Odysseus Asks to Try

29So spoke Antinous, and they all approved.
Then heralds came, and on the suitors’ hands
Poured water; youths filled up the cups with wine,
Beginning at the right, and gave to each
His share; and when they all had poured a part,
And each had drunk, the shrewd Odysseus thus
With artful speech bespoke the suitor-train: —

30“Hearken, you suitors of the illustrious queen,
To what my heart is prompting me to say;
But chiefly to Eurymachus I make
My suit, and to Antinous, who so well
Has counselled to lay by the bow and trust
The gods. Tomorrow Phoebus will bestow
The needed strength on whomever he will;
But let me take that polished bow, and try
Among you, whether still the power that dwelt
In these once pliant limbs abides in them,
Or whether happily it has passed from me
Amid my wanderings and a life of want.”