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LET'S LET HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF there, my sea-goddess...
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[size=1]BOOK V
Though he fought shy of her and her desire
he lay with her each night for she compelled him.
But when day came he sat on the rocky shore
And broke his own heart groaning, with eyes wet
Scanning the bare horizon of the sea.
Now she stood near him in her beauty saying:
“O forlorn man, be still.
Here you need grieve no more; you need not feel
Your life consumed here; I have pondered it,
And I shall help you go.”
For all he had endured, Odysseus shuddered.
But when he spoke, his words went to the mark:
“After these years, a helping hand? O goddess,
what guile is hidden here?
A raft, you say, to cross the Western Ocean,
Rough water, and unknown? Seaworthy ships
That glory in god’s wind will never cross it.
I take no raft you grudge me out to sea.
Or yield me first a great oath, if I do,
To work no more enchantment to my harm.”
At this the beautiful nymph Calypso smiled
And answered sweetly, laying her hand upon him:
“What a dog you are! And not for nothing learned,
having the wit to ask this thing of me!
My witness then be earth and sky
And dripping Styx that I swear by
The gay gods cannot swear more seriously
I have no further spells to work against you.
But I shall devise, and what I tell you.
Will be the same as if your need were mine.
Fairness is all I think of. There are hearts
Made of cold iron- but my heart is kind”
Swiftly she turned and led him to her cave,
And they went in, the mortal and immortal.
He took the chair left empty now by Hermes,
Where the divine Calypso placed before him
Victuals and drink of men; then she sat down
Facing Odysseus, while her serving maids
Brought nectar and ambrosia to her side.
Then each one’s hands went out with each one’s feast
Until they had their pleasure; and she said:
“Son of Laertes, versatile Odysseus,
after these years with me, you still desire
your old home? Even so, I wish you well.
If you could see it all, before you go
All the adversity you face at sea
You would stay here, and guard this house, and be
Immortal- though you wanted her forever,
that bride for whom you pine each day.
Can I be less desirable than she is?
Less interesting? Less beautiful? Can mortals
Compare with goddesses in grace and form?”
To this the strategist Odysseus answered:
“My lady goddess, here is no cause for anger.
My quiet Penelope- how well I know-
would seem a shade before your majesty,
death and old age being unknown to you,
while she must die. Yet, it is true, each day
I long for home, long for the sight of home.
If any god has marked me out again
For shipwreck, my tough heart can undergo it.
What hardship have I not long since endured
At sea, in battle! Let the trial come.”
Now as he spoke the sun set, dusk grew on,
And they retired, this pair, to the inner cave
To revel and rest softly, side by side.
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we all know who his REAL sea goddess is...
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BOOK XXIII
Now from his breast into his eyes the ache
Of longing mounted, and he wept at last,
His dear wife, clear and faithful, in his arms,
Longed for
As the sunwarmed earth is longed for by a swimmer
Spent in rough water where his ship went down
Under Poseidon’s blows, gale winds and tons of sea.
Few men can keep alive through a big surf
To crawl, clotted with brine, on kindly beaches
In joy, in joy, knowing the abyss behind:
And Penelope too rejoiced, her gaze upon her husband,
Her white arms round him pressed as though forever.
Tour guide...I said tour guide people! Now, I hope we all learned something today.
Though I am in Croatia nearly every year, I have not spent Christmas with the family in ten years. And the rest of europe is just a short flight away. By spring I hope to hear from Emirates Airlines, and have that coveted job I've been wanting. 
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