The Odyssey: Book 02 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGDBGHHIJKHLMHN NOPGJQRIQSTUVRPWFXHY SKFZA2HSB2NUHHHSC2D2 E2F2QNZNHNHG2MH2I2HJ 2SK2L2M2N2JD2WQHZHO2 JP2G2HDO2JQ2R2HQJE2H NZO2HH2HRNS2G2T2NNLA 2QLD2U2MV2W2D2RD2X2Y 2HZ2NRD2IHNHHC2D2A3N NNZRB3RB3WJQ2ZJFVHC3 FD3QHE3F3FRD2W2GNJF3 SIFQQHLSWHHKT2G3NWNH 2HW2W2HH3KNHS2KD2A2H HRI3W2RHHI3ED2QW2E2J EHNO2RE3D2J3K3QRSHLQ O2L3RQA2H3NNFJD2M3I2 JNN3A2M2O3D2QSWNQB3Q QNS2QQQPP3QI3JFCA3NU K2E2W2C2JQJNQNW2QFO2 LM2C2DQQ3D2QQR3QS3NF QRJRD2XRXFQ2LT3QC3QJ G2QM2JG2FRKG2LQO2QU3 EQV3FFRG2

Now when the child of morning rosy fingered Dawn appearedA
Telemachus rose and dressed himself He bound his sandals on to hisB
comely feet girded his sword about his shoulder and left his roomC
looking like an immortal god He at once sent the criers round to callD
the people in assembly so they called them and the people gatheredE
thereon then when they were got together he went to the place ofF
assembly spear in hand not alone for his two hounds went with himG
Minerva endowed him with a presence of such divine comeliness that allD
marvelled at him as he went by and when he took his place' in hisB
father's seat even the oldest councillors made way for himG
Aegyptius a man bent double with age and of infinite experienceH
the first to speak His son Antiphus had gone with Ulysses to IliusH
land of noble steeds but the savage Cyclops had killed him whenI
they were all shut up in the cave and had cooked his last dinnerJ
for him He had three sons left of whom two still worked on theirK
father's land while the third Eurynomus was one of the suitorsH
nevertheless their father could not get over the loss of Antiphus andL
was still weeping for him when he began his speechM
Men of Ithaca he said hear my words From the day UlyssesH
left us there has been no meeting of our councillors until now whoN
then can it be whether old or young that finds it so necessary toN
convene us Has he got wind of some host approaching and does he wishO
to warn us or would he speak upon some other matter of public momentP
I am sure he is an excellent person and I hope Jove will grant himG
his heart's desireJ
Telemachus took this speech as of good omen and rose at once for heQ
was bursting with what he had to say He stood in the middle of theR
assembly and the good herald Pisenor brought him his staff ThenI
turning to Aegyptius Sir said he it is I as you will shortlyQ
learn who have convened you for it is I who am the most aggrieved IS
have not got wind of any host approaching about which I would warnT
you nor is there any matter of public moment on which I wouldU
speak My grieveance is purely personal and turns on two greatV
misfortunes which have fallen upon my house The first of these is theR
loss of my excellent father who was chief among all you here presentP
and was like a father to every one of you the second is much moreW
serious and ere long will be the utter ruin of my estate The sons ofF
all the chief men among you are pestering my mother to marry themX
against her will They are afraid to go to her father IcariusH
asking him to choose the one he likes best and to provide marriageY
gifts for his daughter but day by day they keep hanging about myS
father's house sacrificing our oxen sheep and fat goats for theirK
banquets and never giving so much as a thought to the quantity ofF
wine they drink No estate can stand such recklessness we have now noZ
Ulysses to ward off harm from our doors and I cannot hold my ownA2
against them I shall never all my days be as good a man as he wasH
still I would indeed defend myself if I had power to do so for IS
cannot stand such treatment any longer my house is being disgracedB2
and ruined Have respect therefore to your own consciences and toN
public opinion Fear too the wrath of heaven lest the gods shouldU
be displeased and turn upon you I pray you by Jove and Themis who isH
the beginning and the end of councils do not hold back my friendsH
and leave me singlehanded unless it be that my brave father UlyssesH
did some wrong to the Achaeans which you would now avenge on me byS
aiding and abetting these suitors Moreover if I am to be eaten outC2
of house and home at all I had rather you did the eatingD2
yourselves for I could then take action against you to someE2
purpose and serve you with notices from house to house till I gotF2
paid in full whereas now I have no remedyQ
With this Telemachus dashed his staff to the ground and burst intoN
