mixed media
Clem
Fiori
but just as great odysseus thrashed things out
Book 5: Lines 402-412
That shore's too far away
I glimpsed it myself-where she says refuge waits.
No, here's what I'll do, it's what seems best to me.
As long as the timbers cling and joints stand fast,
I'll hold out aboard her and take a whipping-
once the breakers smash my craft to pieces,
then I'll swim-no better plan for now."
But just as great Odysseus thrashed things out,But again the mighty god of earthquakes spied him,
Poseidon god of the earthquake launched a colossal wave,
terrible, murderous, arching over him, pounding down on him,
hard as a windstorm blasting piles of dry parched chaff,
scattering flying husks--so the long planks of his boat
were scattered far and wide. But Odysseus leapt aboard
one timber and riding it like a plunging racehorse
stripped away his clothes, divine Calypso's gifts,
and quickly tying the scarf around his waist
he dove headfirst in the sea,
stretched his arms and stroked for life itself.
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