Page:Four Plays of Aeschylus (1908) Morshead.djvu/107

Rh

O queen, our whole disaster thus befell,

Through intervention of some fiend or fate—

1 know not what—that had ill will to us.

From the Athenian host some Greek came o'er,

To thy son Xerxes whispering this tale—

Once let the gloom of night have gathered in,

The Greeks will tarry not, but swiftly spring

Each to his galley-bench, in furtive flight,

Softly contriving safety for their life.

Thy son believed the word and missed the craft

Of that Greek foeman, and the spite of Heaven,

And straight to all his captains gave this charge—

As soon as sunlight warms the ground no more,

And gloom enwraps the sanctuary of sky,

Range we our fleet in triple serried lines

To bar the passage from the seething strait,

This way and that: let other ships surround

The isle of Ajax, with this warning word—

That if the Greeks their jeopardy should scape

By wary craft, and win their ships a road,

Each Persian captain shall his failure pay

By forfeit of his head. So spake the king,

Inspired at heart with over-confidence,

Unwitting of the gods' predestined will.

Thereon our crews, with no disordered haste,

Did service to his bidding and purveyed

The meal of afternoon: each rower then

Over the fitted rowlock looped his oar.

Then, when the splendour of the sun had set,

And night drew on, each master of the oar

And each armed warrior straightway went aboard.

Forward the long ships moved, rank cheering rank,

Each forward set upon its ordered course.