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Rh And prophet here enthroned him, fourth in use:

So Loxias' lips reveal the thought of Zeus.

These gods be foremost in all prayers of mine,

Who have held the Throne. Next, She before the shrine,

Pallas, is praisèd, and the Nymphs who keep

Yon old Corycian bird-belovèd steep,

Deep-caverned, where things blessèd come and go.

And Bromios walks the mountain, well I know,

Since first he led his Maenad host on high

And doomed King Pentheus like a hare to die.

And Pleistos' fountains and Poseidon's power

I call, and Him who brings the Perfect Hour,

Zeus, the Most Highest. With which prayers I go

To seat me, priestess, on the Throne. And, oh,

May God send blessing on mine entrance, more

And deeper than He e'er hath sent of yore!

If there be present men of Greece but not

Of Delphi, let them enter as the lot

Ordains; I speak but as God leadeth me.

Ah! Horrors, horrors, dire to speak or see,

From Loxias' chamber drive me reeling back.

My knees are weak beneath me, and I lack

The strength to fly. O hands, drag me from here

If feet fail! An old woman, and in fear,

A thing of naught, a babe in helplessness!

I made my way into the Holy Place,

And there, at the inmost Altar of the world,

A man abhorred of God, his body hurled