tears Every one was very sorry for him but they all sat still and noZ
one ventured to make him an angry answer save only Antinous whoN
spoke thusH
Telemachus insolent braggart that you are how dare you try toN
throw the blame upon us suitors It is your mother's fault not oursH
for she is a very artful woman This three years past and close onG2
four she has been driving us out of our minds by encouraging eachM
one of us and sending him messages without meaning one word of whatH2
she says And then there was that other trick she played us She setI2
up a great tambour frame in her room and began to work on an enormousH
piece of fine needlework 'Sweet hearts ' said she 'Ulysses is indeedJ2
dead still do not press me to marry again immediately wait for IS
would not have skill in needlework perish unrecorded till I haveK2
completed a pall for the hero Laertes to be in readiness againstL2
the time when death shall take him He is very rich and the womenM2
of the place will talk if he is laid out without a pall 'N2
This was what she said and we assented whereon we could see herJ
working on her great web all day long but at night she would unpickD2
the stitches again by torchlight She fooled us in this way forW
three years and we never found her out but as time wore on and sheQ
was now in her fourth year one of her maids who knew what she wasH
doing told us and we caught her in the act of undoing her work soZ
she had to finish it whether she would or no The suitorsH
therefore make you this answer that both you and the Achaeans mayO2
understand 'Send your mother away and bid her marry the man of herJ
own and of her father's choice' for I do not know what will happen ifP2
she goes on plaguing us much longer with the airs she gives herself onG2
the score of the accomplishments Minerva has taught her and becauseH
she is so clever We never yet heard of such a woman we know allD
about Tyro Alcmena Mycene and the famous women of old but theyO2
were nothing to your mother any one of them It was not fair of herJ
to treat us in that way and as long as she continues in the mind withQ2
which heaven has now endowed her so long shall we go on eating upR2
your estate and I do not see why she should change for she getsH
all the honour and glory and it is you who pay for it not sheQ
Understand then that we will not go back to our lands neitherJ
here nor elsewhere till she has made her choice and married someE2
one or other of usH
Telemachus answered Antinous how can I drive the mother whoN
bore me from my father's house My father is abroad and we do not knowZ
whether he is alive or dead It will be hard on me if I have to payO2
Icarius the large sum which I must give him if I insist on sending hisH
daughter back to him Not only will he deal rigorously with me butH2
heaven will also punish me for my mother when she leaves the houseH
will calf on the Erinyes to avenge her besides it would not be aR
creditable thing to do and I will have nothing to say to it If youN
choose to take offence at this leave the house and feast elsewhere atS2
one another's houses at your own cost turn and turn about If onG2
the other hand you elect to persist in spunging upon one manT2
heaven help me but Jove shall reckon with you in full and when youN
fall in my father's house there shall be no man to avenge youN
As he spoke Jove sent two eagles from the top of the mountain andL
they flew on and on with the wind sailing side by side in their ownA2
lordly flight When they were right over the middle of the assemblyQ
they wheeled and circled about beating the air with their wings andL
glaring death into the eyes of them that were below then fightingD2
fiercely and tearing at one another they flew off towards the rightU2
over the town The people wondered as they saw them and asked eachM
other what an this might be whereon Halitherses who was the bestV2
prophet and reader of omens among them spoke to them plainly and inW2
all honesty sayingD2
Hear me men of Ithaca and I speak more particularly to theR
suitors for I see mischief brewing for them Ulysses is not goingD2
to be away much longer indeed he is close at hand to deal out deathX2
and destruction not on them alone but on many another of us who liveY2
in Ithaca Let us then be wise in time and put a stop to thisH
wickedness before he comes Let the suitors do so of their own accordZ2
it will be better for them for I am not prophesying without dueN
