Odysseus on Calypso’s Isle

43“He spoke, and though afflicted still, my heart
Was somewhat comforted; my spirit rose,
And thus I answered him with winged words: —

44“ ‘These men I know; name now the third, who still
Is kept from his return afar within
The mighty main —alive, perchance, or dead;
For, though I dread to hear, I long to know.’

45“I spoke, and Proteus answered me again: —
‘It is Laertes’ son, whose dwelling stands
In Ithaca. I saw him in an isle,
And in the cavern-palace of the nymph
Calypso, weeping bitterly, for she
Constrains his stay. He cannot leave the isle
For his own country; ship arrayed with oars
And seamen has he none to bear him over
The breast of the great ocean. But for you,
It is not decreed that you shall meet your fate
And die, most noble Menelaus, where
The steeds of Argos in her pastures graze.
The gods will send you to the Elysian plain,
And to the end of earth, the dwelling-place
Of fair-haired Rhadamanthus. There do men
Lead easiest lives. No snow, no bitter cold,
No beating rains, are there; the ocean-deeps
With murmuring breezes from the West refresh
The dwellers. Thither shall you go; for you
Are Helen’s spouse, and son-in-law of Zeus.’

46“He spoke, and plunged into the billowy deep.
I to the fleet returned in company
With my brave men, revolving, as I went,
A thousand projects in my thought. I reached
My galley by the sea, and we prepared
Our evening meal. The hallowed night came down,
And there upon the ocean-beach we slept.
But when the rosy-fingered Eos appeared,
The daughter of the dawn, we drew our ships
To the great deep, and raised the masts and spread
The sails; the crews, all entering, took their seats
Upon the benches, ranged in order due,
And beat the foaming water with their oars.
Again to Egypt’s coast I brought the fleet,
And to the river that descends from Zeus,
And there I offered chosen hecatombs;
And having thus appeased the gods, I reared
A tomb to Agamemnon, that his fame
Might never die. When this was done I sailed
For home; the gods bestowed a favoring wind.
But now remain you till the eleventh day,
Or till the twelfth, beneath my roof, and then
Will I dismiss you with munificent gifts —
Three steeds, a polished chariot, and a cup
Of price, with which to pour, from day to day,
Wine to the gods in memory of me.”