Page:Four Plays of Aeschylus (1908) Morshead.djvu/80

50 No force shall bear away the maiden band.

Firmly this word upon the temple wall

Is by a rivet clenched, and shall abide:

Not upon wax inscribed and delible,

Nor upon parchment sealed and stored away.—

Lo, thou hast heard our free mouths speak their will:

Out from our presence—tarry not, but go!

Methinks we stand on some new edge of war:

Be strength and triumph on the young men's side!

Nay but here also shall ye find young men,

Unsodden with the juices oozed from grain.

But ye, O maids, with your attendants true,

Pass hence with trust into the fencèd town,

Ringed with a wide confine of guarding towers.

Therein are many dwellings for such guests

As the State honours; there myself am housed

Within a palace neither scant nor strait.

There dwell ye, if ye will to lodge at ease

In halls well-thronged: yet, if your soul prefer,

Tarry secluded in a separate home.

Choose ye and cull, from these our proffered gifts,