Through horrors of land and horrors of sea Bereft and wandering, Odysseus, God-fearing wretch, sought Ithaca; Unfaltering, he plunged into the gloom of Hades; The roar of fierce Charybdis and underwater Scylla's groans Shook not his noble soul. His patience vanquished cruel fate, it seemed, And to the dregs he'd drunk the bitter cup. It seemed the heav'ns were done with testing him And drove him softly, slumbering, To homeland's longed-for cliffs. He waked: what then? He did not know his home.