Tale of Archais

THE TALE OF ARCHAIS 31 Witnessed the wrath of Zeus ; the thunder broke From purple flashes vanished into smoke That rolled unceasingly through heaven ; the youth Cried out against high Zeus, “ The cause of Truth, Freedom, and Justice ! ” and withal strode on To the vast margin of the waters wan That barred him from his goal ; his cloak he stripped, Then in the waves his sudden body dipped, And with his strenuous hands the emerald water gripped. Long had he struggled (for Poseidon’s hand Heaped foam against him) toward the seemly strand, But that Love’s Mother, journeying from Rome, Passed in her car the swimmer, while her home Scarce yet was glimmering o’er the waste wide sea, Against whose wrath he strove so silently ; Whom now beholding, checked her eager team, Dipped to the foam from which she sprang, whose gleam Bore the sweet mirage of her eyes, and bent