Odysseus Encircled -
xi.411
Now as he rolled these matters within him in heart & in spirit
During the space came under their round shields the Trojans.
Him they shut up in their midmost, pulling a scourge in among them.
So, as when round some boar the dogs & the lithe blooming youngsters
Quicken their steps, & when he forth out of his lair in deep forest,
Whets him the sharp white tusk twixt the crook of his jaws, & around him
Rushing they press, & the hard-ground of tusks as they gnash sounds from under,
They meanwhile hold their ground, for the look of him seemeth most fearful;
Thus then the cherished of Zeus, him Odysseus, the Trojans encircled.
xi.462
Thrice gave he cry, full loud as the head of a mortal can hurl forth;
Thrice was it heard by the great Menelaos, the cherished of Ares;
Thereat forthwith he spake unto Aias, close at his elbow:
" Aias, issue of Zeus, son of Telamon, captain of numbers,
" Up round my ears there has come like the cry of stout-hearted Odysseus
" Like unto that, as though ringed-round he stood mid the Trojans, & single,
" Harried, cut off in the last fierce press of the fight, from his fellows,
" Into the thick let us go, for our part it is now to stand by him.
" Brave as he is, I fear me that mid of the Trojans a mishap
" May have befallen him, then were a heavy grief on the D[anaan. " ]
Saying it, forth stepped he, & the godlike man at his heels went.
Soon came they on Odysseus, the cherished of Zeus, by the Trojans
Dogged all about, as the bloodied jackals that round on an antlered
Stag on the mountains, the which now a man with a shaft from his bow-string
Sorely hath struck, & in sooth with the speed of his feet then he flees it
Long as the blood it is warm, & long as his knees they will bear him:
So & so on till he drops at the last, by the fleet dart is mastered.
On a dark wood on the heights then him do the flesh-gnawing jackals
Rend: & so thither is fate-led then fate a great ravageing lion;
Sooth, and the jackals are scattered right left, but the meal is the lion's;
So thus rounding the wary Odysseus, the crafty in counsel,
Many numbered & stout were the Trojans; but ever that hero
Warded the pitiless day with the quick-rushing thrusts of his spear-head.
Now as he rolled these matters within him in heart & in spirit
During the space came under their round shields the Trojans.
Him they shut up in their midmost, pulling a scourge in among them.
So, as when round some boar the dogs & the lithe blooming youngsters
Quicken their steps, & when he forth out of his lair in deep forest,
Whets him the sharp white tusk twixt the crook of his jaws, & around him
Rushing they press, & the hard-ground of tusks as they gnash sounds from under,
They meanwhile hold their ground, for the look of him seemeth most fearful;
Thus then the cherished of Zeus, him Odysseus, the Trojans encircled.
xi.462
Thrice gave he cry, full loud as the head of a mortal can hurl forth;
Thrice was it heard by the great Menelaos, the cherished of Ares;
Thereat forthwith he spake unto Aias, close at his elbow:
" Aias, issue of Zeus, son of Telamon, captain of numbers,
" Up round my ears there has come like the cry of stout-hearted Odysseus
" Like unto that, as though ringed-round he stood mid the Trojans, & single,
" Harried, cut off in the last fierce press of the fight, from his fellows,
" Into the thick let us go, for our part it is now to stand by him.
" Brave as he is, I fear me that mid of the Trojans a mishap
" May have befallen him, then were a heavy grief on the D[anaan. " ]
Saying it, forth stepped he, & the godlike man at his heels went.
Soon came they on Odysseus, the cherished of Zeus, by the Trojans
Dogged all about, as the bloodied jackals that round on an antlered
Stag on the mountains, the which now a man with a shaft from his bow-string
Sorely hath struck, & in sooth with the speed of his feet then he flees it
Long as the blood it is warm, & long as his knees they will bear him:
So & so on till he drops at the last, by the fleet dart is mastered.
On a dark wood on the heights then him do the flesh-gnawing jackals
Rend: & so thither is fate-led then fate a great ravageing lion;
Sooth, and the jackals are scattered right left, but the meal is the lion's;
So thus rounding the wary Odysseus, the crafty in counsel,
Many numbered & stout were the Trojans; but ever that hero
Warded the pitiless day with the quick-rushing thrusts of his spear-head.
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