Andrew Lang

31 March 1844 - 20 July 1912 / Selkirk, Scotland

The Odyssey

AS one that for a weary space has lain
   Lull'd by the song of Circe and her wine
   In gardens near the pale of Proserpine,
Where that Aeaean isle forgets the main,
And only the low lutes of love complain,
   And only shadows of wan lovers pine--
   As such an one were glad to know the brine
Salt on his lips, and the large air again--
So gladly from the songs of modern speech
   Men turn, and see the stars, and feel the free
   Shrill wind beyond the close of heavy flowers,
   And through the music of the languid hours
They hear like Ocean on a western beach
   The surge and thunder of the Odyssey.
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