SHE called the famous smith Hephaestus, saying 'Come here, Hephaestus; Thetis needeth thee.' Whereat the famous crippled god replied: 'Then 'tis a goddess I respect and honour That is within! She saved me when I was In pain by reason of my fearful fall, Thanks to my shameless mother, and she offered To hide me in my lameness. Then it had Gone badly with me, had Eurynome And Thetis not received me to their breast -- Eurynome, the child of Ocean who Flows backward on himself. Nine years with them I fashioned many curious works in bronze, Brooches and spiral bracelets and rosettes And necklaces, inside their hollow cave About which Ocean's stream unending ran With murmurous foam. And no one knew thereof Neither of gods nor mortal men, but they Who saved me, Thetis and Eurynome; And now is Thetis come unto my house! Therefore most bound am I to pay full price To fair-haired Thetis, since she saved my life. But set before her noble entertainment While I lay by my bellows, tools and all.' He spoke, and rose up limping from the anvil, A mighty bulk; yet his lean shanks were quick. He moved the bellows from the fire, and packed Into a silver box the set of tools With which he worked; then with a sponge he wiped His face and both his hands and muscled neck And hairy chest: he put his tunic on, And took up a stout stick and with a limp Walked out of doors; and women servants wrought In gold, the like of living maidens, moved To help their master: they have active brains And speech and strength, and from the deathless gods Have learned their duties. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO A LADY WHO HAD OFFERED HIM A WREATH OF LAUREL by GEORGE SANTAYANA MY AIN COUNTRIE by MARY LEE DEMAREST ON SEEING THE ELGIN MARBLES by JOHN KEATS THE STORY OF URIAH by RUDYARD KIPLING THREE MOMENTS IN PARIS: 1. ONE O'CLOCK AT NIGHT by MINA LOY TO THE MAN-OF-WAR-BIRD by WALT WHITMAN SOLOMON SCHECHTER by ALTER ABELSON LINES TO SAMUEL ROGERS IN WALES ON EVE OF BASTILLE DAY 1791 by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |