Excerpt from The Powers of the Air The Power of the Air I My father sailed the sea, saw Egypt's tombsLike polished hills high as Acropolis, An hundred miles inland, yet reached by ships: Saw Caucasus, whose coping of pure swSupports the delicate tent of azure airThat stretches thence above the highest cloud.But I had feared a life adventurelessWas buckled to my crooked spine - had fearedNever to have the wherewithal to whetThat second appetite of feasted friendsWhich craves for tales of straits and jeopardiesThat garnished those near faces with odd smiles: Yet lo! I write to recount things heard, seen, In which I even took a trifling part: And witness the more fully what occurredBecause the actors ticed me moreThan their own shadows. Not ather word!Till I have thanked Aristocles, broad-chested, Apollo-headed, - generous, gentle soul, Who has spared hours from a life, divineWith health and wealth and fine capacityFor thought and feeling, seconding my bluntUnlikely stilus, till what follows hereIs w more worth my theme than I dared hope.O ble man! my heart, though much enlarged, Endures for thy sake silence, after this;For iterance spoils thanks, though more be dueThan Hellas owes to Helios, fruits and flowers. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art techlogy to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.