Verse

Iliad

Book 24, Line 217 by Samuel Butler (English)

Then Priam said, "I would go, do not therefore stay me nor be as a bird of ill omen in my house, for you will not move me. Had it been some mortal man who had sent me some seer [ mantis ] or priest who divines from sacrifice - I should have deemed him false and have given him no heed; but now I have heard the goddess and seen her face to face, therefore I will go and her saying shall not be in vain. If it be my fate to die at the ships of the Achaeans even so would I have it; let Achilles slay me, if I may but first have taken my son in my arms and mourned him to my heart's comforting."

IliadBook 24, Line 217Samuel ButlerEnglishVerse permalinkRead in Book 24

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Samuel Butler's public-domain English prose Iliad via Perseus canonical TEI; prose segments are assigned to their source line span.