Page:A New Zealand verse (1906).pdf/240

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204
Nausicaa.
Spread in the broad halls of Alcinous,And never cease to prate of the rich robesAnd priceless gems around my chamber hung While my fond mother’s face is that of oneTo whom the days of far past youth return.Nay, when my stately father looks on me,Plays round his firm-set lips a rare, faint smile.Surely I should be happy, yet, ah yet,The comely bridegroom whom they chose for meStirs not my pulses with his homely speechAnd homely manners, by this dull land bred,Where never yet was heard the clash of arms,The shout of victory, the warrior’s joy.The too kind Gods have compassed us aboutWith the broad buckler of the restless sea,And great Poseidon watches over us,So that no foeman e’er can work us harm.In sooth it is not well that men should liveThus lapp’d in peace through all the countless years.The very heart of manhood must rot out,Where none have braved a foe, or dared a wound.Not always did I think so—these new thoughtsOf manliness and glory broke on meWhen first that godlike hero touched our shores,And told his story, five long years agone.Let me recall, though the last time it be,The first sweet words he uttered at my feet:“O Queen, I kneel before thee, whether thouBe goddess or be mortal; if thou beA goddess—one of them that hold broad Heaven—To Artemis, the daughter of great Zeus,For beauty and for stature and for grace,Fain would I liken thee; but if thou beA child of men who dwell upon this earth,Thrice blessed are thy sire and sainted mother—Thrice blessed are thy brethren; yea their souls
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