Kitap 1
Yet hope, in time, the business may succeed.
In time the steer will to the yoke submit,
In time the restive horse will bear the bit.
E'en the hard ploughshare use will wear away,
540
And stubborn steel in length of time decay.
Water is soft and marble hard, and yet
We see soft water through hard marble eat.
Though late, yet Troy at length in flames expir'd;
And ten years more, Penelope had tir'd.
545
Perhaps she writes, and answers with disdain,
And sharply bids you not to write again:
What she requires, she fears you would accord;
The jilt would not be taken at her word.
Meantime, if she be carried in her chair,
550
Approach, but do not seem to know she's there:
Speak softly, to delude the standers by;
Or, if aloud, then speak ambiguously.
If sauntering in the portico she walk,
Move slowly too, for that's a time for talk;
555
And sometimes follow, sometimes be her guide,
