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She could produce in scorn and spite of them.
Therefore he poured desire into her breast
Of young Anchises,

Feeding his herds among the mossy fountains
Of the wide Ida's many-folded mountains,
Whom Venus saw, and loved, and the love clung
Like wasting fire her senses wild among.

HOMER'S HYMN TO CASTOR AND POLLUX

YE wild-eyed Muses, sing the Twins of Jove,
Whom the fair-ankled Leda, mixed in love
With mighty Saturn's heaven-obscuring Child,
On Taygetus, that lofty mountain wild,

Brought forth in joy; mild Pollux void of blame,
And steed-subduing Castor, heirs of fame.
These are the Powers who earth-born mortals save
And ships, whose flight is swift along the wave.
When wintry tempests o'er the savage sea
Are raging, and the sailors tremblingly

Call on the Twins of Jove with prayer and vow,
Gathered in fear upon the lofty prow,
And sacrifice with snow-white lambs, the wind
And the huge billow bursting close behind
Even then beneath the weltering waters bear
The staggering ship, they suddenly appear,
On yellow wings rushing athwart the sky,
And lull the blasts in mute tranquillity,
And strew the waves on the white ocean's bed,

Homer's Hymn to Castor and Pollux. Published by Mrs. Shelley, 18392, dated 1818.

6 steed-subduing, Rossetti || steel-subduing, Mrs. Shelley, 18392.

Fair omen of the voyage; from toil and dread,
The sailors rest, rejoicing in the sight,
And plough the quiet sea in safe delight.

HOMER'S HYMN TO MINERVA

I SING the glorious Power with azure eyes,
Athenian Pallas, tameless, chaste, and wise,
Tritogenia, town-preserving maid,

Revered and mighty; from his awful head

Whom Jove brought forth, in warlike armor

dressed,

Golden, all radiant! wonder strange possessed
The everlasting Gods that shape to see,
Shaking a javelin keen, impetuously

Rush from the crest of Ægis-bearing Jove;
Fearfully Heaven was shaken, and did move
Beneath the might of the Cerulean-eyed ;
Earth dreadfully resounded, far and wide;
And, lifted from its depths, the sea swelled high
In purple billows, the tide suddenly

Stood still, and great Hyperion's son long time
Checked his swift steeds, till where she stood sub-

lime,

Pallas from her immortal shoulders threw

The arms divine; wise Jove rejoiced to view.

Child of the Ægis-bearer, hail to thee,

Nor thine nor other's praise shall unremembered be.

Homer's Hymn to Minerva. Published by Mrs. Shelley, 18392, dated 1818.

HOMER'S HYMN TO THE SUN

OFFSPRING of Jove, Calliope, once more

To the bright Sun thy hymn of music pour,
Whom to the child of star-clad Heaven and Earth
Euryphaëssa, large-eyed nymph, brought forth;
Euryphaëssa, the famed sister fair

Of great Hyperion, who to him did bear
A race of loveliest children; the young Morn,
Whose arms are like twin roses newly born,
The fair-haired Moon, and the immortal Sun,
Who borne by heavenly steeds his race doth run
Unconquerably, illuming the abodes.

Of mortal men and the eternal Gods.

Fiercely look forth his awe-inspiring eyes
Beneath his golden helmet, whence arise
And are shot forth afar clear beams of light;
His countenance with radiant glory bright
Beneath his graceful locks far shines around,
And the light vest with which his limbs are bound,
Of woof ethereal delicately twined,

Glows in the stream of the uplifting wind.
His rapid steeds soon bear him to the west,
Where their steep flight his hands divine arrest,
And the fleet car with yoke of gold, which he
Sends from bright heaven beneath the shadowy sea.

Homer's Hymn to the Sun. Published by Mrs. Shelley, 18392, dated 1818.

HOMER'S HYMN TO THE MOON

DAUGHTERS of Jove, whose voice is melody,
Muses, who know and rule all minstrelsy,

Sing the wide-winged Moon! Around the earth,
From her immortal head in Heaven shot forth,
Far light is scattered-boundless glory springs;
Where'er she spreads her many-beaming wings,
The lampless air glows round her golden crown.

But when the Moon divine from Heaven is gone
Under the sea, her beams within abide,
Till, bathing her bright limbs in Ocean's tide,
Clothing her form in garments glittering far,
And having yoked to her immortal car

The beam-invested steeds whose necks on high
Curve back, she drives to a remoter sky
A western Crescent, borne impetuously.
Then is made full the circle of her light,

And as she grows, her beams more bright and bright

Are poured from Heaven, where she is hovering then,

A wonder and a sign to mortal men.

The Son of Saturn with this glorious Power Mingled in love and sleep, to whom she bore, Pandeia, a bright maid of beauty rare

Among the Gods whose lives eternal are.

Homer's Hymn to the Moon. Published by Mrs. Shelley, 18392, dated 1818.

Hail Queen, great Moon, white-armed Divinity, Fair-haired and favorable! thus with thee, My song beginning, by its music sweet

Shall make immortal many a glorious feat

Of demigods, — with lovely lips, so well

Which minstrels, servants of the Muses, tell.

HOMER'S HYMN TO THE EARTH, MOTHER OF ALL

O UNIVERSAL Mother, who dost keep
From everlasting thy foundations deep,
Eldest of things, Great Earth, I sing of thee!
All shapes that have their dwelling in the sea,
All things that fly, or on the ground divine

Live, move, and there are nourished — these are

thine;

These from thy wealth thou dost sustain; from thee
Fair babes are born, and fruits on every tree
Hang ripe and large, revered Divinity!

The life of mortal men beneath thy sway Is held; thy power both gives and takes away. Happy are they whom thy mild favors nourish; All things unstinted round them grow and flourish. For them endures the life-sustaining field

Its load of harvest, and their cattle yield

Large increase, and their house with wealth is filled.

Such honored dwell in cities fair and free,
The homes of lovely women, prosperously;

Homer's Hymn to the Earth, Mother of All. Published by Mrs. Shelley, 18392, dated 1818.

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