HOW PERSEUS BEGAN TO BE GREAT.
BY ELIZABETH P. ALLAN.
Fair Perseus slept upon enchanted ground,
And to him came, but with no stir or sound,
The goddess Pallas, whose clear, shining eyes
Read all men’s hearts that are beneath the skies.
“Many there be,” she cried, “who dwell at ease,
Who neither do nor dare—art thou of these?
Or dost thou to some glorious deed aspire?
Hast thou a heart of clay, or soul of fire?”
Then answered Perseus, vehement, “But I
Would do great deeds, though for them I should die.
Point me, O goddess, to the monster’s lair,
And give me leave to show what I can dare!”
“Nay,” said the voice divine, “thy stripling arm
Must first set free from danger’s fierce alarm
Thy mother’s life!” With this young Perseus woke,
Nor knew the peril whereof Pallas spoke.
But straight to Seriphus he hied with speed,
To find his Mother Danæ in sore need,
And rescuing her from danger and from dread,
Then went he forth to win the Gorgon’s head.
O, sons and daughters of our happy land,
Whose waking dreams are filled with actions grand,
Ere yet in search of these afar you roam,
Free every burdened heart that sighs at home!