knowledge everything has happened to Ulysses as I foretold when theR
Argives set out for Troy and he with them I said that after goingD2
through much hardship and losing all his men he should come home againI
in the twentieth year and that no one would know him and now all thisH
is coming trueN
Eurymachus son of Polybus then said Go home old man and prophesyH
to your own children or it may be worse for them I can read theseH
omens myself much better than you can birds are always flying aboutC2
in the sunshine somewhere or other but they seldom mean anythingD2
Ulysses has died in a far country and it is a pity you are not deadA3
along with him instead of prating here about omens and adding fuel toN
the anger of Telemachus which is fierce enough as it is I suppose youN
think he will give you something for your family but I tell youN
and it shall surely be when an old man like you who should knowZ
better talks a young one over till he becomes troublesome in theR
first place his young friend will only fare so much the worse he willB3
take nothing by it for the suitors will prevent this and in theR
next we will lay a heavier fine sir upon yourself than you willB3
at all like paying for it will bear hardly upon you As forW
Telemachus I warn him in the presence of you all to send his motherJ
back to her father who will find her a husband and provide her withQ2
all the marriage gifts so dear a daughter may expect Till we shall goZ
on harassing him with our suit for we fear no man and care neitherJ
for him with all his fine speeches nor for any fortune telling ofF
yours You may preach as much as you please but we shall only hateV
you the more We shall go back and continue to eat up Telemachus'sH
estate without paying him till such time as his mother leaves offC3
tormenting us by keeping us day after day on the tiptoe ofF
expectation each vying with the other in his suit for a prize of suchD3
rare perfection Besides we cannot go after the other women whom weQ
should marry in due course but for the way in which she treats usH
Then Telemachus said Eurymachus and you other suitors I shallE3
say no more and entreat you no further for the gods and the peopleF3
of Ithaca now know my story Give me then a ship and a crew ofF
twenty men to take me hither and thither and I will go to SpartaR
and to Pylos in quest of my father who has so long been missingD2
Some one may tell me something or and people often hear things inW2
this way some heaven sent message may direct me If I can hear of himG
as alive and on his way home I will put up with the waste youN
suitors will make for yet another twelve months If on the otherJ
hand I hear of his death I will return at once celebrate his funeralF3
rites with all due pomp build a barrow to his memory and make myS
mother marry againI
With these words he sat down and Mentor who had been a friend ofF
Ulysses and had been left in charge of everything with full authorityQ
over the servants rose to speak He then plainly and in all honestyQ
addressed them thusH
Hear me men of Ithaca I hope that you may never have a kind andL
well disposed ruler any more nor one who will govern you equitably IS
hope that all your chiefs henceforward may be cruel and unjust forW
there is not one of you but has forgotten Ulysses who ruled you asH
though he were your father I am not half so angry with the suitorsH
for if they choose to do violence in the naughtiness of theirK
hearts and wager their heads that Ulysses will not return they canT2
take the high hand and eat up his estate but as for you others I amG3
shocked at the way in which you all sit still without even trying toN
stop such scandalous goings on which you could do if you chose forW
you are many and they are fewN
Leiocritus son of Evenor answered him saying Mentor whatH2
folly is all this that you should set the people to stay us It isH
a hard thing for one man to fight with many about his victuals EvenW2
though Ulysses himself were to set upon us while we are feasting inW2
his house and do his best to oust us his wife who wants him back soH
very badly would have small cause for rejoicing and his bloodH3
would be upon his own head if he fought against such great odds ThereK
is no sense in what you have been saying Now therefore do youN
people go about your business and let his father's old friendsH
Mentor and Halitherses speed this boy on his journey if he goes atS2
