8
Orion.
[Book I.
Of evil. Wherefore, Artemis, pardon me;
Or if again thou'dst bend thy bow, first let me
To great Poseidon offer up a prayer,
That his divine waves with absorbing arms
May take my body rather than dull earth."
Or if again thou'dst bend thy bow, first let me
To great Poseidon offer up a prayer,
That his divine waves with absorbing arms
May take my body rather than dull earth."
With attitude relaxed from queenly pride
To yet more queenly grace, the shaft she placed
Within her burnished quiver, and the bow
A Nymph unstrung, while with averted face—
As gazing down the woodland vista slopes,
Which oft her bright orb silvered through black shades
When midnight throbbed to silence—Artemis asked,
"And who are these thy brothers of the cave,
And why dost with the Cyclops hold consort?"
To yet more queenly grace, the shaft she placed
Within her burnished quiver, and the bow
A Nymph unstrung, while with averted face—
As gazing down the woodland vista slopes,
Which oft her bright orb silvered through black shades
When midnight throbbed to silence—Artemis asked,
"And who are these thy brothers of the cave,
And why dost with the Cyclops hold consort?"
"My wood-friends, all of ancestry renowned,
Claim for their sires heroes, or kings, or gods;
And two of them have seen the ways of men;"
Orion answered, while with uplifted breast,
Like a smooth wave o'ergilded by the morn,
High heaving ere it cast itself ashore,
Buoyant, elate, and massively erect,
He stood. "They are my kindred thus descended,
And, though not brothers, yet we recognize
Claim for their sires heroes, or kings, or gods;
And two of them have seen the ways of men;"
Orion answered, while with uplifted breast,
Like a smooth wave o'ergilded by the morn,
High heaving ere it cast itself ashore,
Buoyant, elate, and massively erect,
He stood. "They are my kindred thus descended,
And, though not brothers, yet we recognize
