Page:Four Plays of Aeschylus (Cookson).djvu/33

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Contagion fall upon mine enemies.

Howbeit, to help thee and take myself

No hurt I scarce know how. Yet 'twere scant kindness

To set thy prayers at nought. Perplexity

And fears possess my heart, whether to act,

Or not to act and let fate have her way.

Look up unto the Watcher set on high,

The Guardian of necessitous souls who sue,

Crouched on a neighbour's hearth, for sanctuary,

Craving in vain the right which is their due.

For grace denied and suppliants' slighted pleas

Endures the wrath of Zeus no pangs of guilt appease.

If by the law of the land Ægyptus' sons

Are your rightful lords, to wit, upon the plea

Of next-kin, who would choose resist their claim?

Your answer must be founded on the law

Domestic; and ye must maintain and prove

That over ye they have no power at all.

Into the hands of tyrant man

God grant that I fall never:

I'll know no bounds but the starry span

That bends o'er earth for ever:

Fled to that virgin liberty

I'll live from forceful marriage free.

Be thou the ally of Justice and not Law;

Judge thou as judge the Gods and stand of them in awe.