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Home  »  The Oxford Book of English Verse  »  841. The Odyssey

Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.

Andrew Lang. 1844–1912

841. The Odyssey

AS one that for a weary space has lain 
  Lull’d by the song of Circe and her wine 
  In gardens near the pale of Proserpine, 
Where that Ææan isle forgets the main, 
And only the low lutes of love complain,         5
  And only shadows of wan lovers pine— 
  As such an one were glad to know the brine 
Salt on his lips, and the large air again— 
So gladly from the songs of modern speech 
  Men turn, and see the stars, and feel the free  10
    Shrill wind beyond the close of heavy flowers, 
    And through the music of the languid hours 
They hear like Ocean on a western beach 
  The surge and thunder of the Odyssey.