"Safe if ye hope to pass, my counsel hear, Be ruled by prudence, and the Gods revere; Nor on your unexperienced youth depend, The want of caution brings you to your end. thumb|First from your ship a nimble dove let fly, And on the sure prognostic bird rely...First from your ship a nimble dove let fly, And on the sure prognostic bird rely; Safe through the rocks if she pursue her way, No longer ye the destined course delay; Steer for the strait, and let the rowers sweep With stretching oars the close-contracted deep: For not in prayers alone your safety stands; But nervous vigour, and the strength of hands. Ply then your oars, and strain at every stroke; But first with prayer the Deities invoke. The dove's sad fate should you desponding view, Crushed by the closing fragments as she flew, Steer back, lest you against those rocks be driven, Steer back; 'tis fafest to submit to Heaven. 'Twere death through them to force the foaming keel, Though heaven-built Argo were composed of steel."
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Lines 444–463
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The Argonautics of Apollonius Rhodius (tr. Francis Fawkes)
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