flourished in generous growth within, -- the pear And the pomegranate, and the apple-tree With its fair fruitage, and the luscious fig And olive always green. The fruit they bear Falls not, nor ever fails in winter time Nor summer, but is yielded all the year. The ever-blowing west-wind causes some To swell and some to ripen; pear succeeds To pear; to apple apple, grape to grape, Fig ripens after fig. A fruitful field Of vines was planted near; in part it lay Open and basking in the sun, which dried The soil, and here men gathered in the grapes, And there they trod the wine-press. Farther on Were grapes unripened yet, which just had cast The flower, and others still which just began To redden. At the garden's furthest bound Were beds of many plants that all the year Bore flowers. There gushed two fountains: one of them Ran wandering through the field; the other flowed Beneath the threshold to the palace-court, And all the people filled their vessels there. Such were the blessings which the gracious gods Bestowed on King Alcinous and his house. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A NIGHT AT CORFU by AUBREY DE VERE THE LORDSHIP OF CORFU; A LEGEND OF 1516 by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE CORFU by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON THE ILIAD: ACHILLES OVER THE TRENCH by HOMER THE ODYSSEY: THE GARDENS OF ALCINOUS by HOMER HOMER'S HYMN TO THE MOON by HOMER HOMERIC HYMN TO MERCURY by HOMER |
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