all which I do not think he will for he is more likely to stay whereK
he is till some one comes and tells him somethingD2
On this he broke up the assembly and every man went back to his ownA2
abode while the suitors returned to the house of UlyssesH
Then Telemachus went all alone by the sea side washed his handsH
in the grey waves and prayed to MinervaR
Hear me he cried you god who visited me yesterday and badeI3
me sail the seas in search of my father who has so long beenW2
missing I would obey you but the Achaeans and more particularly theR
wicked suitors are hindering me that I cannot do soH
As he thus prayed Minerva came close up to him in the likenessH
and with the voice of Mentor Telemachus said she if you are madeI3
of the same stuff as your father you will be neither fool nor cowardE
henceforward for Ulysses never broke his word nor left his workD2
half done If then you take after him your voyage will not beQ
fruitless but unless you have the blood of Ulysses and of Penelope inW2
your veins I see no likelihood of your succeeding Sons are seldomE2
as good men as their fathers they are generally worse not betterJ
still as you are not going to be either fool or cowardE
henceforward and are not entirely without some share of your father'sH
wise discernment I look with hope upon your undertaking But mind youN
never make common cause with any of those foolish suitors for theyO2
have neither sense nor virtue and give no thought to death and to theR
doom that will shortly fall on one and all of them so that they shallE3
perish on the same day As for your voyage it shall not be longD2
delayed your father was such an old friend of mine that I will findJ3
you a ship and will come with you myself Now however returnK3
home and go about among the suitors begin getting provisions readyQ
for your voyage see everything well stowed the wine in jars and theR
barley meal which is the staff of life in leathern bags while IS
go round the town and beat up volunteers at once There are many shipsH
in Ithaca both old and new I will run my eye over them for you andL
will choose the best we will get her ready and will put out to seaQ
without delayO2
Thus spoke Minerva daughter of Jove and Telemachus lost no timeL3
in doing as the goddess told him He went moodily and found theR
suitors flaying goats and singeing pigs in the outer court AntinousQ
came up to him at once and laughed as he took his hand in his ownA2
saying Telemachus my fine fire eater bear no more ill bloodH3
neither in word nor deed but eat and drink with us as you used to doN
The Achaeans will find you in everything a ship and a picked crewN
to boot so that you can set sail for Pylos at once and get news ofF
your noble fatherJ
Antinous answered Telemachus I cannot eat in peace nor takeD2
pleasure of any kind with such men as you are Was it not enoughM3
that you should waste so much good property of mine while I was yetI2
a boy Now that I am older and know more about it I am also strongerJ
and whether here among this people or by going to Pylos I will doN
you all the harm I can I shall go and my going will not be in vainN3
though thanks to you suitors I have neither ship nor crew of my ownA2
and must be passenger not captainM2
As he spoke he snatched his hand from that of Antinous MeanwhileO3
the others went on getting dinner ready about the buildings jeeringD2
at him tauntingly as they did soQ
Telemachus said one youngster means to be the death of us IS
suppose he thinks he can bring friends to help him from Pylos orW
again from Sparta where he seems bent on going Or will he go toN
Ephyra as well for poison to put in our wine and kill usQ
Another said Perhaps if Telemachus goes on board ship he willB3
be like his father and perish far from his friends In this case weQ
should have plenty to do for we could then divide up his propertyQ
amongst us as for the house we can let his mother and the man whoN
marries her have thatS2
This was how they talked But Telemachus went down into the loftyQ
and spacious store room where his father's treasure of gold and bronzeQ
lay heaped up upon the floor and where the linen and spare clothesQ
were kept in open chests Here too there was a store of fragrantP
olive oil while casks of old well ripened wine unblended and fitP3
for a god to drink were ranged against the wall in case UlyssesQ
should come home again after all The room was closed with well madeI3
doors opening in the middle moreover the faithful old house keeperJ
