Fragments they rend from off the craggy brow
And dash the ruins on the ships below:
The crackling vessels burst; hoarse groans arise,
And mingled horrors echo to the skies;
The men like fish, they struck upon the flood.
And crammed their filthy throats with human food.”
Following the old classic story a little further, Ulysses and his followers pass onward to the abode of the Sirens, where Pope has brought together their experience in the following rhyme:
“Unblest the man, whom music wins to stay
Nigh the cursed shore, and listen to the lay.
No more that wretch shall view the joys of life,