‘Hypsipylê, passing welcome this thy request shall be
Which thou tenderest us, whose desire withal is now unto thee.
Back through thy town will I come, when an end I have made to say
All this to my fellows in order: howbeit let all the sway
And the lordship be thine in the island. I make not in scorn my request, {840}
But a sore task thrusteth me onward still, and I may not rest.’
He spake, and the queen’s right hand hath he touched, and aback to the strand
He hath turned him to go; and around him the maidens on either hand
Danced blithely, a throng unnumbered, till forth of the gates he had strode.
Thereafter the women loaded them wains smooth-running, and rode