nds hovered near on flagging
wing, the sea lay locked in deep repose, and all nature paused with
attentive ear, to catch the SONG OF THE SIRENS.

"Mighty warrior, sage renowned,
Turn, O turn thy bark this way!
Rest upon this holy ground,
Listen to the Sirens' lay.
Never yet was seaman found
Passing our enchanted bay,
But he paused, and left our bound
Filled with wisdom from his stay.
All we know, whatever befell
On the tented fields of Troy,
All the lore that Time can tell,
All the mystic fount of joy."

It was a strain cunningly calculated to flatter a deep, subtle spirit
like that of Odysseus. To know all! to read all secrets, and unravel
the tangled skein of human destiny! What a bribe was this to this
restless and eager mind! Then the voices of the witch-women were so
liquid, and the music so lovely, that they took the very air with
ravishment, and melted the hearer's soul within him. Odysseus
struggled to break his bonds, and nodded to his men to come and loose
him. But they, who had been warned of this very thing, rose up and
bound him with fresh cords. Then they grasped their oars again, the
water roared under their sturdy strokes, and soon they were out of
hearing of that seductive melody.

They had not long lost sight of the Sirens' Rocks when they heard the
booming of breakers, which warned them that the fearful strait between
Scylla and Charybdis was close at hand. A strong current caught the
galley and whirled her with appalling swiftness towards the point of
danger. The water boiled and eddied around them, and the blinding
spray was dashed into their faces. Then a sudden panic came upon the
crew, so that they dropped their oars, and sat helpless and unnerved,
expecting instant death. In this emergency, Odysseus summoned up all
his courage, and strode up and down between the benches, exhorting,
entreating, and calling each man by name. "Why sit ye thus," he cried,
"huddled together like sheep? Row, men, row for your lives! And thou,
helmsman, steer straight for the passage, lest we fall into a direr
strait, and be crushed between the Wandering Rocks. We have faced a
worse peril than this, when we were penned together in the Cyclops'
cave; and we shall escape this time also, if only ye will keep a stout
heart."

Circe had cautioned Odysseus on no account to attempt resistance when
he approached the cave of Scylla; nevertheless, he put on his armour,
and took his