Page:Four Plays of Aeschylus (1908) Morshead.djvu/71

Rh With guile they pursue me, with counsel malign,

And unholy their soul;

And as ravens they seize me, unheeding the shrine!

Fair will befall us, children, in this chance,

If thus in wrath they wrong the gods and you.

Alas, nor tridents nor the sanctity

Of shrines will drive them, O my sire, from us!

Unholy and daring and cursed is their ire,

Nor own they control

Of the gods, but like jackals they glut their desire!

Ay, but Come wolf, flee jackal, saith the saw;

Nor can the flax-plant overbear the corn.

Lustful, accursèd, monstrous is their will

As of beasts ravening—'ware we of their power!

Look you, not swiftly puts a fleet to sea,

Nor swiftly to its moorings; long it is

Or e'er the saving cables to the shore

Are borne, and long or e'er the steersmen cry,

The good ship swings at anchor—all is well.

Longest of all, the task to come aland

Where haven there is none, when sunset fades