SELECTIONS IN ENGLISH POETRY *
The Sirens.
Ah! then the world is born again
With burning love unsatisfied,
And new desires fond and vain,
And weary days from tide to tide. 220
Ah! when the world is born again,
A little day is soon gone by,
When thou, unmoved by sun or rain,
Within a cold straight house shall lie.
Therewith they ceased awhile, as languidly 225
The head of Argo fell off towards the sea,
And through the water she began to go,
For from the land a fitful wind did blow,
That, dallying with the many-coloured sail,
Would sometimes swell it out and sometimes fail, 230
As nigh the east side of the bay they drew ;
Then o'er the waves again the music flew.
The Sirens.
Think not of pleasure, short and vain,
Wherewith, 'mid days of toil and pain,
With sick and sinking hearts ye strive 235
To cheat yourselves that ye may live
With cold death ever close at hand,
Think rather of a peaceful land,
The changeless land where ye may be
Roofed over by the changeful sea. 240
Orpheus.
And is the fair town nothing then,
The coming of the wandering men
324