Euryclea daughter of Ops the son of Pisenor was in charge ofF
everything both night and day Telemachus called her to the store roomC
and saidA3
Nurse draw me off some of the best wine you have after what youN
are keeping for my father's own drinking in case poor man he shouldU
escape death and find his way home again after all Let me haveK2
twelve jars and see that they all have lids also fill me someE2
well sewn leathern bags with barley meal about twenty measures inW2
all Get these things put together at once and say nothing aboutC2
it I will take everything away this evening as soon as my motherJ
has gone upstairs for the night I am going to Sparta and to PylosQ
to see if I can hear anything about the return of my dear fatherJ
When Euryclea heard this she began to cry and spoke fondly toN
him saying My dear child what ever can have put such notion asQ
that into your head Where in the world do you want to go to you whoN
are the one hope of the house Your poor father is dead and gone inW2
some foreign country nobody knows where and as soon as your back isQ
turned these wicked ones here will be scheming to get you put out ofF
the way and will share all your possessions among themselves stayO2
where you are among your own people and do not go wandering andL
worrying your life out on the barren oceanM2
Fear not nurse answered Telemachus my scheme is not withoutC2
heaven's sanction but swear that you will say nothing about allD
this to my mother till I have been away some ten or twelve daysQ
unless she hears of my having gone and asks you for I do not wantQ3
her to spoil her beauty by cryingD2
The old woman swore most solemnly that she would not and when sheQ
had completed her oath she began drawing off the wine into jarsQ
and getting the barley meal into the bags while Telemachus wentR3
back to the suitorsQ
Then Minerva bethought her of another matter She took his shapeS3
and went round the town to each one of the crew telling them toN
meet at the ship by sundown She went also to Noemon son ofF
Phronius and asked him to let her have a ship which he was veryQ
ready to do When the sun had set and darkness was over all theR
land she got the ship into the water put all the tackle on board herJ
that ships generally carry and stationed her at the end of theR
harbour Presently the crew came up and the goddess spokeD2
encouragingly to each of themX
Furthermore she went to the house of Ulysses and threw theR
suitors into a deep slumber She caused their drink to fuddle themX
and made them drop their cups from their hands so that instead ofF
sitting over their wine they went back into the town to sleep withQ2
their eyes heavy and full of drowsiness Then she took the form andL
voice of Mentor and called Telemachus to come outsideT3
Telemachus said she the men are on board and at their oarsQ
waiting for you to give your orders so make haste and let us be offC3
On this she led the way while Telemachus followed in her stepsQ
When they got to the ship they found the crew waiting by the waterJ
side and Telemachus said Now my men help me to get the stores onG2
board they are all put together in the cloister and my mother doesQ
not know anything about it nor any of the maid servants except oneM2
With these words he led the way and the others followed afterJ
When they had brought the things as he told them Telemachus went onG2
board Minerva going before him and taking her seat in the stern ofF
the vessel while Telemachus sat beside her Then the men loosed theR
hawsers and took their places on the benches Minerva sent them a fairK
wind from the West that whistled over the deep blue waves whereonG2
Telemachus told them to catch hold of the ropes and hoist sail andL
they did as he told them They set the mast in its socket in the crossQ
plank raised it and made it fast with the forestays then theyO2
hoisted their white sails aloft with ropes of twisted ox hide AsQ
the sail bellied out with the wind the ship flew through the deepU3
blue water and the foam hissed against her bows as she sped onwardE
Then they made all fast throughout the ship filled the mixing bowlsQ
to the brim and made drink offerings to the immortal gods that areV3
from everlasting but more particularly to the grey eyed daughter ofF
JoveF
Thus then the ship sped on her way through the watches of theR
night from dark till dawnG2

Homer



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