Page:Four Plays of Aeschylus (1908) Morshead.djvu/91



unto the Grecian land

Hath passed the Persian armament:

We, by the monarch's high command,

We are the warders true who stand,

Chosen, for honour and descent,

To watch the wealth of him who went—

Guards of the gold, and faithful styled

By Xerxes, great Darius' child!

But the king went nor comes again—

And for that host, we saw depart

Arrayed in gold, my boding heart

Aches with a pulse of anxious pain,

Presageful for its youthful king!

No scout, no steed, no battle car

Comes speeding hitherward, to bring

News to our city from afar!

Erewhile they went, away, away,

From Susa, from Ecbatana,

From Kissa's timeworn fortress grey,

Passing to ravage and to war—

Some upon steeds, on galleys some,

Some in close files, they passed from home,