Page:Four Plays of Aeschylus (Cookson).djvu/102

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Calamitous adventurer! thine emprise

Hath drained the very sap of thine allies!

Xerxes, a lonely man, that few attend,

They say

What say they? Draws he to an end

Of his long march? And hath he haply found

Some place of safety?

Yea, the stormy sound

And the long bridge that spans the sundering sea,

Which when he hailed a happy man was he!

So, he hath crossed the strait and touched the strand

And journeys delicately through the land

Of Asia—or thou hast heard things false and smooth?

None challengeth these tidings; they are clear truth

And beyond cavil.

Ah, with how swift stride

Hath come fulfilment of things prophesied!

How on my son hath Zeus in anger sent

The end foretold, which my fears did prevent!

For long ago I knew the Gods would speed

The final consummation of that rede,