Homer's Hymn to Castor and Pollux

Ye wild-eyed Muses, sing the Twins of Jove, / Whom the fair-ankled Leda, mixed in love / With mighty Saturn's Heaven-obscuring Child, / On Taygetus, that lofty mountain wild, / Brought forth in joy: mild Pollux, void of blame, / And steed-subduing Castor, heirs of fame. / These are the Powers who earth-born mortals save / And ships, whose flight is swift along the wave. / When wintry tempests o'er the savage sea / Are raging, and the sailors tremblingly / Call on the Twins of Jove with prayer and vow, / Gathered in fear upon the lofty prow, / And sacrifice with snow-white lambs,-the wind / And the huge billow bursting close behind, / Even then beneath the weltering waters bear / The staggering ship-they suddenly appear, / On yellow wings rushing athwart the sky, / And lull the blasts in mute tranquillity, / And strew the waves on the white Ocean's bed, / Fair omen of the voyage; from toil and dread / The sailors rest, rejoicing in the sight, / And plough the quiet sea in safe delight.