Fingering their bows—as Hermes reared
On tiptoe, smiling welcome. Aphrodite,
Slipping to lee of Ares, feigned a fear
More beautiful than truth was; while Hephaestus,
Curious, near-sighted, fingered those wing-joints
Athene only studied where she stood.
“Whoever you are,” said Hermes, “and whatever—
Pardon this—you were, sail now as we do,
And be the gods of strangers far to west.
If only as in dream the vessel draws us,