Odyssey 2.427 · Book 2, lines 427–429
The wind fills the sail, the wave sings
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ἔπρησεν δʼ ἄνεμος μέσον ἱστίον, ἀμφὶ δὲ κῦμα στείρῃ πορφύρεον μεγάλʼ ἴαχε νηὸς ἰούσης· ἡ δʼ ἔθεεν κατὰ κῦμα διαπρήσσουσα κέλευθον.
The wind filled the middle of the sail, and about the stem the dark wave sang loudly as the ship went on; and she ran over the wave, making her way along her path.
Word by word
The setting
The gear is set and the ship comes alive under sail. The wind bellies the canvas; the dark water breaks about the prow as she gathers way and runs on across the sea.
A note on this passage
The ship is now moving. The wind swells the belly of the sail; the dark wave breaks loudly about the cutwater; she runs on and accomplishes her road across the water. Three quick strokes carry the vessel from rigged-and-still to under full way.
The undercurrent is the voice given to the sea. The verb for the wave, ἴαχε, is used elsewhere of battle-cries and human shouting — so the water does not merely splash, it 'sings.' Paired with πορφύρεον, the heaving dark of the swell, the line scores the ship's first stretch of open sea as sound and motion together. Telemachus's own small voyage is launched, and the sea answers it aloud.
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