Odysseus' Fate

Through horrors of land and horrors of sea
Bereft and wandering, Odysseus,
God-fearing wretch, sought Ithaca;
Unfaltering, he plunged into the gloom of Hades;
The roar of fierce Charybdis and underwater Scylla's groans
     Shook not his noble soul.
His patience vanquished cruel fate, it seemed,
     And to the dregs he'd drunk the bitter cup.
It seemed the heav'ns were done with testing him
     And drove him softly, slumbering,
To homeland's longed-for cliffs.
He waked: what then? He did not know his home.