Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE ODYSSEY: BOOK 4. PENELOPE FORLORN, by HOMER Poet's Biography First Line: And medon answer made, the man of skill Last Line: Had I, nor knew I of his setting forth.' Subject(s): Mythology - Classical | ||||||||
AND Medon answer made, the man of skill: 'Yea, Queen, if this now were the worst of ill! But greater and more grievous far they plan, Which may the son of Cronus not fulfil! 'With the sword's edge they plot your son to slay Returning homeward; if some word he may Hear of his sire, to lordly Pylos he And to bright Lacedaemon takes his way.' So spake he, and her heart with grief he stirred, And shook her knees beneath her as she heard. Long she sat speechless, and her eyes with tears Brimmed over, and she said not any word. Yet utterance at last she found, and slow She spake: 'O herald, wherefore is it so My child is gone from me? No need there was For him upon swift-sailing ships to go! 'Which are the horses that men yoke to swim Over the sea, and cross from brim to brim The fields of water: oh, among mankind Shall there not even a name be left of him?' And Medon answered her, the man of skill: 'I know not whether by some God his will Was roused within him, or his own heart planned This voyage forth to Pylos to fulfil, 'If tidings of his father he may know, Whether he comes, or by what fate laid low He even now has perished.' Thus he said, And turned him from Odysseus' house to go. But bitter anguish at her heartstrings tore, And on a seat she brooked to sit no more, Of many that the house was furnished with; But on the richly fashioned chamber's floor Moaning in lamentable wise she clung, While round her wailed the women, old and young, All of her household: and Penelope Bitterly sighing spake her maids among: 'Hearken, my women! for upon my head Surely the Lord Olympian grief has shed Exceeding great, beyond the lot of all The women whom this age has born and bred. 'For I long since my noble husband lost, The lion-hearted, in the Danaan host Renowned for all achievement, and his fame All over Hellas and mid-Argos crossed. 'And now again my own beloved son The winds have snatched from home, and tidings none Had I, nor knew I of his setting forth.' | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BOOK OF THE DEAD MAN (#11): 1. ABOUT THE DEAD MAN AND MEDUSA by MARVIN BELL THE BOOK OF THE DEAD MAN (#11): 2. MORE ABOUT THE DEAD MAN AND MEDUSA by MARVIN BELL THE BIRTH OF VENUS by HAYDEN CARRUTH LEDA 2: A NOTE ON VISITATIONS by LUCILLE CLIFTON LEDA 3: A PERSONAL NOTE (RE: VISITATIONS) by LUCILLE CLIFTON UNEXPECTED HOLIDAY by STEPHEN DOBYNS THE ILIAD: ACHILLES OVER THE TRENCH by HOMER |
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