Sign up for our newsletters! "Ithaka" reminds Rita Wilson that
life's "monsters" are nothing but passing difficulties in 24
All-Star Readers on the Words That Rock Their Worlds.   As you
set out for Ithaka hope the voyage is a long one, full of
adventure, full of discovery. Laistrygonians and Cyclops, angry
Poseidon—don't be afraid of them: you'll never find things like
that on your way as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops, wild Poseidon—you won't encounter
them unless you bring them along inside your soul, unless your
soul sets them up in front of you.  Hope the voyage is a long
one. May there be many a summer morning when, with what
pleasure, what joy, you come into harbors seen for the first
time; may you stop at Phoenician trading stations to buy fine
things, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, sensual
perfume of every kind— as many sensual perfumes as you can; and
may you visit many Egyptian cities