Page:Four Plays of Aeschylus (1908) Morshead.djvu/195



, the earth's bound and limitary land,

The Scythian steppe, the waste untrod of men!

Look to it now, Hephaestus—thine it is,

Thy Sire obeying, this arch-thief to clench

Against the steep-down precipice of rock,

With stubborn links of adamantine chain.

Look thou: thy flower, the gleaming plastic fire,

He stole and lent to mortal man—a sin

That gods immortal make him rue to-day,

Lessoned hereby to own th' omnipotence

Of Zeus, and to repent his love to man!

O Strength and Force, for you the hest of Zeus

Stands all achieved, and nothing bars your will:

But I—I dare not bind to storm-vext cleft

One of our race, immortal as are we.

Yet, none the less, necessity constrains,

For Zeus, defied, is heavy in revenge!

(To )

O deep-devising child of Themis sage,

Small will have I to do, or thou to bear,