hap rochelle - An Ode To Odysseus

Returning home from Ilium
After that long and wearing war
Odysseus sailed toward Ithaca
Hoping to heal the scars.

Hungry, with hearts flagging
He found where the Cyclops fed
His men would eat Polyphemus' sheep
But many were a meal instead.

Heroically saving his men
Odysseus sailed away
Trapped by the daughter of Helios
Drawn to virtues she would display.

Told that he shouldn't
By Circe his former host
He listened to the Sirens
Almost wrecked upon their coast.

Home at last in Ithaca
After ten years on the sea
First he must dispatch the men
Who coveted his Penelope.

Disguised as a dirty beggar
To learn what must be done
He told his son Telemachus
How to take action certain.

With aid from his goddess Athena
After all the princes had failed
Godlike Odysseus strung his bow
And with an arrow each impaled.

Now his queen and son rejoice
Their king whom they adore
Will live a quiet, fruitful life
On Ithaca's idyllic shore.

hap rochelle

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/an-ode-to-odysseus/