SELECTIONS IN ENGLISH POETRY
With that long talked of thing and strange,
And news of how the kingdoms change.
The pointed hands, and wondering 245-
At doers of a desperate thing ?
Push on, for surely this shall be
Across a narrow strip of sea.
The Sirens.
Alas! poor souls and timorous,
Will ye draw nigh to gaze at us 250
And see if we are fair indeed,
For such as we shall be your meed,
There, where our hearts would have you go.
And where can the earth-dwellers show
In any land such loveliness 255
As that wherewith your eyes we bless,
O wanderers of the Minyae,
Worn toilers over land and sea?
Orpheus.
Fair as the lightning thwart the sky,
As sun-dyed snow upon the high 260
Untrodden heaps of threatening stone
The eagle looks upon alone,
O fair as the doomed victim's wreath,
O fair as deadly sleep and death,
What will ye with them, earthly men, 265
To mate your three-score years and ten ?
Toil rather, suffer and be free,
Betwixt the green earth and the sea.
The Sirens.
If ye be bold with us to go,
Things such as happy dreams may show 270
325